Julien Gregg's Saguaro University Arizona Chronicles - The Story of Jake Miller Chapter 5

 Copyright © 2025 by Julien Gregg 
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The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Five

We put the tree up the next day and decorated the house for Christmas. There were things for the walls, the tables, and the floor. We put electric candles in the windows and Santa and the reindeer went outside staked into the ground. They lit up too and the cord was run back to the porch where there was an outlet for such tings.

Jacks got up on a ladder and put the twinkling lights all around the front of the house, down the pillar that held up the porch and to the outlet. It all lit up beautifully. Then Lisa made hot chocolate and we all sat in the living room looking at the fruits from our labor. I had a copy of “Legends Rise” for Rod and a Xbox to play it on. I’d already asked Lisa about this and she told me it was fine. She went and bought him some games for it as well.

For Jacks I had a new briefcase and a laptop computer. I got Travis a new glove and a laptop computer. He had made bracelets and charms for everyone and they were in little boxes under the tree. I had no idea what anyone else had gotten for me. I was prepared to love whatever it was.

We had lunch in the dining room. Today it was just left over chicken and biscuits. I was happy with it. Then I went to my room to wrap the presents I had for everyone. I took them to the living room and put them under the tree. I’d already sent Evan’s present to him. He’d sent mine back. He’d gotten me a necklace and I’d gotten him a Blue Devils t-shirt.

That day Travis and Rod played the game and I hung out with Lisa and Jacks. Jacks asked me if I’d called Evan. I told him that I had called him to thank him for the necklace he’d bought for me and he thanked me for the t-shirt I’d gotten him. He wouldn’t be able to come for Christmas this year because he took his vacation around the time that Aboo held the trials to be there for alumni night.

Lisa asked if I was working on anything for Microsoft and I told her no. I’d finished the last project and hadn’t received another. She thought it was amazing that I was coding for Microsoft right there in the house. I told her that we could all work remotely if we chose to.

She asked when Evan and I got to see each other. I told her that we didn’t have to be back at school until the eighteenth so I was going to fly to Los Angeles and spend some time with Evan before I went back to school. She thought that was a nice idea. Then we talked about what Lisa and Jacks had planned for the night. It turned out they were going to a Christmas party at the courthouse. They asked that I take care of dinner and watch over Rod. I told them that he’d be playing the game and not much trouble so they were on.

We had lunch around noon. The gamers stopped playing long enough for lunch. Travis said they were playing with Neal and Brady. I thought that was awesome. I told them to tell them both that I said hello.

Then we were in the bedroom while Travis played the game and I played another game on my computer. Jacks and Lisa left for the Christmas party and I got pork chops out of the freezer and put them on the thaw board. I went back to playing my game but I was keeping track of the time.

I went into the kitchen to peal potatoes and shuck corn on the cob. I put them in two pans to boil. Then I checked on the chops. They were thaw so I got a pan and put flour in it and garlic powder and some season salt and pepper and stirred it with a fork. Then I wet the chops and dredged them through the flour. Then I fried them on the stove. I got all three of them well done and then I mashed the potatoes with milk and butter. I added salt and pepper in them and then checked on the corn. It was all done so I called the gamers into the dining room and I made them each a plate.

We ate our food and talked about the game. Rod was happy to play with Neal and Brady and he couldn’t wait to go back. I told him to eat slowly and enjoy the meal. I told him the game wasn’t going anywhere and he had time to eat. Travis laughed at this and told me that he was excited to play too. I just shook my head and smiled.

After dinner I did the dishes and then went to my room. Travis was already in there playing the game. I fired up my computer and found that I had another project to work on. So I downloaded it and coded for a while. Well that was until I heard Jacks and Lisa return at about ten. Then she told Rod to get ready for bed. He didn’t argue with it. She asked me how he behaved and I told her that he was great.

She thanked me for watching over him. Jacks asked me what we had for dinner and told him about the chops, potatoes and corn. He smiled at this. He said that he was worried that I’d get carried away with the code to miss dinner. I told him that I watched the time and we had dinner around six. He smiled at this.

Then I went back to my room to save my work and log off from Microsoft. I shut everything down and went to change into my sleep shorts and t-shirt. Then I sat in the living room with Jacks and Lisa. Rod was lying on the couch so we talked lowly. I went back to my room after telling them goodnight. Travis was already in bed so I crawled in beside him.

“You’re going to Los Angeles the day after Christmas?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m going to stay with Evan for New Years and I’ll fly back here to drive you to school on the sixteenth.”

“Okay,” he said. “I was worried about how I’d get to school.”

“Don’t worry I didn’t forget you,” I said. “Plus I have things to take back to the school with me.”

“Right,” he said. “What are you taking back to school?”

