“Wait. Then what happens when she’s gone?” My posture stiffened and a bout of nausea permeated through my body.
Ian yawned, like he was bored with this conversation already. “Well, you’ll basically colead with Maggie until she leaves. Then you’ll be interim lead producer until we find a replacement.”
Asher sputtered Starbucks venti coffee onto his desk. “Shit, I’ll report to Melody then?”
I gasped and said, “What do you mean by interim?”
“Well, interim means temporary. And it’s only until we find a producer to fill that role.”
Yes, I knew the definition of “interim,” asshole Ian, but to him “interim” probably meant I’d be paid the same salary to fill bigger shoes, and then when I got used to that job, he’d take it away from me with his new producer hire. And I might even have to teach that person how to do his or her job.
“The board specifically requested that we staff this game with more women, and you’re our only female producer now. After Maggie leaves, we can partner you temporarily with Rain, he’s our senior producer on Zooful Nation, to help answer any questions, but hopefully after a few weeks you’ll be running the show on your own. Asher will be on your team, too, supporting your efforts. Kat will be the lead designer. Go ahead and set up a meeting this afternoon with Maggie and Rain to work on the production schedule and deliverables.”
“Before I start on a production schedule I need to know if you’ve got a launch date in mind.”
Ian laughed. “Well, it depends if we go console or mobile.” He tapped his lips with his pointer finger. “Console would be well over a year, but since we’ve had some success developing for console and porting to mobile, I think we go straight to mobile because we need this market ASAP. You can blame the board for that, too. So, six months.”
“SIX MONTHS?” I thought that was me yelling in disbelief, but it was actually Asher and Kat screaming in unison. My vocal cords were paralyzed from shock.
Ian leaped up from my desk. “Yep. Six months till beta launch. Then full launch immediately following.” He clapped his hands together. “We want to go down in history as having one of the fastest blockbuster game launches. It’ll be perfect timing for a holiday push. Plus, the board will fire my ass if we don’t hit our revenue numbers by the end of the year, and this game should help with that. Our end-of-the-year projected numbers weren’t looking too good. Oh, that reminds me, I need those revenue projections and budget numbers pronto.” Ian walked out, whistling.
Six.
Months.
Six months of working late nights. And weekends. I’d miss the rest of Seattle’s beautiful summer. I’d get roly-poly from stress eating. All my free time would be spent hanging out with Jane, helping her pick out unflattering bridesmaid gowns to show off my flabby, pale, bat-wing arms. Six months of major work-life unbalance. And I hadn’t even started on those stupid forecast and budget scenarios.
I crossed my arms on my desk and buried my face.
Asher said in a low, gravelly voice, “Ian can go screw himself if he thinks I’m working for you.” His tone said everything. He hated me more than I hated him.
JUST THINKING ABOUT this game release made me feel projectile-vomity. How the hell did this game even get greenlit for production? And why entrust ME with such a huge responsibility? Sure, I had game app experience and some international localization knowledge, and I loved spreadsheets, too, but that sure as hell didn’t make me qualified for coleading—and then leading—this mobile game launch. I didn’t even know where to start, except to look for someone named “Rain.” Maybe the right thing to do would be to let Ian know I should assist rather than lead. They needed to find someone else.
I rehearsed a short thanks, but no thanks soliloquy and marched straight to Ian’s office. His door was cracked a little, allowing me to peek in and see if he had any company.
He wasn’t alone. The CFO and the head of development sat on his couch, sipping coffee. Just as I thought about leaving, Ian mentioned my name. And then, of course, how could I walk away?
Voice 1: That game, the apocalypse one, could make money. Think about all the added levels we could charge for: mummies, giant tarantulas, evil ninjas, ’80s hair bands.