Chapter 4
“Wow. What a fantastic view,” Caitlyn said as she stepped into the penthouse’s enormous living room and stared out the giant window overlooking Central Park. She and Noah had emailed back and forth about activities they could hold there. The size made her mind race even more with its potential.
“Yeah, wow.” Zoe came to stand beside her.
“Welcome,” Sona said, stepping into the room wearing an apron, her straight black hair pulled into a ponytail. The smell of something sweet in the oven had followed her.
“Have you been baking while Joe gave us a quick tour?” Caitlyn asked.
“Yes. We need something to make this ridiculous place homier.” Sona gave a soft laugh. “It’s been nice to host company parties here, but it’s a bit much.”
A familiar-looking man wearing glasses appeared at the top of the stairs. Caitlyn recognized him from the picture at their first meeting. Time to play the role of team leader.
“You must be Heath Savage.” She went up a step with an extended hand. “I’m Caitlyn Hahn.”
“You’re one of the team leaders.” He hurried down. “Nice to meet you.”
“And I’m the other team leader, Noah Kelly.” He appeared at her side with his hand outstretched.
“Heath, you can show the guys which rooms they’ll be staying in,” Sona said, “while I take the girls.”
“We won’t be in our usual rooms?” Noah asked, looking surprised.
“We have extra guests tonight,” Sona said. “Darius and Eve are in New York this weekend with their little boy.”
“Usual rooms?” Caitlyn whispered, exchanging a glance with Zoe. “Humblebrag, anyone?”
“Absolutely,” Zoe agreed, her voice low.
Did Noah have any idea how unprofessional his harping was about how he was related to the Raffertys?
People sometimes complained about his getting special treatment.
She’d assumed the snide remarks were motivated by jealousy.
Even after the way he’d ghosted her, Caitlyn liked to give people the benefit of the doubt.
There were times, though, when his mentions of familial connections had sounded like boasting.
After the altercation in the hallway, Caitlyn wondered if he was making it worse by bringing it up. Should she say something to him about it?
“This way, ladies.” Sona headed up the stairs.
Caitlyn reached for her suitcase, but Heath grabbed it first.
“I can get this for you,” he said. “My stuff’s already in my room.” He followed the others.
She was about to argue with him, but her stomach went queasy again. It was followed quickly by a wave of dizziness, and she had to clutch the railing to make sure she didn’t fall.
“Whoa there, are you all right?” A light brown hand covered Caitlyn’s, and she looked up into the face of Evelynn Dimitriou, wife of one of the owners.
Her multitude of tiny braids had been pulled back into a ponytail.
She was a nurse and headed one of the company’s charities.
She said, “Here, sit on the stairs and rest your head in your lap. Darius, go ahead and put him down for his nap.”
Caitlyn did as instructed, and the dizziness eased.
“How long have you been feeling this way?” Mrs. Dimitriou put a finger on Caitlyn’s wrist, taking her pulse. Then she turned Caitlyn’s arm over and felt the needle scars on the inside of her arm. The woman sat beside her. “Why so many?”
Caitlyn straightened. “They’re from chemo.”
“Ah, I see.” Mrs. Dimitriou touched Caitlyn’s pink hair spikes. “It’s been long enough that your hair is growing back. Have you been feeling dizzy for long?”
“It’s just late-effect nausea.” Caitlyn rubbed her face. “I have a hard time eating very much, but then my blood sugar crashes.”
“Like now. Let me get you some juice and a cheese stick.”
“I don’t want to be a bother.”
The woman just grinned and jogged away. Behind Caitlyn came the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs. Great. Who else was going to witness this?
Darius Dimitriou sat down beside her, resting his forearms on his knees. He was even taller than Joe, who must be close to six-four.
“Does Sona know about your condition?” Mr. Dimitriou must have heard what Caitlyn told his wife.
“She does, and my doctor released me for this.” Caitlyn looked up at him. “Please don’t make me go back home. I can do this. I promise I’ll eat more.”
“Force yourself to eat more, you mean? Drink this first.” Mrs. Dimitriou handed over a small carton of orange juice and began peeling the wrapper from a cheese stick.
“It’s obvious this embarrasses you. If you don’t want the others to know you’re recovering from cancer, you can simply say you have blood sugar issues. ”
“Sounds like it would even be true. I’m Darius, by the way.”
“And I’m Eve.” His wife handed over the partially unwrapped cheese stick.
