The Sky Above the Mountains

The Gamer

"Hi boss. <cough cough> I'm feeling under the weather today. I'm, uh, gonna take a sick day. Should be back in tomorrow."

There was no way Jim wanted to be the first person Amy saw when she got back to work. Jim thought that calling in sick was probably the best thing he could do to avoid the embarrassment of bumping Amy in such a sensitive place - at work no less! 

Jim knew what would cure his ills for today - a session of the shoot-em-up co-op game he rented. May as well, he thought, since I'm already late in returning it. 

Jim had played the previous game in the series, and he was happy to see that the team he was on in the previous title was all here for this one. Jim put on his headset and joined the team in a raid.

Amy. I'm sorry. I didn't see you. I didn't mean to offend you.

The team leader, a fellow who goes by the handle "Gunnar172", yelled through the headset. "JIMMER! COVERING FIRE! CAN'T YOU READ???" Startled, Jim dropped his controller right as the screen faded to red with a flashing "Objective Failed" message.

Each team member typed things that the console software rendered as four-asterisked words - that is, all except for Gunnar172. Gunnar's comments were, "Cut him some slack, boys. He just rented the game and probably isn't used to the new control setup. Maybe we can call it a night."

Even though they lived on two different continents, Jim had come to respect Gunnar's leadership abilities in the video-game world. He thought, "Maybe I just need to talk to someone. Let me see if I can private message Gunnar before he goes."

Jim wrote, "Hey Gunny! Before you go can I talk to you for a minute? Sorry about the squad tonight."

Gunnar responded, "Yeah, sure. My wrist hurts, so how about we put it in training mode so that we can use the audio headsets?"

Jim exited to the start screen and selected "Practice Range". He noticed Gunnar sign into "Sniper/Spotter" as the spotter, so Jim signed in as the sniper.

"So what's going on, Jimmer? Something big, I take it." Jim hesitated a bit. "Hey, Jimmer, look. I know that we only know each other from the game, but we've been playing a while. Ever wonder why I sign in as leader every time we play? I served in Desert Storm as a Gunnery Sergeant. I always wanna make sure that my boys are taken care of. I always told my squads that their heads need to be in the game, and if they aren't, I wanna know why. 

"Now, I don't know if you served or not, but I do know when something's up. I'm not gonna bite your head off. Whatever you tell me stays man-to-man. So, what's up?"

Jim started off slowly. "Gunnar, there's this girl I work with. She's great. I don't know how to take it to the next level though."

"Girl trouble, huh? Hey, take a shot at the target so this thing doesn't time out, will ya?" Jim hit the "fire" button on his controller. Strangely, the shot hit the target despite the fact that Jim didn't touch any other part of the controller.

"Nice shot Jimmer. You sure you just wanted to talk and not target practice?" Both men chuckled at the thought. "So does she know how you feel about her?"

Jim sighed, "Gunnar, I screwed up, man. We were in a staff meeting today, and when I sat back, I didn't see her and accidentally nudged her in the chest."

"Whoa there, partner! Coppin' a feel? Geez, what were ya thinking?" 

Jim replied, "No, no, I swear, it was an accident! She ran out before I could apologize. I skipped work today because I didn't want to face her."

Gunnar replied, "Ok, take another shot before it times us out. Then I got something you need to hear." Jim pressed the button again, this time missing the target wide left.

"Now, partner, I gotta tell ya, whatever is wrong, YOU have to be the one who makes a move to fix it. No matter how much egg you get on your face, man. If she's worth it, she'll know you didn't mean any harm. But YOU gotta be the one to try to apologize. YOU gotta make the effort. Try bringing a peace offering. She like chocolate? Get her something like that."

Jim took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess I knew that. I just have a hard time talking to girls, you know? Numbers are my thing. I balance spreadsheets all day."

Gunnar replied, "You have to make the first move. Hey, I gotta get going. It's almost dinnertime here and I need to make sure the wife knows that I'm taking her out to a new restaurant that just opened up. Hey, keep me posted, yeah?" Jim replied, "Thanks Gunnar. I guess I needed that. I'm gonna keep the game a couple extra days. You gonna be on later?"

"Yup," said Gunnar, "I play every night after dinner here. I got home early today, which is why you caught me when you did. Have a good night, bud."

"It's lunchtime here, but thanks. Take care, Gunnar."