Chapter 5
five
. . .
Maci
Encrypted Message: Rune
Sometimes leveling up means exploring new adventures.
“Sorry, I need to take this.” I say, sitting in a software architecture meeting pretending to care about cloud migration strategies for a large bank.
My manager stands at the front of the conference room explaining server scalability while someone clicks through a PowerPoint presentation that looks suspiciously identical to the one they showed us last month.
I've spent the last three days checking my email every fifteen minutes and jumping every time my phone vibrates, so when an unknown Austin number lights up my screen, my pulse immediately kicks into overdrive.
The room suddenly feels too suffocating.
I practically sprint into the hallway before answering. "Hello?"
"Hi, Maci. This is Dara from Synatrix."
My heart launches into my throat. The woman could've stopped speaking right there and I would've needed oxygen.
I press my back against the wall, staring at the ugly beige paint while trying to remember how breathing works.
"We'd like to offer you the position."
There’s no dramatic buildup or twenty minutes of corporate jargon. Dara gets straight to the point and offers me the job I’ve dreamed of my entire life.
For a second, I genuinely wonder if I'm hallucinating. Maybe I finally snapped during one too many software meetings and my brain created a fantasy where I get hired by the gaming company I've wanted to work for since college.
Then Dara gives me a rundown on the salary which is more than fair and quite the bump from my current pay. She says, “Human resources will explain the benefits in detail, but the coverage is one hundred percent paid by the company.”
And every word out of her mouth feels like another confirmation that this is happening.
By the time she says, “We'd like you to start Monday,” excitement collides headfirst with reality.
Monday. As in four days from now.
Sweat starts shining on my skin. How can I do this? My apartment is here, not to mention I should give a two weeks’ notice to my current employer.
Austin is two hours away and somehow I'm supposed to relocate, resign, pack, move, and become a functioning employee in less than a week.
I close my eyes.
"You're panicking," she says with a hint of humor in her voice.
"I'm evaluating."
Dara laughs. "That's just panicking with spreadsheets."
The embarrassing part is she's not wrong.
“Maci, you won’t be sorry and Mr. O’Ryan has added an addendum to your contract that you’ll receive two years’ salary if we were ever to terminate your employment, unless you commit fraud or something.” The last few words separated by laughter.
My eyes widen and I look over my shoulder at the boring bald guys in the conference room. “So, I should just quit?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, but I’ll need the addendum signed before I do.”
“Mr. O’Ryan thought you would say that. I’m sending it to your email now. See you Monday?” she asks.
“I’ll be there.”
Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I take a deep breath and march into the conference room. My heart might explode. I’m so happy.
“What are the smiles for Maci?”
I stammer, “Umm… umm… oh what the hell. Synatrix Global just offered me a job as their Creative Strategist. Can you believe it?”
I’m bouncing on my toes, and as they stare at me, I notice the frowns. They’re not happy. I’m a middle child and hate confrontation.
My boss twists his lip. “We expect you to finish this project.”
“I’m sorry. They need me to start on Monday and Synatrix is where I want to be.
Not because this isn’t a great place, but it’s the expansion of gaming outside someone’s house.
I’ll clean out my desk and forward all information related to projects.
Feel free to call me. I don’t want to leave you hanging. ”
“We won’t be able to give you a reference.” The head honcho chimes in.
“I know. Thank you for the opportunity but this is something I can’t pass up.”
The excitement lasts almost three hours. That's how long it takes before the reality of what I've agreed to settles over me.
By the time I get home, it looks like a tornado hit my living room but left the roof on. Boxes and storage bins everywhere.
I've packed exactly six things and somehow managed to create twice as much mess. Clothes are piled on my bed. My gaming setup is halfway disconnected. The contents of my kitchen currently look like they exploded across the living room.
I stand in the middle of the chaos with a roll of tape in one hand and wonder if I was quick too accept my dream job. Not that I don’t want it—I do, so much it’s terrifying.
For years I've told myself I was being practical. Stay close to home. Keep the stable job. Build the sensible career. Every decision made perfect sense on paper.
The problem is none of those choices ever made me excited to get out of bed in the morning.
Gaming does.
Building communities does.
Creating experiences for people like me.
Somewhere along the way I started settling for good enough because chasing what I actually wanted felt impossible.
Now someone has handed me exactly what I've been chasing. And suddenly there's nowhere left to hide.
A knock sounds at my door.
Before I can answer, Chase steps inside carrying two pizzas and a six-pack of soda.
"Tyler sent me."
I narrow my eyes. "My brother?”
"Okay, it was your mom’s idea."
"That sounds more believable."
I called my family on the way home. And although they know Synatrix is huge, they don’t realize the scope of the company. Tyler knows the gaming part, but I doubt he knows everything. What they do know is it’s owned by an O’Ryan and they love their Austin Armadillos.
