AllFreeNovel
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Once we ended the stream, Alex sat back in his chair and sighed. “Another good stream. We had more average viewers than last night and nearly double what I used to pull before you joined. This is really working. Who could’ve thought!”
As I started to head out, Alex stopped me, dropping a hand onmy shoulder and pulling me back. “I completely forgot about the care package. Come,” he said, pointing to the box on his sofa.
“What's inside? Besides Red Bull,” I asked.
“Open it and see. It’s all for you,” he said and handed me a pair of scissors he snatched from the kitchen counter.
I sat on the couch and carefully began to cut through the tape that was holding the box shut. As I peeled back the flaps of the box, amid the packing peanuts I saw a smaller sleek black box inside and I immediately knew what it was.
“Alex, is this for real?” I gasped, my hands trembling. I set the box on the floor. It was a brand-new gaming laptop. I was pretty sure they didn’t have these at the stores yet.
“Yeah, it's for real. There's more too,” he said, pointing to the rest of the items in the box. “Team Solid wanted to get you set up with everything you might need.”
“I’ll surely have to give it back after the month is over, right?” I asked, still in shock.
“Nope, not at all. It’s all yours,” he said. “Believe me, this is nothing for my org. They won’t blink an eye. They probably found this all in the back of the storage room.”
I wasn’t going to fight it, then. I thanked Alex profusely and asked for an email so I could write a big thank you to the organization as well. It was the least I could do.
I then dug through the box some more and pulled out a gaming mouse, a stack of green Red Bull cans, the lime-flavored ones, and a few pieces of Team Solid merch clothing, including two red-and-black colored hoodies and a couple of T-shirts. I felt overwhelmed and so, so grateful. My mind was racing with how I was going to put these things to good use.
“This is, I don't even know what to say,” I said as I looked up at Alex.
“Don’t thank me, I didn’t do anything. It’s all my manager, Lauren, and my org,” he repeated. “I am just using you so I won’t fall off into obscurity by the time my hand recovers.”
If this is how he planned to use me, I had nothing against it.
We packed most things back into the box, only leaving the stack of cans and laptop out. Then he walked me back to his desk and showed me the earnings from the previous night’s stream. My eyes widened.
“I want to transfer your share,” he said, handing me his phone. “Write down your bank details here.”
I hesitated, feeling a knot of discomfort in my stomach. “I don’t know, Alex. It feels weird accepting money for this. Especially that much money. I’m just having fun.”
“You earned it,” he insisted. “The streams with you have brought in more viewers than before so you are clearly helping a lot. It’s only fair.”
I swallowed hard and nodded, typing in my details on his phone. “Okay, thanks.”
“No problem. You’ve earned it,” he repeated.
Alex then helped me carry all of the things Team Solid had sent me. He took the laptop and the cans, which were the bulk of the weight. He refused to let me take them even though I assured him I carried heavier things at work every day.
As he walked me home, my mind couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening. It felt surreal, like I was watching someone else’s life instead of my own.
I finally said goodbye to him when we got to my building and I carried all of the stuff upstairs by myself, despite his offer to take them up for me. I worked at a warehouse after all, I had enough strength to carry two boxes by myself.
When I got home, I went through the motions of putting awaymy new shiny gifts, checking my phone for messages, and going through my routine.
Just before I fell asleep that night, I got a notification from my bank. Alex had already transferred half the money to me. The amount was more than half of my monthly paycheck, for one night of streaming with him.
But as I lay in bed that night my thoughts kept drifting back to how fucking screwed I was. Because Alex was fucking distracting. Especially with his bright, never-faltering smile and positive attitude. This guy must’ve been the poster child for Positive Mental Attitude. He acted all shy and anxious at the café the other day but he really wasn’t. Once we were on his turf, I saw the change. He was calm and patient, guiding at times, but never overbearing. He asked questions, listened to my reasoning, and explained what I was doing wrong.
But as much as I was happy because of that, tears stung my eyes.
I couldn’t help but compare this to how my ex treated me three and a half years ago. It wasn’t too much to ask for, for someone to be patient and explain things to you without screaming at you that you were stupid and worthless. I’ve been plagued by my ex and the ghosts of his words for far too long. The memories of that miserable time clawed at me, threatening to pull me under. I mentally sealed shut the door to that part of my life and vowed never to open it again.
Chapter 6
Alex
