Gamer Girl (18 page)

Heather flicked back her auburn hair. “So do you live here?”

Sarah shook her head. “Kansas City.
”

“Kansas City? What do you do, tip cows?”

Sarah did an exaggerated eye roll. “We’re a little more sophisticated than that, Heather. Give us some credit. We tip pigs too!”

Heather burst out laughing.

About that time, Greg got back with Heather’s drink and Sarah was basically forgotten. She got asked to dance, propositioned a couple of times and then decided to call a cab.

“Hey you two,” she
told them. “I’ve got a cab coming. You two go on, I’m still on Midwest time and the hour is late.”

Greg and Heather politely offered to take her home,
but Sarah demurred. “Nope. Heather you have to promise to stay in touch, and you have to promise to help Greg set up a Facebook page.”

Heather gave her a thumbs up and Sarah waited by the door for her cab. It came soon enough and Sarah went home. The cab cost a small fortune, but it was worth it. She thought about her own matchmaking efforts this night and hoped that something good would come of it. Now if only there were an old flame for her…but the only old flame she
remembered, aside from the fiancé from hell, was the boy she had a crush on in kindergarten.

Sarah tip-toed up the stairs and went to bed.
She got up the next morning and stared at herself in the mirror.
Gird your loins, Sarah. One more hurdle, the great reunion and then you can retreat with honor.
  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see David—she did. It was just that she didn’t want to listen to her parents rave on and on about how well David was doing. But it was going to happen whether she wanted it or not.

She took her dirty clothes
downstairs and washed them while she waited for her parents to get up. Sarah packed as much of her things as she dared.

David’s house was not on the beach, but it was as close to the beach as you could get in Southern California these days, and there was a great view of the ocean from his patio and pool area. After some consideration, Sarah put on a sleeveless dress with a tropical print in greens, yellows and pinks. She chose a white cardigan to wear with it—the ocean breeze would be cool until late in the afternoon. A pair of white sneakers that had been in and out of style since the fifties completed the outfit.

She went to the linen closet and found a beach towel to roll her bikini into, and she was ready to go.

Noodles was begging for a walk, so Sarah left a note and took the daschund out for his morning constitutional. By the time they got back, her Mom and Dad were prowling around the kitchen grabbing a bowl of high fiber cereal and some coffee.

Sarah joined them at the breakfast bar.

“So how did it go last night?” Her mom asked. “You and Greg have fun dancing?”

“It was magic, Mom, absolutely magic,” Sarah assured her.

“You mean, you and Greg—“

“No, not quite. I found Heather for him. Heather was enchanting, Greg was charmed, and I, like a good fairy godmother, waved my wand and teleported back to fairyland.”

“What?”

“Mom, I used the internet to locate Heather. By luck or serendipity, she’s living in San Diego again.” Sarah shrugged. “Don’t you remember? Greg was always wild about her. And he and I have never been more than friends. So it wasn’t my loss, but I hope it’s Greg’s good fortune.”

“Sarah—“

Sarah could hear it in her mother’s tone of voice, in the way she said her name. Sarah was about to get the treatment, the clucking and hovering that made her feel like she was three years old. Well, she wasn’t having it. Not this time.

“Mom, please!
Don’t start! You want to know what makes it so hard to come and see you and Dad?” Sarah looked at both of them. “It’s that you treat me like your handicapped child.” Sarah stood up and twirled around. “I am not broken! I am not injured! Look at me, guys. I’m young, healthy; I have a great job that I really love, and I’m making it on my own! Can’t you see that?” Sarah shut up. She was shocked at her own outburst. But instead of apologizing, Sarah just grabbed herself a bowl and poured herself a serving of high fiber cereal.

Edward stared at Sarah for a long moment then he said, “Do you really feel we see you that way, Sarah?”

“Yes, Dad, I do,” Sarah insisted. “I realize that my decision not to go into medicine disappointed you—“

“It wasn’t that, honey, it was the fact that you couldn’t seem to find anything at all that you wanted to do,” Edward said.

“Look, I it took me awhile, but that was because I always knew that if I pursued the things that made me happy, you would be disappointed. I got stuck between what you expected of me and what I wanted,” Sarah explained. “I love you both. Do you know how hard it is to disappoint you?”

“We just want you to be happy, Sarah,” her mom said sadly.

