Chapter 15
Lara
The more often you do something, the better you get at it. You can also upgrade your tools using ore from the local mines.
“What do we think: Do we prefer her completely checked out, the way she is now, or with the desperate look in her eyes from before this weekend?” At the sound of Nat’s voice, I blink to bring myself back to the present.
She’s right; I really was somewhere else mentally.
I was with Luca. I was like this for the remainder of the weekend and all of this morning.
I’ve been at the office for three hours now, and I’ve hardly gotten anything done when I should be working extra hard to get back in Sophia’s good books.
“Well, I thought the way she is now, at first. I mean, this is all so romantic.” Aria plucks her favorite cup from the shelf.
The writing on it says “In My Smut Era”—and like my pajamas, it too was a gift from Nataly.
The kitchen is steeped in sunlight, bathing Aria’s hair and the wallpaper with its book-themed print.
“But then she nearly drank the dirty dishwater just now instead of putting coffee in her cup. Now I’m not so sure how much I like her being in love. ”
“I’m not in love!” I protest, tossing my hair back in annoyance.
“Oh, look, she can hear us.” Nat’s grinning at me, her finished latte already in hand. Monday is our team meeting day, and making coffee together first has become our little ritual.
“Called it; Lara and Luca sound too nice together to not make a good pairing.” Aria chuckles and nudges me out of the way so she can access the coffeepot.
The coffee grinder is currently pulverizing the coffee beans with a loud rumble, which gives me a bit of time to think of an answer.
But by the time Aria has her drink in hand, I still haven’t come up with anything clever.
I shouldn’t have told them anything. Though that would have been futile, I suppose.
They intercepted me in the hallway of our flat and grilled me right when I got back.
So now they know about my breakdown and our hug and also about our stroll around Notting Hill and how he walked me home.
The only thing I’ve kept to myself is the kiss we shared during the GameChanger prelims. When Aria and Nat asked me what had gone down, I kept insisting that nothing had happened on our walk.
Though the whole thing seems to have played out differently in their heads. Aria’s sighing again.
“This is just like a novel.”
“I thought they only shag in yours,” Nat interjects.
“Well, they have to get to know each other first, don’t they?” Aria’s chuckle turns into a grin. “But now that you’ve got that bit over with, there’s nothing stopping you . . .”
Nat giggles, and I shake my head at them. “I’m never telling you lot anything ever again.”
“Can I come in, or should I wait? I heard shag and waited out here like a good boy, but I really need my caffeine fix before the meeting starts.” Ramon cautiously glances around the doorframe into the cozy coffee kitchen, and Nat waves him in.
“We were just teasing Lara.”
“At least you’re self-aware,” I mutter and hand Ramon his cup. Unlike the many others on the shelf with their funny quotes and fandom references, his is a simple pale blue.
“So bullying at the workplace, eh?” Ramon raises his thick eyebrows. “Don’t you think Lara deserves a break?”
“Thank you!” I pointedly join him at his end of the kitchen, leaning on the counter with my arms crossed.
He laughs quietly, and to my own surprise, I join in.
Fact is, the video of me at GameChanger didn’t show up on my For You page the entire rest of the weekend.
Apparently, users have now turned to other people to spew their hate at, and I’m off the hook.
Though I still have more than enough problems, what with the upcoming speech therapy and the lack of funding, it’s like a load has dropped from my shoulders.
“Lads!” Sophia’s voice rings through the office. “It’s five past, and Kamal is the only one at the table. But when I look at payroll, I’m sure there must be other people working here too!”
“Should have made myself a double espresso. How can that woman be so full of energy this early in the morning?”
“Ramon, it’s just after eleven,” Aria tells him.
“Well, it’s too early!” He nabs a banana from the fruit bowl and leads the way over to the long table by the creative corner that serves as our meeting space.
We tag along, and Nat and I both raise our eyebrows as we catch sight of Sophia’s beaming face.
She’s wearing a dark-blue blouse that brings out her flaming-red hair nicely, and she looks much more rested than she did last week.
