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I met up with Emma at the Team Solid booth after her panel and she was hungry, so a group of us left the convention to eat. Nina and Lisa came along as well and the two of them along with Emma were chatting the whole time. I was genuinely so happy Emma was making fast friends with them, but I had to admit I felt a little left behind as they were bonding.
The rest of the day at the convention passed in a blur of panels, demos, and, of course, shopping. Emma and I got split up and I was fine with that. She had more panels she wanted to attend, while I didn’t really enjoy them that much and preferred to walk around the expo hall.
When the time came to get back to the hotel, I found Emma at a plushy vendor’s table buying one of every NLA plushie that they had. I ended up being the one to carry three large bags of plushies,while Emma carried the other two. And with that, we walked out of the convention.
It was on our walk back that I had to muster up all of my courage to ask her something very important. “I hope you’re getting hungry again because I might’ve gotten us a reservation at a restaurant for tonight,” I said, my voice trembling slightly despite my efforts. “It’s in two hours. And I want this to be our first official, official date. You know, fancy dinner, hotel room kind of date.”
Her eyes widened in surprise and for a moment I thought my heart might stop. Then she smiled and it felt like the sun had come out after a rainy day.
“You know, I should’ve expected this,” she chuckled. “Of course you wouldn’t pass up an opportunity like this. But I regret to tell you that I don’t think I have anything fancy to wear.”
“That’s not an issue. I packed a dress for you.”
We got ready, washed the sweat and grime of the convention off of us, and got dressed.
Emma was a little embarrassed that I had packed one of her dresses for her but she put it on, put on some makeup, and styled her hair into a sleek high ponytail.
Now that I think about it, she might’ve been embarrassed not from the fact that I packed the dress but which dress I had packed. But nonetheless, she looked absolutely gorgeous in the bright red cocktail dress and I couldn’t look away from her.
I felt like the luckiest guy in the world when she walked up to me and kissed my cheek under the pretext that she wanted to show me her bright red lipstick wouldn’t smudge. I was trulydisappointed it didn’t. Why wouldn’t I want a lipstick stain from my secret girlfriend on my face, showing off that I was hers.
And while she looked like that, I was dressed in the fancy suit Lauren made me buy right before I won my first Worlds title. I felt awkward being dressed like this, but the restaurant required it. I tried to tie my tie, even watched a YouTube video on it, but I couldn’t get it quite right and it ended up crooked.
“That’s the best it's going to get,” I mumbled and gave up, walking over to the door so Emma and I could leave.
“Uh-uh,” Emma took one look at the tie and walked me back to the hotel bed. “Sit. Let me do it.”
I obliged. She sat in my lap, much like she had earlier when putting in my contacts, carefully untied my tie, and raised the collar of my shirt to adjust it. “You look so handsome in the suit,” she said as she tied the knot. “I wonder if that’s your secret weapon to woo me.”
I chuckled. “I thought my gaming skills and my personality already did that.”
She smiled shyly when she was done with the tie and got up. I took a look in the mirror and saw she had done it perfectly.
And with that out of the way, we walked downstairs, asked the lobby to call us a taxi, and not long after we were at the restaurant.
I pulled out her chair for her and tried to do all the gentleman stuff which made her blush every time. The food was great, but the wine, though, was divine and it really loosened up my tongue.
“I can’t believe that it has been only two months since we first met. I still can’t believe I found my mystery girl from the cafe. You know, I was convinced for a while that you stole my heart that night.”
She blinked slowly, thinking about what I had said. “Did I?”
“A small part, maybe,” I admitted. “But I gave it to you willingly a few weeks later.”
“When?” She challenged.
“Movie night. The first one. I swear I’ve never found talking during a movie so endearing.”
She chuckled. “If we’re spilling the beans, I thought you were really attractive from the start. It was really hard to concentrate when you were coaching me. Hell, I thought you were kind of hot the first time I saw you. I was disappointed you hadn’t come over to flirt with me and you just wanted to talk at the cafe.”
“Well, I don’t usually go to a gaming cafe to pick up girls,” I said in my defense. “I doubt most girls want to be hit on while they’re trying to play.”
“Doesn’t stop most men,” Emma mumbled before clearing her throat. “Anyway, are you excited for tomorrow? You’re the first NLA player to get a lifetime achievement award from the pro league.”
“Yeah, I’m excited,” I sighed. “Please tell me you didn’t find my speech in my pocket, that would be embarrassing.”
“Wait, you’ll be doing an acceptance speech? Alex, that's awesome!” Emma exclaimed.
“Yeah, yeah. You’ll get to hear it tomorrow, now let’s pick a desert,” I said sliding the menu over to her.
