AllFreeNovel
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We got into the car and as I drove to the furniture store, I couldn’t stop sneaking glances at her. She looked absolutely radiant and I was happy to see she was still wearing the clover necklace.
“So, what’s the plan for the room?” I asked as we turned into the parking lot of the store.
“I was thinking we could get a nice wooden desk, an ergonomic chair, and some shelves,” she replied. “And maybe some decorations to make it feel cozy.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “Let’s see what they have.”
Entering the store, we grabbed a map and a cart. Emma and I were quick to navigate through the place. We picked out a comfortable chair—which Emma had to spin in for two minutes so she could make up her mind, shelving units—so she could start collecting stuff, namely she wanted to collect all of the NLA character plushies and some fairy lights, along with a few plasticplants. Her excitement was infectious and I loved seeing her like this.
“Hey, what do you think of this?” Emma asked, pointing to one of the larger wooden desks.
I walked over and backed her up against the desk until she slid up to sit on the surface. I put my hand on her waist. “I think… It’s the perfect height,” I whispered and leaned down to kiss her.
When we pulled away she playfully punched my arm and got off the desk, jotted down the name of the model, and then pulled me in the direction of the restaurant.
I got the meatballs while Emma got the salmon. We found a corner and sat down to eat as the lunch crowd got bigger.
“So, have you spoken with Lauren yet to set up everything for your first stream tomorrow?” I asked, taking a bite of my meatballs.
“Yes. She is almost as good as you when it comes to talking me down from overthinking everything,” Emma replied. “I think we have everything settled and I think I can do it. Lauren told me I didn’t have to lean into anything more girly than my usual on stream with you which was a relief. She is very adamant for me to pick a lane and stick to it, though.”
“And what is the lane that you picked?” I asked.
She took a deep breath. “I think I want to stick to just playing the game. I don’t want to put on a show or try too hard to be funny, or pretty for that matter.”
I opened my mouth to protest, to tell her she was absolutely gorgeous no matter what, but she silenced me with a look and continued talking.
“I’m not going to start wearing pastel dresses and have pink LEDs on my setup or anything like that. As much as I adore that aesthetic I could never keep it up myself. I want it to just be me,dressed however I feel comfortable that day; my soon to be cluttered collector shelves in the background; me trash talking Challenger carries on mic and angering sexist pigs who think they are better than me.”
“That sounds like a great start,” I was finally allowed to speak. I felt proud of her. “Did Lauren also tell you about the convention coming up?”
Emma’s eyes dulled for a second before she nodded. “She did, but I don’t think I want to go. It’s in L.A., isn’t it?”
“Yeah. You have some more time to think about it,” I said, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand. “And I hope you reconsider because I want you there. I’ll be receiving a lifetime achievement award and I’m also planning a big announcement. I also have a fun surprise planned for you.”
Emma looked at me weird for a second but I wasn't going to spill my secret just yet.
With our stomachs full, we headed to the warehouse section of the store to pick up the flat-pack furniture.
“Do you have the measuring tape?” Emma asked, looking around.
“Yep, right here,” I said, pulling it out of my back pocket. We started measuring the desk, making sure it would fit on the narrow wall in the spare room.
Emma knelt down with the measuring tape and measured out the width. “Thirty-two inches,” she murmured, then removed the tape.
I jotted down the measurement. “Perfect, it’ll fit just right.”
Emma finished measuring the height and I saw the trajectory of her standing up and how she would hit her head on the sharp corner of the desk. I instinctively moved my hand to cover the edge just in time.
Emma’s head bumped gently against my fingers instead of the hard corner and she looked up, startled.
“Thanks, that would’ve hurt,” she said, embarrassed. Her cheeks were rosy for a second.
I wrapped my hand around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head, getting a waft of her strawberry shampoo. “You should be more careful, babe.”
She blushed even harder.
We loaded the cart with the flat-pack boxes—yes, I let Emma help; I couldn’t lift and angle the box with the desk by myself, paid at the cash register—it was Emma’s first big purchase after starting her contract with Team Solid, and struggled to fit everything into the back of my car. Thankfully, we were able to fit it in the end—thanks to Emma’s superior tetris abilities.
