Worth Something More Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Worth Something More

  Suze Robinson

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  EPILOGUE

  CHECK OUT ANOTHER BOOK BY SUZE ROBINSON

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Worth Something More

  Suze Robinson

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, places, or events is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  IF YOU PURCHASE THIS book without a cover you should be aware that this book may have been stolen property and reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher. In such case the author has not received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  WORTH SOMETHING MORE

  Copyright © 2020 Suze Robinson

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: (EBOOK) 978-1-949931-85-3

  (Print) 978-1-949931-86-0

  Inkspell Publishing

  207 Moonglow Circle #101

  Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

  EDITED BY ASHLEY BOBEK

  Cover art By Najla Qamber

  THIS BOOK, OR PARTS thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. The copying, scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions, and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Dedication

  for Samantha.

  Never live your life with regrets because you weren’t true to yourself.

  Chapter One

  Kate

  “Are you serious right now?” I set my gaming controller on my leg and reach for the glass of red wine sitting on my desk. I need more alcohol to handle my friends tonight. It should take us thirty minutes, tops, to quality check this Authurian quest. I have four men complaining nonstop about getting their asses handed to them by my well-developed character creations. Two seconds of reprieve is what I get before their chorus of moans start again.

  The voice of the head game tester, Rich, sounds in my ear and makes me want to tear my headset off and throw it across the room. “You guys weren’t in position! We won’t take Authurian down at this rate.”

  The complaining resumes as the team sets up a new plan of attack, and I pick up my controller, reluctantly abandoning my drink. They share their thoughts and what possible defensive positions they could take then note what weapons give them the highest DPS—damage per second. I mention to them their weapons are below the requirements for this level so it doesn’t matter, same as I told them earlier today while we were still at work. They listen so well, don’t they?

  “That won’t work. Authurian is loaded with protection spells while he’s in the pit. Are you ready to listen to my suggestion?” I ask the group one more time. If they don’t agree with my recommendation, I’ll drop them and pick up a new quality-assurance team tomorrow. A team that listens to my comments and respects my position as their level designer. I need to know if gamers below skill with low DPS can attack Authurian without cheating, and a group ready to follow in line behind me is necessary.

  I’ve been working for Orthorn Games since college and these guys have been with me the entire time because before I got my current position two years ago, I was part of quality assurance as a video game tester as well. Gaming has been my life since I was a pint-size kid hanging out with my dad and playing Nintendo. I know video games and I’ve mastered strategy, so I know my plan will work.

  I roll my eyes when their protests start again. “Fuck you, Kate, the rest of us don’t wear the same armor as your Trail-blazer. I’m only a level thirteen Fire-bringer,” Jefferson, my best friend, adds. The rest of the guys agree with him, saying how ill-equipped they are to take on this mission. That’s the point, but I don’t comment further. They’re a lost cause tonight.

  My Trail-blazer is standing on the border of Agorath by the pit of the Dark Abyss level that shows the first meeting with Authurian—the winged dragon I created. The first-round game testers found a glitch in my level which I hoped to have corrected with two weeks of recalculations. As the newest level designer on this project, I find the glitches before we start with the beta game testers. I’m early into my career so I do the grunt work. Which I still absolutely love.

  “We need to see if this works or if I broke it. We are doing this my way.” I bark out my order then adjust in my chair by shoving a legging-clad leg under me and stare at the three gaming monitors that take up my work desk in my apartment.

  “This job is a pain in my ass, I swear.”

  After a few more grumbles, Nick—our final tester adds, “Kate, you come up with everything though.” He compliments my strategy then makes a few verbal remarks about his Shadow-walker for our reports. The team notes the inventory levels, active spells, potions, and weapons.

  “That’s my job. Come on, I have plans tonight.” Pushing my joystick forward, my team drops into the Dark Abyss level. After weeks spent on coding this, I know the kinks are out, and it’s perfect, but I need to prove it. I might be holding my breath as I pull my sword out and attack Authurian though.

  Rich laughs. “What plans? Do you have a date or something?”

  The others decide that sounds funny as well and add their chorus of snickers to Rich’s question. We attack Authurian, but the team’s focus is more on my lack of dating and not work so we can end this overtime.

  I don’t have a date, I planned to veg out to a movie and drink more wine. I won’t encourage them to continue discussing my life choices though. My mother reminds me of them every time I talk to her. To her, being twenty-five with no kids or husband prospects means something is wrong with me. As far as I know, there isn’t anything wrong with me. It’s just that my priorities are focused elsewhere, like my career and not making a mess of it, so I haven’t had time to date.

