Page 15 of The Grump I Loathe
She kept insistently drumming her fingers and the sound was driving me crazy, almost as much as staring at those lips while she talked.Get it together, Lockhart.I did not just think that. I shook my head and sniffled into another damn tissue to hide it.
“After all, she wouldn’t just take the aliens’ word for it that they’re in distress, right? She’d do some digging, try to figure things out before coming to a conclusion. That leads us to our first real player decision. Are they going to give the aliens a second chance? Or are they going to turn their backs on them? That player choice is going to significantly shift the game experience right from the beginning, which players love, especially on a second playthrough.”
I gritted my teeth at how deftly she was navigating this spiderweb of plot and lore. This was supposed to overwhelm her. Chase her fromthe building. Prove she couldn’t hack it. And instead, her observations were spot-on. Not only that, Leigh and Max looked way too pleased with her suggestions.
Max elbowed me. I batted his arm away, but even stoic Darius was giving me eyes, basically sayingshe’s the one.
Eddie stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Anyway, I’m gonna need more information about the game’s plot in order to give you any other insights, but IthinkI could whip this game into shape if given the opportunity.”
“Well, we appreciate that,” Leigh said. She glanced around at the rest of us. “I think we’ve probably seen all we need to?”
I shook my head. “Not quite. I have a few more questions. I’ll walk her out.”
“Okay, bossman,” Eddie said, giving me an irritating salute as I passed.
I marched toward the elevator, mulling over her statements as I jammed my finger into the button. It dinged and we got in, the box feeling too small as the door rolled shut. Heat prickled at the back of my neck as Eddie crossed her arms and jutted out her hip, drawing my eyes to those damn curves again. The elevator suddenly felt like a matchbox, and I had the irrational urge to step closer instead of away.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I cleared my throat. “I think you missed the point of opening the story with Juni’s voiceover.”
Eddie frowned. “No I didn’t. She’s there to remind the audience of what happened in the first game. Classic sequel set up.”
“And you’re saying we should ditch that?”
“No, I’m saying you shouldmoveit—have it come after the intro with the aliens.”
“If it’s not the first thing players see, what’s the point in having it at all? Why would we waste time having Juni poke around the ship, looking for clues?”
“Because you still need to set up the other elements of this game. What’s Juni’s current relationship with Flux? Is she in touch with the crew from the last game? What does she uncover that either supports or makes her question the story the aliens have told her? You need to give the players time to mull over the distress signal and decide which way they want to play the game before giving them the choice. And you can’t just drop all that into some dialogue, or it’ll beboring.”
“You’re saying Juni’s a boring character?” My question came out harsher than I intended, but I was beyond caring. I couldn’t work with this woman. The way she challenged everything, made me want to either argue with her for hours or shut her up in ways that had nothing to do with business. She would be a whirlwind in my carefully curated work life… and that was the only life that mattered.
She rolled her eyes. “Were those the words that came out of my mouth? No. But what is this game ultimately about?”
I hesitated.
“Telling the audience that Juni is still just some kid, running around after Flux?” Eddie asked. “Or telling them that she’s grown up, that she’s making her own way in this dangerous world? She has to have some kind of character growth.”
My jaw tensed as we reached the ground floor. I don’t know what I hated more, the fact that Eddie had clocked all that about the game so quickly or the fact that she was right about all of it. She was supposed to be bad at this. I’dcountedon her being bad at this. What was I supposed to do now that I’d realized that wasn’t the case?
“Well, it’s been an absolute pleasure,” Eddie said sarcastically, waiting for the doors to roll open. “We should totally do this again sometime.”
Liar.
“Though maybe wear something with a little red in it next time,” she said. “I barely recognized you without all the hot sauce stains.”
I jammed my finger into the button to hold the doors. I’d wanted to be wowed by one of our applicants, and she’d accomplished that. I couldn’t believe I was really about to do this, but I knew in my bones this was how we got the best version ofShadowacross the finish line.
I hated that as much as I hated her attitude and her holey jeans and that damn T-shirt that fit her a bit too well, butshewas what the game needed. What LockMill needed. “All right, fine,” I said through my teeth. “I’ve made a decision. The job is yours. You can show up on Monday if you can start dressing like an adult.”
“Oh, you’ve made a decision?” Eddie scoffed. “Am I supposed to take that as an edict from on high? Should I add the hot sauce to my clothes the night before or wait until I get here?”
I glowered at her. “Business. Attire. If you don’t know what that means, I can have Darius send you some pictures.”
Eddie crossed her arms, staring up at me. “You know what, I could do great things with this game. Meandmy holey jeans.”
I dropped my hands to my hips, taking her in. Those blazing green eyes. Full pouty lips. Lips I had no business looking at or wanting to touch because they belonged to one of the mouthiest, most irritating people on the planet. “No holey anything. Those are the terms.”