Sarah heard the pain in her Mom’s voice. She got down off her stool and went over and hugged her mother. “Momma, you know that no one can be happy all the time. But right now, I am about as happy as anyone has a right to expect, honest to God.” Sarah hugged her mom once more. “I love you, Mom, don’t forget that.”

“I love you too, sweetie.” Her mother patted her cheek.

Sarah turned to face the tougher problem. “Dad—“

Her father was sitting there hunched over his cereal bowl his brow knitted together. Sarah couldn’t tell if he was angry or just deep in thought.

“Dad?”

Her father looked at her. “I didn’t realize…you’re my little girl. I tucked you in whenever I could and read
Goodnight Moon
so many times I can still quote it from memory. I used to have nightmares, terrible nightmares in which you were lost or taken and I couldn’t find you. I thought I was taking care of you.” Her Dad looked down at his cereal again.

“
Well, you were, Dad. But when I give you what you expect, you always expect more. I just gave up, because I didn’t want what you wanted for me. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. But I’m never going to be what you wanted in a daughter. You need to face that. I just wish you could love me for who I am.”

“I do love you, Sarah. You’re my child.”

Sarah hugged her father
. “You’re right Dad. You do love me. I know that. I just wish you could
like
me a little more.” Sarah returned to her cereal.

They
sat silent for awhile. Sarah looked over at her mother and said, “So Mom, what are you wearing to David’s today?” Her mom perked up and the conversation drifted back into the well-worn dialogues that they’d always shared.

David was waiting as they drove around his circular drive and parked. Sarah was out the door and in her brother’s arms in about ten second
s.

“David!” She squeezed him tight and leaned back to get a good look at him. He was handsome as ever. His hair was darker than hers, a warm brown like their mother’
s, but he had their father’s hazel eyes just as she did. And he was fit and tan and his eyes were bright. He seemed really happy. “Oh, David, it is great to see you!”

David kissed her cheek. “You too, sis. Wow! That’s some hairdo.”

She laughed. “You should see it when I fluff it up a la Emo!”

David looked over Sarah’s head at their parents. “Hey Mom, Dad, come on in. There’
s something Margaret and I want to tell you.” With his arm around Sarah, he turned and walked through the front door.

Standing inside was a
tall, beautiful woman, with red hair and green eyes and freckles Sarah saw eagerness and trepidation in her eyes and guessed at once what David’s news was.

“
Sarah, this is Margaret Wilson-Browne, who is now my fiancée. Meggie, this is my sister, Sarah.”

“Oh I knew it, Ed. Didn’t I tell you?” Janet said.

Sarah watched her mother almost squeal with joy as she kissed Margaret’s cheek. Sarah kissed David’s cheek and then went over and took Margaret’s hands in hers. “Wow, this is great. It’s really great to meet you.”

“You too, Sarah.”

“So when is the wedding?”

Margaret shook her head. “David and I thought we’d check with both sets of parents and get dates. Then, maybe, we can find one we all can love.”

Sarah laughed at that. “Here’s my number so if you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to scream at, there’ll be a place to call. I guarantee I am much less expensive than a real shrink.”

Margaret laughed. The parents came over and whisked Margaret away. David came up and stood beside Sarah. “So, what do you think?”

“Well, based on a minute of conversation and some really good vibes, I think she’s a keeper.” Sarah smiled up at her brother. “How did you meet?”

“I was covering for a friend in an ER and Margaret came in wit
h a puncture wound to her foot,” David explained. “I cleaned the wound and gave her a tetanus shot, but it was hard to concentrate because she was rockin’ a teeny-tiny bikini underneath a gauzy cover-up that didn’t really cover-up, you know? I wanted to cry when she left the ER all patched up, but a few days later she came in with a thank-you gift. I wasn’t there, but the nurses took pity on me and told her where to find me. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“So, she’s not a nurse?”

David laughed. “Not even close. She’s a structural engineer of all things.”

“Wow!”

David put his arm around Sarah’s shoulder and led her into the kitchen to get a soda. “Let’s give Mom and Dad five more minutes and then we’ll rescue Meg.”

“Sure thing, bro, I’ll run into the breach with you.”

