Page 8 of The Wish
‘Why not?’
‘What Ian did say was that whatever this wish is about, it needs someone who can work with 3D CGI. That’s me, I’m the only one in the company who has that skill.’ Alex looks down at his hands, then clears his throat. ‘Look, if this isn’t going to work, I’ll send the kid our latest game she can play on her tablet. It hasn’t been released yet.’
‘This isn’t going to work, your attitude’s all wrong.’
‘My attitude? You’re the one with the attitude! How about you find me someone who can tell me what the kid wants, why I’m here?’
Kelly takes a deep breath and seems to be considering.
‘OK, OK,’ she says at last. ‘I see we have got off on the wrong foot. Why don’t we speak to Jesse, and she can decide what she tells you. How’s that?’
CHAPTER 6
Two girls are sitting together on a single bed. Dressed in identical T-shirts bearing the face of Taylor Swift, they are each playing on Switches. They spend more time watching the other’s screen, laughing and nudging, trying to put each other off their play.
Alex comes to stand next to Kelly in the doorway. She smells like fresh laundry. He can’t help but notice the contrast in the way she looks at the two girls, soft and warm and full of affection, with the way she looks at him, harder, judging him and not liking what she finds. The girls are obviously undergoing chemotherapy, but the way they’re joking together gives Alex the impression that their treatment and diagnoses are the furthest things from their mind right now.
‘Can we help you?’ one of them, the taller one, asks playfully, her eyes large and dark.
The other one giggles, her hand over her mouth, her freckled face blushing.
Caught off guard, Alex looks from one girl to the other before looking to Kelly. She walks over to the bed and ruffles the taller girl’s spiky hair.
‘OK, Jesse – you know your wish? I’ve found someone who might be able to help, but we have to put him through his paces first.’ She grins.
‘Jesse, meet Alex. Alex, this is Jesse. And this is Amy, her roommate.’
‘Hello, girls.’ He gives a forced smile.
‘Oh my God. Girls, he called us girls,’ Jesse says. ‘We’re fifteen, we’re not girls anymore.’
‘So then, Alex, is it? Well, where do you work, how long have you worked there, what are the latest games you have made?’ Amy reels off her questions with the authority of an expert in the field.
‘Ah, what?’ is all Alex can stammer.
‘Your qualifications? What are they? How many games have you made? Were any of them any good, would we know any of them?’ Jesse adds.
Alex looks from Jesse to Amy to Kelly, not sure how to answer. ‘It’s very simple, Alex. What are your qualifications for helping Jesse?’ Amy asks.
Before he can answer, two teenage boys saunter into the room, the ones he saw from earlier, both still carrying their rolled-up newspaper swords.
‘What’s all this about qualifications?’ one of them asks.
‘Luke, Ryan,’ Kelly says, ‘this is Alex, he’s here to help Jesse with her wish.’
‘Is he now. So, are you going to answer Amy’s question? What makes you qualified to help?’ Ryan asks.
Alex feels put on the spot, and Kelly isn’t helping. She’s looking at him with a ‘come on then, show us what you’ve got’ expression on her face and clearly enjoying his discomfort.
He clears his throat.
‘Well, I was the sole creator on earlier games for the company I work for, but we’ve now moved into 3D CGI. That’s combining traditional filmmaking techniques with advanced CG and AI. I’ve done some virtual reality stuff but it’s out of date now.’
‘What’s the name of the company you work for?’ Luke asks.
‘TriOptic Studios,’ Alex answers.
‘Funny name, where’d it come from?’ Ryan joins in.
