Gamer Girl (13 page)

Sarah nodded.

“Were you satisfied that you’d mentioned every good point they had, every advantage?”

“Yes.”

Eamon nodded his head. “I know. I read your evaluations. You were fair, and most of the people you had to let go today were good and valuable employees who will get a very good recommendation from us if they want one. You and I both know that Aaron will certainly recommend most of them as well. There just isn’t room in the organization for everyone.”

Sarah looked toward the windows. She was biting the inside
of her cheek to keep from showing emotion. Eamon waited. When Sarah did not respond, he said, “Look at me Sarah.” She faced him again. “You just did one of the most difficult things a boss has to do. You just let go people who did nothing wrong because you couldn’t afford them. And you did it well. Frankly, I wasn’t sure you could do it. But I’m glad you proved me wrong.” He got up and moved to the windows. “Now you need to pull your proposal for
Wickerworld
together. I’d like to see it Friday.”

“
May we have until Monday to present?” Sarah asked.

Eamon turned around. “
Why? Falling behind?”

“When I set up my plan, I didn’t know that I would lose a weekend to a convention. But—”

“Monday’s fine,” Eamon growled.

Sarah started to say something but
there was a sudden flash of light behind Eamon and the crash of thunder. Sarah ignored Eamon and came up to the window. “A thunderstorm. I think spring is finally on its way,” Sarah said, grateful for the distraction. “I used to dream about wild fires when I was stressed, but since I moved to Kansas City, I dream of tornados. Last night was a three-tornado dream.”

Sarah turned away from the window
and ran into Eamon. She had to grab him to get her balance back. He instinctively enveloped her in his arms, and for a moment they were chest to chest. Sarah took in a quick breath, her emotional barriers overwhelmed by his nearness.

Eamon
saw her unguarded expression, saw that she was defenseless, that she felt the physical pull just as he did and was helpless to hide what she felt. He was paralyzed as well, caught between his instincts, her vulnerability, and his sudden desire not to take advantage of her. Somehow, he made himself step back and drop his arms.

“Sorry,” they both murmured at the same time.

“I’m leaving,” Sarah managed to say as she turned away.

Eamon turned back to the window
and resolutely studied the dark sky. “See you tomorrow,
Miss Adams
.”

Sarah
ran from the office.
He’s your boss!
she reminded herself,
all he wants is a fuck!
She stopped at her desk and took deep breaths. She didn’t know how she was going to stand it.

Her attention was caught by the portfolio
Nicole had placed on the desk before leaving for the evening. Thankful to have something else to think about, Sarah took it along with her and went on home.

Once
Sarah was gone, Eamon sat down, rolled his hands over his head and neck and tried to settle down. His groin ached. Hell, he hadn’t even kissed her and he felt like a randy teenager.
He needed a booty call.
He decided.
She’s doing a great job for you. Haven’t you noticed?
Eamon rocketed between admiring the job she was doing and being pissed off that he couldn’t seem to get himself under control. He’d brought her on board to take the heat for any fallout from the takeover. But he was beginning to care about what she thought and how she felt. He didn’t like that; he didn’t like it at all, and he didn’t know what to do about it.

Sarah met with the
Wickerworld
team on Wednesday. The moment Sarah walked into the room, she could feel the hostility. It would have been easy to turn around and walk away, but Sarah wasn’t doing the easy thing these days.

“Okay, I get it. All of you are totally pissed off that so many people were let go yesterday, and you are wondering if it’s over
or if there are more layoffs in store.”

“That’s about right,” Brad said. He stood against the table’s edge with his arms crossed and a grim expression.

“Well, if we don’t present something that Mr. Byrne likes next Monday then there will be more layoffs. I’m not going to lie to you; this is a make or break deal. Gryphon had to pay more than they expected to acquire Rainwhite, a lot more. And they have to make that up one way or another. We have to give them something interesting and potentially profitable enough to warrant spending another chunk of cash to produce and market this DLC.”

“Why should we bother?” Tammy asked.

“Because this is the last chance you’ll have to make
Wickerworld
into what it could be,” Sarah reminded them.

“So tell me one thing. Did you have something to do with who stayed and who didn’t?” John asked.

Sarah nodded her head. “Yes, I did. I conducted the interviews. I gathered and evaluated the data. I didn’t set the bottom line, that was up to other people at Gryphon, but it was on the basis of my analysis that the decisions were made.”

John thought about it a moment. “
You’re honest. I’ll give you that. Okay. I’m in.”

Tammy,
Brad and James all nodded as well.

“Let’s get to work then.”

The group showed Sarah what they had. They were already far along in production and were able to show her an alpha test. The storyline was great, and it came in at level ten, which was early enough that players didn’t lose interest in the game but far enough along so that the quest line could be a challenge for those who were at a higher level.

