Page 3 of The Game

“Adam! How’s it going?” he says.

Janus is one of my best friends and runs one of the most successful techstartups in New York. Am I envious? Yeah, a little, but he’s also loyal to a fault. He has everything figured out, and I’m never sure how or what I’m doing that’s so different from him.

“All right. Still soldiering on.”

“Yeah. All I remember is the constant terror that it was all going to implode.”

I laugh. Janus raised a lot of money and played a high-stakes game with his company, which has paid off spectacularly. Mine’s not in the same league at all. Selling small electronic components and kits via a website to people who want to prototype and experiment hasn’t taken off like cloud computing has over the last ten years.

But I couldn’t bring myself to go down that risky road. I’ve seen plenty of startups struggle because of the funds they’ve raised, and the pressure applied by banks and VCs. I like making things and working on them with my own hands, not shifting numbers on a screen. My parents and sister Victoria are all accountants, and their belief in the finance industry and my opposition to it has led to a somewhat strained relationship.

Victoria used to make fun of me having a startup, and I ribbed her in return about being a corporate drone, but as she’s progressed in her company and her salary has increased, the jokes have been replaced by a deafening silence. She’s bought a house and goes on fancy vacations. She’s not exactly mean, my sister, but we’re both competitive and I’m sure she’s secretly pleased she’s doing better than me, given that she’s three years younger. My parents, on the other hand, don’t even try and conceal their frowns and pursed lips whenever the subject of my business comes up, and it’s become more and more difficult to hide how much I’m struggling.

“I’m calling because I got an unusual request,” Janus hums, dragging me back to the phone in my hand. “I mean it’s a bit late now …”

“What is it?”

“Anna Talanova’s agent called my PA, Jenny, and asked if I’d be amenable to going to an awards event with her tonight.”

Before Janus found Jo, he attended a lot of red-carpet events with gorgeous women on his arm, and the resultant publicity gave his business a huge leg-up.

“She’s a tennis player, right? Does she know about Jo?”

“Yes, the tennis player, and yes, she does know about Jo. But she’s really stuck. I’ve helped her out in the past. She’s got some problem with the guy who was supposed to accompany her.”

“What’s this got to do with me?”

“Well, I suggested you go in my place.”

“You didwhat?”

“I sent Anna a link to that interview you did withElectronics Today, and she said you looked ‘cute.’ Her words, not mine, buddy.”

I glance down at my old T-shirt and faded jeans and laugh. That would not be the word she’d use if she could see me now. They tidied me up for the photo shoot for that magazine article. No one would ever describe me as “cute.” Sensible, yes. Boring, possibly. OCD, for sure. I’m not interested in anything beyond technology and getting this goddamn company to survive. Oh, and money! I’m always interested in that.

“Isn’t it a bit odd that …”

Janus sighs. “This is what they do.”

“They eye up guys in the paper and ask their agents to call their offices?”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s ridiculous. I can’t go to some high-profile thing with a tennis player, Janus! What the hell would we talk about?”

He chuckles. “She’s gorgeous by the way, and probably earns a ton of money.”

That sounds far too close to echoes of the past. “Who are you—my mother? Are you trying to find me a woman?”

“Well, you have to admit you don’t get out much.”

“And we all know why that is. I don’t do women anymore—you know this.”

The long pregnant silence on the line makes sweat break out on my neck.

“Did you ever go out when your business was small and struggling to survive?” I add, deflecting. Damn, I’m giving more away than I want to here—though, of anyone, Janus would understand a company being on the edge.But for ten years, Adam?

Goddammit, is it possible to surgically remove my mother’s voice from my head?

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