Allie swung by Christie’s desk. She was so excited by the success of the CountyFair expansion, she felt like skipping. It was beautiful and fun and was growing acquisitions and converting beautifully. It was everything at once! There was a perfection when you put something good into the world, and people wanted to give you money for it. Something magical when you knew you didn’t trick, cheat, or cut corners, and then an audience appeared. She wanted to hug herself. She had made this happen. She had been at the crux of making good work occur. This was what she had dreamed of.
“Ready for our one-on-one? I’ve got numbers to share,” she sang out.
Christie gave her a tight smile. “Yes, let’s talk.”
“Conference room, or . . . ?”
“It’s gorgeous out,” Christie replied. “Let’s take advantage of that.”
“True. More rain forecasted later.”
They stepped out, blinking in the sun.
“Mind if we walk?” Christie asked.
“Not at all,” Allie replied. “How about the canal?”
“Oh, yes. I like to look for herons.” They walked past Adobe toward the pathway the new condos had built along the canal. The canal was lined with houseboats. Christie wondered aloud if it was more affordable than San Francisco rent.
“So it’s terrific!” Allie burst out. “New users are up! Finally! We’re seeing virals like we haven’t in six months! And NPS is pushing eight! We’re going to blow past our OKRs! We did it!”
“That’s wonderful,” Christie replied.
“Hey, are you okay? You don’t seem as excited as I thought you’d be.”
“I have to tell you something. It’s making me uncomfortable.”
“So spit it?”
“I’m leaving QuiltWorld.”
“What?”
“I didn’t tell you when I joined that I was working on something else, and I feel bad about that. I just didn’t know you yet. But when I came back, I had an agreement with Rick. I wanted to do this expansion, but I also agreed to kick-start a new game. So CountyFair is live. And it’s time for me to go work on something new. It was the deal I made. I’m sorry.”
Allie was gobsmacked. She had thought she had finally assembled a team that worked. But now she’d have to start over again with her game designer. “So what’s the new thing?”
“It’s actually a pitch I put in over year ago. It’s called Twilight Carnival.”
“Like the book?”
“Yes! Bizdev finally got the rights squared away, and we’re doing it.”
“I love that book,” Allie replied.
“Me, too,” Christie said. They walked along the sidewalk quietly.
“That’s kind of amazing,” Allie finally said.
“So you understand?”
“I think I have no choice. You came, you made something great, and now you’re going to make something else that’s probably even greater. I don’t think I can argue with that.”
Christie grabbed her and hugged her. Allie laughed. “I was really worried about telling you! I was afraid you’d hate me. I mean, everyone here . . .”
“Yeah, hard to know who to trust. But I get it; I really do. This sounds like a once- in-a-lifetime chance to make a game that could be really amazing. If you were asking my advice, I’d tell you to do it.”
“Thank you,” Christie said. “I’ll just be upstairs.”
Allie paused and thought of something. “I’d like you to replace yourself, though.” It was time for her to act like a GM and not a doormat. She couldn’t let people swan in and out of her studio.
“That’s fair. But we’re supposed to start in a month.”
“That’s my deal. You make sure your successor kicks ass, or I hate you forever.”
Christie grinned. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out. I couldn’t chance such a deadly fate.”
Allie paused, and looked at her feet. “And I’d really like it if you’d coach me to interview game designers. I don’t have a clue what makes a good game designer, I realize. I mean, it’s like porn.”
“Porn?”
“I know them when I see them!”
Christie shook her head in mock horror. “Okay, that we’ve got to sort out. Let’s start with the basics.”
And they walked for an hour.