For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,160
marginalized - any group - than one of us ignoring it, or worse, encouraging it." She made a circle over her head like she was twirling a lasso. "Ok, round it all up, get Amy working on PR, run the talking points past legal, and sounds like an easy day."
Easy? Rhaven scoffed in surprise. That wasn't what she'd expected, but Chance and Dez were headed right for her. Never mind the fact that Psyc and Braden were going to get shit for helping her. She hoped she hadn't already fucked up.
"Is this bad?" she asked, grabbing Braden's arm.
"Unfortunately, it's pretty typical," he said. "Rhaven, there are a few million people on our forums. Someone's going to bitch about us. I mean, last year, Jeff got accused of being a pedophile because he bought a stuffed animal and was recognized. It was for Dez's birthday."
Dez laughed, close enough to hear that. "I collect ugly stuffed animals," she said. "The more grotesque the better, but not scary. The cute type of gross." Then she gestured to the front. "Come. We have some more talking to do."
"My office?" Chance asked.
Dez nodded. "Sure, but I get the big chair."
Chance just leaned in and kissed the top of her head. "Always, Sugar. Braden? Dig up a couple of laptops for me? Reformat, load 'em up, and bring them when you're done?"
"Can do," Braden agreed as he stood, pausing to kiss Rhaven's jaw before he turned and just walked away.
Chance smiled at Rhaven, pressed his hand to the middle of her back, and guided her where he wanted to go. Sure enough, his office was just inside the lobby area, on the right coming from this direction, and directly across from the Think Tank where she'd filled out all of her employment paperwork and NDAs.
He guided Rhaven in first, aiming for the pair of chairs in front of the large wood desk. Dez took the executive chair behind it and then kicked her feet up on the top. Rhaven sat. Chance eased himself into the chair beside her, and then leaned forward for a packet on his desk.
"Ok, the logistics," he said. "We didn't talk about it before, but I was planning to start you out at one-thirty a year. It's salary, paid on the first and fifteenth. We've got company insurance as well. Deviant pays for up to the middle package, and there's information about that in here. Is that fair?"
"I thought the base was one twenty," she admitted.
"Starting salary is a range," Dez explained. "Raw rookie to 'we're lucky to steal them away.' Considering that we know you well enough through your mods, you're not at the bottom, and he hands out raises when he can. So, I figured that's a good place to start, with a thirty day probation to make sure we all click. After six months, you'll get a review, and probably a raise."
"Shit," Rhaven breathed. And then she remembered these were now her bosses, not her friends. "Sorry!"
"Fuck," Dez laughed. "This is a gaming company, Rhaven. Cursing comes with the job."
"I just..." Rhaven looked between Dez and Chance. "What's the catch? That's more than I expected, and health insurance too?"
"The catch comes in long hours, living on caffeine, and being the target of too much hate online," Dez said. "We already know KoG hates you. As soon as this is all finalized, we'll get a good picture, put you up on the developer list, and it'll get worse. There will be death threats. There will be slurs and photoshopped pictures, and so much more. Some days you won't be able to take it. Others, you'll work twice as hard to fight back. The money? That ensures you can do both."
Rhaven nodded. "Ok. And I'm kinda used to getting hate."
Chance's head just dropped. "You shouldn't be. Fuck. What the hell happens to you women out there?"
"I'm trans," Rhaven reminded him. "That's worse than being just a woman. I'm a freak, they say. Not right. Sinner, going to hell, a fag trying to trap good men, and so on."
Chance nodded, but it looked more like the understanding than agreeing type. "Well, we take all death threats seriously. I think you've met the FBI agents we work with, Bradley and Jason. If you get anything at home, on your private line, email, or anywhere else that isn't just someone ranting on the forums, you make sure they know. Or tell me, and I will."