Wind-Up Dolls and Holiday Hymns

2. Date Night

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mismatch; [noun] A bad or unsatisfactory match.

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2. Date Night

 RUSH HOUR HAD JUST ENDED, and the subways were practically deserted by the time Lily waited for her train excitedly, her hands in the pockets of her coat as she leaned back onto her heels eagerly. A man with a briefcase, a small group of students, and a couple of tourists stood around with her, minding their own business and entertaining themselves. Lily kept her headphones in and nodded along to her Christmas playlist, eager to get to Raymond's. 

Soon enough, the train arrived, and she didn't even bother sitting down as she grabbed onto a post for support and focussed all her attention on the door. She had already memorized the google map route, and Raymond, that cutie, had even filmed himself getting off the subway and walking up to his apartment so she knew exactly where to go. 

With a huff, she followed his directions up to his apartment building and gave the door three sharp knocks. A few seconds later, the door was opened by a sheepish looking Raymond in a hoodie and some skinny jeans. On his feet were some worn out gray socks, with a hole in his right big toe. Lily giggled at him. 

"Welcome," He invited her in, opening the door open for him. 

"Thanks." She laughed back, walking into the surprisingly neat apartment. Nothing looked very used; the kitchen was in perfect condition, the dining table was collecting dust, and the living room looked perfectly made and barren. She quirked her eyebrows up questioningly, but removed her boots and followed him into his bedroom. 

The set up was insane- a humongous flat screen TV was mounted on the wall across from his bed with every gaming counsel Lily knew of. A desk with multiple computer monitors on it was by the windowsill, and his built in closet on the wall across from it. Raymond returned to his desk chair and put his hand behind his neck, smiling up at Lily. "This is the den." He announced. 

"Sick," Lily breathed in amazement, staring at all the flashing lights and the various games that seemed to be playing simultaneously on the monitor. He patted his knee and Lily was shocked by the boldness of his actions. She took a seat and allowed him to wrap his arms around her to get a good grip on his controller. 

"What game do you feel like trying?" He asked, scrolling through a never ending list. 

She hesitated. Honestly, Lily sucked at practically every game other than puzzle ones. 

"What about this one?" she finally piped; his control had landed on some type of strategy game. He laughed and selected it, putting his headset back on and grabbing the control over her lap. 

She quirked an eyebrow. I thought I was supposed to be trying the game?

"You need to observe how its played first," he noted, almost as if he could read her mind. She nodded intently and focussed on the small, sword-wielding cartoon being displayed by the giant monitors. 

They sat together like this for a couple of hours- he would occasionally pass the controller over to her, but out of sheer intimidation she never held onto it for more than a few seconds. The sudden grumbling of her stomach was the only thing that could break the guy's concentration. 

"You hungry?" He asked, pausing the game and letting her get up to face him. "A bit." she sheepishly admitted, not wanting to put a burden on him. He grabbed for his keys and nodded over at the door. "Let's go get something to eat."