Seems like she’s finally gotten over her food poisoning.
“Looks like good news,” Aria whispers, taking the seat next to mine while Nat sits down in the chair across from me and next to Kamal, who’s always punctual, with an affectionate “Hey, nerd.” He very maturely sticks out his tongue at her in response.
“Everyone sitting down? Wonderful. Hold on to your hats.” Sophia gets to her feet, her smile widening some more, which makes the freckles on her nose dance. “We’re through to the next round!”
“What?” I ask incredulously as Aria digs her fingers into my arm and Nat jumps up, exclaiming, “Ayyyyy!”
“Through to the next round?” I look at Sophia, waiting for her to explain herself, to see a hidden camera, or to wake up from a dream. It’s still a few more days until April Fools’, so that can’t be it.
“You did it! We got to the next round! Which means we now have ten days to prepare everything. A playable demo for visitors to test. And there will be cameras.” She glances at me.
“So we’ll have to prepare for that a little.
The first round was up to the judges, but the second round will all depend on the audience. ”
“We can’t be through to the next round,” I say, still reeling. “You saw the video.”
“We only saw a few seconds of your performance—not the rest of it. You’ve obviously been selling yourself short again.
” Kamal gives me a kind smile, and it’s only now, seeing the genuine joy in Sophia’s eyes, that the realization begins to sink in: We’re through to the next round.
I didn’t bugger it up. Not that I’m convinced that my performance did us any favors, but our game is obviously so good that not even I managed to muck things up for us.
We have a chance! My heart is fluttering like a hummingbird, finally free of its cage after years of captivity.
I’m grinning as broadly as Nat and Aria now.
“I want you to block a few hours for me this week,” Sophia continues.
I nod. “Will do, but we’re already working hard on the early access version. We have enough playable content.”
“Not for the game; everything’s ready there for now, and Ramon can probably do the rest in his sleep.
Not that he’d be able to sleep if he tried, with the amount of caffeine he consumes, but that’s another story.
” Ramon snorts, which gets him a grin from Sophia.
“I meant for me, so we can prepare you for the cameras and the situations where you’ll have to speak.
I know someone from my coding camp who can give us some media training. ”
I’m back to shaking my head again, vehemently enough that Aria leans away from me to avoid getting smacked in the face with my hair.
“You don’t need to prepare me. You’re doing better! You can go, can’t you?”
“Of course. With you. We’re allowed to bring two people.
” I open my mouth in protest, but Sophia raises both her hands to silence me.
“I promise that you won’t have to go on stage.
I’ll take care of all that. But you will have to talk to the people testing our game. There’s going to be press among them.”
“Can’t Ramon, or Kamal, or . . .” Another shake of her head silences me. There’s no need for her to say it; I can see it in her eyes: We had a deal. She needs to be able to count on me.
I don’t have to go on stage.
It’s not like all eyes will be on me, only the eyes of the people checking out our booth.
We’ve made it through to the next round. Despite my performance. We have a chance. Sophia’s going to be there; I won’t have to make an utter fool of myself—and she’ll be at the booth too. I’ll be her backup.
Luca’s going to be there.
I’m sure Luca’s gotten through to the next round too, which means I’ll get a chance to spend some more time with him. Outside of London. Not alone with him, but I’ll see him.
I can still feel the echo of his embrace on my skin, and I can’t stop myself from blushing. Looks like Aria next to me has noticed too, because she places a hand on my leg.
“You can do this,” she whispers.
I’m not sure if that’s true, but I am sure that I want to try.
You’re so much stronger and more beautiful than you think.
I know it’s not true, but I want to believe that he thinks it’s true. And if that’s the case . . . does the rest really matter? Do people like Shane even matter? If it’s true for even just a few people like Luca, like my friends and family, what do I care?
I realize these thoughts are fleeting, fragile. One wrong move and they might come tumbling down like a house of cards—but I nod. Sophia beams at me, much like Nataly, whose blue eyes sparkle with pride.
“Fine. I’m in.”