“The Xbox, and some more clothes, books, and the rest of my trophies,” I said. “I’m slowly moving out of here completely. This summer I’ll move all of my stuff to Los Angeles. Then I’ll just stay there for the summer. You can stay there too if you want. Neal is going to be out there for the summer.”

“I’ll probably go to Los Angeles with you if you think Evan has room,” he said.

“There’s a second bedroom in his house that he uses for guests that stay overnight,” I said. “You can stay there. Then when I get out of school the following spring and I graduate I’ll already be moved in with Evan.”

“Yeah, Neal says he’s moving to Los Angeles and that means I am too,” he said. “I can use my degree there anyway so I’ll be fine.”

“That’s true,” I said. “There are probably more places where you can use your degree in Los Angeles.”

“Right,” he said. “Well I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight, Jake.”

“Goodnight, Travis,” I said and rolled over on my side.

The next day I talked to Jacks about my plan. He was sad to have me moving out completely but he understood that I had to get to Los Angeles to work. He told me he’d miss me but he was missing me while I was in Arizona for school already. I told him that I’d ship a lot of stuff directly to Los Angeles and then drive the rest with me when I got out of school for the summer.

“It’s fast,” he said.

“Yes, but you’re going to need the room for Rod,” I said. “He’ll need his space. He’s a growing boy.”

“Don’t remind me,” he said. “I seem to get you boys when your thirteen and fourteen.”

“It does seem to be your plight,” I said with a smile. “But he’s not heartbroken by loss. You’ll be fine.”

Then I called Evan to tell him my grand plan. I asked if it would be all right if Travis slept in the spare room until he found a job and could make it on his own. He said that was fine. He liked that I was taking proactive steps to be moved in with him before I graduated. I told him I’d be shipping my desk and dresser out there and he said he’d be waiting for them. He asked about my bed but I told him I was leaving that for Rod. He understood. I didn’t need it where I was going anyway.

He said that Microsoft would put me to work all summer. I told him I was counting on it. Then we talked about Neal moving out there and I told him that Travis would move in with Neal when Neal got there and we’d have the spare room empty again. He liked the sound of that.

I told him I loved him and got off the phone. I did call a shipping company to take boxes and two pieces of furniture to his address in Los Angeles. They came later that day and I helped them move the twelve boxes and two pieces of furniture. They asked about the bed but I told them that was staying there. They took off with my stuff and I had just a few odds and ends to take back to school with me.

Jacks was sad to see them drive off with my stuff. It made it real that I was moving out. I told him that I’d be taking Travis with me this summer and he said that was a good idea. He’d asked Lisa to move in this summer. I hugged him and told him that was a great idea.

Then I just worked on the code for Microsoft until he came to get me for dinner. Then I sat in the dining room with everyone to eat pizza. He said he didn’t feel like cooking and Lisa didn’t either. We ate the pizza and had a great time of it.

After dinner I set about packing the stuff that I wanted to take back to school with me. I put my trophies in a box and all of the clothes that had been in the dresser and closet. I packed my books and games and such. Then I sat down at my computer and looked at the three boxes sitting in the closet. Travis looked at them and shook his head.

“You’re getting ready far too soon,” he said.

“I just wanted it done,” I said. “In two days it’ll be Christmas and then I’ll be in Los Angeles and I won’t be here to pack it. So now it’s packed and all I have to do on the sixteenth is take it to the truck. I’ll take my computer apart and put it in it’s box before I leave.”

“All right,” he said. “Just about everything I own is already at school. I just have to bring clothes with me.”

“You’ll have a little more to pack around after Christmas,” I said.

“You didn’t go crazy did you?” he asked with a worried look on his face.

“No,” I said. “Don’t worry.”

He went back to playing the game after that. I sat at my computer and coded until it was time to go to bed. Then I powered down the computer and shut everything down. I went into the bathroom and put on my sleep clothes. Travis went after me and then we climbed into bed and went to sleep.

The next day Jacks did his final Christmas shopping. The things that I’d ordered arrived in the mail and I put those in the stockings for Travis, Jacks, Lisa, and Rod. Then I coded after breakfast until lunch and I was done with that project. I uploaded it to the portal and logged off. Then I shut down the computer and had lunch with everyone.

Jacks talked more about my move and I told him I’d be completely moved out of the house when I came back to pick up Travis and take him back to school with me. He was quiet for a moment after that. He asked if I would be coming back this summer and I said no. I would be in Los Angeles working at Microsoft and living with Evan. I’d come back for Christmas and Evan would be with me but we’d stay in a hotel.

He didn’t like that but there wasn’t anything to be done about it. Lisa was moving in this summer and the room would belong to Rod then. I had nowhere to stay with Evan in the house. So we’d go to a hotel and that would be the end of it.

