Sidequest for Love by L.H. Cosway

“I look forward to tomorrow’s photo,” Afric said, a smile in her voice.

“Hey, I haven’t agreed—”

“Can’t hear you. The signal’s breaking up.” With that, she hung up. I shook my head. Why was I even humouring her? I was busy pondering this question when I realised Michaela was right next to me, a curious expression on her face.

“Okay, am I going mad, or did I just hear Afric’s voice on the other end of that phone call?” she asked.

“Pretty sure you’re going mad,” I said, shoving the phone in my pocket. Luckily, Leanne was on the other side of the park, waving me over. “Oh, looks like I’m wanted,” I said and quickly departed, though I sensed my co-worker’s suspicion as I walked away.





7.



Afric

“Okay, folks, I think you’re all gonna love this, especially those of you who have a soft spot for nostalgia,” I said as I started my evening stream. “I’ve decided that from henceforth, Fridays are now vintage themed, which means every Friday, I’ll be playing something from the nineties. I’ve managed to get my hands on a second-hand Sega Mega Drive, alongside a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog. Yes, that’s right. Get ready for some dancing with your gameplay because the soundtrack for this has some absolute bops on it!”

I fired up the game, the old-school “SEGA” theme tune filling my headphones. Sonic was one of the first games I’d ever played. My parents were too cheap to fork out for a new console, so I had to resort to playing my eldest brother’s beat-up old Sega when all my friends at school had Nintendos.

The music for Green Hill Zone came on, and I began humming along and bobbing my head as the little blue cartoon hedgehog ran across the 2D scenery, diligently collecting gold rings and bonus points.

Just like always, the comments began to roll in. I cast them a cursory glance, grinning when I spotted one that said, You need to make up lyrics to this music. I’m still laughing at your interpretation of Friends in Low Places.

And another.

Omg! What a blast from the past. I’m a 90’s kid so this is right up my alley.

Then there were the usual few unpleasant ones.

This game is shit. Turning off stream.

Show us your tits.

U r soooo ugly.

Negative comments like these were par for the course. My tough skin was primed for them. Still, when I was having a bad day or feeling particularly low, they sometimes managed to sneak past my defences. Today wasn’t one of those days. I was feeling good about myself, so the negative comments had no effect. Instead, I focused on the positive ones.

RosieTheLibrarian: This looks so fun! I think I might need to find a second-hand Sega for myself.

The name gave me pause. Neil had said that his sister was called Rosie, and it was certainly possible that she was a librarian. A small grin touched my lips as I gave her a shoutout.

“RosieTheLibrarian, if you live in London, you should try hitting up N1 Games on Baron Street. They’ll be able to sort you out.”

She wrote another comment.

RosieTheLibrarian: Thanks, I’ll try that!

I smiled to myself, wondering how Neil was doing over in New York. I’d requested he send me daily selfies, but since our phone call yesterday, I had yet to receive one. Then again, I was a few hours ahead of him.

Two hours later, I finished out my stream and headed into the kitchen to grab some dinner. The living area was empty, but I could hear Sarita and Mabel giggling over something in Sarita’s bedroom. They were probably cosied up in bed together watching funny videos.

As I poured some pasta into a pot, an uncommon feeling struck me. I almost felt … jealous of them. Every so often, a jolt of loneliness would hit me, and I’d contemplate re-entering the dating scene. Then I’d remember how much I enjoyed my sanity and think better of it.

Ever since Dev and I broke up, I went out to clubs or used Tinder to find a hook-up when the need arose. But what if I was missing out? What if there was some perfect man out there just waiting for me to find him while I was too busy having meaningless sex or sitting in my bedroom live streaming in my PJs?

When my food was ready, I sat down on the couch, scrolling through my phone as I ate. I was almost done eating when a message popped up from Neil, and I smiled. He’d sent a picture of himself standing in a park across the water from Manhattan, the iconic skyline in the background. Neil’s black-rimmed glasses sat perched on his nose, his white shirt buttoned all the way up, his hair neatly combed. He had an awkward grin on his face as he pointed a thumb over his shoulder to the skyscrapers behind him.

I swear he was too adorable for words. Also, his outfit was giving me serious Book of Mormon cast member vibes, and honestly? I wasn’t hating it. Seeing all those perfectly done-up buttons weirdly made my fingers itch to rip them open.

Last week, when Neil had accompanied me to the gaming sphere and we’d bumped into Dev, I’d been shocked (and a little bit thrilled) when he put his arm around my waist and pretended to be my new boyfriend. It was a kindness I hadn’t expected from him, and his closeness when he put his arm around me was a reminder of how much I’d been missing physical contact.

I pushed the thought aside and brought my attention back to my phone. Yesterday, when I’d requested a picture of the shoot and Neil sent me a selfie instead, I just about died from how cute he was. He could be uptight, but there was a refreshing lack of pretension about him that was incredibly endearing.