Something had changed. Landry was bull-headed, certainly, but she was not typically this stubborn. It was a simple concept- all she needed to do was actually pull the trigger and hire this kid. The arcade needed help, and she couldn’t do everything alone. Try as she might… she just couldn’t get it all done. Not unless she wanted to go home at two am and be back to the arcade by six.

It was going to be the death of her.

Her focus was on the interactivity of the arcade. The life blood, the games, the feeling that kids and their families while here. Sometimes, that meant not working the bar. Sometimes that meant being in the back of the store, arguing with some jackass tryin’ to rip her off on a new game set. Yeah yeah, hah hah, silly little girl trying to order her a scary technological advancement. ********’ pricks could piss off, for all she cared. But it still had to be done.

Her first interview had been a sweet kid. Face of an angel, that Zac. But he had a job elsewhere, unfortunately.

So? The logical part of her mind argued. He’d been honest and upfront about it. But he needed money, and the kids who actually needed to pay for themselves tended to be better employees. More loving, more dedicated.

And ******** HIM. The arcade was her BABY. She had basically given birth to this place, built it from the ground up. It was as much her family as her actual family was. All of Landry’s blood, sweat and tears had mixed the cement and wood paneling for this place. It was hers, and some little ******** who didn’t wanna give the arcade his whole life was tryin’ to act like he REALLY cared about her baby.

Landry slammed the phone down, and stomped off.

Two hours later, Landry was back to the phone.

No, seriously. She needed to do this. It was important. Just because she didn’t like it, didn’t mean it wasn’t going to happen. Change came for everyone. He could help open and close the arcade, it was just a few switches. No big deal.

No big d— no no no no no no NO! It had to have love put into it! Again, the phone was slammed down. Landry growled at the thing, refusing to call the kid back. She could do it. She could manage the arcade just fine on her own, thank you very much. In fact, she was going to go right back to the front of the house RIGHT NOW.

Several hours later, and the arcade was only a quarter of the way properly cleaned. Once again, nearing two in the morning. She could… she could totally get this done. Taking a swig of her drink, she looked around.

Was it worth it? This self-imposed loneliness, to be the only one who touched her arcade? She couldn’t say for sure. At this point in time, miserable and worn, it didn’t feel like it.

Landry closed her eyes and sighed.

She would call Zac in the morning.