there isn’t a lot of demand for rides for some reason, even with the downpour.”
“Uhhhh, how bad is my score?” He glanced at me again in the mirror, this time with a look of worry. Maybe he feared I was going to murder HIM.
“Do you ride a lot?” He adjusted the news radio station down a few notches.
“Like once or twice a month,” I muttered while swiping through my previous passenger history on the Liftr app.
He whistled in a way that sounded like an atomic bomb dropping. “Well, given your score, more than one driver gave you bad ratings.”
“How bad is it?” I asked with a tinge of unhinge in my voice. Even I could hear it.
He pulled up to my office building and said, “Well, the worst score I’ve ever seen was for a guy who begged me to drive him to Mars. Your score was a little higher than that guy’s. Come to think of it, your score may be the same, actually. Looks like we’re here. I hope you enjoyed your ride! Have a great day!”
Hard rain pelted from all directions and I sprinted to my building’s main entrance. I arrived just in time for the morning meeting and sat down in the back row, next to Kat. She leaned over. “You look a lot better today.”
“Thanks, I finally got some sleep,” I said, peeling off my raincoat and hanging it on the back of my chair. “But apparently I might need a new car.” I jotted “fix/buy car” on the gajillion-item to-do list in my notebook. It was something I needed to solve quickly before I got kicked off Liftr.
Ian strode to the front of the room and looked right at me as he made his big game announcement. “Everyone, I have big news! Ultimate Apocalypse is a new feminist game concept recently approved by the executive team and the board.” As the crowd chatter faded to silence, he explained that I would be taking on a big role by assisting Maggie (the only female senior producer at this company) on this “brilliant female-friendly game that is destined for greatness.” He also named Kat as a core member of the team. I tried to feign surprise as he disclosed the news to the entire company that we’d be developing a game featuring shirtless male strippers while every other person genuinely looked shell-shocked. Those whose mouths were not hanging open in incredulity murmured in hushed tones to one another about how this game would no doubt be an epic failure.
The dude sitting to my right whispered to his neighbor, “She’s gotta be sleeping her way to the top.”
First of all, gross. Ian and me?
Second, how sexist! I shot my neighbor a look so deadly it could castrate him. He held my stare a couple of seconds but then looked away. How was this my fault that the board wanted female leadership and I was one of the only two females on the production team at the company?
Ian fiddled with the button on his shirtsleeve, answering questions as if this new project had been in the works for a while, and was not, say, an absurd joke mentioned in passing on a coffee break by two women making fun of sexism in gaming. Plenty of naysayers sat in this meeting, but no one dared to openly speak out in dissent. But at the same time, people weren’t nodding along as usual, like Ian had spoken the word of God himself. Ian had instantly lost credibility with this male-dominated crowd, and it would be hard to gain it back.
Ian fixed his stare on me. “Melody.”
I gulped. What else could he spring on me?
“The quarterly board meeting is coming up. I’ll need budget projections and preliminary revenue forecasts of Ultimate Apocalypse from you as soon as possible. Consider this your number one priority.”
I shook my head. “I’m in production, budget projections and revenue numbers belong to those guys.” I pointed to Jagger the clueless product manager and John the schmoozy brand marketing lead. Two guys that talked a good game but did absolutely zero when it came to work. Ian loved them, of course.
Ian’s eyes narrowed. “But I’m assigning this to you.”
“It’s not part of my job responsibilities,” I replied.
Crossing his arms, Ian growled, “Your job is to be a team player, Melody.”
I cocked my head. “So you’re telling me to make the revenue and finance projects my number one priority, and to also get this game launched on time