Nearly home, nearly home. It was almost a mantra as the thought repeatedly went through her mind. Round the corner... quick, quick. The mantra changed as she parked her scooter and took off her helmet. Keys, keys... she opened the front door to her small cottage, ran through the living room to the back door, simultaneously grabbing her laptop off the kitchen worktop and unlocking the door. Out in the garden she switched on the computer and sat down. Impatience reached the summit when a message flashed on screen demanding a restart due to an unexpected error. “Aargh, stupid old thing!” Making the best of a bad situation, she decided to nip to the toilet to avoid anymore interruptions.
Finally, online, she found the Planeet icon and clicked on it. Time to see if her virtual Mr oh so Right would be there. She’d only known him for a while. His user name was OldOak and his avatar was a dragon like creature she’d shared some adventures with and some really good conversations. They’d seen each other every day for the past fortnight. She tried not to be disappointed. She could see he wasn’t online, not yet. She’d just have to wait. Last time he didn’t enter Planeet until 9.22pm. Enough time to cook dinner or enjoy the sunshine or, Georgie sat upright, skype her sister in Australia. After all, her sister had given her her old laptop with build in camera so they could continue their chats while she spend six months working in the bush.
Tossing the keys on the side table, Phil kicked off his shoes. It had been a long day. He poured himself a drink and looked round his flat. Its extreme tidiness was testament to how little time he spend home and when he was home his work usually absorbed him. Looking outside through the window he could see his neighbour sitting in the kitchen with her laptop. She’s working too hard too he thought. She was one of the best account managers he had, but lately she just looked tired. Maybe he was setting impossible targets, maybe she didn’t enjoy her job anymore. Maybe a new company car would cheer her up. Maybe, horror struck, she was pregnant. He couldn’t afford to lose her, apart from being good at her job, he liked her. Besides, he thought, he’d never seen her at home with a guy. He had decided to get to the bottom of it and had called for a breakfast meeting early tomorrow morning.
He needed to eat something and then find a distraction. He glanced at his laptop. No, he’d made a resolution this morning. Online gaming was no longer an option. He had to be firm, this had become almost an obsession. PinkScooter79 was on his mind day and night. He’d liked to believe he’d found the woman of his dreams. Someone who made him laugh, someone he could talk with, confide in. Their friendship had taught him to be brave and no matter where he’d go he wouldn’t find a better prize. Well, he’d have move to Australia off course. He’d slowly fallen for a girl called PinkScooter79, whose avatar looked like Wonder Woman. Madness. Today he’d even asked the guys from IT to see if they could track down where she was from. Somehow one of them had been able to remotely log onto her PC and discovered the country settings as Australia. Realising she was miles and miles away, he had given up all hope of meeting her in real life and resolved to stop pursuing his fantasy of marrying Miss PinkScooter79. It was time to go. Time for OldOak to go away from the virtual world of Planeet. He sighed disappointedly, just his luck. He’d have to contend himself with a fantasy. Maybe it wasn’t so bad. All he had to do was close his eyes and they’d be together. No matter have far it seemed. At least that way he couldn’t get dumped and their love would last forever.
After a short distracted chat with her sister and hours of playing games she wasn’t really into, Georgie decided to call it a day. Maybe he’d be there tomorrow. Just as she moved the cursor to the sign out icon her heart skipped a beat. OldOak had just gone online. Shame it was too late, just too late to stay. She’d have to get up early again tomorrow. Meeting her boss, Phil, The Dinosaur – as he was nicknamed. A real workaholic, judging from the bags under his eyes he worked day and night. It made him look old and grumpy, which he wasn’t. She’d recently learned he was only a few years older than she was and she thought he had a wicked sense of humour. A message from OldOak flicked on screen: In never saw your smile. Georgie’s heart skipped a beat, she grinned and quickly typed How do you make an avatar smile?
Were Georgie and Phil to scratch the surface hard enough they’d know. Sometimes it’s hard to recognise and love comes as a surprise. Sometimes it remains an electric dream.
Human League – Electric Dreams
Songwriters: Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey
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