The Online HE Who Became MY Reality

CHAPTER 21: THE RED DOT

Copyright © 2014 by Ladylurve

 All rights reserved.

----

It was late when Eric came home that night. Although I was glad to be relieved from playing the consoler and counselor, I couldn’t help noticing how terrible Eric looked. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he always looked terrible. If he wasn’t my brother, I’d submit an entry on his behalf for the Best Troll Award of the Year or something. Come to think of it, I really should consider doing so regardless. But that look on his face tonight, I think it would be best to wait a few days before doing so. He just looked completely devastated! Good thing I care less.

My computer was still on but I was too tired to play Lifescape. Good thing I checked my screen before shutting it down though. Otherwise I would have missed a friend request on my MSN. It was from S3v, with a message:

Hope everything’s okay. I’m here now :-)

 

I smiled. Who knew simple message like that could make everything seemed normal again. Eric? Mom? Who? Life’s all good again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I was excited to go online the next day. Since mom’s staying with us for a few days (I hope), I had to put in more effort with my job hunt. Logging into MSN and Lifescape, I noticed S3v wasn’t online. I didn’t expect him to be online because it’s office hours but who knows what kind of hours he puts in as a carpenter. Woodworker? Wood engineer? Gosh, maybe we should get to know each other better in real life.

The knock on my door prompted me to quickly open another browser. Clicking profusely on a few website bookmarks for job advertisements before I turned my head around, I saw mom standing at my bedroom door. Smiling, she held up a mug and walked towards my desk.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” she said, kissing my forehead and placing the mug on my desk before continuing, “Hot cocoa, just the way you like it.”

I faked a smile. I absolutely hate hot cocoa. Mom’s the absolute worst at remembering anything.

“Drink it up before it gets cold. How’s the job hunt coming along? Any feedback?” She asked and sat on the edge of my bed.

“Why don’t you make your bed?” She quickly looked around in my room, her smile slowly faltering.

“Really, Ella. What a mess… You need to sort yourself out before anyone will hire you. Just look at the state of this room,” she nagged and started picking up my clothes on the floor. Then she quickly turned around to look at me, sitting at my desk.

“Well, drink up. I didn’t poison it. You’re always so paranoid!” She continued and moved closer, clothes in her hands. Instinctively, I edged my chair towards my computer, attempting to block my screen as much as possible. She switched my clothes to her left hand and ran her forefinger across my deck, then again across my monitor screen before inspecting it carefully. Her head moved closer towards her right forefinger.

“Well I’ll be… your workplace is spotless clean! Not even a teeny bit of dust.” She eyed me closely, egging me to provide her with some logical explanation.