Ultimatum: The Proving Grounds (42 page)
Read Ultimatum: The Proving Grounds Online
Authors: Wade Adrian
Mr. Stevens crossed his arms. “Interrupting my show.”
“You were sleeping through it.”
“Best way to enjoy the twenty four hour news cycle.”
Jesse laughed. “Oh snap.” She ran up to the counter and held her hand high. “High five!”
Mr. Stevens raised an eyebrow at her.
“No? That’s okay. You’re still cool.”
“Delighted.”
Claire stared at Paul for a few moments before rolling her eyes. “He wants to offer you a position at Brave New World Entertainment.”
Paul glanced aside at her as if she was on fire, but his eyes settled down a moment later. “Yes. That.”
Toby blinked a few times. “I’m not exactly… qualified for any of that.”
Claire shrugged. “Sure you are. You’d be working for Jerry in the pit. You know it like the back of your hand. And you already know all about the genre. He’d just need to show you a few particulars, and he’d be happy to do so.”
Paul nodded. “We need reliable people who work well with our staff.” His eyes shifted to Jesse. “
Some
of them are an acquired taste and have a tendency to gel poorly with applicants.”
She glanced over at Paul. “What? That guy was really cute.”
Paul shook his head. “And I for one, would love to see the level of professionalism increase.”
“Oh.” Jesse’s eyebrows shot up. “Did you mean that girl? Because she was really cute, too.”
Claire patted Jesse on the shoulder. “It’s quite time, now.”
Toby glanced back and forth between them. “I mean, I’m flattered and all, but I’ve got a job. And this place would fall apart without-”
“I could put in a good reference.” Mr. Stevens addressed Paul, ignoring Toby entirely. “He’s a hard worker, spends more time here than I do. Learned the whole place in less than a month, and it took me six. Though maybe I’m just an amazing teacher.”
Toby frowned. “But you need me here.”
Mr. Stevens waved dismissively. “Bah. Life is easier with you around, sure. But I can teach other kids. You’re the only one that never left. Long since you should have. This is a
job
, Toby.” He pointed at Paul. “That is a
career
. You’re still a child. Some day you’ll understand the difference.”
“But…”
“Would it help if I fired you? I wouldn’t want a bad mark on your hiring record.”
“I mean…” Toby stammered. “You guys are across town. I have a bike, there’s no way I could commute.”
Claire rested her elbow on the counter and laid her chin on her palm. “I could use a roommate.”
Jesse’s head swerved to look at the other woman. “You have a one bedroom apartment. You don’t have room for a roommate. I already suggested that.”
Claire’s eyes casually drifted aside to look at Jesse.
Jesse blinked. “Oh. Oooh.”
Claire rolled her eyes.
Mr. Stevens nodded. “Seems like you’re running out of excuses.”
Toby frowned.
Mr. Stevens chuckled. “I promise I’ll call you if we need extra hands.”
Toby stood up taller and nodded. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
Paul glanced around the show room. “And he may need to. We’re going to be doing an advertising run before long. Trade show season is coming up. Need all kinds of stuff. Business cards, banners, flyers, brochures. That sort of thing.”
Mr. Stevens shrugged. “That’s Tuesday around here.”
“You got a business card?”
Mr. Stevens stared a Paul for a few moments. “That’s a stupid question.” He picked one up from behind the counter and held it out.
Toby chuckled.
Jesse grinned. “I love this guy.”
Paul nodded politely and put the card in his pocket. “Maybe you can get a job here, he’s going to be understaffed.”
“Are you kidding? I’d get myself killed in a printing press or something.”
Mr. Stevens turned his eyes to Toby. “You haven’t given them an answer yet.”
Toby nodded. “Yeah, I know. It’s… a big change.”
Mr. Stevens shrugged. “You’ll do fine. And when it’s time to move, give me a call. I’ll send over a team of useless teenagers.”
Toby scoffed. “No, thanks. I like my stuff in tact.” He smiled and held out his hand to the little old man.
Mr. Stevens shook it. “Good luck.”
Toby glanced out at his friends. “I don’t think I’ll need it. Thanks for everything, Mr. Stevens.”
The old man nodded.
Jesse leaned out over the counter. “Soooo?”
Toby turned to face Paul and nodded. “When do I start?”
“As soon as possible, Mr. Morant.”
Claire smiled at him. “So, we roomies?”
“Totally.”
Two weeks later the last of his things were sitting on the floor of Claire’s apartment in boxes.
Scratch that.
Their
apartment.
Well everything was there, aside from his furniture. That was in storage for now. They’d work something out. Getting out of his lease had been the worst part. He’d be paying rent for the empty apartment for two more months.
Claire’s place was bigger despite also being a one bedroom, one bath setup like his. Each of the rooms was larger. The first thing they had done was set up each of their VR stations in the dining room.
One the perks of accepting the job had been a full kit to take home, though that wasn’t the nice gesture it appeared to be on the surface. Toby had agreed to some on call stuff, if the need arose. So far it hadn’t.
Since the incident with Miller all admin level accounts had been deleted and recreated as a hard set list with all out of date ones culled. They knew everyone that had one, or access to one, so Toby and Claire could still access theirs from outside the building. Not that they wanted to, really. It seemed entirely too much like work.
His work with Jerry had been simple enough. He did product testing most of the time, but he got to help out with GM issues now and then when the staff got behind on tickets. He was still in training to become a full fledged member of the GM team, but he could handle simple stuff. People stuck in walls, deleting important things, somehow managing to break quest lines, that sort of thing. Everyone seemed jazzed to see him when he showed up. Apparently Tobin Ironblood’s face was rather well known. Even though he wasn’t running the character people had a tendency to recognize him. He always assured them he was not the same person. He didn’t think many believed him.
Right now the quiet desk work was a nice break.
Toby sat on the couch, facing the TV. Claire joined him and laid her head on his shoulder. “So, what’s on?”
He shrugged. “Not really seeing anything.”
“Oh well.” She smiled. “We’ll just have to find some other way to keep entertained.”
There was a knock at the door.
Claire rolled her eyes but made no move to get up.
The knocking sounded again.
She sighed. “This won’t end well.”
There was a clicking sound followed by the door opening. Jesse let her self in and shut the door behind her again. “Hey! Nothing going on, so I brought Willow.”
Toby leaned his head closer to Claire’s. “You gave her a key?” He whispered as Jesse shrugged out of her coat. Jesse had been there to help him move, but as it turned out, that was partly because she lived in the same complex as Claire and had access to the gate for the second card load of stuff. Helpful, sure, aside from the part where she also lived in the complex.
“Not my brightest idea… but it’s just been me for awhile now. She’s my friend, and… she doesn’t get out much. This is a good step for her.”
Toby rolled his eyes.
Jesse flopped down on the couch beside them. “So, what are we ordering for food?”
Other works by Wade Adrian
Black Knight: A Land of Shadows
The Ghost of Captain Blackstone
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