Except, unlike Benny, his bed was warmed by a loving wife and emptied too early by tragedy. Mine was cold even when she was there. My phone vibrates, dragging my attention away from the computer screen and the latest marketing trailer I created. I rise from my desk and walk out, so I’m not late getting home. I hadn’t been making much progress tonight, and I’m right on track with my latest marketing campaign.
Morgan’s message displays on my phone’s screen and helps light my way through the dark office.
Morgan: We are meeting at your place at 7:30, right?
I respond with a quick yes, although I’ve never stood her up before. I don’t see why she still feels the need to double-check me. A deep sigh slips past my lips as I walk down the hall and enter the elevator. I’m on the upper executive office level which is quiet and empty tonight. The dim security lights allow me to exit easily.
We have over eight hundred other employees working for Orthorn Games, and not a single one is in sight tonight. Michael Thorn, our founder and CEO, sent the team home early today. Usually, you’ll find someone clocking late hours in the pit where the designers and testers work, when they could, but not tonight. The teams finished and met my latest deadline before I announced a revised marketing campaign for our latest video game—The Dark Abyss.
When I step from the elevator and into the lobby, I spot Benny making his nightly rounds.
“Hey, Lincoln. I hoped you’d be heading out soon,” Benny says then walks toward me, his security belt bouncing against his leg. I stop to make sure he’s doing okay. Benny’s in his late fifties and has extra weight around his center that causes me some worries.
“I’m heading out. How are things going with your daughter? Is she making it through her internship okay?” His daughter, Tracey, is finishing up her latest trek through France. She works as a fashion journalist. A smile spreads across his face the moment I mention her.
“Yeah, she’s coming home for two weeks at the end of the month. She has some work here in Chicago, and then you know her, she’ll set off again. That girl is like her momma, always ready for some grand adventure.”
“Where to next?” I ask and try not to glance at my watch, I can’t be late, but my home isn’t far, so I indulge a lonely man in some conversation. Perhaps for both me and him.
“With her, who knows. It’s wherever those wandering feet take her. Hey, you don’t want to be late. Make sure you tell that girl of yours hello for me.”
I smile. He knows my plans. It’s Thursday night after all. “I will. You tell that girl of yours hello from me too. Also, if she bakes you something, remember to share this time.”
Benny gives a full belly laugh. He places a warm hand on my shoulder.
“Of course,” he promises.
I exit the office and the humid air hits me the moment I step outside. I make a swift pace so I’ll be home in less than ten minutes.
I stride up the cobblestone path and open the front door to my townhome. My home’s silent tonight. The laughter that once filled my space is missing. I flick on the hallway light, flooding the entryway in a golden hue, and step into the kitchen. Children’s artwork and vacation pictures cover the refrigerator when I open it to grab a bottle of water, but voices and music don’t carry throughout the space like it once had. I walk into the living room and stand by the window to gaze out at the beautiful Chicago cityscape. The sky is dark tonight, the clouds blocking the moon.
It’s always so quiet and dull now, but that will change once my daughter returns home. It wasn’t my everyday anymore, only some days, and I’ll take what I can get. The front door swings open, and Lily comes in with Morgan close behind her. They shut the door, and before I can hug or say hello to my daughter, my ex-wife starts talking.
“Lily has two projects this weekend to complete. Mark and I will be out of town all week, so make sure you take her to her doctor’s appointment Tuesday. That won’t be an issue, right?”
Lily comes forward and wraps me in a hug as her mother speaks. “Hi, Dad,” Lily says, and I kiss the top of her head before I let her go and tilt my head toward the living room.
“You want to get us a movie started while I talk to your mom?”
Lily nods and takes off into the other room as I approach my ex-wife. She’s still as stunning as I remember, but the Morgan I fell in love with—that young and carefree woman who made me her world—is nowhere for me to see anymore. That soft look she once reserved for me after a late night she now gives to Mark.