When they got there, Margaret was doing just fine though Sarah’s parents seemed overwhelmed with their sudden good fortune. The rest of the day flew by as they cooked steaks and fish on the grill while drinking daiquiris and mojitos. Sarah stopped drinking at around three so that she could drive the parental units home in safety.

Later, when they were cleaning up, David said, “So what about you, little sister? How are things going in the fly over zone?”

Sarah gave David a rundown of her life so far, one that was much more detailed than anything she shared with the folks.

“Sounds like you’ve come a long way since the last time you were out here. Keep me up to speed okay? Thank goodness I already had a sizeable chunk of Gryphon World stock. I wouldn’t want to be accused of insider trading,” David said. Then he ruffled her hair. “Be careful, Sarah. It sounds like you like this guy a lot.”

“I do, David. That makes it really hard to be sensible.”

David nodded his head in agreement. “Listen, I won’t preach. I’ve been pretty crazy these last few months myself. But if you need to talk or you need me—“

Sarah kissed his cheek. “Thanks, big brother. I love you.”

“Me too you, sis.”

They went back to cleaning up the mess.

By Monday, Sarah was glad to make her way to the airport so that she could get back to the
Land of Oz, as her Dad had mistakenly called it. Sarah realized that for the first time she didn’t feel like she was running away from home

As she waited in the airport, an IM came through.

Are you still in one piece?

Yeah, even bet
ter. Big brother’s engaged, and I had a talk with Mom and Dad.

Glad to hear it. Sitting in Chicago waiting for flight home to KC. See you tomorrow.

See you.

Sarah sighed happily. Maybe he only cared because he wanted her head in the game when she got back to Kansas City, but at least he cared. She pulled up an e-novel and read contentedly until it was time for her flight.

Sarah hit the ground running Tuesday morning. She got into the office around seven and pulled up all the update
s on the DLC and the remaining details of the Fourth of July party.

There was
a note from Eamon’s mom reminding Sarah to schedule a baking lesson. Sarah wrote back asking if the second weekend in June would be good and enclosed her private cell number. She addressed the card and dropped it in the company mail slot.

Nicole came in about thirty minutes later and showed Sarah the list of i
nterviews for their replacement.

When Eamon walked in the door at eight, his first interview was already waiti
ng. Sarah went met briefly with her team on six and listened to the first voiced sections of the DLC. Sarah was very pleased with what she heard.

Lunch
was a sandwich and a yogurt from the vending machine as Sarah dealt with a last minute glitch on the DJ for the Independence Day party. That took an hour before she was satisfied that the DJ was able to provide both music and karaoke. Nicole insisted that the Karaoke thing was a family tradition with the Byrnes.

By Friday, Eamon had
a new assistant who would report on Monday morning. Late afternoon, Sarah got a phone call from Catherine Byrne.

“Hello, Sarah?”

“This is she.”

“Sarah, it’s Catherine. I’m free tomorrow, so if you’d like to come on out, we can work on some pie crusts and bread. What do you say?”

“That would be great,” Sarah told her. “What time do you want me to be there?”

“Come early. I’m up by dawn most days and we’ll need some time for the bread to rise,” Catherine explained.

“How about seven?”

“Seven’s good. See you then, Sarah.”

“Bye.”

Sarah hung up smiling. The thought that she might possibly be able to cross two things off her rather long bucket list in a single day was good news indeed.

“Miss Adams?”

It was Eamon on the intercom.

“Yes?”

“I’m sending you the name address and phone number of someone. Get her into my personal address book and then get her on the phone for me before you leave, please.”

Sarah put a big smile on her face hoping that it would belie the twist she now had in the pit of her stomach. “Sure Mr. Byrne, no problem.”

Sarah entered the data and made the call. “Miss Petersen? Mr. Eamon Byrne calling. Can you hold, please?”

The woman on the other end sounded excited.  Sarah buzzed Eamon. “I have your call, Mr. Byrne.”

“Put it through,”

Sarah put the call through and then logged off her PC. For a moment she contemplated going down to seven to check on the DLC and then she thought
to hell with it!
“Nicole? I’m out of here. I’ll see you Monday.”

Nicole looked up, saw the look on Sarah’s face and didn’t even consider teasing her about slipping out
early on a Friday. “See you then, Sarah.”

Nicole watched her go and counted herself damn lucky that Eamon just wasn’t her type. A few moments later, Eamon buzzed Sarah’s desk. When she didn’t respond, he buzzed Nicole instead. “Where’s Sarah?”

