finding permanence

46: Sam

"Are you sure I shouldn't hide my medication?" Del asks.

"Nope. This is the final test for her. Can I put a small piece of tape to mark where it's filled to?" Del nods her head yes and I go to the bathroom to do so.

Anna and her boyfriend are coming over to see our apartment today. She wanted to see some of my designs for the video game and I thought it would be a good opportunity to meet Mike and see what he's about. "Plus, I don't think they'll stay very long. I'm just showing them a couple levels then we're going to grab lunch."

"Ok, I'm going to finish these dishes than go over to Scott's house. They should be back from practice by then."

"You don't want to meet my ex-druggie birth mom and her ex-addict boyfriend?" I tease her.

"While that sounds incredibly exciting, my clingy boyfriend would probably end up driving here if I didn't go see him. And you know that boy has got a big mouth. He'd probably take it upon himself to interrogate them." Scott is indeed opinionated and has no sense for personal business. She wipes her hands off with the kitchen towel. "Call me if anything happens. Call me immediately if they fail the test."

"Ok, if you see Max tell him to call his mom." He continues to push it off, always saying he'll do it later, but later comes and he makes an excuse not to call.

"He still hasn't?" I've complained to Del about feeling guilty about it. I know I shouldn't, but his mom is trying to make amends and Max doesn't want to because he's scared that she'll have some choice words about me.

I keep trying to tell him that I don't care what his mom thinks about me, that it won't change my feelings for him just because she doesn't like me.

He's a big family person and I think he's scared that them not accepting me will put a dent in our relationship. All of his worry is starting to rub off on me.

I watch Del drive off from our kitchen window and wait anxiously for Anna and Mike to arrive. My mom always says that watching a pot of water won't make it boil any faster, so I decide to busy myself. I open up my laptop and decide which levels to show them.

Getting lost in my work, I jump at the sound of the doorbell. When I answer, Mike is standing behind Anna like a scared little boy. "Hi Sam. This is Mike." She grabs his arm and forces him to stand at her side.

"Hi Anna. Hi Mike. Come on in."

I hone my attention into Mike. He's a tall lanky man with dark curls and skin that almost looks gray. I notice his shifty eyes that refuse to meet mine and the way he limps on his right leg.

We make our way to the dining room table and I start showing them my designs, explaining the purpose of our game and some of the psychology behind it.

Mike stays quiet, letting Anna do all the talking. Occasionally Anna will subtly elbow his side to which he'll grunt quietly and say, "Very nice," or something as equally vague.

"This is the last thing I'll show you before we go to lunch because I'm getting hungry," I say. That and I'm ready to put them to the test. I click to level 7, which is one of my favorites. Each level is set to a different theme, level 7 is sea life. "Getting the details on this whale was a pain in the ass." The digital whale is swimming across the screen.

"Well, all of this is very impressive Samantha. You should be very proud of your work," Anna says. "Right, Mike?" Mike looks up from his fingers that he was picking at.