CHAPTER 16: VISIT FROM CORPORATE

  WC: 1385

  Mel sat there, and I sat there, and neither of us said anything for an awkward moment.

  “Yeah, I’m not okay either,” she said.

  I waited but she didn’t say anything else. I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe something more like Carl, who offered to help, or offered to listen, at least. Who expressed some understanding. But Mel was…different.

  “What’s going on?” I asked her.

  She shrugged and used my visor mirror to adjust the piercings in her lip and nose. Then, she smacked the visor back up to close the mirror. She scrunched down in the seat, looking out the window. “I wasn’t honest. Not that I think you guys mind, but I didn’t move out here, I got kicked out and am couch surfing this summer. Sometimes I sleep in my Civic.”

  “That sucks.” I turned back to her. “I wish I could help you out, but I live with my parents and they’re a disaster. I came out here to the car to call my sister because she said she might fly me out to stay with her in Minneapolis.”

  “You’re going to quit the game?” She turned concerned eyes on me. It was the first time I could recall Mel showing any sort of emotion. Like…she was hurt I might quit.

  “I…don’t know.” It was my turn to slump into my seat. “My parents are both nuts,” I began. “Neither one is better than the other. They’re both a mess and do things to hurt each other. It’s gotten very vindictive, and my dad is moving out this weekend.”

  “Rough.”

  “He’s moving in with a woman, and I guess my mom knew about it for a while, but she’s…you know, not handling it well.”

  Mel sighed.

  “I just don’t want to be there,” I said. “I shouldn’t have to be there to help mediate their garbage. And I don’t want to live in a house with either of them!” I was so angry I gripped my steering wheel hard. “They’re supposed to be the grown-ups and deal with their shit so it doesn’t impact me, right?”

  “Ideally,” Mel said. “I’m not sure how realistic that is, though. I mean…parents are messed up!”

  “Yeah?”

  She scowled and crossed her arms. Not like a pouty kid, but like she was feeling genuinely scared. “I lived with my mom. My dad lives in New York or New Hampshire, or something. He’s never been with us, so I don’t even know him.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No, that part is fine. I mean, not fine, but fine. But my mom is the only person I’ve ever had. No grandparents, no aunts or uncles, just me and her. So last year she met a guy who she fell madly in love with, and a few months ago he hit on me.”

  “What?”

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  “I felt like he’d done it before, but just wrote it off as in my head. But just after Easter we went on a trip and he kept touching my shoulder and like, putting his arm around me in photos. I told my mom it made me uncomfortable and she told me I was being a brat, that Ryan loves me and has all kinds of feelings and baggage about his own daughter he doesn’t get to see.” She uncrossed her arms, and her voice got angry. “I admit, I have trust issues and I don’t warm up to anyone, but if I’m telling my mom I’m uncomfortable with her fiancé touching me…is that really me being a brat?”

  “No,” I said, more forcefully than I intended. “I don’t like my own parents touching me because they’re so volatile and two-faced, and I hate how they treat me and then come try to hug it out. No! If you don’t feel safe, that’s something any adult should respect.”

  “I’m just…not that into physical stuff, you know?”

  I nodded.

  “I had a boyfriend in high school and he wasn’t real nice to me. I’m just not…ready to give up my feelings of safety right now. That’s all there is to it.”

  “I’m sorry.” I smiled at Mel. “I’m super sorry that you understand exactly how I feel.”

  She smiled back. “We’re pretty screwed up, huh?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe we’re okay and our parents are the screwed up ones?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Well, we have the best job, and the people here have been pretty all right.”

  “I suppose.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes, stopping up tears. “I’m happy to have this summer gig, and I know everything will turn out okay, but you know, it’s hard some days.”

  “I do. But I try to remind myself how fortunate I am, and my sister is great at reminding me when I forget.”

  She dabbed at the corners of her eyes with her knit fingerless gloves. “Okay, good talk.”

  A buzzing sounded and Mel jumped. “Oh my God!”

  “Oops, that’s my alarm to get back to the meeting.” I gestured to her leg. “I think you sat on it.”

  She opened the door and got out, tossing my phone to me.

  “Mr. Brewster, thank you for hosting us here today,” a lady with a thick German accent said. Her voice was soft and pleasant, and she looked to be about my mom’s age, with white-blonde hair. She wore a black suit and high heels that looked brand new.

  “Regenbogen-Einhorn was founded as a small company with big ideas. We built our first game in 1994 and since then have developed games that increased in popularity.”

  I recognized a few of the titles, but I never played any of the games she listed. A lot of the history of 90s gaming was sort of lost on me, so I listened patiently and played with an AI generator on my phone.

  I combined words to get the perfect picture of Chaos to use as a profile picture. THIEF SNEAKING INTO STORE AT NIGHT IN FANTASY ROLE PLAYING GAME IN MMORPG STYLE GRAPHICS.

  I saved two or three to take home and edit. Most of them were unusable. Some were downright funny. I saved a couple of the funny ones and texted them to Mel and Carl. Kailee hadn’t been back from her visit with HR. Maybe she was still down there. Too bad I hadn’t thought of scheduling something. Listening to company history and brand messaging wasn’t really something I found engaging, so I did another AI generator.

  “The test we ran in Germany was the first, and then we moved on to Canada, and now here. You are the third group to start. This office began with fifty and the office in Colorado also began with fifty. So, we are hoping to spark a little friendly competition for our hundred American associates.”

  She clicked a remote and images from HEXENTOR played along with some music.

  “Always, we have trained our own game designers and programmers. Now, we offer a challenge to all of you in Group 3. Five will be picked to win a scholarship to attend Uni, and join us as game design, digital art, programmer, any of the offered scholarships on our website.”

  The room got quiet.

  “Regenbogen-Einhorn is a growing company and so we wish you all well. Ask Ken Brewster any of your questions, or you can email Susan the regional manager for the Milwaukee office.” She clicked the powerpoint and it switched to a contact page. I took a picture of it with my phone.

  Mr. Brewster went up to the front and said, “Let’s thank Ms. Einhorn for joining us today.” He applauded and those of us gathered followed his lead. He then shook her hand.

  I started texting Jess. Wow, I could earn a scholarship by playing video games. I guess I wasn’t going to ask her for a plane ticket to Minneapolis after all. Now I just had to figure out how to get picked as one of the five and make it through the weekend without losing my composure. I needed things to calm down, and maybe after Dad moved out, they would. I had an opportunity to do something I really loved, and that felt like something I sorely needed. No one was going to ruin that for me. Especially my parents.