Sarah read through the dialogue. It was bright, witty, funny in spots and romantic where needed. “This is really good,” Sarah told Tammy
. The DLC was set up so that the player could be male or female and could merely have a “best friend” companion or a romantic companion.

“Okay, I think this is something we can go with. Has anyone run the numbers? How much will it cost to complete production?”

The four of them looked at one another and then at her. “Oh crap! None of you have a clue as to what it’s going to cost to complete this do you.”

“Nope.”

“Ok. Well, that’s my job then. I’ll figure it out. Meanwhile, let’s go with this, dress it up as best you can.”

Sarah came back over to Gryphon and asked to see Martin. She had to wait a bit, but he soon brought her in to his office.

“What can I do for you, Sarah?” He asked.

“I need to work up an estimate of what it’s going to cost to finish production on a partially completed DLC. I don’t even know where to start. Can you point me in the right direction?”

“Is this for your presentation?”

“Yes.”

“So why don’t I do it then? Back in the day, I used to do it when Gryphon was a start up.”

“
Won’t you be tempted to run to Mr. Byrne with what you learn?” Sarah asked him.

Martin laughed at that. “I think I can contain mysel
f until Monday. I’ll be happy to run the numbers and let you make the presentation.”

“
Thanks. I’d love that, and if you’d show me what you’re doing, what you’re looking at, I’d really appreciate it.” 

Martin studied Sarah closely.
“You’re eager to do this. Why?” It was clear that the idea energized Sarah. She was alight with excitement.

“Why not? I love video games. Through some strange twist of fate, I’ve been given the chance to learn more about them than I ever hoped to know. I have a chan
ce to help create something wonderful. Learning how to analyze the numbers is a part of that,” Sarah explained.

Martin pulled up his calendar and looked through his appointments. “Okay then. I can join you and your crew on Friday at three. Let me see what you have and what you plan, and I will help you with your estimate.”

Sarah stood up. “Thank you.”

“Any time, Sarah.” Martin went back to his work.
He looked up once more at her. “I haven’t done this in awhile. It’s good for me to get my feet wet again. See you Friday.”

Sarah
left Martin’s office and went upstairs. As soon as she came through the door, Nicole came over to her and said, “So what do you think?”

Sarah pulled Nicole’s portfolio out of her tote and handed it to her. “You are a marvelous artist. Can I show you something?”

“Sure,” Nicole said.

Sarah pulled out some of the art for the DLC screen shots from the game “Can you look at these
, Nicole? I love most of the art in this game, but I want something unique. I have two female companions and two male companions who can have distinctive, original faces, and I’m just not seeing it with what we have now. If you will, have a look and see what you can come up with.”

“I’d love to,” Nicole said.
She looked quickly at the screen shots Sarah had given her. “I’ll work something up tonight and bring it in tomorrow.”

Sarah sat down and brought up her calendar, email and instant messaging. As soon as it was up a
nd running, an instant message from Eamon appeared.

Come to my office
.

Sarah went into Eamon’s office. Seated in one of his guest chairs was an incredibly stunning w
oman, dressed in a green Michael Kors dress. It was made out of a soft wool jersey and it clung to the woman’s perfect figure like second skin. Sarah guessed that she wasn’t a natural blonde, but she had a fantastic colorist. The woman’s eyes were brown, and they were fixed on Sarah with the same intense curiosity that Sarah felt.

“
Danielle, this is my project manager, Miss Adams.”

Sarah nodded and smiled. She did not trust herself to speak.

“Please sit, Miss Adams.” Eamon pointed to the chair.

Sarah sat
, but it was Danielle who spoke. “Eamon says you were the one who filled in for me at the charity dance. I wondered if you would pinch hit for me again. We have an engagement this Saturday, and I’ve had something come up. Would you go in my place?”

Sarah hesitated. She needed to be available to work with the DLC team. But she was also Eamon’s employee
. “We’re working on a project this weekend.”

Eamon spoke up. “I’ll take that into account. If you need more time on the deadline, I’ll give you some.”

“Okay, what time?” Sarah asked.

“I’ll send the car for you at
five thirty. There’s dinner and then the Opera.”

“Oh…is it formal?” Sarah asked.

Danielle nodded, “You can get away with a cocktail dress, but most women wear an evening gown.”

Sarah thought briefly. She would have to wear her Little Blue choir dress. It would be pretty plain, but at least it was long. “Okay. I’ll be glad to sub for you.”

“Great! Thanks,” Danielle said. She stood up. “I have to be going Eamon.”

Eamon came around the desk and embraced
Danielle and gave her a quick kiss. Sarah looked away. 

“It was pleasure to meet you, Sarah.”
Danielle held out her hand. Sarah stood up and shook it.

“Same here,” Sarah managed to say. She waited until
Danielle was gone and then she turned back to Eamon. “Was there anything else, sir?”

