Page 4 of Return on Love

I never saw Ryan again after that. There were rumors that he dropped out. Some students were crazy enough to suggest that he bailed out because he couldn’t stand to be in the same school as me. Like seriously? Sometimes, however, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was true. It couldn’t be, right? No one could be so disgusted by me. Isn’t it? That name he tagged me with, “Eva the Emetic,” clung around for quite a while—a constant reminder of the sheer loathing this one guy held for me.

“Hey, you still here?” Lily asks, shaking me a little by the shoulders and bringing me back to the present.

“Yeah. Just reliving some bad memories.”

“So, what d’ya say, Eva? I think it’s a great idea to teach him a lesson. And the founder can do it. You don’t even need to get your hands dirty.”

I shake my head and look at Lily. “Ryan is the founder.”

“But you said Bernard likes the founder? How can he like Ryan?” Lily asks in high pitched voice.

I shrug. I’ve been thinking about that too. “Beats me. I mean, I know people flock around him, but Bernard is not one to be taken in by looks. Don’t know what he sees in him.”

Lily’s eyes open wide as she stares toward the door. I follow her gaze and see Priscilla sashaying inside. She looks around and as soon as her gaze falls on me, walks over to us.

“Hi. Eva, I heard you’re going to Boston. I suggested to Weber to give you this deal, y’know, even though the other was more in line with your field. But I did it for you. So you can be close to your family. Bob told me you don’t get along with your dad, so it might be a good time to sort out your family issues.”

My face heats a little, partly in embarrassment, partly in anger. I want to tell her to buzz off, to stop behaving like the know-it-all when she doesn’t know shit, to stop prying into other people’s lives. But not a word comes out of my mouth. I sit there like a statue.

“Why don’t you just mind your own business, Priscilla,” Lily comes to my rescue, as she’s always done since childhood.

Priscilla gives a snarky smile. “I’d be careful if I were you, Lily. It’s never good career advice to take slings on your seniors at work.” Before waiting for a reply, she saunters off to another table.

Lily turns to me. “You need to speak up, Eva. Call an ahole an ahole. Get even. You can’t just take whatever shit people dole out. You’re smart, intelligent, beautiful. I’m sure you can stand up to such people.”

I nod, ashamed of my incapacity. “You know I hate confrontation. I hate fights and arguments.”

“I’m not telling you to go out looking for fights. But you have to stand up for yourself. I won’t be there forever to speak for you.”

I know how true that is. When Bob dumped me, he spewed all kinds of things while I couldn’t even speak an ounce of the tonnes that I felt. It’s not that I’ve never given it any thought. I know I need to speak up, to confront people. But how? When my own body rebels against my will and words seem to get stuck inside my throat. It’s like the clone army turning against the Jedi. What chance did they have? Nada.

“If Priscilla suggested you take this deal, the other deal is definitely better. Did you at least ask Weber about it?”

I shake my head. I know I can’t go to Weber now. “Forget it, Lily. I’m already feeling in the dumps and you’re not making it better. Plus, I need to figure out how to work with my biggest hater.”

Lily holds my hand and exhales. “Well, first of all, I’m sorry. I know it’s difficult for you to argue.” She pauses and takes a few sips from her coffee. “As for Ryan, you know what’ll keep your silly mind off this man? Another man.” She nods as she says it, as if that’s the smartest idea.

I shake my head vehemently. “A man is the last thing I want in my life.”

“You need to stop thinking about return on investment and start thinking of return on love. And who’s telling you to make him a part of your life? Just a part of your bed.” Lily gives me this sly wink like she has all the secrets. “Oh, I’ve got the deets on this rad dude. He’s a friend of a friend. I met him once. Not very strong IQ, but if his brain matched his looks, he could totally give Einstein a run for his money. I say, meet him. Could be a pleasant distraction. And girl, let’s be real, you could use some excitement, if y’know what I mean.”

I know exactly what she means. I haven’t dated anyone seriously since Bob. But relationships are the last thing I want right now. All I desire is to spend my time doing some quality work and earning some big bucks so I can flash a killer bank balance on Dad’s face and then go on to live life on my own terms. Maybe retire, write a novel and play games.

“Thanks, but no,” I say. “I want no distractions while I focus on this deal. Ryan and his company will have my full attention.”

“In that case, perhaps you should carry some anti-emetic with you.” Lily chuckles away to glory as I fume and stare daggers at her. Although on second thought, maybe I should. Carry an anti-emetic. Y’know, just in case.

Chapter 3

“Your focus determines your reality.” — Qui-Gon Jinn

Saturday morning I’m at the airport, ready for the five-hour flight to Boston. I had to buy a new coat for the colder weather and some dresses. Why am I going on a Saturday? It’s not because I have some family gathering planned on the weekend, but because Ryan’s company has a party, some anniversary celebration or something, and of course, Weber felt it was an excellent opportunity to connect with the team in an informal setting.

I tried pulling my classic weekend card, like “Hello, it’s my precious time off,” but nope, Weber hits me with that direct question: “Got any plans?” And me, being the absolute genius I am, totally blanked and couldn’t come up with a thing. Seriously, do I even have a life outside of work? Spoiler alert: I don’t, and my boss has that info on lock. Officially toasted, like burned toast status.

The past few days I’ve been reading up on MooreGames. What kind of name is that? Talk about narcissism. Anyway, the games seem good, especially their first one, which brought them into focus. Piggies. To be honest, I’ve played it a lot myself. I was almost addicted to it at one point in time. A few private investors invested some seed money after that. Bernard was one of them. One more game did well—Moore (duh! it’s as if Ryan just likes to see his own name everywhere. Does that mean he thinks of himself as a piggie? I can’t help but laugh at that thought. But I’m digressing.)

So now the company is looking at PE funding. It seems to have potential, though none of their other games in the past one and half year have blown up like Piggies or Moore. But they continue to get steady downloads and users. Other than Ryan, the company doesn’t look too bad.

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