Page 35 of Return on Love

“Good to know. Any suggestions you have for me?” I ask, still trying to give him an opportunity to redeem himself.

“Nah. I’m sure you’re on top of everything.”

While I’m debating whether to confront him about meeting Ryan behind my back, he says, “I gotta go now. Talk to you later,” and disconnects without another word.

So, Neil’s company is on track to getting the funds. Then why is Weber spending time with Ryan? Perhaps he thinks MooreGames has potential, but that I can’t do a good job. But why would he think that? I’ve been one of the outstanding performers. I know he knows it despite what he says to Bernard and others. And he had specifically asked for me to join his team. I was quite happy with Bernard, but he pulled strings to get me on his team. And now he’s behaving like I’m a useless piece of chattel. Could Ryan have poisoned his mind against me?

I storm into the office. I don’t even smile at the guard. Ryan is in one of the meeting rooms, discussing something with his team of coders. His face looks strained and tired. He was probably working through the weekend, but so was I. I push open the door and barge inside without even knocking. This is my deal, and I will not let him derail it.

Ryan’s face takes that consternated look again as soon as he sees me. He doesn’t seem to have shaved for the last one or two days. I hate to admit, but the rugged look seems to suit him. The others, too, appear weary, as if they’ve been here for some time. I'm surprised to see even Steve back at work.

My eyes stop as they reach the board, where Ryan had been writing something, presumably the new games. But I’m shocked to see it. It’s the same old game. Minor changes. Nothing about what we discussed last week. All those ideas he and the team were seemingly so excited about. All a farce. He’s still continuing with his old plan. The jerk!

It was all simply an act in front of me. He had no intention of using those ideas. How did I even think that His Royal Highness would deign to think me capable of good ideas? This is exactly how he treated me back in grad school. As part of the course, we had to discuss the books we read. He would question, argue, and take part in everyone’s discussion but mine. Many students took that course as an easy way to earn credits. He was one of the few who showed genuine interest in the course, and without his participation, the discussions were almost non-existent, just like my presentations. But now, I’ve had just about enough of it.

“I need to talk to you. Right Now,” I say, barely controlling my wrath.

He just nods. “You guys carry on. I’ll be back in some time,” he says and walks past me to his office.

This time, if I walk fast, I can almost match his gait. Yay, sneakers. We enter his office, and he shuts the door behind me. My strategy is to attack him before he can say anything. I don’t want him to sweet-talk me into believing a word of his nonsense again.

“Do you know when the partner’s meeting is scheduled?” I don’t want to give away that I know it, but if he doesn’t, I can’t tell him myself since no one has informed me officially.

He nods. “Yeah. Weber told me during the call on Friday.” Hearing Weber’s name, my face heats up in anger. “But you’d already left the office and missed the call.”

I can’t believe that he’s trying to put this on me.

“He told me your firm is rescheduling the meeting. It’s in three weeks,” he continues.

His voice is calm, matter of fact, but his eyes show a tinge of anger and resentment. My face, however, is on fire. It’s so hot you could actually cook an omelet on it. I continue to stare at him as his gaze settles on mine. Did he think I wouldn’t get to know of his betrayal? He really thought me that stupid?

He sits down in his chair and motions for me to take the seat opposite him, but I’m too angry to sit down. He continues after a bit. “Since you didn’t join the meeting, I discussed the new ideas with him. He told me there's no time to change the strategy. In fact he strongly opposed it. His suggestion was that our best chance of funding was if we continue what we know and present it in the meeting. Why didn’t you tell us about it? Why didn’t you join the call?”

“Well, I can join it only if I know about it,” I scoff. I take a few deep breaths. I'm not a fan of this sneaky behavior. “It seems you don’t really need me. You and Weber have got it handled between the two of you. So, I’ll leave you both to it. I think I’ve only been wasting my time here.”

Not a word escapes from Ryan’s lips. Nothing to contradict what I just said. That clearly means he agrees with it. The bugger. And I thought he wasn’t as bad. He isn’t. He’s much worse.

I walk to the door and then turn around. I have to tell him. “You’ve been nothing but rude to me since the day our paths crossed. Maybe you just hate my face, or my personality, or everything about me. And that’s okay. But this time, you’ve gone too far. Pretending that you like my ideas while hating them. Why?”

“But I …”

I’m not finished. I can’t let him speak in that deep voice of his, or I won’t be able to get it all off my chest. “You didn’t think I’m worthy of testing your app back in grad school. And now you don’t think my ideas are good enough. Well, tell you what? Weber might get you the funds. I don’t know. But this game will not make you successful. It sucks. And if you don’t know it, you suck too. If I were a partner in my firm, I’d never fund MooreGames if these games are all you can come up with.”

He’s still staring, but his expressions have changed. Is that the look of hurt? I hope so. It feels good to say what I feel for a change, rather than keeping it all inside, so I go on. “I thought we connected over the past week. I thought we were over our grad school hate-relationship. Hell, I even thought I liked you. Foolish me. Couldn’t see that you were merely playing me. To think I had a crush on you in grad school before I knew the real you. Just the thought makes me want to vomit. I hope I never see you again.”

I walk out and try to bang the door, but of course, it doesn’t and spoils the exit I’d planned. As I reach the street, I feel strangely light. I stop by at a café and take my own sweet time to finish the coffee and a blueberry muffin. I decide to take the next morning’s flight back to LA. I don’t know how I’ll explain my presence to my firm. To Weber. Maybe I don’t have to. His Royal Highness would already have tattled against me to my boss by then, if he hasn’t already done it. A more likely scenario is that tomorrow could be my last day in my firm.

I go home, or what is my home, for one more day. I call up Lily and tell her what I’ve done. She’s surprisingly calm about it all. “Did you even hear what I just told you? I told him what I feel, without getting all emotional and stuff. It’s a big thing for me. Too big, I think, because now I could get fired. And then what’ll Dad say? I told you so. That’s what he’ll say. Or his looks, at least.”

Lily replies in a whisper. Her voice comes as if she’s in a confined space. “There’s some major politics going on in office right now, Eva. I don’t think it’s a time to ruffle feathers. I saw Bernard this morning. He was with some Senior Partners, and they all seemed worried and angry at Bernard. I’ve never seen Bernard so tensed. Even Gordon is not his usual self. I’m telling you. I think it’s much bigger than just the MooreGames deal.”

“What d’ya mean?” I’m concerned about Bernard. He’s been the best mentor anyone could ask for. In fact, for me, he has been more of a father than my own dad.

“I think Priscilla has something to do with it.”

“Priscilla? Why do you think so?” That woman could cause trouble anywhere, I tell you. The way she wiggled her way into our firm, and is on her to partnership, doesn’t speak highly of her financial skills but definitely about her political skills. Maybe if she ran for President, she could become the first female President of our country. Though, what would happen to the nation after that would be anyone’s guess.

“Just some rumors. I’ll keep you in the loop. But it would be best to remain in Boston for now. Your coming back might look even worse for Bernard. Everyone knows you’re one of his favorites. Hayden being the other, who is also leaving. Trust me, you don’t want to cause more pain for him.”

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