Chapter 55
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Andi
As soon as Brett vanishes from view, I let go of Cat’s hand to grip the edges of the conference room table. My vision is still fuzzy at the edges, rendering the whole world in a flashback-like state, and I scoop in big lungfuls of air to restore my heartbeat to its normal pace. Someone—Cat? No, Philo—rubs circles into the space between my shoulder blades.
“What the hell was that, Andz?” she whispers into my ear.
I shrug her off with a tepid smile, as much to regain my composure as to maintain a look of competency in front of everyone else. “Looks like we’re locked in on giving Sentinel love interests,” I say before turning to address the developers staring up at us, the engineers and designers and writers and testers. “Sorry for being late again, everyone. Meanwhile, enjoy your lunch and keep up the great work.”
The pizza serves as a decent enough distraction for me to sneak out and run up to my office, where I collapse into my (broken) chair to read Ainsley’s article for myself.
In the first significant leak for Heartrender’s highly anticipated narrative RPG Compass Hollow , screenshots of the script confirm that Sentinel, the main character of the game, will have at least four and up to eight party members, all of whom will be romanceable. Love interests will run the gamut in terms of sexualities and gender identities, and sources further confirm players will be able to choose between she/her, he/him, and they/them pronouns for Sentinel.
This comes as a first for Heartrender as well as for narrative director Andi “Andz” Zhang, who was famously embroiled in a months-long controversy for their role in creating Connor White in the acclaimed game Aftermath …
I close my eyes. Ainsley delivered, just like she said she would, and not a second too late too. Soon IGN and Kotaku and all the other news outlets will be regurgitating the same news, making it nigh impossible for Brett or Jan or anyone else to take back what’s been committed to.
We’re, as I said, locked in.
I owe Ainsley a thank-you and, like, an Edible Arrangement or something, but I don’t text her on the off chance Brett (or anyone else) decides to go snooping through my work phone’s logs. Instead, I exhale and let go of some of the adrenaline running through my veins.
A knock sounds at the door. I open my eyes and see Philo, arms crossed and wearing a smirk. “Nice job,” she says. “Saving our game and putting Brett in his place. Not bad for a Monday.”
I give her as blank a stare as I can manage. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Right. And I suppose you’re also gonna tell me you don’t have a massive crush on Cat.”
I start to deny it, but the words get caught on their way out. “How’d you find out?”
“Um, hello? She was literally holding your hand while you had your little throwdown with Brett.”
Fair.
“Not to mention your eyes go all anime whenever she appears.”
“They do not.”
“They totally do.” Laughing, Philo crosses over to my liquor cabinet and pulls out my Maker’s. I lift an eyebrow at her, which she ignores by ripping off the stopper with her teeth. “It’s past noon. Besides, you’ve already defeated evil, saved the day, and gotten the girl. I’d say that’s worth celebrating.”
“How does you drinking my bourbon equal me celebrating?”
“I’m just getting a head start,” Philo says, drifting back toward the door. “Later, you’re going to explain to me everything that just happened, but right now, you look a little busy.”
“With what?” I ask. She doesn’t answer right away, but when she moves past, there’s a new figure standing in my doorway: Cat.
“Hey,” she says shyly.
I scramble to my feet. “Hey.”
“See? Anime eyes. Have fun, you two,” Philo says with a wink and a wave. Then it’s just me and Cat, standing across from each other in my otherwise empty office.
I clear my throat. Crack my neck in both directions. Search for a way to put this feeling ballooning in my chest to words.
Cat breaks the silence first. “Are you really gonna tell Philo about Brett and Jan and their whole plan?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “I guess it depends on how the next twenty-four hours pan out. I’m betting that Ainsley’s article will make EA think twice about issuing any sort of statement. The writing in those screenshots is good , which makes it that much harder for them to blame me for not delivering. Still, I wouldn’t put it past Jan to cut off his nose to spite his face. Either way, I’ll leave you out of it. The fewer people who know you were Sheik at IAX, the better.”
Cat frowns. “You didn’t tell Philo and Gabe last week?”
I shake my head. “There wasn’t time. After the mainstage event, we split up: me to find you and them to do … something.”
“ ‘Something,’ eh?” To my astonishment, Cat laughs, prompting me to raise an eyebrow at her. “You know they’re together, right?”
My jaw unhinges itself. As the pieces come together in my mind, I realize Cat is right. My head’s been so far up my own ass I didn’t notice what was right in front of me.
No more. I bridge the distance between us and rest my hands on Cat’s hips. She’s so close to me, our bodies less than an inch apart, that her hair tickles my face. Tilting my chin up, I rest it on the top of her head and pull her into a hug.
“What are you doing?” She laughs. She doesn’t pull away, though, but nuzzles her nose against my neck.
I hold on to her for a few more seconds before letting go. “Sorry. I’ve wanted to do that ever since I met you.”
“No way,” she says.
“Would I lie about wanting to do something so wooby?”
“I don’t know. I just watched Andi ‘Andz’ Zhang defend keeping romance options in a video game. I have no idea what this person in my arms is capable of.” Taking my hands, she pulls them back around her waist so my hips bump up against hers. “I’d like to find out, though.”
With our torsos Tetrised together, I bend to match my mouth to hers. She makes a tiny sound of surprise and pleasure, then slides her hands up my ribs to pull me in deeper. It’s hard to believe that not three months ago, I couldn’t wait to get this woman off my team, and now I can’t imagine writing a single word without her by my side.
“Be with me, Cat,” I say between kisses. “Whatever happens tomorrow, however Hollow turns out, be with me. Be my …” I pause, my brain overloaded and fritzing out.
“Your sidekick? Your NPC love interest?” Cat teases, a smile on her lips. “No, wait, better yet: your player two?”
“Girlfriend,” I supply. “I was gonna say girlfriend.” Tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, I kiss her again. “What do you think?”
Cat stares up at me with those big, luminous eyes of hers, and it’s like time stops moving and gravity reverses itself. Everything around me that’s not her goes sideways and I am falling, spinning, careening into another dimension.
With a stroke of her thumb along my jawline, she brings me back to reality. I catch it, press its callused pad to my lips, and win an overbright smile.
“I’m in,” she whispers. I’m about to skim my teeth along the soft skin of her neck when she adds, “By the way, are you free on Thanksgiving? And … how do you feel about seaweed knots?”