Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 82767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
The system is clear. There’s nothing to be found. Can you meet me?
It wasn’t like Drew to be so direct. I had an uneasy feeling about this, so I checked the time and called him back. I have to admit that standing in the lobby, wearing my Clover House ID, talking to Drew who was back at my parents’ studio, made me feel like a double agent in a spy movie. I kind of liked it.
“Freya?” Drew sounded on edge.
“Hey, everything okay?” I asked.
“Uh, yeah. Sorry for texting you like that. I guess I’m just a bit anxious about this whole thing. Trying to find out what happened, you know, but there’s nothing to be found.” He sounded really low.
“Drew, you know nobody holds you responsible, right? If you haven’t found a breach of security, it’s because there isn’t one to be found.” I felt a twinge of guilt and added, “I haven’t been around because I’ve had some freelance work I’ve been doing, but of course we can meet.”
There was a pause.
“Drew? How about this evening? A drink somewhere?” I tried to sound lighthearted.
“I’d like that.” There was a smile in his voice, and I felt relieved.
“We can catch up.” I wondered what the hell we would talk about, given that I couldn’t tell him anything that had happened in the past couple of days.
“Can I pick you up? Around seven-thirty?” he asked tentatively.
“Perfect, see you then.” I ended the call and stood there for a minute wondering how that had just happened. It all felt rather like a date, and that was the last thing I needed. So why was I feeling a little flushed as I arrived back at my desk, and why was I trying to think of somewhere nice we could go?
Frank interrupted my thoughts, and I was glad of the distraction. He wanted me to check over some work, and he seemed under pressure.
“It’s important, and there’s nobody else to do it. It shouldn’t be down to you, but for some reason, it needs to be signed off by close of day, and I want it checked over.” He gave an annoyed glance at the office where the outline of Keegan Callahan could be seen, as usual pacing back and forth.
“Leave it with me,” I smiled.
“There should be no issues,” he called as he walked away.
Glad to have something of some actual importance to do instead of fetching, copying, and smiling like an idiot, I sat down and began downloading the files that were being sent across the office to me. They kept coming, and I felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of material. It was promotional material for Cre8ure. While Dynasty Games would have run one marketing campaign, Clover House had a series of targeted campaigns aimed at different demographics. They were offering free in-app purchases, a VIP reward scheme, competitions, and discounted merchandise from partner companies. It must be costing a fortune, but even with my limited experience, I knew it would work. The incentives were compelling, and the artwork was flawless.
I spent the afternoon immersing myself in the various prototypes, checking for errors, correcting the occasional minor color or shadow issue just like Taylor had shown me to do, and trying to wrap my head around the size of the campaign. Almost everyone had left but Frank by the time I came to the end of the work. I was just about to save it and upload it back to the cloud for Frank when something occurred to me. Something that didn’t make sense. I opened the files again and cross-referenced the spreadsheet I had printed off earlier explaining the pricing across the different campaigns. I checked and rechecked. Someone had dropped the ball here, but I couldn’t understand how. The information on the latest spreadsheet was completely different from the information on the prototypes. I quickly check the dates. Sean had sent over the spreadsheet that morning, so these were new figures.
I called Frank over nervously and started to explain.
“Son of a–” Frank did as I had done, checking and rechecking, shaking his head in disbelief. “This is what happens when you have two guys who hate each other both trying to do their job and make sure the other guy fucks up.”
“What can I do?” I asked.
“We don’t have time to fix this. It all needs to be edited to these new figures. I don’t know how Keegan missed this.” He sounded angry now. “But we will get the blame.”
“I can edit these,” I said quietly.
“You can?” he sounded doubtful.
“I’m going to need access to a better machine,” I glanced at my laptop. “But I think we can get them updated. I know a… quick way.”
“You’re a blessing, Effie,” Frank gave me a wide grin, and we quickly moved over to Taylor’s computer.