“I’m Caitlyn Hahn.”
Darius repeated her name, looking thoughtful. “You work for Ezreal, right?”
“Yes.” Caitlyn took a bite of the cheese, already feeling better after the juice.
“What are your plans when you graduate?” he asked.
“I’m a music major, so I could teach.” Caitlyn shrugged. “It’s the most logical thing to do. My father likes to tease me about being a cruise ship entertainer, but there is actually quite an extensive list of jobs relating to a music degree.”
“But what do you want to do?” Eve asked.
Caitlyn opened her mouth and then closed it again, saying nothing. It would come across as self-serving if she told them she would love to work full time for REKD Gaming. Her time as an intern under Ezreal Wallach’s tutelage had been an amazing experience.
“Whatever you decide, don’t forget game developers need musicians too. I know of one in particular who’s a music department head and speaks highly of you.” Darius winked at her before rising to his feet.
“Will you be all right now?” Eve asked, taking the hand her husband offered her.
“Yes. Thank you.” Caitlyn stood, no longer unsteady.
“I look forward to seeing you at our game tonight,” Eve said.
“What game?”
“REKD, of course.” Darius grinned. “The six interns against the rest of us.”
Caitlyn frowned, both excited and intimidated at the thought of playing with two of the men who’d helped create the online arena video game. “Aren’t there only four of you?”
“Joe will play with us. You interns will have to rotate since there are six of you. See you at dinner.” He lifted a hand in farewell before he and his wife went up the stairs.
Caitlyn took her time following them. Now she would have to find out where Zoe and Sona had gone.
Caitlyn entered the gaming room hesitantly.
After intercepting a couple of assessing glances from Noah, she wasn’t sure what to expect.
He seemed to be softening toward her, which she found encouraging from a professional point of view.
She couldn’t give in to her heart’s wish for it to be more than that.
The room was big, of course. It seemed like everything in the penthouse had been designed on a grand scale, yet the founders and their wives were so.
.. normal. The biggest surprise to Caitlyn was that it didn’t appear to be an act either.
She was glad. It would make it easier for her to do her job if she weren’t perpetually intimidated by Sona and Kayn.
The gaming room looked like an oversized theater room with two rows of recliners. Upon closer inspection, she realized they also had a small PC at each chair. Noah and Finn had already taken seats on one row and had made a monitor come up from the side of the chair.
“Let me get these rows set up,” Kayn said, stepping into the room and messing with some buttons on the wall.
The front row of chairs moved back toward the large screen, turning as it did. When it stopped, the two rows faced each other.
Caitlyn glanced at Max, but he nodded for her to take the chair, saying, “I’ll catch the next game.”
“You sure?” she asked. When he nodded, she took the only vacant seat, the one next to Noah.
“Zoe,” Finn called without looking up from his keyboard, “you’ll be needing to take mid lane.”
“Fine, but I’m terrible solo.” Zoe heaved out a breath.
“I’m better on top lane,” Heath said.
“And I called bottom lane,” Noah added.
“I can take mid lane for you,” Caitlyn offered.
“No,” Zoe said. “You’re better in the support role because you’re always watching out for everyone on the team. But I apologize upfront if I have a poor game.”
“Don’t you be giving up on us already, Zoe,” Noah said with a wink. “I’ve been playing with them for a couple of years now, so I know their tricks.”
Zoe said nothing but shot Caitlyn a knowing glance, one brow arched. Caitlyn definitely needed to mention the bragging to Noah. That conversation was bound to earn her scowls. So much for smoothing things between them.
The battle arena game began slowly, as they always did, with the different players taking their time to build experience and gold to buy better weapons and armor.
The interns were doing a decent job of defending, and it made Caitlyn wonder if the owners’ team was taking it easy on them.
Darius might be over the game’s art design, but Kayn was the head programmer. He must know the game inside and out.
Her thoughts drifted to their assignment this week.
There had to be ways to apply this competition to team-building and increasing trust among employees.
It would be a mistake not to include some gameplay into whatever else people do at the retreats.
Playing REKD was already incorporated into work requirements at REKD Gaming.
Even the attorneys had to play daily, and the company provided time and locations in the facility for employees to get in their mandatory time.
When the founders’ team turned aggressive, Caitlyn had to give all her attention to the game. They lost one big team fight where all five of them were killed, and it ended quickly after that.
Noah grunted beside her, his brows furrowed, and threw himself back in his chair.