“She had a pain in the ass and went home, Eamon.”

“What?”

“My bad. She had a headache. She went home. Is there something you want me to do?”

“Never mind. It can wait.”

“Sure.” Nicole shook her head
Asshole,
Eamon told Martin about meeting Miss Petersen days ago. Nicole overheard the brazen discussion of the lady’s tits. He could have given that address to her at any time. Instead, he’d waited to give it Sarah.
Eamon, you can be such an asshole.
Five minutes later, she bailed as well. Eamon was a big boy. He could fend for himself.

Sarah
went to Catherine’s house the next morning and had a great day learning to bake bread and make great pie crust. She came home with two pies and a loaf of cinnamon bread to share with her crew. On her way up the hill from the Byrne house, she was certain she passed Eamon on his way down, but she didn’t stop to look.

Her crew demolished the goodies on Monday and after the morning meeting,
Sarah went down to six and to her new standing desk that could be rolled around from cubicle to cubicle if need be. The expanded crew had quickly dubbed it the
mobile command unit
.

Sarah called back as many people from Rainwhite as she could
even though the jobs were temporary. Most to whom she offered employment came back to work, despite this caveat. Everyone was putting in twelve hour days, but that was pretty usual for this business and no one grumbled.

By
Friday of the third week of June, they were ready for the final test. Their results were in from their beta testers, avid fans of
Wickerworld
who were delighted to test the DLC for free. They found bugs. That was good; they were supposed to find bugs. The programmers chased them down, figured them out and fixed them.

Now, everyone on the team would sit down and play. A lot of the guys were big pc gamers, so they had an overabundance of testers for that. Sarah tested on the console she most favored for the game. After all, there had to be some perks for being the boss. Everyone else was split between the two consoles evenly.

They’d come in at six in the morning and had begun the game, some from scratch, others from higher level characters with built in data. Experienced players all, everyone moved through the levels quickly and reached the point where the DLC quest became available. Then everyone chose a companion, although “chose” was the wrong word as each had been assigned both a character to play as well as a companion to choose.

Everyone played the main quest of the DLC through to its end and then played the game some more to be certain that they weren’t running into conflicts within the vanilla game by the addition of a companion.

They found some minor things, surprisingly few all in all; and by seven that evening, they ended the test, satisfied that the DLC was as ready as possible for the market.

Sarah kept Eamon informed throughout the day. He’d come down, observed the game play, picked up a controller a time or two and played himself for awhile. Martin made an appearance as well.  At seven Eamon came down.

“Sarah says we’re ready to send this to the console manufacturers for their imprimatur. Are we all in agreement here?” Eamon asked.

“Yes. The DLC is very clean. We anticipate tha
t the end users will find bugs. They always do, but frankly we think they will be few and minor.” John Billis told Eamon.

“Do it,” Eamon told them, “and get to work on the marketing. Who’s doing the marketing, Sarah?” Eamon turned to look at her.

“Nicole, Tammy, James and I,” Sarah replied. “We’ll have some preliminaries next week.”

If Eamon disapproved,
he didn’t show it. “Right. While we wait to see if our console buddies will give the go ahead, the rest of you get the pc version ready for roll-out. Oh, and my
Mirrored Nation
and
Eigenstates
minions, it’s back downstairs for you until we get the go ahead.” Eamon stood up. “Good work everyone. Really good work.” Then he left.

They all waited until the elevator doors closed and everyone jumped to their feet, fist p
umping and hopping around like fools.

“Great job, everybody. Drinks
at Hard Hearted Hannah’s
, and I’m buying the first round,” Sarah told them all.

Hard Hearted Hannah’s
was a large bar within walking distance of Gryphon World. It was the favorite happy hour bar for the corporation. The drinks were strong, the price was reasonable and the songs on the juke box current.

As late as it was now, happy hour was over and the band was setting up for their Friday night gig. Sarah bought a couple of pitchers of beer
and on general principle two platters of appetizers, and the first round of drinks for her team as they showed up.  She’d emailed Emily, Eamon’s new assistant and invited her to come and join them for a drink. She, Nicole and Tammy were the only women on the team. An extra girl would keep things balanced, and it was the perfect setting for the girl to get better acquainted with some of the crew.