“That’s not an issue, right?” Morgan asks again, then sighs as I step closer to her.
“You should have told me, but it’s not an issue, I’ll make it work. We are launching in two weeks, so I’m busy at work and I’ll have a couple meetings to reschedule. A heads up would have been nice.”
She lets out a dry, humorous laugh, and her jaw tightens before she speaks. “You’re always busy and putting work before us, Lincoln.” Her eyes close, and she rubs a tired hand down her face—our recent divorce is still raw for both of us. “No, you know what? I’m not fighting with you tonight.”
I shove a hand through my hair and turn away from her. I’m not doing this with her tonight either. She’s my ex-wife for a reason—so I don’t have to fight with her. “Whatever, just go.”
“You don’t get to treat me like that. I’m sorry I didn’t have more of a notice, but Lily’s your daughter too. You can help with these things.”
“Fuck you, Morgan.” I lower my voice so Lily can’t hear. “I’m not saying I won’t take her, but that you could communicate things better with me.” Lily doesn’t need to hear us fighting over her so I focus on lowering my voice again.
Morgan’s brown eyes narrow with more biting words on the tip of her tongue. After all those years of marriage, I know her well.
“No, you know what? Leave. Go, I’m not going to argue about this.” I turn and walk away. It isn’t easy to look at the woman who once held your heart and crushed it. She told me it was me who drove her into another man’s arms. That I was the one who broke her heart, and I can’t argue with her. The front door slams shut as I walk into the kitchen and grab some popcorn.
“Cheddar or butter tonight, L?”
“Cheddar,” Lily yells back from the living room. She’s started the movie by the time I join her on the couch. “Hope you don’t mind, I thought we could go for a classic tonight,” Lily says as I pass over the bowl of popcorn. She grabs it and snuggles deeper into the fuzzy blanket she wrapped around herself.
“Hey, L, I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
Her frown deepens as she takes in my words. Her red hair is in a loose, messy knot piled on top of her head and the hoodie she wears is too big. There’s a sad dip to the side of her mouth which causes my chest to hurt. No dad ever wants to see their child wear a look that resembles sadness.
“Dad, I get it. It’s a crazy time with the game releasing. I could always move my appointment around and see about staying with a friend during your meetings. It’s not a big deal.”
I slide across the couch and hug her. I never want my daughter to think she’s less important, or that I ever put my work before her. It wasn’t the case, not anymore.
I almost lost her once, and it tore us apart. It broke my family into pieces, and I’ll fight to keep the shattered remains together. Lily is everything to me and nothing comes before her.
“I love you. Please don’t think I’m upset that I get more time with you. You aren’t moving or changing anything, got it?”
“Got it. I love you too.”
We spend the next couple of hours together watching a movie and laughing. Lily’s always able to bring some of that lightness back into my life. We talk about everything and nothing around a bowl full of popcorn and the sounds of lightsabers in the background. It’s the perfect way to spend my evening.
“So, how’s school going? Your mom mentioned we have a couple of projects to work on?” I ask, then toss some popcorn in my mouth.
She leans forward to grab a drink of water then rolls her eyes. “School’s okay. The projects she’s mentioned can wait. How’s the game trailer coming along? You still have a meeting in the morning to bring the new team up-to-date with the launch, right?”
“Don’t change the subject. You know how important school is, so why do you say your homework can wait?”
“It’s not a big deal, just an easy science report, and it’s finished, mostly. You know how Mom gets. Which will probably only get worse when I start high school next year. Anyway, the game?” She presses forward, so I let the worries of homework go. She’s right, her mother pushes those things when it’s not necessary. I trust Lily to be responsible.
“The Dark Abyss is on track for release next month.”
I see her face light up at that, which makes the conversation shift worth it. “Jake was talking the other day because his aunt worked on it and said Dark Abyss will be one of the biggest games this year.”
“Jake Stone, Julie’s son? You still hang out with that kid?”
She blushes and rolls her eyes but still laughs.
