Page 9 of Seer

Aurelia finished her report, and Steve said, “Thanks. Does anyone have any new business?”

No one did.

“Great. Have a good day, everybody.”

There was a chorus of goodbyes.

I hung back so I could catch Steve. “Hey, do you have a minute?”

He looked at his watch, and for the first time I noticed he’d developed creases on either side of his mouth. He’d always been pretty, all blond wavy hair and arresting blue eyes. But now he appeared tired, older. We were only thirty-two, for fuck’s sake.

I’d been a little shocked when, right around the time we’d had the idea for Rogues Gallery, Steve had begun hinting he was bisexual. It’d taken him several months to say the words, but he’d ended up marrying a man, Baz, about four years ago. They were happy, I’d thought. Hopefully whatever was causing Steve to look like that didn’t have anything to do with Baz.

“We ended the meeting a little early, so I’ve got a few minutes before I have to meet with Norah to go over the summer marketing plan.”

I nodded and followed him to his office. He went behind his desk and set his tablet down. Before he could sit down, I held up a hand.

“Let’s go sit over there.” I pointed at the sofa he’d put under the window. I had a similar one in my office.

Steve cocked his head but didn’t ask why. We sat, and I angled my body toward him.

“Okay, what’s up?”

I rubbed my hands up and down my thighs. I could do this. I was a big boy.

I looked Steve in the eye—I owed him that—and said, “I’m bored, and I want to leave the company.”

Steve paled. He opened his mouth, paused for a few seconds, then asked in a slightly quavering voice, “Do you have another job lined up?”

I shook my head. “No. I want to get back to designing something new. Maybe a game. I want a challenge, something fun to work on.”

To my surprise, Steve relaxed and smiled—grinned really. He said, “Thank fuck, because that’s what I want to do too.”

I sat there, stunned, before I felt a matching smile come over my face. I grabbed his hand. “Really? Like the old days, just you and me?”

He nodded. “I’ve actually thought about it a lot. We’d have to leave and create a completely new company, though. It doesn’t make sense for Rogues Gallery to have a subsidiary that makes games, or whatever we end up doing. But I can tap Aurelia to be CEO, and we can promote Kurt to your job. We’ll consult for a transition period, and maybe we’ll take board positions, but on a day-to-day basis we’ll be free.”

I lurched forward and hugged him. “Free,” I breathed reverently. I released him and sat back, wiping my eyes. “I thought it was just me. I agonized over leaving you behind.”

Steve grinned again, though his eyes were also a little watery. “You’re my best friend. You can’t go on an adventure without me.”

ON THE TEXAS DMS DISCORD SERVER

THURSDAY, MARCH 23

Shane_DM_Southeast_TXMarch 23 at 3:36pm

Well, I PM’d Delphia about the Cassandra. Last weekend I finally cleaned out my garage, which I’d been needing to do for the past two years. And I noticed how old and ratty-looking my sheets and comforter are. Pretty sure I’m nesting.

Ellis_DM_Northeast_TXMarch 23 at 3:41pm

Fuck, I think I am too. Over the last month I got more and more frustrated with how small my MINI Cooper was, and I just traded it in for an SUV. PMing Delphia now.

Ric_DM_West_TXMarch 23 at 4:18pm

It does come on quick! One day I was living in my minimally-furnished bachelor-style apartment, and the next day I found myself buying throw pillows for the couch and cloth napkins. It was so weird! But then I met Gloria, and the resonance between us was unreal. I’d swear we connected within the first few minutes of meeting each other. It was like my entire life suddenly made sense.

Good luck, guys!