meeting people, not hiding away behind a video game.
Irritation shot through me. Who was he to tell me how I should be spending my time? I thought about ignoring him – he clearly had nothing of interest to say to me and I had better things to do than justify my lifestyle to him. I continued browsing the web, making a note of conferences and upcoming event dates. The message icon started flashing again.
Chris Knight: Sorry, did I offend you?
Chris Knight: I used to moan at Steven all the time for wasting his life playing video games. If he wasn’t doing his college work or working at the bar he was playing games. I just didn’t get it. I still don’t. But he seems to be making a living from it as, of course, do you. So who am I to judge?
Olivia Jones: You probably wonder why I would spend my weekend playing video games after spending all my week working on them?
Chris Knight: Well yes. Where’s the social life? You have to enjoy yourself too, can’t be working all the time.
Olivia Jones: I got into programming because I loved playing video games. I wanted to know how they worked and I wanted to create things that addressed all the complaints I had about other video games. But I still love playing them, and it’s hard to play a game you’ve created yourself; there is no excitement, no surprises, and no puzzles to solve. I spend my week working on a game and then I relax by playing something someone else created, I get the all-round experience.
Chris Knight: Sounds like something Steven would say! I guess you two are all-round video game nerds!
I smiled at that – partly I liked that he had thrown us together as a pair, but partly I liked that he understood our passion for video games.
Chris Knight: I do have one question though, if I may?
Olivia Jones: I assume I’m going to hate this question, the fact you’ve sought my permission to ask it. But go ahead.
Chris Knight: When was the last time you had a boyfriend or went on a date?
It took me a while to respond, not because I didn’t want to answer but because it had been such a long time that I’d been on a date it took me a while to remember.
Olivia Jones: My last relationship ended five years ago.
Was it really that long? What had I been doing with my time?
Chris Knight: Are you serious? Why? The men in London can’t be that bad?
Olivia Jones: I really like the way you assume it’s because I’m picky and not because there’s something wrong with me.
Chris Knight: Well I can see there is nothing wrong with you; you’re smart, you run your own business, successfully I might add, you seem to be quite witty, and your pictures suggest you’re very attractive. I should definitely say it is an error on the part of the male population that you haven’t been snapped up.
Olivia Jones: I suppose it would help if I didn’t stay home playing games and watching TV though.
Five years? It has been a long time.
Chris Knight: So the question now is: why? I don’t think it’s just because you’re too busy. Do you have to be that busy?
Olivia Jones: I guess when I first started my business I spent my days programming and my evenings trawling through business stuff. It was necessary, but now I spend my evenings watching TV because I like it and my weekends playing video games because I like it. I prefer staying in than going out.
Chris Knight: Aren’t you lonely though?
Olivia Jones: Well I have been thinking about getting a cat.
Chris Knight: So you are lonely then?
Olivia Jones: I don’t know, I didn’t think so. My best friend Ruth comes over a few nights a week, I’m not a total hermit.
Chris Knight: Well that’s a relief. So when was the last time you had sex, then?
What? I couldn’t believe he just asked that. I also couldn’t believe I was replying, but I knew the answer would be a shock and it made me giggle anticipating his reply.
Olivia Jones: About five-and-a-half years ago.
Chris Knight: How long were you with your
Irritation shot through me. Who was he to tell me how I should be spending my time? I thought about ignoring him – he clearly had nothing of interest to say to me and I had better things to do than justify my lifestyle to him. I continued browsing the web, making a note of conferences and upcoming event dates. The message icon started flashing again.
Chris Knight: Sorry, did I offend you?
Chris Knight: I used to moan at Steven all the time for wasting his life playing video games. If he wasn’t doing his college work or working at the bar he was playing games. I just didn’t get it. I still don’t. But he seems to be making a living from it as, of course, do you. So who am I to judge?
Olivia Jones: You probably wonder why I would spend my weekend playing video games after spending all my week working on them?
Chris Knight: Well yes. Where’s the social life? You have to enjoy yourself too, can’t be working all the time.
Olivia Jones: I got into programming because I loved playing video games. I wanted to know how they worked and I wanted to create things that addressed all the complaints I had about other video games. But I still love playing them, and it’s hard to play a game you’ve created yourself; there is no excitement, no surprises, and no puzzles to solve. I spend my week working on a game and then I relax by playing something someone else created, I get the all-round experience.
Chris Knight: Sounds like something Steven would say! I guess you two are all-round video game nerds!
I smiled at that – partly I liked that he had thrown us together as a pair, but partly I liked that he understood our passion for video games.
Chris Knight: I do have one question though, if I may?
Olivia Jones: I assume I’m going to hate this question, the fact you’ve sought my permission to ask it. But go ahead.
Chris Knight: When was the last time you had a boyfriend or went on a date?
It took me a while to respond, not because I didn’t want to answer but because it had been such a long time that I’d been on a date it took me a while to remember.
Olivia Jones: My last relationship ended five years ago.
Was it really that long? What had I been doing with my time?
Chris Knight: Are you serious? Why? The men in London can’t be that bad?
Olivia Jones: I really like the way you assume it’s because I’m picky and not because there’s something wrong with me.
Chris Knight: Well I can see there is nothing wrong with you; you’re smart, you run your own business, successfully I might add, you seem to be quite witty, and your pictures suggest you’re very attractive. I should definitely say it is an error on the part of the male population that you haven’t been snapped up.
Olivia Jones: I suppose it would help if I didn’t stay home playing games and watching TV though.
Five years? It has been a long time.
Chris Knight: So the question now is: why? I don’t think it’s just because you’re too busy. Do you have to be that busy?
Olivia Jones: I guess when I first started my business I spent my days programming and my evenings trawling through business stuff. It was necessary, but now I spend my evenings watching TV because I like it and my weekends playing video games because I like it. I prefer staying in than going out.
Chris Knight: Aren’t you lonely though?
Olivia Jones: Well I have been thinking about getting a cat.
Chris Knight: So you are lonely then?
Olivia Jones: I don’t know, I didn’t think so. My best friend Ruth comes over a few nights a week, I’m not a total hermit.
Chris Knight: Well that’s a relief. So when was the last time you had sex, then?
What? I couldn’t believe he just asked that. I also couldn’t believe I was replying, but I knew the answer would be a shock and it made me giggle anticipating his reply.
Olivia Jones: About five-and-a-half years ago.
Chris Knight: How long were you with your
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