Page 13 of The Grump I Loathe
Never. Because she was all wrong for the role.
I checked my watch. I only had forty minutes before I had to grab Grace from school. It was usually my mom’s day to pick her up, but she had a meeting with her publisher that couldn’t be rescheduled.
“Damn,” Max sighed.
“You can say that again,” Leigh said. “Who’s next?”
We shuffled files around the table.
“Edith Sheppard,” Darius said. “I bumped into her at GeekCon. She’sgot limited credits, but her most recent game is starting to build buzz in the indie circuits.”
“Oh, I saw her at the ‘Women in Indie Gaming’ panel!” Leigh said, an edge of interest in her voice I hadn’t heard for the other candidates. “She seemed really eager, really excited, full of fresh ideas.”
“Which game?” I asked, wondering if Grace had stopped to demo it at all.Please let this one work out.
“Alterbot,” Darius said. “Simple concept but a super detailed narrative arc. Great world building. Plus, she’s got ideas for sequels. Clearly a storyteller.”
“Well, this already sounds promising,” Max said, rubbing his hands together. “Can’t wait to talk to her.”
Alterbot…I frowned. Why did that sound so familiar?
Before I could ask, the door opened, andEdithwalked in. I was hallucinating. Ihadto be. Because standing there in the middle of the room, drumming her fingers against her thighs, was neon-hair sporting, hot sauce-wielding Eddie dressed in ripped jeans, Converse, and a T-shirt that saidI paused my game to be here.
5
CONNOR
“Hey everyone,” she said, her bubbly voice a little nasally.
I was already shaking my head.No. Absolutely not! How the hell did she get an interview? She popped her hip in a way that had my gaze traveling up and down her body before I could stop myself. And stop myself, I did. A gorgeous body did not make up for an obnoxious attitude.
Eddie glanced around the room, doing a double take when she spotted me among the interviewers. She recovered quicker than I did, slapping a smile on her face. “Mr. Lockhart, nice to see you again.”
“You two know each other?” Max asked, nudging my leg under the table. He shot me an annoying grin. I gritted my teeth, seriously considering adding a no-friendships policy to the email I’d sent Darius that morning.
“Oh, yeah, we’re old pals,” Eddie said. “He stopped by my booth so Grace could check out my game. He also gave me his cold, which is less fun.”
“I didn’t give you anything,” I snapped, sniffling into a tissue. This was not happening. Eddie needed to march herself right out the door again, because no way in hell was she coming to work at my company. “This monstrosity most definitely started withyou.”
Eddie plopped herself down in the provided chair, feet kicked out, as relaxed as if she was in her living room.
“How was the rest of the con for you?” Darius asked her.
“Awesome,” Eddie said. “Lots of great networking. Added about fifty new games to my list to pre-order, which is not great for my bank account.” The team laughed. Her eyes shifted in my direction. “Ate my weight in quesadillas.”
I clenched my jaw so tight, pain sparked behind my eyes.You’re unsuitable for the role!The words were on the tip of my tongue, ready to be hurled like a barb, but I held them back. I never wanted to be the kind of boss who ruled by decree but I was sorely tempted with her.
No.We had a team for the interview process because I wanted everyone to feel like their insights mattered. So I’d wait. I’d let her screw this up all by herself. It probably wouldn’t even take very long.
“I watched you speak at the panel,” Leigh said. “Alterbotsounds fantastic. I also never would have guessed that was your first time handling a crowd that big.”
“Thanks,” Eddie said, beaming. “The spotlights blurring out the audience sort of helped. I’m more surprised you didn’t hear my stomach growling since I didn’t have time to eat.”
She made a point of tilting her head toward me as more pleased laughter was directed her way. I wanted to scrub my hands over my face. Why was she being so pleasant? Where was the brat I’d had to deal with?
“So I guess we should start at the beginning,” Leigh said. “Shadow of the Hyperionis obviously a sequel. What’s your familiarity withHyperion 2132?”
“You mean have I played the game?” Eddie asked. Her eyebrow arched. “Or have I one hundred percent-ed it and earned all the achievements?” She laughed. “At least six times.”
