“Great. They’ve been with Maximus. And not just his minions. Look,” Jenna said and gave a little head nod in the direction of a man facing the other way, shaking hands with who Aubrey thought was a Barker. The thought that Maximus had been in before them was like a lead balloon. All the hope she had just acquired sank to the ground in a rush.
Then he turned around, and all air escaped her. Henry stood there in a fancy suit, his hair combed and gelled down, and not a single superhero reference on his clothing. Who was this man?
Henry finally saw her standing there. His whole being sort of deflated and he took a step toward her. Aubrey shook her head. No, she couldn’t handle him at that moment. She had to give a presentation that would shoot whatever the hell he did in there out of the water.
But he didn’t stop. He kept coming, and there was nowhere for her to go. She couldn’t leave, yet she really didn’t want to stay. She didn’t want to hear him apologize for lying to her. She didn’t want to hear him tell her it was fun and so long (even if that’s all she had been trying to convince herself of for weeks), and she really didn’t want her bosses to know she slept with the enemy.
“Aubrey, listen—” Henry started. His voice was just as deep and smooth as ever, and her body instantly reacted to it, craving him. But her heart, the traitorous stupid thing it was, was aching at the thought that it was all a game to him.
“No, Henry. I need to go in there and give a presentation. But you already knew that, didn’t you.” Aubrey did walk away that time, but only because Mike and Jenna were already at the door with Mr. Baker heading in. She pushed passed Henry and toward the board room.
“Wait,” she heard him say as she crossed over the threshold. Mr. Baker closed the door behind him and put up a much needed wall between her and Henry. All eyes from her company were on here, Jenna in a much more accusatory way then the rest. Jenna looked at her with squinted eyes and a pucker to her lips. Aubrey knew she didn’t tell Henry anything that would hurt their own campaign, but did he know about it before she opened her big fat post coital mouth?
“Let’s get started, shall we? This is Ms. Becca Stine, and this is her mother, Gloria Stine. Ms. Stine has invited you here to hear why she should go with Viola instead of any other gaming company.” Mr. Baker sat down after the introductions were made, at least for his clients. It was time to wow them.
Mike stood and gave his presentation on Viola as a company. He told Becca about the community work Viola did, about the long history in the gaming world, and about some break out gaming hits which they were responsible for marketing.
“Hey, what the hell was that out there?”“ Jenna leaned over and whispered to her. Aubrey didn’t want to think about Henry. She wanted to pay attention to the meeting. This was her first time where she got to sit at the table instead of taking notes on a notepad leaning against the wall in the back of the room.
“Not now,” she whispered back. Aubrey watched Becca and her mother. She wanted to see their reactions to everything Mike was saying. From the looks of it, neither was very impressed.
“Yes now—I need some kind of ammunition against Maximus, and apparently, you know the man himself.”
“No. Would you stop talking so I can listen, please?” Aubrey’s patience was waning. Jenna huffed and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms. Aubrey couldn’t help but think how unprofessional she was being. Becca seemed to take note of Jenna’s attitude, and even made sure her mother noticed, as well. She would have to work fast if she wanted a chance to give her presentation. She really hoped she hit the nail on the head with the marketing plan.
“I’m going to turn the floor over to our market researcher now to give you an idea of where we would like to go with your product.” Mike smiled at her and gave her an encouraging nod before sitting down.
Aubrey took a deep breath and stood, walking over to the computer that controlled the room’s projector screen. She pressed a button and the title of the game came up.
“Hi, there. I’m Aubrey, and I have to be honest with you, I’m not much of a game person. I have been working at Viola as an assistant for three years and just have a real knack for numbers. I can look at charts and lists and pick out the best algorithms in them. For most people, that is the perfect combination for market research.
“But I didn’t want to just do that with you. When I heard your story, and then turned on Artimas Moon, I knew that just numbers weren’t enough.”
Aubrey clicked through some screen shots she took while playing. It showed her female character hunting, fighting, and finally saving a human. “With a character like Artimas, she had to have a special kind of marketing. You need a special kind of marketing.”
“What do you mean me?” Becca asked, being engaged for the first time.
“I mean, we need to market you as much as the game. We need you to be central in everything. This was your project. I don’t want you to give it to a company who will just use the basic plot line and change everything. You created strong female characters. You even made them wear clothes, which is becoming rare in video games aimed at a more mature market. You are sure to design more games in the future, and with this one? This is a game that needs to be marketed to girls.
“I want to put together a list of your favorite bands, songs of female empowerment, and instrumentals all performed by female artists to do the soundtrack for the game. I want to start a grass roots movement in your town of the girls who know you and have played the game to help get the word out. I want to send actors and actresses around to malls and game stores in costume to act out scenes from your game, and I want them to be cute enough to get all the girls attention.”
Becca was smiling from ear to ear as she listened to Jenna talk. She knew she was on a role when her mother spoke up, bursting her figurative bubble.
“How much?”
“Excuse me?”
