Gamer Girl Read Free Page A

Sarah went back and forth on the wisdom of seeing him again, but her curiosity got the better of her. She called his private number on Wednesday half hoping he had already made other plans for the weekend.
    “Byrne here,” His voice sounded sharp, businesslike.
    “Eamon?  It’s Sarah?  Sarah Adams?” 
    “Sarah !” His voice changed. Now, he sounded eager. “You called!  That’s great! So when are we going out?” 
    “How about Saturday? Around seven?”
    “I’ll be there. What’s the address?”
    Sarah gave him her address and he hung up. She tried not to think about the fact that she had just called a virtual stranger for a date. Instead she focused on the mountain of pleadings she needed to draft.
    Eamon hung up the phone, glad that Sarah had called. He’d gone to the Evensong, expecting nothing more than a pleasant Sunday concert and a chance to satisfy his curiosity about Sarah’s reading list. He’d left her that night wanting to know more about her. Now he’d have that chance.
    When Saturday night came, Sarah settled on a plain sweater dress in a soft caramel color that matched her hair, a dress style in keeping with her mother’s admonition that simple was best, It was short enough to showcase her legs but long enough to be modest. She debated whether or not to put her hair up but decided to leave it loose. The doorbell rang just as the phone rang. Eamon was at the door, and she let him as she held the phone to her ear.
    “I’m almost ready,” s he whispered as she covered the handset. Then she walked into the kitchen with the phone. It was her father calling about the upcoming holiday.
    “Sarah, you are coming home for Memorial Day aren’t you ? “
    “I wasn’t—“
    “If it’s money, I will buy your ticket.”
    “I don’t need—“
    “Your Mother and I are glad to help, Sarah. We miss you.”
    “It’s okay Dad. I can afford the plane ticket. ”
    “Sure, but then you won’t have any money to go shopping with your Mom. You know she hates that.”
    “Daddy—“
    “We love you Sarah. Say you’ll come for the holiday.”
    “Yes. Yes, of course, I’ll see you then. Love you, Dad.”
    “You too, sweetheart. See you soon.”
    “Bye, Dad.” Sarah clicked off her phone.
    Eamon tried not to listen. Instead he looked about Sarah’s living room. She had a sophisticated media set-up complete with two separate gaming consoles, a PC and an HD flat screen. He wandered over to peruse the games she played. There wasn’t a single sports game among her titles or any first person shooters but there were a lot of role playing games, from dark medieval fantasy to futuristic space opera. A number of his company’s titles graced her shelf. He found her book and CD collection fascinating as well. Her library included original source history books, science fiction and fantasy, philosophy, psychology, and shamelessly titillating bodice rippers among other subjects. Her taste in music was just as eclectic
    “Silly, isn’t it.” Sarah walked into the living room and saw him studying her video game collection. “I spent biggest bonus I’ve ever received buying the second console and the TV. I should have saved it for my retirement, my father told me, but I couldn’t resist. I love playing video games.”
    “So what’s your gamertag ? “
    “Elaine Everhome.”
    “Really?” Eamon laughed. “As I recall, you ended up in a very contentious discussion as to whether or not Duke Rulan was an evil villain or a misunderstood patriot.”
    “ You visit Mirrored Nation’s Forum?”
    “I troll there a lot, bu t I seldom post. I find the discussions very entertaining. It keeps me up to date on our hardcore fans.”
    “I’d forgotten. It’s one of your titles, isn’t it?”
    “Yes it is. One of our most successful. So is Mirrored Nation your favorite?” 
    “It is.  I like the way your writers always manage to incorporate some interesting dilemma into the game.”
    “And you prefer to