I’m assuming she doesn’t want to talk about boys with me. “I didn’t realize I work with his aunt.”
“Of course, Dad. He’s my best friend. I haven’t met Kate either, but he talks about her all the time.”
“Interesting, I’ll ask around when I’m at work again. I’m happy to hear you’re still good friends though.” We talk about school and video games some more before I glance at the clock. “Let’s go to bed so we won’t be late in the morning.”
She gets up and takes off toward her room to get ready for bed, and I clean up around the house. When I walk by her bedroom, she’s in bed and snuggled up for the night. I stand there a moment longer. My daughter is here with me now, and it might not be forever, but I’ll cherish each of the moments so I can remember them once she’s gone again. Half the week with me, the rest with her new family.
I flick off the light, walk to my room, and crawl into my cold bed so I can drift off to sleep alone.
Chapter Three
Kate
“Aunt Kate?” Jake’s voice stirs me from sleep, and I growl.
There’s no reason to be up this early.
“Actually, I have class this morning.”
It takes a moment for that to click once I realize I spoke out loud and Jake has class.
“Shit. What time is it?” I jump from the bed and run around my room, trying to find something to wear in my mess of a room that’s not entirely embarrassing in public. Anything will work. Jake is my responsibility and I want Julie to be happy with how I took care of him while she was gone.
“I slept in too. We’re late.”
Jake’s laughing at my panic. He’s dressed already and has his school backpack on his shoulders. “I tried to wake you up, but you told me to fuck off.”
“What?” I couldn’t have said that. “Don’t curse and I didn’t say that. I told you to—” Okay, my responses don’t work this early, and it makes him laugh harder. I grab a pair of jeans and my gray Orthorn Games t-shirt. I’m still supposed to work today on top of everything. I glance up, and Jake leaves my room and goes into the kitchen so I can get dressed. “Grab breakfast real quick,” I yell at his retreating form.
My sister is going to kill me. Jake goes to a prestigious private school on the other side of town. She told me how important his attendance is and to make sure I get him there on time. No excuses, she told me. I’m pretty sure us staying up all night gaming and then oversleeping are the exact excuses she told me won’t work. I change then pull my purple hair into a messy knot on top of my head. I glance into the mirror but don’t bother putting on makeup.
I run into the kitchen and find Jake at the table, eating a cherry Pop-Tart. “It’s all I could find.” Jake pulls his bag from the floor and puts it back on his shoulders. He meets me in the hall, handing the extra Pop-Tart over on his way. I slip my worn Chucks on, grab my keys, and shove him through the front door before we can get further behind today.
“Sorry, I thought I’d grab you breakfast before I dropped you off at school, but yeah, I didn’t know we’d oversleep either.” We start a quick pace and take the stairs down from my apartment building and out the front door. I wave goodbye to the doorman during our swift escape. “Don’t tell your mom, okay?”
“I won’t, but seriously, don’t stress about it, okay? Mom will never know,” Jake reassures me as we step outside and into the gorgeous summer day. I don’t take time to enjoy it, we don’t have time. We push by other commuters speed-walking their way through the city. Now I wish I bought a car after my other one broke down. I didn’t need one since I live near work, but it complicates things when you have a kid to get to school on time. These are adulting things I’ve never had to worry about.
“We are so late.” We grab a cab and hope for the best at this point. It doesn’t pay to stress this much because we can’t change the fact we enjoyed ourselves last night and lost track of time. These things happen.
Despite the hustle of the morning commuting traffic, the driver gets us to the school, and I’m shoving Jake out of the car. At this point, he doesn’t care, he’s having way too much fun at my unease. Teenagers, they love when someone’s at their wit’s end. It’s their ultimate goal in life, I’m sure.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out, hardly paying attention to my surroundings. It’s my boss, and I realize I’m now late for work too. I forgot to tell Brad I was taking Jake to school, considering I schedule my life so well. My gaze is trained on my hands as I type a quick response to Brad as we rush into the school’s front steps. Jake holds the door open and leads me into the front office while I finish typing. I’m not surprised there’s documentation to add to this mess of a morning.
