Liv came to work at the movie theatre. She clocked on and set up the box office. Fixing the stanchions, counting the till, grabbing a walkie, finishing with switching on of the showtimes screen that hovered against the glass of her window. She sighed and forced a smile as the first customer came in but her eyes drifted to the sign that said "no discount day".
The day was like every other. Angry customers. Name calling. Long periods of time with in isolation. All while she could hear her co-worker's voices just outside talking and laughing. A wall between them. None of her young fellow employees came to speak to her. And if they needed to come to the box they left in a hurry to go back to their friends. She looked at the clock and huffed softly in discontent. Looking back a moment later to see it change one minute. The faintest of smiles touched her lips.
Going to the store she grabbed enough for one. The smallest milk, the single serving food, and the large tub of ice cream. She debated in her head the pros and cons of rocky road or cookie dough. A ways down from her was a woman with a cart. A man came around the corner and kissed the woman on the cheek before kissing her lips. The woman giggled and kissed him again then again. Liv looked away and left the aisle.
Coming home she grabbed the bags and made her way to the door. A small package was on the porch for her. Using her foot to push open the door she placed her groceries on the table and went back for the box that was scarcely the size of a baseball. It said it was from her mother. The box was clearly from Mottz Bottz which it's sleek white box and fancy font and she wanted nothing to do with it. Tossing it aside she put away her groceries and made a small dinner. Eating it and watching tv. Putting her dishes in the sink she unwrapped a box with a single cupcake. Poking a candle into it she sighed. Looking at a picture on the fridge, Liv was in the picture smiling with a man kissing her cheek. She looked back and blew out the candle.
Laying in bed the room was a dark void surrounding the glow of her phone. Liv was looking at it thumb scrolling through social media, looking at the people she graduated with. Happy, beautiful people with husbands or wives and kids on the way or already there. Her heart hurt and tugged, a tear forming in her eye. She typed in her ex's name and hesitated on the button. There he was...happy with his ex wife... Putting her phone down the blue light dims then vanishes. The tears falling in the dark and quiet shuddering sobs filling the silence void.
The next morning as Liv was watching tv in her pajamas when there was a knock at her door. Scrunching her brow she got up and answered. A bubbly looking blonde girl smiled. "Hey Livie!"
"Hey?" she asked not in the way that she didn't know the girl but more she didn't remember inviting her over.
"Oh my god! Why aren't you dressed?" The woman asked pushing into the house without invitation. Liv took a step back, letting her, despite the fact she didn't want to leave the house.
"Dressed for what?" Liv asked.
"We're hitting the club for your birthday!"
"Lana...that was yesterday." Liv corrected.
"Oh but I worked yesterday so let's get dressed and get our drink on! Besides Thursday is not a club day. So we're going tonight. Getting you birthday laid! YAY!"
"Yay…" Liv mimicked with a lack of enthusiasm.
What followed was a barrage of painful makeover pieces. Pulling and burning of Liv's short blonde hair in order to curl it, painting her face in pounds of makeup that made her feel like Nic Cage in Face/Off and a slew of tight outfits that made Liv feel worse and worse about herself. Before she could find an excuse to get out of the night she was at a club with strobing colored lights and pounding bass. Inside Lana ordered two drinks and went away but Liv leaned in and told the bartender to make her drink a virgin or coke. He nodded and she smiled softly.
Liv never understood why Lana brought her. This sweaty loud assortment of aggressively horny men and women grinding on each other in a grotesque display of bad decisions was not what she called her "scene". She didn't like to dance, she didn't care for alcohol and no men came to talk to her no matter how fake happy and ditzy she looked. However just as she considered the men a man came to her.
"Hey could I buy you a drink?" He asked slouching into the table and drawing closer than Liv would like. He was tall, with dark hair that looked like it got more love and attention than he gave his mom. The smell of his body spray greeted her nose as subtly as punch in the face with golf club.
"Um sure...I'm not drinking tonight though..." she admitted and waited for him to leave. If a girl wasn't drunk enough to forget her own name that meant some miniscule level of commitment and these frat boys wanted none of that.
