“Christ, Adam. You’re always such a glass-is-half-empty kinda guy.”
“I’m a realist, and it’s my job to look down the road ahead to see what’s in store for this company and prepare for it. And given our previous dance with scandal…”
Adam was still somewhat jaded from the legal run-in last year with the family of the murder-suicide victims. Our company had been embroiled in a struggle with our liability insurance company, which had refused to allow Adam to fight the case in court, insisting we settle instead. It had been a setback for us, a minor misstep in the early stages of my progression toward our IPO.
“So no bullshit here, but does he really think this is going to work?”
I nodded. “Yeah, he really does. He says the New York Stock Exchange is hungry for tech companies to open with them instead of NASDAQ, which is where the biggies like Facebook have been going for their IPOs. They want us, Adam. But we need to toe the line and keep ourselves distant from this online cyber war-of-the-sexes going on in the other gamer communities.” I looked at him and then glanced out the window, unable to meet his gaze as I delivered the rest. “Besides, there’s been a lot of doubt about whether or not that video actually even featured Draco employees or if that badge was a plant.”
Adam actually laughed at that. “Wow, I don’t know whether to feel threatened or flattered that someone would go to all that trouble to smear our reputation like that.”
I shrugged. “You never know…” It felt kind of slimy to put this idea into his head, but better to take the pressure off me and let him fixate on something else.
He glanced at me and then away, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I think it’s best to apply Occam’s razor. The simplest explanation is the most likely one. Which means that at least one of those two was an employee getting their freak on at Comic-Con,” Adam said, raising a brow.
I paused, waited for a long moment and worked up the courage to ask him the big question. “So what’s the verdict, oh illustrious leader? Are we going public or are we yanking our bid?”
Adam turned and looked out the window again, taking a breath and appearing deep in thought. He actually looked like he was still considering yanking the whole thing. I figured this might be a good time to remind him why we’d set out to do this in the first place.
“That prototype equipment is really amazing. Imagine the things you’ll be able to do when you have the capital to incorporate that new interface into the game.”
“Oh, I’ve already imagined it,” he said. “But I’m not going to injure our bottom line because of my pipe dream.”
“It’s not a pipe dream, Adam. You’ve got the vision and ability to see this through. There isn’t another MMO game out there that is using an interface like this—not even the mighty World of Warcraft. Just think what our game could do if you have the assets to acquire the company that makes that equipment. And you get to apply all that knowledge in your boy genius brain to develop a three-dimensional experience for players.”
He shot me a look out of the corner of his eyes. “Laying it on a bit thick, aren’t you?”
“C’mon, man. The players are going to eat that shit up. I saw how much fun Mia was having during the demo. If for no one else, you have to at least do it for the woman you love.”
Adam barked out a laugh. “Man, you are so full of shit your eyes are brown! ‘Do it for the woman you love.’ I can’t wait to tell her that tonight. She’ll wet herself laughing when she hears that came out of your mouth.”
I shrugged. “Hey, I’ve gotta try, right?”
“You never cease to amaze me. All right. I have full confidence in you, my ‘rookie CFO.’ Go get ‘em, tiger.”
I felt a surge of victory. “You aren’t shitting me, right? You aren’t leading me on so you can squash my hopes like a bug?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, I’m not. We’re still in for the bid. But I’m trusting you”—he brought his hand up and pointed at me—“to keep me informed of everything that is going on. And if you have a moment of doubt about anything, I want you to come to me with it, okay? I know how much you want this, but I also trust that this isn’t going to come at the expense of our company.”
I shook my head. “Never. I may not be King of the Geeks like you, my friend, but I love this company every bit as much as you do.”
Adam’s eyes grew shrewd. “You love the goose that lays the golden eggs.”