“God. Months. It’s been over a year since I had anything steady.” I reach over to clean Cami’s face. She grabs the napkin and squeezes it between her hands, staring at it like it’s a fascinating new toy. “I used to work for a private nanny company. It was really posh. We had to wear uniforms and give the kids French lessons.”
“Uniforms?” His eyes twinkle.
I snort. “They were hideous. Knee-length grey skirts and wool tights. We even had little hats to wear when we took the kids out to the park.”
“Fancy.”
I nod. “It was a good gig, but it got hit bad by the pandemic. Most people were working at home, so they didn’t need childcare. We pretty much all lost our jobs.”
He frowns. “I’m sorry.”
I shrug. “It was a shitty year for everybody.”
He hums. “The virus only hit a few months after I quit my job to work on game development. Scared the sh—” he glances at Cami, “the, um, heck out of me. Thought I was done for.”
I chew my cookie. “What did you do before?”
“Seb and I both worked at a big software company. I made educational material, and he worked in the finances department. Really boring stuff. In my free time, I developed this little fantasy game, and Seb showed me how to market it on the app store. It got weirdly popular, so I quit my job to work on games full-time. Now we work together. I develop the games, and Seb does the finances and marketing stuff on top of his old job.”
I pull out my phone. “Can I see? What’s it called?”
He hesitates. “The, uh… The Legend of Azaran.”
He looks embarrassed. I’m not sure why. That name sounds sick as Hell. I open up the games store on my phone. “Number eight paid game in the store.” I say, impressed, and download it.
“You really don’t have to—”
“Shh. I’m gaming.”
The menu opens, and an upbeat electronic tune starts playing. The graphics are pixelated and retro, like the old computer games my foster dad Paul used to play. I start a new game, and a scroll unrolls onscreen, announcing that I am on a quest to retrieve a powerful amulet being used by a queen to control her subjects. When I clicknext,my character pops up standing next to a forest. There’s a wide, rushing river blocking me from entering it. I have an axe and some rope in my inventory.
“I have to build a bridge?” I guess. “Do I cut branches off a tree, or something?”
“Yeah. Kinda obvious, but it’s just to get the player used to the interface.” He leans in closer to show me, and his soft hair brushes the side of my cheek. I feel my mouth dry out as I breathe in his clean-laundry-soap smell. His voice is soft as he makes my character build the bridge, then guides her over the river and into the forest.
“Obviously, you can explore however you’d like, but the first item you’re going to need is by the waterfall,” he says, tapping the screen.
I’m amazed. I was expecting Jack’s game to be one of those addictive, time-wasting games, like Flappy Bird or something; but this is a whole fantasy world that he’s built. “Jack, this is amazing! You do all this yourself?”
“I hire a freelance artist who works on the design aspects. But, yeah. The storyline, the dialogue, and all the programming and engineering is me.”
My character enters a clearing with a waterfall. The music shifts to something soft and dreamy.
“And the music?” I click on a lotus flower floating in the middle of the pool, and it pops up in my inventory.
“I did that, too.” I stare at him. His face colours. “I mean, it’s just chiptune. I don’t need to play any instruments, or anything. I wrote most of these songs on my phone when I was on the Tube.”
“Youcomposed the music?”
“... yes?”
“You’re absolutely incredible,” I say. His blush deepens. He looks down at the table, but I can tell he’s pleased. “Is your next game going to be like this one?”
He nods. “It’s the sequel. And we’ve put a lot of backing into it. We really, really need it to do well.” His brow furrows. “One popular game makes us a fluke. Two makes us a success. We’re really hoping a larger company will pick us up and fund us, so we can do more complex stuff. Like full-out video games. With a full team of artists and developers, a real composer, writers… the stuff we make could be amazing.”
I put my hand on his. “It already is amazing,” I tell him honestly. He looks right back at me, blue eyes darkening. The air hums around us. He’s close enough to kiss, I realise giddily. A week ago, I was sneaking furtive looks at Jack when I met him in the lobby and blushing when he smiled at me in the elevator. And now, I’m sitting at a table with him, our faces just inches apart. I could lean across right now and brush my mouth over his. Nothing is stopping me.
His eyes flicker over my face and my stomach flutters. I tighten my fingers on his.