Hers for the Holidays

"Hey, are we running the dungeon or not?" Emily asked as she adjusted her headphones as she sat down at her computer, looking at the brightly lit screen. "We are, just waiting for the rest of the group. How's your day going?" Vincent asked as he watched his computer screen, his fingers tapping against his expensive gaming mouse. "Lame, Seth and I broke up," Emily said with a sigh. "Sorry to hear that, his loss. Em, you seem like a catch." Vincent said “No big deal, just sucks that it was before the holidays. Now I’ve got to go alone, yet again.” She said as they were interrupted as others from their guild joined the party. "Let's do this," Emily said with a smile ready to kill things in the graphic computer game she had been playing for over a year. She was glad to have finally found a guild that she felt comfortable with and that didn't turn into a bunch of mega-bros the moment they found out she was a female gamer. It was nice to just play the game and not worry about being hit on all the time. Her fingers moved rapidly across the keys, "Where's the healer, our tank is dying over here." She grumbled into her headset. "Chill Emily, I'm right here." The deep voice rumbled into her ears as she rained blow after blow with her short sword. “CJ, it’s about time.” She let out a sigh of relief as she watched the tank’s health increase. Emily tried not to think about what had happened earlier that day as she clicked the mouse launching another attack. Seth had shown up at her job she had happily taken a break from waiting tables, hoping to spend a few moments with him while they had a quick cup of coffee. They had only been dating for a few months and she enjoyed the short time that they had spent together, Emily had been planning to see if he wanted to join her in her trip home for the upcoming holiday. Thanksgiving with her parents and siblings had always been fun, but as everyone had started to grow up and get married it had become less of a joy to go home and more of a chore. The pitying looks, the hand patting her shoulder with the words, “You’ll meet someone eventually,” would ring in her ears for days. “I think we should see other people,” Seth words had startled her out of her thoughts and she looked up at him. “But, why?” Emily asked in shock, she thought things had been going well between them. Slow but okay between them, she didn’t understand. “I’m just not that into you.” He said with a shrug as he looked down at his coffee. “Okay,” Emily said looking away, she could feel tears welling in her eyes and didn’t want him to see her cry. “You’re just weird and you game too much.” He said before taking a sip of his coffee. “You smoke and it’s gross, but you don’t see me making a big deal out of your bad habits.” She said turning towards him her green tear-filled eyes flashing in anger. “I think I should go,” Seth said as he sat his coffee cup down and ran his hand through his short brown hair, his other hand trailing to his coat pocket to grab his pack of cigarettes and lighter. “Yeah, you should,” Emily said looking back out the window watching the sun shining outside. She wouldn’t let him see her cry nor was she planning on wasting many tears on him. “Earth to Em, you getting any of the loot?” CJ asked as her in annoyance, bringing her attention back to the game at hand. “Oh, yeah sorry. I want that emerald soul-binding amulet.” She said claiming her drop, it was a piece she had been searching for and was happy to collect. “Thanks for the run. I’m going to grab a bite to eat, I’ll be back later.” Vincent said before signing off after saying his goodbyes. “Thanks for running me through. I’m going AFK to go grab something to eat as well, I’ll be back on later this evening if anyone wants to do some more runs.” Emily said before logging out, she slipped her headset off and set it beside her mouse and stretched her arms above her head. She let out a long sigh as she spun around in her chair. She knew she should grab something to eat, but she really wasn’t hungry and she didn’t feel like going to the grocery store to restock her fridge. She knew she would hungry later though and it would suck when all the businesses were closed. She tapped her finger against her lips, hmmm pizza sounded good and now she wouldn’t have to skip the pineapple because Seth hadn’t liked pineapple on his pizza. There was no more Seth in her life for her to share the pizza with, that was okay. She would order a pineapple and pepperoni pizza and enjoy it, maybe eat away her feelings and work it off tomorrow at the gym in her apartment complex. Emily stood up and slipped on her black hoodie, she looked in the mirror as she tucked her long dark hair into the hood, she would place her order as she walked. It would give her some time to come up with a plan for the holidays, maybe she could use work as an excuse? If she used work as an excuse she’d be able to hide out in her apartment and play on her computer the entire time, she had already been approved for the time off of work. Maybe she would be able to go back in and let her boss know that she could work Thanksgiving instead. Emily let out a long sigh as she locked up her door and made her way down the stairs, and into the chilly evening air. She tucked her earbuds into her ears as she pulled her phone out, with the plan to put on one of her favorite Creepypasta narrators. His voice was delayed by an ad for a dating service, hmmm that was an idea. Maybe she could use one of the dating services to find someone to pretend to be her boyfriend for the holidays. She bit her lip as she thought about it the soothing sounds of the horror story filling her ears and soothing her nerves as she walked.