Page 119 of Single Mom's Guide to Love

“Well, quit making us wait,” Kat says. “Especially me, because no offense to the missus, but I’ve been here a lot longer and have had a lot more headaches.”

“None taken.”

I turn my computer screen, showing them the mockup I’ve started. “Ladies, may I introduce to you SpaceCraft Eras, name subject to change.”

Maeve and Kat look at each other, slightly confused, which I don’t blame them. The name makes no sense without explanation.

“Okay, follow me,” I say, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice. “I kept thinking of how much fun we had on Christmas with the old video games,” I explain. “And not just the old guys who were reliving their youth, but Jayce, who was seeing these classic games for the first time.”

“It was a hit,” Maeve says. “But, and I hate to be the Debbie Downer, I’m pretty sure those games are spoken for. Or at the least, the characters are.”

“Correct, which was where I was getting stumped,” I say. “Then last night it hit me. Bring in the old with the new.”

I bring up the screen that has the SpaceCraft characters on it. “People know GameTech for SpaceCraft, and even if the sales have evened out, it’s still one of the most popular games in the world. So why not bring in the characters everyone knows and loves, and put them in situations that resemble the games of the past.”

“Because scenarios and scenes aren’t copyrighted,” Kat adds with an excited nod. “It’s the best of both worlds.”

“Exactly,” I say. “We can have scenes where they fight each other in a boxing ring. We can have them shooting at launched stars. Or maybe fighting in underground sewers while eating tacos instead of pizza. Whatever we want. As long as, at the end of the day, it gives the feeling of those old, vintage video games that we love but in the modern gaming world.”

“Bringing the new generation and the older generation together.”

I smile at Maeve. “Exactly.”

“Fuck yeah!” Kat yells, clapping for extra measure. “This is perfect, Logan. The board is going to go nuts.”

“Right? I have so much to do. I need to get development on it. Give a presentation to the marketing team to make sure we nail the name and the concept of the packaging. Oh! And the board. Those crotchety old men need something to get excited about.”

“Well, then, it’s your lucky day,” Kat says. “I came in here to remind you about a call with the board and the department heads today. Might as well let the good news out.”

Maeve stands up and leans over my desk. “I’m so proud of you.”

She gives me a kiss, and for the first time maybe ever, I feel like I’m proud of me too. I was when I came up with SpaceCraft, but I always felt like I couldn’t take time to feel good about my accomplishment because I felt like I had something to prove.

Somebody to prove something to.

But now? Knowing what I’ve come up with is, what I feel, going to be a hit, and getting to share that success with the people who mean the most to me? Who I know are proud of me even without the words being spoken? That’s a special feeling.

That’s love.

Today might have been the only day in my entire career that I was excited for a virtual conference call meeting.

That excitement lasted ten minutes.

Just like I thought, they loved the idea of mixing SpaceCraft with vintage games of days gone by. One member even suggested one of his favorites that I’d totally forgotten about.

SpaceCraft characters on a race track? Hell, yeah!

But now that the excitement has died down, and I’m sitting here pretending to be an engaged CEO, I’m remembering why I dread these calls.

I don’t hear much of what my CFO starts talking about—I’m going to take a stab that it’s about finances or budgets—as out of the corner of my eye I see Maeve come into the office. She’s dressed in a robe, which is odd since it’s after lunch, but I don’t have time to think anything of it as I luckily hear the conversation be tossed back to me.

“Sounds good.” Did it? Not sure. If there are bad things to report, I’m usually notified ahead of time so I’m going to assume everything is going well. “Let’s keep everything on track. We want to have a strong Q1…”

I don’t mean to trail off. I was actually doing well in sounding like I had any idea what was going on.

Then again, I wasn’t expecting my wife to flash me in the middle of my conference call.

I swallow the massive frog in my throat and try not to squirm in my seat due to my suddenly hard cock, as Maeve stands just off to the side of my vision, gloriously naked, while I’m trying to be a proper CEO.

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