"Oh DD for your friends? That's cute," he smiled and took a sip of his beer.
"Not really," she said bluntly.
"So what do you?" He asked.
"Customer service unfortunately...you?" She replied hoping that was what he was asking the music was so loud she couldn't exactly hear over this techno squealing people called music nowadays.
"Oh that sucks. I'm executive corporate analysis. Boring I know."
"Nah. You get to wear a suit though," she smiled feeling herself inwardly cringe.
"That I do. What's your name sweetheart?"
"Liv."
"Short for?"
"Olivia."
"Pretty." he smiled at her and she felt that tingle of excitement, maybe she would get birthday laid.
The guy talked for a bit longer. Covering subjects like her awful job and his hobbies. The state of music and overuse of tech. Most importantly how hard it was to get other girls away from their phones long enough to have a proper conversation. He talked about he liked a girl who had depth and brought something to the table in conversation. She began to like this guy. Nothing to call her mom about but maybe a one night stand? God how long had it been? Probably since the last time with her ex...shit he was speaking!
"So your friend...?"
"What about her?"
"Is she single?"
Liv's heart dropped and she felt the squeeze of embarrassment. Of course he wasn't after her... Not with Lana here. All of this was a lie...the last 20 minutes was stupid lie...She rolled her eyes and left the table. Grabbing her purse in the motion to leave and resisting the urge to hit him with it.
"C'mon sweetheart! Hook a brother up!" He called after her, "you're cute! You can join if you want!"
Lana was hammered when the club closed and Liv took her home. Making sure to put a bucket by her bed, a sandwich wrapped up next to the bed on the side table, along with a glass of water and aspirin. Going home she washed the makeup off and changed. Exhaling heavily at the sight of her with the remaining mascara surrounding her eyes. Grabbing a string cheese and eating it in its proper method, in one tiny strand at a time. Her eyes went from her phone and all the posts Lana had made throughout the night to the small box on the table. Her eyes lingered on it for a long moment. Reaching out she took hold of the box and opened it. Inside was a note from her mother. "Get over him already" it read. She crumpled it and tossed it aside. Turning the box over so a small velvet ring box fell on to the table a thud that seemed to echo in her small home. She opened the box to see a silver ring with a vibrant blue jewel. Above it was a pair of earbuds. Reluctantly she put the earbuds in then slid the ring on. It made a whirring noise as the ring sized to her finger and a voice popped into her head.
"Ello?" it said, male and English. Why she ever told her mother she was a sucker for an English accent she'll never know.
"H-hello..." She replied quietly.
"Who is this I have the pleasure of speaking to?"
"Olivia Holmes...I mean Liv..." she said quietly.
"Ello Liv I am...Nigel. Yeah Nigel, rather dashing name if I do say so myself." He replied.
She scoffed, "You had to think about your name?" .
"Yes you would too if you just came into existence in the last 30 seconds."
"I guess you're right. So hi Nigel...um...how is this suppose to work?" Liv asked giving a broad gesture to the room around her.
"Well I am a very basic bot. A gift for you."
"What am I supposed to do?" she asked.
"In blunt terms, I keep you company. Did something happen to you to make you form a general dislike for human company?"
Liv laughed a bit running a hand through her hair, "You could said that..."
"Well I am here to make you feel less lonely."
"You were sent to me to make sure I don't slit my fucking wrists and end it..."
"Please. No one is worth that much." He spoke softly, "Darling a fuck up is a fuck up no matter what. Your life is precious. Whatever he did to fuck up he doesn't deserve your thoughts… are you considering harming yourself?"
"Thought this what she sent you for..." she scoffed a bit going to take off the ring.
"No! Please give me a chance!" Nigel shouted.
"Why?"
"Because...I'm basic...I'm not updated I'm not fancy but I can try to make you happy again please just let me try...I know I can…"
Liv stopped and let a long sigh, "Fine...how long do I have to return you?"
"One week."