  “She doesn’t date. Well, unless a night with Thor, the god of hammers, and her cat Mellie counts,” Nick adds with a smirk dancing in his voice.

  I roll my eyes—I’m so done with them. The overtime to meet the deadline drains me of all attempts at dealing with their bullshit.

  “Let’s get through this last play-through so I can
get a break from you guys,” I beg. We work through the level and attack Authurian my way. With the levels we are at and the technique used, we could take the loot without a glitch, exactly how I planned.

  “Yes! That’s how shit’s done.” Rich cheers on as we gather the rewards that dropped. I programmed in alluring grabs for gamers to get multiple play-throughs on my level with severity-mode changes. That’s why finding the bugs in this level’s gameplay are so vital. Also, with how popular Dark Abyss was at the trade shows this year, this will be Orthorn’s biggest release. Every detail is important in the overall perfection of the game.

  “Your coding looks solid, Kate. I see you set him for multiple plays and I don’t think he’ll need patching after the game releases. Nice work,” Jefferson adds to the compliments around the cheering crowd.

  “You guys are great, thank you for tonight. Have a good night.” I sign out of the game and take another drink from my wine glass. A deep sigh escapes with the weight of this deadline off my chest.

  “We will. Tell Mellie hello for us,” Rich says with a chuckle. He’s so lucky I respect him and he’s such a good friend with that smart mouth of his.

  “Fuck you, Rich, I don’t have a date with my cat.” I growl at him then toss my equipment aside and power my system down. I love these guys, considering they are one of the best quality-assurance teams at Orthorn Games and we’ve been friends since my freshman year in college, but it doesn’t mean I can go long dealing with their mouthy ways. We fall back into our juvenile antics when we dive into overtime.

  I get up from my desk and make my way into the kitchen to refill my glass. They’re the ones who drive me into drinking alone on a Thursday night. Mellie crawls up beside my leg and purrs. Okay, tonight is turning into what they assumed, but there’s no shame in being comfortable alone. There’s nothing wrong with being a single twenty-five-year-old woman. My mother’s words might filter through my mind because she’d say I should figure my life out, find a good husband, and start a family.

  I still have time to make my mark on this world, and despite my current dreams not fitting into the mold of what she thought, I’m content and don’t think I’m missing something like my mother believes. A smile spreads across my face and I bend down, brush my hand under Mellie, and pick her up to carry her into the living room.

  “So, Mellie, are the guys right? Should we have a date tonight?” I’m talking to my cat. It should concern me, but as my only roommate and my companion for the night, I should make sure she’s up for it.

  I walk into the living room and settle myself on the couch. My apartment is modest and cozy for a place in downtown Chicago. I grab a throw blanket and toss it around us as Mellie settles into my side. I bring up my movies on the television and glance through the selections. Just to keep with Rich’s recommendations, I see my Norse God and press play.

  “Despite the guys being right, I’m still enjoying myself. You’re such pleasant company. You don’t complain, and you aren’t needy. What more could a girl ask for? See I don’t need a guy to keep me company tonight.”

  I lose myself in the movie and my eyes get heavy as Loki pops up on the screen. Weeks of overtime to meet the game’s big release date has drained me. Add the bickering and constant razzing from the guys at work, and I’m ready to pass out. I drift off to sleep, but a loud knock startles me awake again.

  I rub my eyes, and then it comes back when his knock sounds on the front door again. “Oh, shit, Mellie, I had a date tonight.”

  I jump from the couch and rush to the front door to let Jake inside. I can’t believe I stood up the most important man in my life. When I pull open the door, I look at his smirking know-it-all face. He’s dressed in a pair of dark jeans, faded Chucks, and a hoodie that has Orthorn Games written across the front that I got him for Christmas last year. A Les Paul, his most prized possession, is slung across his back. Jake’s messy brown hair is long overdue for a haircut, his green eyes are laughing, and one eyebrow is quirked, completing his classic teenage wannabe rocker look.

  “You forgot I was coming over, didn’t you?”

  My eyes widen, and I act offended at that assumption. How could he ever think I forgot my babysitting duties?

  I wrap my arms around him and steal a quick hug before he can slip into my apartment. “What? No way I forgot you. I wasn’t sleeping.”

  Julie rushes down the hall and catches up to her son. “Jesus, child, you act like it’s a race to get up here first.” My sister comes in for a side hug as my nephew squeezes past me.

  “You forgot, didn’t you?” Julie asks.

  I roll my eyes and grab the bags to help lighten her load. I pull my phone out to order pizza from Mario’s, which is on my speed dial, anyway. Julie shakes her head and chuckles as I fix my error. See, I’m a mess, I’ll admit that with the overtime and work I do I’m lucky if I remember to put on my underwear.

