Page 69 of Off Her Game

“The part where you pretend to like me. The fake dating crap is over.”

He frowned. “But I do like you. I meant everything I said. This isn’t fake.”

“I heard you on the phone. So, you can—”

“Let’s all sit,” Jake boomed from the head of the table.

Noah’s frown deepened. She could’ve sworn she heard him say, “What phone call?” before she was directed to a chair.

Jake introduced the people in the room in an onslaught of names she had no hope of remembering. They turned out to be graphic designers, programmers, marketing specialists and a token lawyer.

A half-hour of presentations later, Tori understood their vision for her game. To be the game used to launch the virtual reality goggles was humbling. Even so, she needed to be here to help them understandhervision for the game.

When everyone quieted and stared at her as if expecting some sort of enthusiastic wahoo she asked Sam, who’d been silent throughout the presentations, “What do you think of the game?”

Sam tapped his pen against his lips. He scratched his head. His gaze met that of Jake before looking back to her. “I like the idea and the fundamentals, but the AI isn’t up to par. Witches have never been my hometown.”

She’d judged him a hardcore gamer. “Would you play it?”

He stared at his fingers on the desk and nodded. “A few big tweaks, the right voices, a decent soundtrack and, yeah, I could see myself playing it so long as I got to annihilate a few witches.”

“Everyone, give us a few minutes alone. You too, Emma,” Jake requested. All but Noah and Jake shuffled out of the room. Jake pushed a folder in front of her, which contained their proposal and a contract for payment.

She scanned the documents.

Jake said, “We’re offering a team of specialists to enhance your game, and a once in a lifetime chance to launch next level technology. We want to use your game to launch our virtual reality goggles.”

Be chill. Don’t scream yes.This was beyond her wildest dreams for her game. Instinct urged her to jump before they rescinded the offer.

No. Negotiate.

She scanned the paperwork, although didn’t comprehend a thing. “This is all great, but I want ten percent of sales in addition to artistic control.”

“How about five percent?” Jake didn’t even flinch.

“Seven.”

“I can do six,” Jake said.

“Okay. And artistic control?”

Jake wobbled his head and scratched his hair. “I need some give and take on that. There might be things that you won’t understand or like, but once done will improve the game. I can’t have you saying no out of the gate to everything.”

“That’s fair. Then I need to see the improvements and sign off on them. I want it in writing.”

“Okay.”

Boom. Game production on its way.

Noah chimed in for the first time. “Did you have anyone help on the games? Do we need to write someone else in on the contract or worry about rights issues?”

“There was another guy who did some help back in undergrad. I talked to him weeks ago when Conjur contracted it. He’s good with just having a credit when the game is published. He doesn’t want money.”

“Everyone wants money. Why wouldn’t he?” Jake asked.

“Ed inherited well from his father. Said it’d just be one more thing on taxes that he didn’t need.”

Jake said, “We’ll need him to sign a waiver, then. We’d also like to offer you a position as a developer with us. There’s information in there about compensation for this—”