The Meeting: Part Two

Ok, so this part came a lot sooner than I expected. Enjoy.

***

the hell hapened to u?

wasnt my fault

did u c teh look on dons face?!

y?

it was so funny i coudnt stop myself

well look where its landed u

Five minutes later, the table was dry, though sticky sugar streaks prevented anyone from resting their arms on it. Everybody had just returned and seated themselves, and after receiving no response about whether someone still wanted any of the cookies I’d infected, I was IMing with Jane, abusing the free service our company gave us. Like food, IM was something everyone took advantage of. And those mint candies at the reception desk, too. Despite our budget, the senior staff had been able to afford to get the very finest quality sweets, “to please our clients,” they would say, but everyone knew that not a single outsider had actually been in the building for two weeks. Any communication was always done by email, phone, or live chat now. Very rarely would a conference require the presence of the customers.

is she gonna start now or what

iunno

heard she wants to make some changes w/ the game

ehhhhh...

Jane and I had worked together for half a year now, along with the rest of company on this video game that was supposed to be a sequel to Live, which was basically an RPG/simulation of living in the streets. It had sold quite well, and many fans had emailed in with requests for a sequel. So here we were, twenty-some people discussing game play, plot, characters, features, settings, and graphic art, trying to save a company that narrowly drowned in debt after Stalker had been named the eighth worst game of 2007. Even that had been an improvement over Sunrise which received the same award in sixth place six years back.

“If Inferno Games does not pull itself together, it won’t even live to see the sun set.”

That was pretty much the most benign statement we received from anyone, and she happened to be a game reviewer. Most commentators just typed,

This game is pure sh!t!!!!!!

Or, This game is just sh1t!!!!!!!!11

Or simply just, THIS IS FUCKING SHIT in cases where profanity didn’t equal getting banned.

Live represented our struggle to “get off the streets and back into the competitive zone”, we were told by the creative director. Personally, I thought that the game was terrible, but obviously some people had enjoyed it. Enough so that we wouldn’t have to file for bankruptcy protection, anyways. Live Free was almost at the halfway point in development and carried on from where Live had left off. At the end, the player (named Flare) had been arrested and sent to jail for crimes he didn’t commit, set up by the corrupt Illusion Company, and so now he will have to plan a jailbreak. After a successful attempt, Flare will continue living the street life, except now with the added challenge of staying hidden from the police as well as spies from Illusion, and finding out what the company wants from him. If Eden wanted to make some changes, they had better not be too large.

“Alright, we’re running a tiny bit late now,” Eden began, making be blush yet again. “But I feel that it’s important for everyone to be comfortable with each other. So allow me to make a quick introduction. My name is Eden Farley. I was born in Canada: Owen Sound, Ontario. It’s a small city just north-west of Toronto. I moved here to Victoria a few weeks ago, and I must say, it’s quite different to be looking at an ocean instead of a lake everyday! British Columbia has a beautiful coastline...” Whatever she was saying was beautiful was nothing compared to her... Mmmm... That thick, voluminous, light brown hair hanging down past her shoulders. The perfect hourglass shape. Those seductive green eyes and luscious red lips. And that huge set of b –

stop starin like that

its creepy

and you look liek a retard

Oops. I decided to play dumb.

What?

I don’t know what you’re talking about.

sure ya don’t (^_^)

look, u just used punctuation and capitals

always a sign

:D

Damn, I couldn’t argue against that. Formality is what I always add when lying. Too bad Jane knew me so well.

just plz try not to stare

its embarrassing for me2 ya know

how so?

I work w/ u

and talk

cant be seen w/ some perv

o thanks...

lol, welcome

“I’ve gone through a few other jobs before I settled in with video game production,” Eden was saying. I resisted the urge to ask whether one of them was pole dancing. Glancing behind me, Don’s eyes were glued to the woman, not blinking at all. His mouth was slightly open, and the corners twitched upward as Eden turned around to draw something on the whiteboard behind her. His gaze had shifted a little lower down on her body. I checked the time on my phone: it was 9:26. The meeting was supposed to have started at 9:00 and would end at 10:30. So far we hadn’t covered a thing, and Eden was still going on about how her older brother and sister loved to pull pranks on her. I could sense the impatience from the Importants growing. They began whispering to each other, frowning, and glancing around frequently. I hoped she was almost done; my mind was starting to wander.

“Er, Mrs. Farley, we’d appreciate if you wrapped up this discussion. We need to get started.”

“Oh, yes of course. Sorry, I got a bit carried away.” She gave a sheepish smile, and then dropped the blue marker she was still holding onto the carpet. It rolled under the table. She bent to retrieve it, and my heart sank as I realized that she had been addressed as “Mrs”. I guess I was still actually hoping I could get together with her, but there was no time to think. My other cell phone had just rung. Double shit.

For the second time in half an hour, everyone’s heads turned towards me. I’d forgotten that I was carrying two phones, and had only silenced the Blackberry. There was a bang, followed by a cry of pain as Eden hit her head on the underside of the table, startled by the noise.

“Sorry,” I muttered. With my face flushed again, I walked out as swiftly as possible without actually running into the hallway, the sound of Justin Beiber blasting out of my pocket. Closing the door quickly, I cursed and whipped out my HTC Evo 4G. I already knew who was calling; it was my brother Jacob. I vaguely remembered him playing with my phone last night at my place. He must have switched the ringtone as a joke or something because I just got the phone yesterday, and last time I checked, I had a classic phone tone. The number on the screen confirmed my theory.

“Jacob, you asshole!”

“Now, now. That’s no way to talk to your brother!” he replied in mock reprimand.

“Why the hell did you change my ringtone?! I was in a meeting, too! You said you’d call before nine, and you were supposed to call my business phone! Do you know how embarrassing this is?”

“Eh. Sorry, but I got into a bit of trouble with old Rusty, and I forgot your number at his place.” I was about to ask who Rusty was, but there was a loud screeching.

“What – Jacob, are you on the road? With a cell phone?”

“Nope...” Then, “Yup.” More screeching. I decided to hold back my question about how he obtained it.

“But driving and talking is illegal! And why are you driving so quickly? Slow down! You’re going to get tagged by the police or something.”

“Too late. Why do you think I’m speeding already?”

“Oh my God... JACOB...” I hid my face in my free palm. My Blackberry vibrated again, but I ignored it.

“Calm down, bro. I promise you I won’t get caught.” I could hear the sirens now, growing louder, as well as several honks from nearby cars.

“You’d better not. How the hell are you going to shake off the police?”

“Oh, shit. Ran a red light. Hmmm? You say somthin’?”

“HOW ARE YOU GETTING RID OF THE POLICE?” I looked up and noticed that a woman walking down the corridor had suddenly stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened and she turned around and left quickly, her heels muffled by the carpeting.

“...That’s a great idea! If I can’t outdrive them, I’ll stop them from driving.”

“WHAT?! NO! That’s not what I meant.”

“Uh oh. Here comes another police car. Damn, they’re good. Look, bro. I can’t really hear what you’re saying right now. I’ll call you back soon, kay? Bye.” Click.

I slowly lowered the phone, staring blankly at the whitewashed wall. Without realising it, I had walked to the other end of the hall. Great, my brother was going to go to jail now, all because of his stupid dealings. Only after a minute did I remember that there was an important meeting going on, and that my Blackberry had vibrated again.

lol, beiber? nice

didnt kno u liked him

I AM NOT A FAN OF HIM!! >:(

Reluctantly, I shuffled back into the meeting room.

***