Page 157 of Choosing You

“Do you like video games?” Garret asks.

“I don’t know. I’ve never played any.”

“Then I’ll have to teach you. We have all the game systems and tons of games.”

“What’s with those chairs?”

“You sit in those to play the games. They have speakers in them.”

“Seriously?” I sit in the goofy chair. “This is so great. Look at all the stuff we could do. Play pool. Pinball. Watch a movie.”

“Come on. We’re not done with the tour yet.” He takes me farther down the hall where there’s an indoor basketball court and a large indoor pool. They also have an outdoor pool.

“I can’t believe you never told me about any of this.”

“I don’t like to brag about shit. Besides, it’s just stuff. It doesn’t make you happy. I tell myself that all the time so I don’t end up like my dad. He’s obsessed with making money. It’s never enough. That’s what happens. You have all this, but then you want more. So then you have to find ways to make even more money to buy more stuff. I don’t want to live that way. I’ve watched my dad all these years. He has all this but he’s not happy.”

We head back over to the other side of the house. “Now that you’ve had the tour, do you want to go somewhere?”

“Why would we go somewhere? We have everything we need right here. I don’t know what to do first. Can we watch a movie?” I sound overly excited again but I can’t help it. The guy has a freaking movie theater and an arcade in his house!

“Sure. We can watch whatever you want.”

I hug him. I don’t know why. It’s the excitement thing again. “Can we make popcorn?”

He laughs. “Yes, but I might need Charles’ help. I can’t remember how to use the machine. Let’s go to the kitchen.”

The kitchen is enormous. It’s more like a commercial kitchen than a home kitchen. It has two stainless steel oversized refrigerators and three big wall ovens and the biggest stove I’ve ever seen.

“Charles, this is Jade. The one you’ve been waiting to cook for.”

A nice-looking, gray-haired older man in a chef’s coat comes over to shake my hand. “Jade, I hope you’re hungry. Garret told me what you like, but if you have any special requests just let me know.”

“Oh, no. I don’t want you to go to any trouble. Really. I eat anything.”

“Garret said you love potato chips.” Charles goes over to a cabinet and pulls out a bowl. Instead of getting a bag of chips, he pulls out a covered container.

“Did you make those?” I ask him as he pours the potato chips into a bowl.

He seems confused by the question. “Yes. Why?”

“I’ve never had homemade potato chips.” I bite into a chip. It actually tastes like a potato, unlike the bagged chips I normally eat that just taste like salt. “These are so good. Garret, I’m eating homemade potato chips!”

Garret gives a look to Charles who smiles back at him. Garret must’ve warned him about my tendency to get excited over little things.

After our potato chip snack, we watch a movie in the theater room. Charles makes the popcorn and watches with us for a few minutes, then goes back to the kitchen to prep tomorrow’s dinner.

When the first movie ends, I insist we watch another one. I could sit in there for days and watch movies. After the second one, we have dinner and Garret asks Charles to join us. I’m sure Charles isn’t normally allowed to eat with his employer but Garret doesn’t care. And I like Charles. I don’t want him eating by himself.

Garret and I play video games after dinner. I’m actually not too bad for someone who hasn’t played before. Garret’s way better, of course, even though he claims he hasn’t played since last summer.

Around 11, I go to my bedroom and Garret goes to his. The bathroom in my room is huge. There’s a massive bathtub and walk-in shower. I take a quick shower to test it out, then get into bed.

I’m not used to a queen-size bed. It seems gigantic. I’ve always had a twin bed. I toss and turn trying to get comfortable. By midnight, I can’t take it anymore. I get up and walk quietly down the hall to Garret’s room. He has a small light on in the bathroom which helps me find my way to his bed.

“Garret,” I whisper as I tiptoe closer. He doesn’t answer. It sounds like he’s sleeping. I sneak under the covers, trying not to wake him.

The bed moves as he rolls over. “Jade?”

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