Page 25 of A Geek Girl's Guide to Kissing a Video Gamer
“Uh, funny story. My friend purchased a company and all its holdings. Templar was part of that holding company. After going through their financials, he was going to liquidate it until I showed interest. He let me purchase it for almost nothing. Now, I’m trying to breathe life back into it.”
“I had no idea Templar was in such a precarious financial position.” Xavier wondered what had happened to Rick Bruner, the previous owner. Not that he called the guy a friend. They just ran in the same circles.
“They hid how bad things were. It wasn’t until the IRS audited them that things came to light. The CFO was having an affair with the secretary, and they were embezzling money.”
Sadie’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, wow.”
Jamison exhaled heavily and nodded. “Yeah. It was a mess when I bought it, but I’m slowly cleaning it up. I’ve found some great talent, and hopefully I can turn it around.”
“Do you have big plans for it?” asked Xavier.
Jamison smiled. “I visited their offices a few weeks ago. Kinda did an undercover-boss thing because I wanted to see what they were like without management around. It gave me some ideas on how to proceed. When I heard about this exhibition, I decided to check out illustrators.”
Sadie tilted her head. “You don’t have a graphics division?”
“They—”
His sentence died as the waitress returned with their drinks and took their food orders. How Sadie was going to eat that death burger was beyond Xavier. He’d spied one of them being delivered to a nearby table, and it made his stomach hurt just looking at it.
Once the waitress left the table, Jamison picked up where he’d left off. “So, the answer to your question is no. I’m hands-on with things like this, but I didn’t even have to meet them to know we needed to start fresh.”
Nodding, Xavier leaned forward with his arms on the table. “I have several game designers, but I’m involved in all the projects—or I try to be. It has my name on it, and when we put a game out, I’m the one who gets the brunt of the complaints.”
“It was just me and Buck at Empire—or it was until we had a huge client sign on. It was a make-or-break type of thing, and there was a tight deadline. By the end of it…” Sadie’s sentence trailed off, and she cleared her throat. “Anyway, it taught me a lot, and next time I’ll be much more aware of what’s going on around me.”
Jamison tilted his head. “Yeah, I had a meeting with Buck while I was in the investigation stage. I tend to be one who delves deep into who I do business with. I asked him why you were no longer with the company, and he was a little dodgier than I liked. I told him if he could get you on board, I’d consider Empire. Something about him just didn’t jive.”
“You should tell him the whole story.” Xavier took Sadie’s hand in his and squeezed it. “From the beginning.”
She inhaled and let it out slowly, keeping her gaze locked with Xavier’s before nodding. She started from the beginning, giving Jamison the same story she’d given Xavier. Again, he was at war with himself. Did he believe her because her story didn’t change, or did he question her…because her story didn’t change? Maybe she’d rehearsed it enough that it sounded genuine.
Just as she finished telling Jamison how she’d lost Empire, their food arrived. Xavier thought his eyeballs would melt, along with the lining of his lungs, as the waitress reached across to set Sadie’s plate down. That burger had to have been built by Satan himself.
“Oh, this smells so good.” Sadie rubbed her hands together.
“I hurt just looking at it,” Jamison replied as he lathered mayo and mustard on his Weeny-Hut Junior Burger, the same meal Xavier had ordered once he knew Jamison was a wuss too. “And my eyes are watering.” He blinked.
The waitress laughed and set her hand on her hip. “If y’all need anything, let me know. I’ll keep the drinks topped off.” She spun on her heels and sauntered off, still laughing and shaking her head.
Xavier grunted an agreement. “I think we’ll be picking up antacid when we grab the Twizzlers.”
“Twizzlers?” Jamison asked.
“We’re playing video games tonight.” Sadie grinned as she cut her sandwich in half. “Don’t want to get any of this on my hands. With my luck, I’ll forget and rub my eyes. Talk about painful.”
Jamison popped a fry into his mouth. “I guess I need to start playing too so I know what I’m talking about.”
Xavier shrugged. “Why don’t you take a tour of my company? I can show you around. See how I run things.”
“You’d do that? I’m the competition.” Jamison seemed surprised by the offer.
Sadie chuckled, keeping her gaze fixed on her burger. “Not really.Dragon’s Furyput him in a category of his own. No one is competition for him, and the one we brainstormed last night is going to rock. I’ve already…” She rolled her lips in and looked up, wide-eyed. “Uhm…sorry. I guess that’s not the best thing to say to a prospective client, but in my defense, Templar had nosedived. I suspect now that you’re in charge, it’ll swing back up.”
Xavier might as well have eaten that death burger. His neck, cheeks, and ears were roasting with the compliment. She seemed shocked she’d said so much. And what had she already done? He wanted to ask, but it felt like a question that should be asked when they were alone.
She quickly swallowed the bite she’d taken and waved her hand in front of her mouth. “Whew. Okay, that was hotter than I expected, but still good.” Sucking in air, she closed her eyes as sweat beaded along her forehead. “I expected hot…”
“It said ‘of death.’” Xavier laughed. “Maybe you should order something else?”
