Page 55 of One Golden Ring
“I loved teaching,” he tells me. “The kids kept me on my toes, and I got to do what I loved all day.”
“Science?” she guesses.
“Physics,” I tell her, nodding. “I had my whole future planned out, a simple life with Addie and Judi-Bloom.”
“But you created Hearts & Circles,” she says.
“I didn’t set out to make it for profit,” I tell her.
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“You know my daughter better than most people,” I say, looking away because what I’m about to say feels likeit could be a betrayal. “You know she has some sensory issues.”
“Sure,” Darcy says, like it’s no big deal. “I think it’s great that she uses her headphones when she needs a little space.”
“When she was little she used to get really anxious when we had to go places like the waiting room at the pediatrician’s office,” I tell her. “Or the checkout line at the grocery store. I had a little programming experience, so I made an app to give her something fun to do on my phone so she could stay calm.”
“Hearts & Circles was made just for J.B.?” she asks me, her eyes wide.
“Yeah,” I say, nodding. “I never thought anything would come of it. One or two people saw her playing and wanted to play too. So I put it up for download and it kind of took on a life of its own.”
I wonder if this will make her respect me less. She probably thought I was a brilliant business magnate and a tech genius, like the magazines love to call me.
Really I was just a heartbroken dad, trying to make the world feel a little more bearable for my daughter.
“I can see how. I used to love it,” she says softly, her eyes on the wood stove and the dancing flames behind the glass. “When I was up all night with the twins sometimes one of them would fall asleep on my chest. Hearts & Circles was one of the only things I could do without waking them. Making the patterns was really soothing when I was tired or worried.”
“Wow,” I say, trying to imagine a twenty-one-year-oldversion of Darcy, holding a baby in the middle of the night with my silly game giving her comfort.
“It’s part of the reason I wanted to work for you,” she says with a shy smile.
“Do you still play?” I can’t help asking.
“Once in a while,” she says, not meeting my eyes. “I’m not up all night with babies anymore.”
“People used to say they were addicted,” I muse. “That they could still see the shapes when they closed their eyes. But I think we all naturally move on from little games like that. These days we have to keep adding features all the time just to keep users engaged.”
She frowns and clearly has something to say about that.
“What?” I ask.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she says with a self-deprecating smile. “I have no real insights.”
“You’re a player,” I tell her. “You have the most important insights.”
“I think the added features are hurting the game,” she tells me quietly.
“That’s a common complaint,” I agree. “But we do have to monetize it somehow. And some of the features are designed to get people even more hooked.”
She nods, but she doesn’t look convinced.
Honestly, the last round of updates raised our earnings, but didn’t get us many new players. Maybe she’s on to something.
“Talk to me,” I tell her. “What’s it like as a player?”
“I can only speak for myself,” she says carefully. “Butwhat drew me to Hearts & Circles was the sense of peace it gave me. I felt like I was in a cozy little bubble.”
I nod. That’s a common theme.
