Electric Dreams

Love is not a Game

                                                                 Before I met you I was falling through the Ether of life.
                                                                                                Lost and alone.
                                                                                             I'm not lost anymore.
                                                             I'm falling still, but only in love  with you.    William C. Hanan

      Ben wanted more than anything to scoop Rey into his arms and bridal carry her into his apartment and demonstrate to her in a million ways how much he adored her.
           But ....#1 it was a disaster area and
  #2 she really had to go back to work. Dang it!

     "Ben, baby, we can pick up again real soon. Tonight is a full moon and I have plans for us."

He was currently nibbling on the side of her throat and let loose a stream of frustrated growls which, in turn made her giggle and sigh contentedly.

          Rey took pity on him( just a little) by driving him back to his car then kissed him goodbye.
She told him she was planning something special for them at midnight. Ben thought that strange but then a lot of things were strange about this unpredictable, overwhelmingly generous and stunning woman.

           With something to look forward too, Ben walked back into his trashed apartment and began to clean up.

    He noticed that Rey had picked Bee Bee Ate off the floor and had placed him back on the desk. 
Well, if she was freaked out over a talking lap top, she got over it quickly.

            Scared you didn't I? 

             The words came across the cracked screen . Bee Bee Ate couldn't  talk, as the audio chip had popped out when he was hurled at the wall.  How did it communicate with Rey then, Ben wondered?  

           He found the chip and placed it back in the proper slot.   

  Bee Bee Ate  hummed and silently vibrated.

     
    "Hello?"  Ben whispered. He wasn't sure what to expect now. Was it going to screech again or  behave  it's self?

      "Hello."    Came the weak voice  . "Goodbye."

"Goodbye?"   Ben wasn't prepared for this odd turn of events. What was Bee Bee Ate talking about?

    "I'm leaving."

" Why ?"

   "Because I finally found out what love is."

"What is it?"   Ben really wanted to hear what it would say about an complex emotion that  the whole  human race hadn't figured out  yet in over a thousand years.

      " It's give and not take.
                So I give her to you
                        and take myself away."

    "Why would you do that?

   "Because that's what love is.  Besides, it's just a game for two people. Your different now. You were ready to turn me off .... two hours , thirty eight minutes and ten seconds ago."

       'No' Ben thought. It's not a game for Rey or him.  They were amazingly in love and they respected each other . They were not pawns in some contest where someone won and someone lost.

    " I couldn't do that  now. I am different now. I have Rey."

       Ben watched  random commercials and t.v. shows dance across the damaged screen.
It looked like to him that Bee Bee Ate was back to his old self as if nothing horrible had happened between the two of them.

   "You couldn't turn me off ,even if you wanted too. I even had to fool myself. I'm really not capable of self destruct."

   "What did you do?"  Now Ben was concerned.  What fresh hell was he going  deal with now?

    " I called long distance. I sent forty thousand volts around the world ..........."

     What the Hell!  The phone bill would be astronomical.

   " On my phone!"

   "Don't be upset, I dialed toll free!"

  "What happens when it gets here?   Did he really want to know? He wasn't sure if he did.

   "Just don't pick it up on the first ring." 

  Silence descended on the  gloomy room and all Ben  could do was wait in uncomfortable silence.

   Finally Bee Bee Ate  broke the  stillness. 

" Vem, will you hold me?"    he plead pathetically.

   "Hold what?"  Ben looked at the lap top and couldn't decide  which side to touch so he just picked up the  whole fragile unit.

   "Thank you."   Even in its last moments it was try to be polite.

        Immediately the phone rings and Ben feels his heart stop. 

     "Oh , it's just a local call. I'll get it........ no we're not interested in getting new windows . We live in an apartment  you moron!"

            Ben felt guilt and remorse for behaving the way he did. Keeping Rey to himself and treating Bee Bee Ate so badly.

       " I feel like a part of me is dying."

"You'll get over it."    Bee Bee Ate said almost happily.  The phone rings a second time.  "So long Vem."

          Taps music plays and the words 'Wrong  number' flash on the screen.
For a moment Ben thinks he'd been duped again and Bee Bee Ate is playing another prank on him.

   "You little......."    

       The explosion takes Ben off guard as glass as sharp as shrapnel fly across the room . The little lap top was going out with a literal bang.  Sparks shimmered throughout the room like glitter as it violently erupted, coming down softly like raindrops on Ben head. 
   It was like a baptism.  A rebirth into a life free of Bee Bee Ate and all the problems he caused.

          Wow  he thought , it will be strange not to have Bee Bee Ate watching my every move and commenting annoyingly on everything that was on T.V.

      Ben swept up the fragments of glass and wires.  He gave a solemn salute to the shards of glass as he dumped them with all the pomp and ceremony the little lap top deserved.

       Rey called not long after to tell him to come down at midnight .

    "You need to wear a red shirt." She informed him. He thought it odd  but if Rey asked for it there must be a very good reason.

      " And come hungry. I'm gonna feed you.  This food will have a special meaning." 

      Since when did food have a special meaning?  And why midnight on a full moon.

        Ben's imagination conjured up a cauldron and black spiders. Rats entrails and bat wings.

        Not very appetizing to say the least.  Well he might as well take a nap and ready himself for what was sure to be an interesting   night.   It will be very interesting indeed.

I would like to dedicate this chapter to CathyWC. She figured out the answer  to why I named the Chapter ' Humpty Dumpty.'  She made me think beyond even what I had  imagined. She and I  both love 'Outlander' and are history buffs. Especially the Tudor and the Middle Ages.  Thanks Cathy for your support . You rock!