“What about you, Travis?” Jacks asked.

“I’m going to Los Angeles this summer with Jake,” he said. “My boyfriend is moving there this summer to work for Microsoft with Jake. So I’ll either live with him or with Evan and Jake.”

“Well it sounds like the house will be a bit empty until you move in Lisa,” he said.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I said yes to moving in by this summer. I’ll move in. It’ll be just a little bit longer.”

Evan knew what I was doing so that part was taken care of. Now I just had to get through Christmas and I’d be moved out of here this summer. It was time to start my new life in Los Angeles.

Christmas was a hit with Rod. He loved his Xbox and his own copy of ‘Legends Rise’. He loved the other games he got for the Xbox and he loved what was in his stocking from me. Everyone loved what they got. Travis went on and on about how it was too much but I told him to just accept it and be happy.

That night I got my clothes packed and took down my computer and put it in it’s box. Then I went to bed knowing that I’d be in Los Angeles tomorrow. I dreamed of Evan that night and it was a good dream. I couldn’t wait to be in Los Angeles.

The next morning I took my bags and my laptop and headed for the airport. I said goodbye to everyone and then I was off. I drove to St. Louis and parked the truck in long term parking. My ticket was for the twenty-sixth and the return trip was January fifteenth.

I boarded the plane and we took off. I was happy to be heading to Evan for a change. I’d only been in Los Angeles for the shopping for a company. Microsoft had ended that search and now I had a job and a house to live in. It wasn’t mine but Evan told me to think of it as ours.

The plane landed in Los Angeles and there he was waiting for me. I got my luggage and we drove to the house. Evan’s house was awesome. It was one story with a flat roof that was covered in solar panels. The carport extended off the side of the house and there was a brick column that held up the roof. His house was white clapboard siding and brick. The inside was a large living room with a formal dining room, the master suite was at the back of the house with the bedroom and a wall that opened in an archway to the master bathroom. In that room there was tile on the floor and walls. There was a walk-in shower and a bath tub along the opposite wall. The double vanity was on the wall that separated the bedroom. The toilet had it’s own cubicle that was brick on both sides.

The kitchen was big with an island where the range was located. There was a lot of cabinet space and a double glass front refrigerator. There was a small nook in there with a table and two benches. The dining room had lights in the ceiling at two foot intervals that were all but hidden in the ceiling. The table was Mahogany with six matching chairs around it. A series of four globes hung from the ceiling all across the table.

The office was set up in what could have been a third bedroom. He had his desk in there and now mine was across the room from his with my dresser in there. There was nowhere to put it in the bedroom. The second bedroom had a queen sized bed in it and a small chest of drawers. There were nightstands on either side of the bed with cube lamps on the table tops. The second bathroom was right next to the bedroom and it had a classic tub and shower combination, a single vanity, and a toilet.

“Welcome home,” Evan said when we came in the front door.

“I like the sound of that,” I said and kissed him. I held onto him for a long moment. It was so good to be able to do that. When I pulled back he kissed me again.

“I’ve missed you like crazy,” he said.

“If you’ve been as crazy as me missing you we’re in trouble,” I said with a smile. “I’ll be all moved in here when I get out of school for the summer. I just have a few boxes at home that I’ll be taking to school with me and moving in here this summer.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to you living with me since last summer.”

“Well I’ll be here all summer long,” I said. “Then I’ll go to school for my final year and we’re going to Quincy for Christmas but we’ll stay in a hotel. Rod will have what was my room for his own.

“That sounds good,” he said. “I’ll work remotely while we’re in Quincy.”

“Me too,” I said. “I’ve been doing it already.”

“Oh believe me they have an office for you already,” he said. “They finished the roll playing game by the way. Your copy of all three books, dice, and character sheets are in the office.”

“Cool,” I said. “I’ll take that to school with me.”

“Your action figures are on your desk,” he said.

“I saw those,” I said. “They look great.”

“Yes, they do,” he said. “You’re successful already. Been thinking of anymore games?”

“I have,” I said. “It’s going to be as difficult to code as the last one. I’m sure the Microsoft coders will work on it though.”

“They will,” he said. “Exclusivity and all.”

“Well I want a big old plantation house that people have to get to the top of to fight the big monster,” I said. “There’ll be others on each floor as you go. There’s a ton of stuff I have planned for it.”

“What are you thinking of calling it?” he asked.

“Nightmare,” I said. “It’ll probably be marketed for older gamers but it will be massive and another online experience.”

“Nightmare huh?” he asked. “Is it going to be a dark game?”

“Yes,” I said. “But don’t worry I’ll protect you.”

We laughed about that. He told me to write up a game proposal and make my demands such as exclusivity, complete credit, and so on. He asked if I wanted Neal to make graphics for it. I told him that Neal and I were a team. When I worked he worked. He liked the sound of that.