He surveys the apartment and immediately starts laughing.
"Looks like you've declared war on cardboard."
“Rude. I have a system."
He points toward a box labeled IMPORTANT STUFF.
Beside it sits a second box labeled MORE IMPORTANT STUFF.
And a third labeled REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF.
His grin widens.
"Do you?"
I throw a packing peanut at his head. Unfortunately, it bounces off harmlessly.
For the next hour we eat pizza and pack. Well, I pack. Chase mostly wanders around holding random objects and asking questions.
"Do you need six keyboards?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because they're different."
"They all have keys,” he chuckles as he taps his fingers against two of them.
I stare at him.
He stares at me.
Neither of us blinks.
"This conversation is over."
At one point he uncovers a stack of gaming trophies from tournaments I won years ago. His eyebrows nearly disappear into his hairline. "You never told me you won all this."
I shrug. "It wasn't a big deal."
"Maci."
"It wasn't."
"There's literally one taller than my nephew."
I glance at the trophy won at an on-site gaming challenge in high school. Maybe that one is a little excessive.
Eventually he finds a small storage box tucked into the back of my closet. For a split second, I forget how to breathe because I know exactly what's inside—letters. Years of letters.
"Please tell me these aren't love letters."
I practically dive across the room and snatch the box from his hands. "They're classified."
His grin becomes instant. "Oh my God, they are."
"They're not."
"They absolutely are."
I shove the box into another box and tape it shut before he can ask more questions. Some things belong in the past.
Or at least in storage.
As the evening stretches on, the apartment slowly starts looking less like a disaster zone and more like a move. The walls feel emptier. The shelves feel bare. Every packed box feels like another reminder that I'm actually leaving.
For the first time, it hits me that I won't be coming back to this house. This chapter is over. The realization should make me sad, instead, it feels strangely freeing.
Around ten o'clock, my phone rings.
Dara.
I answer immediately.
"Please tell me you're calling because I can start in three weeks."
"Actually, Mr. O'Ryan still wants you Monday. I’m calling…"
Of course he does. I glance around the apartment covered with half-packed boxes, and a mix of nerves and excitement rush through me.
“I don’t even have a place to stay and there’s so much to do.”
Chase points to his chest so not to interrupt and mouths, “Stay at my family’s house with me.”
"I know finding an apartment in four days is almost impossible." Something in her voice makes me suspicious. “So, I’m calling with a solution. We want our top executives close to the office.”
I sit up straighter. Chase notices instantly.
"What kind of solution?"
There's a pause, before Dara says, "Synatrix maintains a penthouse above Armadillos Arena."
I blink several times because surely I misunderstood. "A penthouse."
"That's generally how billionaires operate."
I ignore that. "No."
Dara pauses.
"No?"
"I got the job because I earned it. I don't want special treatment. I can afford my own place. I just need a little more time."
"We know you can. We want to make this move as easy as possible. Mr. O’Ryan wants your input immediately.”
My brain stops functioning. Completely.
"Dara."
"Until you find housing, that’s all."
I stare at the wall while my future flashes before my eyes.
New job.
New city.
New life.
And apparently a temporary residence in a billionaire's penthouse.
When the call ends, Chase is still watching me. "You have that look."
"What look?"
"The one where your brain blue-screened."
I take a deep breath, then another.
"Apparently my temporary housing solution is the company penthouse."
Chase blinks. "That's kind of cool."
"That's your response?"
"What do you want me to say?"
"Something more dramatic,” I say, tossing my favorite mug into a box.
He considers this. “Congratulations on becoming the main character."
I laugh so hard I nearly choke and for the first time all day, the panic eases.
“Seriously Maci, stay with me at my family’s house. It’ll be a blast. We can go to the drive-in after work, or I can buy you dinner,” he says, reaching for my hand.
For a beat, I think about it. But I don’t want to make things weird between Chase and me. Living under the same roof will change the dynamics. Right now, we’re friends, but I see the way he looks at me and there’s more in his eyes.
“Thanks for the offer. If I can’t tolerate a flashy, full of gold penthouse, I’ll call you.” I lean in and kiss his cheek. “I just want to dive into work and that’ll be the best place.”
He scoffs, “So you can work all day and then go home and work all night?”
I clap my hands together. “Exactly and I can’t wait.”
He wipes his long hair off his forehead. “You’re hopeless.”
Then he wraps his arms around me and the hug is interrupted by a ping on my phone.
Dara: Don’t worry about packing kitchen and bathroom necessities, the penthouse is stocked with everything you need.
Synatrix has always been the goal since the other big two gaming companies are in California. I just thought after three rejections for a developer that I wasn’t good enough. And now, I’m upending my whole life for a career alongside billionaire, Witt O’Ryan.
Monday is coming.
And nothing about my life is going to look the same when it gets here.