  “It’s been a long week,” I grumble then place the usual order at Mario’s Pizza to the young woman who picks up the phone. Jake always enjoys a good meat lover’s pizza and root beer soda. It makes my life easier to have those ready when he comes to visit. Feeding a thirteen-year-old boy is hard work. They don’t stop eating.

  “I get it. Are you sure you’re okay with watching him for the weekend? The medical conference is Friday, and we will fly back on Saturday night and will pick him up Sunday. I owe you big time.”

  “Of course, it’s no problem.” I glance over my shoulder. Jake has our favorite video game, The Division, loaded on both gaming monitors and is ready to go. Our night together is already planned.

  “You aren’t too tired to play, are you, Aunt Kate? I’ve been waiting to get through the Dead Zone until we got together again. They’ve opened weekly challenges which give nice grabs, but we need to go in as a team.”

  “I’m not tired, we’re good to play. I’ll load my agent into the drop point in a moment. You want something to drink?” With a shout back for a can of root beer, I reach into the refrigerator and shake my head. Knew it. He’s always easy for me.

  My sister moves into the living room to start her goodbyes and last-minute motherly advice. “Listen to Kate and get to bed early. Don’t forget to brush your teeth and—”

  “Are you serious, Mom, I’m thirteen. I think I can remember that.” He shoos her away and grabs his gaming controller so he can load into the drop point and start gathering us supplies. Julie walks back to me with a big smile and a small head shake.

  “You two and those video games.” My sister has ten years of life experience on me and a degree in the medical field, but she’s always supported my choice to get into computers and the game-design field despite my mother’s disapproval. My mother is a surgeon like Julie and thought gaming was a hobby career and a waste of my life.

  Julie might not be a gamer like Jake, my father, and I, but she supports us, and that’s more than I can say for our mother. “He deserves a break. I’m sure school isn’t easy and to be honest, I could use a break as well.” I walk to Jake and give him his drink.

  “You finish those recalculations on that level so you can go to betas this week?” Julie picks up her purse.

  I nod on my way back to the kitchen then lean against the counter and sigh. We do a quick catch-up since we will miss our weekend call and hug each other bye as I wish her a safe trip. I walk her to the door as dinner arrives, and I swap out some cash in exchange for the pizza box.

  “You do look tired, Kate. I realize this game is a big deal but promise me you’ll take a break after this?” She pauses in the hallway, needing to add her last bit of motherly advice to me too.

  “I will the moment you promise me you’ll take a break. Maybe we can sneak away to see Lukas in California? He’s got that big house and pool all to himself.”

  Julie puts a huge smile on her face, “That’s a plan. We haven’t crashed at our brother’s place since...” She trails off as she likely tries to remember.

  “Summer of my sophom
ore year. That’s when Nick Simmons dumped me, Lukas slept with his secretary, and you needed a break from Jeff so you didn’t murder him. How could you forget that?” I joke because I recall well how she forgot.

  “One word. Tequila.” The laughter bursts out of us and I give my sister one more hug before I send her on her way. I walk back into the living room and settle next to Jake. “Hey, mister, let’s eat before we start.” I glance at my watch. “We have two hours before bed.”

  He pauses the game and digs into his pizza. “You sure don’t mind playing tonight? I can hang out if you need to sleep. I know this week has been crazy.”

  “Are you kidding me? No way. I want to play. It’s been only work lately,” I say because gaming with my nephew is the perfect way to end my night.

  “It always sounds fun when you talk about work.”

  My job isn’t always easy or fun though, especially when we hit deadlines like we are in now. That’s why my mother thinks what I do is a hobby and not a career.

  “It’s fun sometimes, tough work though. Tonight, the guys I gamed with played the same level a hundred times to make sure we got the bugs out. That’s what quality-assurance does and then I have to recode the game for every glitch they find. If not, we have to release patches later. I suppose I always make it sound fun, don’t I?”

  “You do, still sounds awesome. The Dark Abyss is releasing next month though, right?”

  “Yep, you’ll love it. We start the launch in two weeks.” We move the pizza aside and dive into playing. We game and talk for hours and pass out later into the night.

  Chapter Two

  Lincoln

  It’s after seven, and I’m still in my office staring at the computer screen. I’m sure the rest of my colleagues have left for the night, aside from Benny Stevens, our overnight security guard. Benny lost his wife a few years ago to cancer and with his daughter studying abroad, he spends his nights here. Benny told me once that the nights were easier when he keeps himself busy because he doesn’t have his wife beside him when he goes home. My heart breaks for him because I know what it’s like to go home to an empty bed.