As they entered the shop, she realized the store owner was in the middle of a role-playing game meeting. Her father left her to browse on her own.

She glanced at the meeting room sign and saw that the meeting would end in approximately two hours when the store closed. 

. She wouldn’t be able to say hi to Benito tonight, but the way she was feeling, maybe that was a good thing. 

The tall young clerk standing next to the cash register smiled at her, and without knowing why, she found herself smiling back at him. Some people have an easy-going smile. Benito always seems to know which people to hire to create a comfortable environment in the store. 

She herself had worked in the store during college during the summer and winter breaks. Her former fiancé, Adrian, had pursued her to apply for an internship and not waste her time in a small family-owned store. At that time, he made the correct arguments even though she was miserable during her internship. 

She shook her head, trying to shake away her thoughts.  

Browsing the shelves, she saw that the newest viral game was available for sale. It was around $7,000 just for the system,  but it was a fully immersive virtual game. Every person’s personality was analyzed, and every review was positive. She would still need to purchase the membership and a few additional add-ons. 

She checked her account; she had more than enough. She decided to walk away; no reasonable adult would spend that much money on a game, she thought. What would her mother say?

She found her dad browsing the used media section.

“Did you find anything, mija?” her father said.

“No, not really,” she replied.

“Well, I have a little surprise for you. Benito helped me pick it out,” he said. Of course, her dad would pull his old friend away from an important tournament, but Benito never seemed to mind. It had happened so many times that even the participants were used to it. 

“You didn’t have to get me anything, Dad. I have a job now”, she said.

“No matter how old you are, part of my job as a dad is to buy things for you from time to time ”, he said. 

“What did you get me?” she said.

“I notice you glancing at the game over there. It's the first time in months I've seen you smile”, he said. 

“Thank you, Dad,” she said.