“Have a seat.”

Sarah sat back down, and Eamon started handing her papers. “I know you’re going to be gone Memorial Day weekend, but my family has an annual Fourth of July party. You’ll need to plan that event.” Eamon looked at his personal calendar. “You have a concert coming up with the Little Blue choir next month. Do I need to buy tickets?”

Sarah shook her head. “No, the concert is free, but donations are always welcome.”

“Good,” Eamon said. “Once I make a decision about the DLC, we’ll get with your director and plan a date where you can bring the choir in and record, okay?”

Sarah flashed him a look of gratitude. So, he hadn’t forgotten. “That’s great. Thank you, Mr. Byrne.”

“You are welcome. Now, get to work.”

Sarah
went to her desk. Thursday and Friday were crazy. Thursday morning, Nicole had a bunch of proposed hairstyles and face models on Sarah’s desk.

“These are brilliant
, Nicole. I’m going to propose them to the team. If we go with your ideas, get with John so that he can modify the programming to make face models as much like your concept as possible. Oh, and I’ll make sure your name rolls in the DLC credits,” Sarah promised.

Nicole beamed with delight. “Thanks. Really Sarah, thanks a lot!”

“No problem.” Sarah took the drawings and went to meet with the DLC team. After some initial reluctance, they agreed to pitch Nicole’s hairstyles and face models. Sarah ate a ten minute lunch and hightailed it over to the Gryphon building where she spent the afternoon working on Eamon’s personal calendar.  That evening, she had choir rehearsal and didn’t get home until ten thirty.

Friday morning, she went straight to the Rainwhite building to work on the DLC. Friday afternoon, she arrived at Gryphon to find a large box and two smaller boxes on her desk. There was a name of a very exclusive dress shop on the large box and a card lay on top.

Sarah opened the card.

Don’t even think of refusing. E.

Sarah opened the box. She gasped. Inside was an evening gown. She picked it up and studied it. It was a deep orange, strapless and sequined the entire length of the bodice. At the hip line the dress flared in layers of silk chiffon to the ground. Sarah reverently returned the gown to the box and opened the smaller ones. There were gold pumps and a small gold purse.

Nicole smiled mischievously. “It will probably fit like a glove, but you’d better t
ry it on with the shoes anyway, in case the hem is wrong.”

“Okay.” Sarah carried the gown and the shoes into the restroom.
Sarah slipped the gown over her head and stepped into the shoes. It was a perfect fit, absolutely a perfect fit. She walked back out to Nicole’s desk.

“So how did they do this? The gown fits
perfectly”

“Te
chnology, Sarah.” Nicole pointed upward. “There are security cameras in the lobby, in the work areas in the elevator corridors. We have cameras all over this building. Combine all those pictures, run them through some software and we can tell the length of your inseam, the size of your shoes, your bra size—”

“Stop! So that’s how—”

“Yep.”

“Okay. I’m going to go change now. She started toward the restroom, stopped and turned back toward Nicole. “There aren’t cameras in the rest—”

“No, no. Nope. They are totally clean, I swear, and believe me I check regularly,” Nicole told her.

Sarah heaved a sigh of relief and went to change. When Eamon had her come into the office later, she noted that he didn’t ask about the gown. But then, she thought sourly, he’d probably watched her model the gown.

At three,
Sarah met with Martin, gave him access to the DLC wiki, and together they went over everything, piece by piece. As Martin showed her how to estimate the costs, Sarah started creating a spreadsheet. They worked together until almost seven.

“That’s about it, Sarah. I think you get the idea now. Tweak it over the weekend and you should be good to go come Monday,” Martin finished.

“So, what do you think?” Sarah asked.

Martin leaned back in his office chair, and for a moment he was somewhere else. Then he leaned forward. “It’s a great idea. But even with all the work that had been done before we acquired Rainwhite, we’re stil
l going to have to put another two and a half million into it to finish development and market it. I just don’t know if it’s worth it given the lackluster sales on the original game.”

Sarah stood up. “But don’t you see how this could change everything? With the right ma
rketing…if we can get just half of the original players to buy the DLC, we should break even. Anything over that is gravy. And if it works, you could box a premium set that includes the DLC in time for next Christmas.”

“Half
is a big number Sarah, a really big number.”

Sarah
put both hands on Martin’s desk. “I checked the stats. There is a solid base of players for this game. Thirty percent of them are still playing the vanilla version. That’s a nice chunk of people who are devoted to the title. We give them a DLC, especially one as economically priced as we can make this one, and a lot of them will come on board.”

“I give you that, Sarah.
Make sure to tell Eamon that when you talk to him come Monday. But it’s still two and a half million. And we have our big rollout in
Mirrored Nation: Reflections
in eight months. If that doesn’t go as we hope…”