Page 18 of Return on Love

I saw the testing team yesterday, and had said a quick hello to the HR team as well. There is just one person left, so I don’t think I should really call her a ‘team.’ But I’ve not met Nora.

“Who’s Nora?”

“She handles our social media and marketing. Would you like to meet her?”

“Of course.” After the product, social media and marketing are the next important thing for a business. Naturally, I’d like to meet her. With Ryan not here to cause any issues, I think it’ll be great.

“Cool. I’ll ask her to pop into your office as soon as she’s free.”

Giving Gabriel a thumbs-up I return to my office. I go through the list of games since Moore and try to understand why they worked or didn’t work. I peruse the files, and make comprehensive notes of each game’s features—comparison sheets of the users, age brackets that played it the most, region-specific user data. I’m studying one of the pivot tables I’ve made when I hear a knock.

A woman, my age, is standing by the door. She has piercings in her nose and ears and also in her navel. She’s dressed in a beige tank top and yellow trousers and white sneakers. A thick layer of kohl lines her eyes and she has a bright pink shade of lipstick. I wonder if she’s lost her way and give her a questioning glance.

“Hey,” she says, her face lighting up as she smiles. “I’m Nora. Gabs told me to come and meet you. Is this a good time? I can come later if you’re busy.”

A smile makes its way to my face. Her energy is infectious. I close the lid of my laptop and gesture for her to sit. “I desperately needed a break from that excel sheet. So, yeah, your timing’s perfect.”

She takes a seat opposite me. “Eva, right? I hear you’re here from the PE firm as a consultant. What exactly will you be consulting us about?” There is sincerity in her tone, which tells me her question is genuine and not meant as a gab.

“Hopefully, I can help the company chart out a path for a more profitable future. It can be through developing the right games, strategic partnerships, targeting the right customer, or even diversification. I don’t know. The options are endless. We just have to figure out what’ll work best for MooreGames.”

“That’s so cool. Currently, we’re targeting these young men through social media, other apps, and websites that talk of gaming. I’m working on partnering with some bloggers, YouTubers, and some avid gamers. You were at the party, right? I hope you met some of them.”

“You said you target young men. Why not women? You think women don’t play?”

“They do, but a lot of our stats show that women gamers are low in number, especially for the type of games we create. They’re mostly shooting games, y’know. I wanted to break that trend and have some women as our partners. I don’t know how much you know of this field, but there’s this YodaPrincess. She’s like super cool. She can beat the ass of any of these males in a second. I wanted her in, but I’ve no clue how to find her. Then there are a few more. I’m in touch with MagnaHulkness, LilyLakes and RosieCurie.” She pauses, nods and smiles. “We’ll get there. Don’t worry. Women power.”

Nora is active on social media, not only from the company’s accounts, but her personal ones as well. I can see she’s passionate about her job. We discuss her strategies for marketing. I’m not a marketing expert, but I can see she’s doing some good and creative work. She could be one reason the games, despite being average, are still being played.

“I’ll put you in touch with the marketing expert from our firm so he can analyze your strategy in a more comprehensive way. But I think you’re doing the best you can with the products you have.”

She gives me a slanted look. “You don’t like our games much, do you?”

I lean forward and whisper. “No. But don’t tell anyone.”

She bursts out laughing. “Thank God. I thought I was the only one.”

“Do you play often?” I ask, hoping to find another woman passionate about playing games.

She shakes her head. “Not really. Gaming is not my jam. I’ve played but only because I like to know what I’m marketing. I’d rather spend my time shopping, eating or just being out with friends.”

“So, how’re the people here?” I ask, thinking how much Lily would love her. I don’t want to ask about Ryan directly, but I hope this question will give me some insight.

“Gabs is great. I’ve known him for years. We both lived in Cambridge. Both our parents used to work there. We’re like the best buds. The coders are cool. They really broke the notion I had of ‘coders’,” she says, making air-apostrophes. “They really know how to party. You should see how they go berserk on a dance floor. They’re a fun bunch once you get to know them. And of course, they’re crazy about Ryan.”

I shift a little on my chair. “Really? Like crazy in a bad way?” I hope my tone doesn’t betray the hope.

“No. Why? Ryan’s the best. He’s obviously super intelligent, great at coding and awesome at gaming. His team will follow him to the end of the world. He’s a good boss.”

Are we talking about the same man? How does everyone end up liking him? He was popular in grad school; I get it. I believed it was primarily due to his looks. But here? They can’t all be crazy about him for his looks, though I wouldn’t be surprised if that played a part. I mean, have you seen that muscular frame and the square jaw?

“You were saying something?” Nora asked. Apparently, I’ve been opening and closing my lips like a gold fish. I shake my head, and she continues. “You know, the team’s blind faith in him is a great thing, but it comes with its problems. They don’t question his decisions enough. I was discussing this the other day with Gabs, and he agrees. We both know little about gaming, but these people do. I’m sure sometimes they can critique the game that Ryan suggests, but no one does, other than some minute things here and there.”

“Perhaps Ryan doesn’t enjoy being questioned. Perhaps he hasn’t made it a safe enough environment for people to question his decisions,” I reply, remembering my own tiffs with Weber, who doesn’t like anyone disagreeing with him.

Nora thinks for a moment, then shakes her head. “No. That’s not it. I’ve disagreed plenty with Ryan on social media strategy, and he never made me feel awkward. On the contrary, he was happy I countered his ideas. In the end, we came up with a mixture of both our ideas, and it’s working well for us.”

“Why doesn’t he have women coders on his team?” At this point, I’m desperate to find something that Nora doesn’t like about Ryan. I like Nora, and I hate it that she likes my nemesis. What’s worse is she not only likes him but also respects him.

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