The Desire Variable | Rewrite

⸻ NINE ⸻

A week later, on Saturday evening, Tammy has people coming over for a game night. It's Dakota, Jay, Kat, a couple of other people from the office I haven't met yet, and romantic partners who don't work with us. It's a monthly tradition that's often hosted in our apartment, since it's wheelchair-friendly for Jay.

We're in charge of the food, and they'll come with alcohol. We don't overdo it, with nachos, guacamole, precooked finger food... It doesn't take us more than an hour, and that includes the trip to the store down the street.

Dakota arrives first with her girlfriend, Julia, who's a pretty brunette in a floral dress. After a quick chat with her, I learn she's a preschool teacher. One by one, Tammy's guests arrive, and the atmosphere quickly becomes jovial and light. Jay comes in with his date, and Kat is with her boyfriend. I also get to meet two coworkers I didn't know--Daryl and Soo-Hyun. The latter explains to me how she prefers to be called Soo, rather than have people mispronounce her name. They are in the same department as Dakota and Jay, in graphic design. Daryl's wife is also among us.

When I think everyone is already here, the doorbell chimes again. I'm closest to the door, so I go open it. The person standing behind it is a pleasant surprise I didn't expect.

"Hi, stranger," Oli greets me.

"Hi, you!" I step to the side so he can come in. "What a nice surprise."

"Yes, for me too! Tammy texted me this morning, asking if I'd like to join you guys for the evening. Apparently, you were an uneven number, and I had to even it out. So I ditched my plans and came."

We reach the living room, and I turn to Tammy, who suddenly looks away, pretending to not see us. Most dedicated wing woman ever. I return my attention to Oli. "I hope your plans weren't too important."

"Nah, my crew will have to do without me, is all."

"Call of Duty?"

"Yes. You play?"

"No, I quit video games a while ago. They were consuming everything else, so I had to make a choice."

"Ah, I see... You're a recovering addict."

"Exactly," I say with a soft giggle.

Now that everyone's here, we can start the games. We team up in pairs, and I immediately go with Oli. Our brain chemistry is off the charts, so we should beat them all. The living room is comfortably spacious for two people, but with twelve of us, it becomes a little clustered. The couch that's supposed to welcome three pairs of asses now has five on it, and I'm squished between Oli and the arm rest.

We do pretty great at miming, even though we don't always take the easiest road. Knowing ASL helps to some extent, and Tammy absolutely crushes it, sadly used to having to make people guess things with gestures.

It turns out Oli is terrible at drawing, so the design people obliterate us easily when we play pictionary on a whiteboard that Dakota came with. I laugh and laugh at Oli's attempts at drawing a Smurf, so much so that I'm incapacitated and can't answer before the clock runs out, even though I eventually guess. When he comes back to sit by me, defeated, I rest my head on his shoulder in a comforting way. We're losing, but at least we're having fun.