Awkward Silence

“You’re…you’re Kaylee?” Dithers asked the surprisingly attractive woman in front of him. He’d always known people doctored up their physical appearance in games, making their fantasy life more perfect in their representation. But what surprised Dithers was that the Kaylee in front of him appealed to a very different part of him than the Kaylee in the game. She flashed him a grin and shrugged, “Yeah, y’know, exercise mode while playing and all that, right?” He nodded and realized that most people were probably in shape these days just because there was no reason not to turn on such a feature. Kaylee glanced around and studied the menu for a minute. “I’m ready to order,” she said. Dithers shook his head and explained that they had to wait until the waitress came back with the appetizers. She frowned in a way Dithers liked and checked her watch. “So, what do you do for a living?” he asked. She blinked and took a while to answer, as if she had never really had to think about it before. “I…I crop photos for a magazine. You know, make sure just the right section is marked out in the image,” she said expressionlessly. It was odd, in the game Dithers had always thought she was much more funny. Had more charisma than now. Dithers wasn’t particularly used to discussion in restaurants either, so a remarkably long silence ensued as they both waited for the waitress to return. She did not. Dithers finally broke their individual quiet in the loud room by asking, “So…how’s the game?” Kaylee’s face lit up, her eyes sparkled, and the words began to pour out of her mouth with the charisma that had been absent moments earlier.