Page 5 of Unbearable Player
“It sounds incredible, Bri,” Danny said, his eyes wide with excitement. “When can I play it?”
Brianne laughed. “Not for a while yet, squirt. We’re still in the early stages of development. Actually,” she hesitated, biting her lip, “I’ve hit a bit of a snag with some of the security features.”
“Security features?” her father, Robert, asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you were making a game, not designing a bank vault.”
“It’s more complicated than that, Dad,” Brianne explained. “With online multiplayer games, we need robust security systems to prevent cheating, protect user data, and ensure fair gameplay. The problem is I’m a game designer, not a security expert. I’m thinking I might need to bring in some outside help, but I’m not sure where to start looking.”
Martha’s eyes lit up. “Oh! I might have just the thing.” She stood and rummaged through her purse before pulling out a sleek business card. “My friend Catherine’s son runs a security firm. She was telling me all about it at our book club meeting. Here,” she handed the card to Brianne, “why don’t you give him a call?”
Brianne took the card, reading the name embossed in bold letters: Reid Parker, CEO, Parker Security Solutions. She frowned slightly. “I don’t know, Mom. This looks like a pretty high-end firm. I doubt they’d be interested in consulting on a video game.”
“You never know until you try,” Martha insisted. “Catherine says Reid is very versatile. And he’s a bear shifter. Maybe he can help debug your system.”
“Mom!” Brianne protested, feeling her cheeks heat.
“What?” Martha asked innocently. “I’m just saying, it might be nice to meet someone who isn’t, as you put it, ‘more interested in consoles than relationships.’”
Leann chimed in, “Mom’s got a point, Bri. It couldn’t hurt to reach out. You might get the help you need for your game.”
Brianne looked down at the card, turning it over in her hands. She had to admit, the idea was tempting. If this Reid Parker was as good as her mother claimed, he could be exactly what she needed to take Shadow Realms to the next level.
“All right,” she conceded, tucking the card into her pocket. “I’ll give him a call tomorrow.”
“That’s my girl.” Martha beamed, patting Brianne’s hand.
Danny, who had been silent during this exchange, suddenly piped up. “Can we please talk about something other than Brianne’s love life? Some of us are trying to eat here.”
The table erupted in laughter, and Brianne felt a wave of affection for her little brother. As the conversation shifted to other topics, she found her mind wandering back to the business card in her pocket. Despite her initial reluctance, she couldn’t deny a flutter of excitement at the prospect of meeting this mysterious security expert.
Maybe, just maybe, this Reid Parker could be the key to unlocking the full potential of her game and maybe she’d even learn a thing or two.
Tomorrow, she’d make that call and see where it led. One step at a time.
As the evening wore on and the family moved into the living room for dessert and coffee, Brianne found herself feeling more relaxed than she had in weeks. The constant pressure of game development faded into the background, replaced by the warm comfort of family banter and shared laughter.
Danny regaled them with stories from his latest Dungeons & Dragons campaign, complete with dramatic reenactments that had them all in stitches. Leann’s daughter toddled from lap to lap, basking in the attention of her doting family. Even her parents’ not-so-subtle hints about her love life seemed less irritating in the glow of after-dinner contentment.
As the night drew to a close and Brianne prepared to head home, she hugged her mother tightly. “Thanks for dinner, Mom. It was great.”
Martha squeezed her back. “Anytime, sweetheart. And don’t forget to call that security consultant, okay?”
Brianne pulled back, rolling her eyes but smiling. “I won’t forget, I promise.”
On the drive back to her apartment, Brianne’s mind drifted back to her work. The family dinner had been a welcome break, but now her thoughts were filled with lines of code and potential security breaches. She was itching to get back to her computer and dive back into the world she was creating.
But as she parked her car and made her way up to her apartment, Brianne found herself reaching for the business card in her pocket. She turned it over in her hands, tracing the embossed letters with her fingertip.
Reid Parker. CEO, Parker Security Solutions.
Taking a deep breath, Brianne made a decision. She’d call first thing in the morning. Whether this led to a solution for her game’s security issues or not, she was ready to take the chance.
After all, in the world of game development and in life, sometimes you had to take risks to reach the next level. And Brianne Ellis was nothing if not a risk-taker.
With a smile playing on her lips, she set the card on her bedside table and settled in for the night, her dreams filled with shadowy realms and the promise of new adventures on the horizon.
THREE
The New York skyline stretched before Reid Parker, a tapestry of glass and steel that never failed to remind him how far he’d come from the lush forests of Savannah. He stood in his office, a sleek, modern space that mirrored the city beyond its floor-to-ceiling windows. His dark eyes scanned the security protocols displayed on his tablet, fingers swiping through pages of data with practiced ease.