Sarah ordered a virgin daiquiri for herself
and made certain that the waitress knew to bring her only virgin drinks. About the time everyone had consumed the appetizers and had ordered more, the band began to play.

The girls moved en masse to the dance floor and
began to dance. The music was rockin’ and Sarah began to move to the beat.

The guys came out as well a
nd all of them formed a friendly herd. No one was really paired up with anyone, they just all danced together.

Sarah stayed out on the floor for a couple of songs and then went back to the table to get some
fluid. There was a new virgin daiquiri waiting for her. A slow number came up and John Billis came over.

“Hey Sarah, dance with me.” John was single and entirely eligible.

“Sure.” She gave him her hand and they went out onto the dance floor.

John
didn’t do any fancy steps but he swayed back and forth well, and he smelled nice too. Sarah relaxed in his arms and, sensing this, John held her a little closer. The song was almost over when John said, “Hey, looks like Eamon came to check up on us, and wow, look at the babe he’s with.” John turned Sarah a little so that she could see.

Rhonda Petersen. Sarah remembered the name. Tall, very blonde, very curvy with big blue eyes and pouty lips. She was dressed in a short, mini-dress with high,
do-me
heels.
Bet she can’t dance in those!
Sarah thought cattily.

John saw the look on Sarah’s face.
“Hey, you don’t need to worry, you are ten times more attractive than she is,” John assured her.

“What a sweet liar you are,” Sarah teased.

John wasn’t smiling. “Sarah, you are smart, creative, pretty, kind and generous. I was pissed as hell when Eamon put you in charge, but I was wrong. You have an uncanny knack for getting the best out of people. I have watched in amazement over these last weeks as you pulled this team together and led us forward. I must admit that, like every other guy in this place, I have taken great pleasure in watching you walk down a hallway. We know that you didn’t have to go to some plastic surgeon to make a guy’s heart beat faster.” John looked over at the girl once more and added, “She’s a boy-toy. You’re a keeper.”

“That’s sad,” Sarah whispered.

“Why?” John asked.

“Every woman wants to be someone’s treasure. Maybe she just doesn’t know how to find that person.” Sarah looked back up at John. “It’s harder than you think…to find someone who will treasure you.”

“Listen to you, Sarah. That woman walks in the door on the arm of the guy you dated a couple of months ago and all you feel is compassion for her.”

Sarah giggled. “It’s a good thing you’re not telepathic. My thoughts weren’t nearly so saintly.”

The music ended and John walked her back to the table. By now, Eamon and his friend were at the table. Eamon watched Sarah walk back on John’s arm. He didn’t take his eyes from Sarah’s as he introduced Rhonda to the party.

Sarah took a long drink from her glass and the band began another fast song. With a toss of her head, Sarah headed back for the dance floor. She turned around and said, “Rhonda, you’re welcome to join us.”

“No, I’d better not,” Rhonda replied.

Sarah
laughed and then she danced with her crew and John for another hour.

When it was time to go, Jo
hn walked her back to her car in the parking garage. Sarah said, “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“I know, but I just wanted you to know that if you ever decide he’s not the one…”

Sarah blushed. “Am I that obvious?

“N
o, Sarah, he is.” John pecked her cheek. “Now get in your car so I can see you safely off.”

Sarah drove off pondering John’s obscure remark. There was no doubt as to whom he was referring. But what had he seen in Eamon’s behavior that she had not?

Sarah sighed. Well, it didn’t matter. Eamon had his boy-toy and she had…diddly-squat. That was cold comfort. At least the boy-toy could count on some skin-to-skin contact. At least the boy-toy could expect a kiss or two. It occurred to Sarah that sometimes being a boy-toy was all a woman had to hang on to. She also suspected that if she kept leaving parties early, she really would be voted
Girl Most Likely to be the Virgin Sacrifice in a Video Game
come next election. More cold comfort indeed.

Stay focused, Sarah,
she reminded herself.
You’re not doing this for a happily ever after. You’re doing this to make a difference for a change.
Yeah, well that’s cold comfort too!

She got back to her apartment, took a shower
, put on some yoga pants and a camisole. After an hour in bed trying to sleep, she went out into the living room, put in a video game that had absolutely nothing to do with Gryphon World and played the hell out of it for an hour.