“How much are you going to pay my daughter for her game? She has a very expensive college waiting for her.”
“Well, ma’am, that isn’t my department.” Aubrey looked back to Jenna quickly who rolled her eyes and stood up.
“Ladies, the money can be negotiated. Everything that Aubrey mentioned is a good idea. It is proven that when customers connect with a product or brand on another level, they buy more. We want to make Becca the brand. She is the reason we are all here. Girl power, and all that.”
“I understand that. But we still need to know she will be taken care of. We have received some very generous offers today.”
Aubrey knew she shouldn’t speak up without first talking to Mike, but she didn’t want to lose the contract. “What if we can offer her a job after high school? A part time entry level position while she is in college.”
Mike snapped his eyes to her, and she saw the look he was sending her. They didn’t have the ability to do that without the human resource department getting involved. But Aubrey couldn’t think of a single reason they would turn her down.
“In addition to the lump sum for the rights to her game?” Mrs. Stine asked. Becca was practically bouncing in her seat, and Aubrey caught sight of her hitting her mom’s leg over and over. Becca wanted the deal. Hell, she knew Becca wanted it before her mother started talking numbers.
“Yes, in addition to,” Jenna said. She finally took note of the situation. She wasn’t going to reprimand Aubrey just yet. She knew it would be coming, but if they signed Becca Stine, it would be worth it.
“What if she can only work five hours a week because of school, or what if she needs twenty?”
“That will have to be worked out with the department she starts in. But at Viola, we are very flexible with college students. We understand the importance of going to class. We even have a program that gives bonuses to employees who make the dean’s list at their respective colleges.”
“YES! I want to go with you!” Becca called out, standing from the table. Aubrey smiled brightly at her and thought the deal was done. She was wrong.
“Jenna, would you please put Mrs. Stine’s mind at ease and show her the contract that we will amend to include the employment should you sign,” Mike said. When Aubrey looked at him, he looked defeated, as if he knew something she didn’t. Was she reading the situation wrong? The girl wanted Viola.
“I’m sorry, but we can not agree to anything right now. We need to compare all the offers, and we will get back to you next week.” Mrs. Stine stood and walked to the door to open it. “You all have a great day.”
They were being dismissed. The worst part? As they walked out dejected and wondering where they went wrong, Henry stood there waiting for her.
Chapter Eight
“Go away, Henry.” Aubrey walked passed him with her colleagues, who were all watching the interaction with rapt attention.
“Not without talking to you first. Just hear me out. Please.” He kept up with her, stride for stride, no matter how fast she tried to walk.
“No. There is nothing to explain. You should have told me who you were.”
Aubrey pushed the door open and walked out. She could hear him cursing from behind her, but she didn’t look back. Not for Henry, and not for either Jenna or Mike, who were both calling her name. She had to be alone. Her embarrassment was no one’s business but her own.
The sky that had been completely clear when she entered the building was now filled with clouds. She could feel a mist in the air and hoped to make it to her car before the sky opened up.
She didn’t. The water poured down on top of her, soaking her straight through to her skin in a matter of minutes. Not caring how she looked any longer, she kicked off her shoes, grabbed them in one hand, and ran to her car.
Once locked inside, she stared out the window through the waves of water that were flowing down the glass, and cried.
How could she let herself get so caught up in a man again? How could she let his deception hurt her? How could she let him in so much so that she jeopardized the first, and probably last, chance she had at becoming more than Jenna’s assistant?
That was it. She was done. Henry was a thing of the past, and she would pick herself up and move on just like every other time. He would not be the reason she stopped moving forward. If that girl and her mother couldn’t see that a career opportunity was better than a lump sum all at once, then they aren’t nearly as smart as they were made out to be.
Aubrey wiped her eyes and turned her car on. With determination in her eyes, she left the parking lot and headed back to the office.
~*~
Going straight to the office wasn’t her best idea. Soaking wet clothing are not the most comfortable things to wear while trying to research how best to win the Stines over. Aubrey was desperate to find something about Maximus to show to them to prove that money wasn’t everything. It had to be more than the obvious. Anyone in the gaming industry, or who was interested in it like Becca was, would know that Viola was the largest and oldest company around. They would already know the titles under their belts and the backing they received from other industries. But Maximus was this shiny new toy everyone wanted to check out and play with for the past few years, effectively cutting into Viola’s profits, cutting into all the other companies’ profits, too.
Maybe Henry made a habit of seducing women with his ‘I’m not that kind of guy’ ways. Maybe he had a sordid past she could dig up. Maybe if she Googled his name…
No. This wasn’t about Henry. She was done with him. Done, done, done.
But when she Googled Maximus industries, it became a little impossible to ignore him. His beautiful eyes stared back at her, picture after picture, article after article. The company was squeaky fucking clean.
Maybe she had to look more into Henry Maximus. Not that she wanted to. She absolutely didn’t want to.
Another quick search brought up his biography. Surely he had some kind of a sordid past.