A solid, suit-covered arm collides with me and I find myself sprawled across the tiled flooring. A large whoosh of air escapes my lungs as I hit the ground, cringing at the pain shooting through me.
“Shit,” a deep, annoyed voice growls. Then an arm extends into my line of sight to help me up from the floor. “Are you not watching where you’re going?”
I don’t accept his hand, deciding I’ll lift my sprawled, embarrassed self from the floor. Whoever found themselves in my way is an asshole, and I’ll refuse their help. I shove the arm from in front of my face.
The voice was low, though, and I feel a pull to look up the suit-covered arm to find the face that asked those questions. My gaze makes a slow trail up past the white pressed shirt and gray suit jacket to the smooth neck that’s edged by a white collar. I swallow hard when it moves up his neck and finds a set of lips turned down in annoyance. I don’t pause there, instead, continuing my perusal of the man who literally knocked me on my ass a moment ago. He looks familiar, but I can’t place him right away.
Dark-brown eyes, ones that look the perfect shade of a mocha latte stare back at me. I’m lost, drowning for a moment while I wait, while I fade into them. He bends down, comes closer, and places a warm hand under the crook of my elbow so he can help me up from the floor. A tingle spreads over my skin as his hand makes contact with the smooth, sensitive part of my arm. His hands are firm yet soft at the same time. “Are you okay?” His voice has gentled some the longer he watches me. He has me standing a few feet away from being held in his arms as the sounds of the hallway bleed back to me.
“I’m fine,” I grind out when in reality, I’m overwhelmed by the response he’s pulled from me and the annoyance I heard in his voice. Breaking eye contact and shaking off the instant attraction I feel toward the man, I shift toward Jake and start shoving him to the office. When I glance over my shoulder, I see the guy turning back to the girl he was talking to before we collided. I sign Jake in on the late sheet, receive an annoyed look from the woman behind the desk, and then walk back to the hall.
The man is hugging the girl goodbye as she cries, not much but enough that pools of moisture collect in her eyes when she w
ipes them away. “I’ll see you after class. I love you,” the guy in the suit says as he breaks away and the girl looks back at us expectantly.
“Hey, Jake.” She tugs on her backpack straps as my nephew walks forward.
“Hey, Lily, I’ll walk you to class.” They turn and start down the hall. I tilt my head to the side, observing them walk away. Jake looks over his shoulder, waving goodbye one last time.
Lily’s name rings very familiar, Jake having talked about his best friend often. I’m standing alone in the hall with Lily’s dad, if I could be sure by looks alone. I say nothing to him, despite knowing he’s a friend to my sister. I know I should say something, but I’m at a loss for words. Turning quickly, I make my way outside and into the summer sun so I can take a breath of the fresh air. My phone buzzes from my back pocket, causing me to pause as I pull it out. Brad texted me back, informing me I’m part of the meeting with marketing about the game launch and to get my ass in as soon as I can.
“You should watch around you rather than that phone of yours.”
His voice pauses me, and I spin to face him. What’s this guy’s deal? I hadn’t meant to run into him. He didn’t need to use that tone with me. I narrow my eyes but decide to not even bother with a response. He might be a nice-looking man, but that shit right there gets my blood boiling. I hate when people judge someone they don’t know. I slide my phone in my pocket and grab a cab back to downtown. The ride across town is spent focusing on this marketing meeting. The Dark Abyss is the first game I’ve been a part of and since I’m only a level designer, all of my time is spent behind my computer with my face buried in codes. Brad, the game’s director or Natalie, the story’s creator, handle things with the executives like the CEO and marketing director. What could they possibly want from an entry-level designer like me who spends her time in the pit, hidden behind her glasses and codes?
Worth Something More Page 2
