Simulated Love (2024)

Chapter 13

Elijah

After Chase got Alejandro's number that Saturday night, he became distant. He appeared unusually fixated on his phone. Our conversations became limited, and he would often excuse himself to go to his room to make or receive calls. The distance between us grew, and it was obvious that it was because of Alejandro.

Instead of spending quality time together, like watching TV or having lunch, he preferred the solitude of his room. It felt like he was avoiding me, treating me as an inconvenience in his life.

It was annoying to see him so detached, but I tried not to let it bother me.

I didn't care. At least he was out of my way for once.

The following Monday, we were back to work. The groundwork for the episode had been laid, but there were still loose ends. Our main focus was on tidying up loose ends, striving to make everything as perfect as possible.

Chase's desk overflowed with energy drink cans, tangled cables, and half-eaten protein bars. Ink marks from his paper sketch earlier stained the sleeve of his white hoodie. Not satisfied with a character's appearance, he prioritized fixing it that morning.

He was a perfectionist, obsessed with every detail. When he wasn't coding, he was play testing, tweaking animations, adjusting physics, and fine-tuning lighting effects. His fingers traced the contours of virtual settings, sculpting buildings and valleys with the precision of a sculptor.

It was nice to have someone as passionate as him working on the game with me.

When Chase would hit a creative roadblock, I would sit beside him and offer my support. Sometimes it was just giving him a second set of eyes and other times it was giving him that needed confidence.

Everything was going fine until Chase got a text. I looked over his shoulder and noticed Alejandro's name as I walked past him to grab a snack.

"What does he want?" I asked as I grabbed a bag of chips from the snack basket.

"To go out for lunch today."

I sat next to him. "You should go."

"What if I don't want to go?"

"Why wouldn't you? Aren't you this big hopeless romantic? Shit like this is cute to you."

"It is. I just think it's weird."

"Why?"

"I just would rather it be someone else."

"You just have to wait and feel him out. This isn't a fairy tale. You won't fall for him immediately, you know?"

"Yeah." He adjusted his glasses, and then he started biting on his nails. "Do you really think I should go for it?"

"Yeah. Why not?"

"Okay."

I figured he might have been too nervous to go on his lunch date. I just wasn't good at helping people out with stuff like that, but Maggie was.

I stood up. "I'll be back."

I went to the corner Maggie always liked to work by which was near the windows. She was typing away on her laptop when I approached her. I noticed the furrow in her brows and the tears building up in her eyes. 

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked.

"I don't think I'm getting the position. It just sucks because I really don't want to quit."

"Why do you say that?"

"I just have a feeling. I tried to talk to Theo earlier today, and he was very dismissive and he told me that they are pushing the announcement back by a week."