Only, he didn’t. He grew up in her town, went to her high school, graduated the year before her. Holy shit, they went to school together.
That was when she really began to search for anything she could find on Henry Maximus. Research for work completely forgotten, she was looking for high school photos. Surely, she would remember him. He was fucking hot as hell, and with those moves he had, every girl would have been talking about him. But then again, she thought, there is no way Henry was a jock. She pretty much stuck to the football team when it came to boyfriends. Yes, she was the stereotypical cheerleader. Hot, popular, and dated the football players.
Thinking back on it, she kind of disgusted herself. Maybe if she tried harder then, actually paid attention to anything other than her friends or boyfriends, she wouldn’t have started her ‘grown-up’ life completely behind the curve.
His senior picture popped up, or what they claimed to be his senior picture, and she recognized it immediately. Henry was the kid that they all teased. Well, she never teased him, but she didn’t talk to him either. She just ignored him. She couldn’t bring herself to actually be that mean to someone, but she also couldn’t bring herself to jeopardize her standing and let anyone see her being nice to the outcasts, either. She wasn’t sure what was worse, doing the teasing or knowing its wrong and doing nothing about it.
Could Henry have realized who she was to begin with? Was he trying to prove something? But why should it matter? She didn’t want a relationship. She wanted a fun night, and she got it. But it kind of stung like a bitch to know she was some sort of conquest, some sort of game.
Aubrey couldn’t look at the stupid computer screen anymore. She shoved away from her desk and made a plan. She would go home and put on her hottest club outfit she owned. Then she would drive an hour back into the city, and she would make sure that Henry saw her with someone else.
The thought of him knowing he hurt her sucked. He probably did it on purpose, that bastard. So what if he were a complete loser in high school? That wasn’t her fault. So he made a life for himself, a billionaire type life. Was he having fun shoving it in her face that she only became an assistant without a degree?
But if that were true, he probably would have mentioned the money thing. But it didn’t matter. He had to have known who she was, and the minute he knew she worked for Viola, he should have been honest with her. He hid who he was from her. He was an ass.
The drive home was filled with loud music and a speedometer that was well above sixty-five. Aubrey parked the car and stormed into her house, not bothering to speak to anyone. Her brother had yet to get over his little tantrum, and her parents were sitting at the dining room table eating dinner. Food could wait. She had a man to find and another to prove to that she wasn’t affected by him in the least.
Stomping up the stairs to the attic, Aubrey stopped mid way. She heard the creak of the bottom step behind her. Slowly, she turned around to see her brother at the bottom looking up at her with those stupid sad eyes he always got when he really needed to talk. Not because he was pissed off, but because he was hurting over something.
The anger faded quickly and was replaced by concern for him. She just gave him a half smile and nodded up toward her room.
“Come on, Ben.” Aubrey continued climbing the stairs knowing her brother would follow. He had come around as he always does. She just wished he didn’t have to be so upset to do so.
Opening the door, she let him in where he promptly kicked off his shoes and flopped on her bed. Since her clothing was still wet, she began shuffling through her drawers and found her outfit for the night. She sat it down on the chair next to the stairs and sat on the floor with her knees tucked to her chest and waited for Ben to start talking.
“I don’t know what to do.”
“Okay,” she said slowly as she watched her brother’s eyes glass over. A tear fell but was wiped away quickly. “You have to tell me what’s going on.”
�
��Mackenna is pregnant.” Ben’s head fell into his hands as his shoulders shook. Aubrey couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but she couldn’t let Ben cry without some kind of comfort. It was rare for her to see him this way. She could only think of a couple times he showed this much emotion since he was about ten or so. She stood and sat next to him on the bed, wet clothes and all, and took her little brother into her arms. Her stupid, stupid brother who had just made the biggest mistake of his life.
“Have you told Mom and Dad?”
“No.”
“Has she told her parents?”
“Not yet.”
“What do you want?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, little brother, I think it’s time you figured that out. You can’t be a kid anymore. You have to grow up.”
Aubrey held her little brother in her arms for over an hour. He was going to need her more than ever. Her baby brother, in all of his fifteen years, was about to be a father.
“Aubrey?” he whispered, trying to mask his tears.
“Yeah?”
“Think you could take me over to Mackenna’s? She shouldn’t have to tell her parents alone.”
“Yeah, I can take you over there on my way back into the city. Give me twenty minutes to get dressed, and I will drop you off. You call me if you need anything, and I will come straight back. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks.” Ben got up and left her room. All Aubrey could do was sit there and stare at the door. What the hell was he going to do? Should she still go to the bar? Or should she wait for Ben at the house? But if she were home, how could she keep that kind of information from their parents? No, she had to leave, so that way he would be the one to tell them. She would make sure he told them soon, like the next day if he hadn’t managed to tell them before she got home, but it wasn’t her news to tell. He came to her, so she had to respect that and give him the chance to do the right thing.
The Billionaire & The Barfly (Coming Home) Page 6