Then we just hung out for a while. He told me that we were having dinner with Julia and Ted from marketing. He said that he was really good friends with them and they were dying to meet me. I thought that would be fun. I wanted to shower and change I felt so grimy after traveling. He said he understood. I went in and took a shower and changed into my best clothing. He said it was perfect for the night. He showered and put on similar clothing and then we got in the car and he drove me deeper into the part of the city that he lived in. The house we went to was huge. It had three stories and was white brick with a slate roof. It had two out buildings and a white brick wall around the entire property. He had to push a button on the gate panel and tell them it was him. The gate swung open and we were allowed to drive on the premises.

Julia and Ted were a younger couple who welcomed us into their home with smiles. They were really excited to meet me because they’d done all of the marketing for ‘Legends Rise’. Ted told me that they were expecting big things from me. I told them I was working on more big things. They laughed at that.

Ted was about six feet tall with dark hair that was already receding. What there was of it was curly. His eyes were dark but he smiled so much that he didn’t look severe. Julia had beautiful strawberry hair with long flowing locks. She had green eyes and looked like a true ginger.

The entry way and living room were awesome. The entry way or hall as they called it was dark hardwood flooring and stark white walls. There was a chandelier in the entry way that sparkled in the light. The living room was long. Half of it was a bar section. The floor was covered in plush brown carpet as dark as the hardwood in the hall. The walls were stark white but there were portraits on the walls of them at various vacation spots. There was a younger man with them in a lot of the pictures that looked a lot like Ted.

We sat on a plush brown sofa while they took the loveseat. Ted told me that they had been very busy with my game and they’d be working with me on the next. I was told by them that I was a designer and not a coder. I didn’t know what the difference was. Evan told me designers got offices. I laughed at this along with Ted and Julia.

They served roast beef with au jus sauce and boiled potatoes in the skin with snow peas. There was red wine for the drink. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I complimented them on the food, but Julia told me that they had a cook. I was amazed at this. She told me that she came from money and they used it. I laughed at this.

“So tell me about the next game,” Ted said. “Will it be another ‘Legends Rise’?”

“Not even close,” I said. “I’m going darker with the second game. I don’t want to give away too much of it before I actually pitch it to the boys at Microsoft.”

“You don’t have to pitch it,” said Julia. “You just design it and the coding will happen. When the game is finished you present it.”

“Well then I’ll remain silent until I present the final product,” I said, smiling.

“Come now, we’re on your team at work,” said Ted. “You can tell us something.”

“All right,” I said. “Ghosts, vampires, zombies, and a wicked monster for the end of the game,” I said.

“Ooh that sounds thrilling,” said Julia. “I can’t wait to play it.”

“She likes all things dark and thrilling,” Ted explained.

“You want to continue your schooling once you graduate, yes?” Julia asked.

“That is my hope,” I said. “But I’ll go to UCLA for that.”

“Yes, but you’ll have to have more free time to work on the game,” she said.

“Well I won’t be playing baseball,” I told her. “After class work is done I’ll work on the game. Neal will have fun with the graphics and I’ll have fun with the coding.”

“Others on your team will help you code,” she said. “And you have a staff of graphic artists of which Neal is a member.”

“Neal and I are a duo,” I said. “If I work he works. That’s the deal.”

“Yes,” she said. “But he’ll have help this time is what I’m saying.”

“Well that’s to the good,” I said. “He worked on ‘Legends Rise’ all by himself. It took longer than it should have.”

“That’s why you have a team,” she said. “It’s filled with marketing executives like me and Ted, coders like Evan and the others, and graphic artists. They’ve even assigned you a studio for fight scenes and the like.”

“That sounds amazing,” I said. “Evan I didn’t know about this team thing.”

“I hadn’t had a chance to tell you about it,” he said. “Microsoft will officially tell you about it when you report in tomorrow.”

“All right,” I said. “It sounds like it’s going to be amazing and I can’t wait.”

“We can’t wait for you to graduate,” she laughed.

“I’m looking forward to that as well,” I said.

“So you report in tomorrow?” she asked.

“I guess,” I said. “No one told me that.”

“I just told you,” Evan said. “They’re making me the spokesperson where you’re concerned. I’m a member of your team and I tell you what and when. At least until you hire a secretary to do that work for me.”

“I’ll get on it,” I laughed. “This is all blowing my mind.”

“You’re unheard of,” Ted said. “A college student that they roll the carpet out for. But then no one has ever had your success right out of the gate either. You showed up with a stellar game,  roll playing game, and action figures. It went viral really fast. The commercials generated interest but there was this word of mouth campaign that got them all going. They had so many testers of the beta version that they didn’t know what to do with all of the data they collected. That’s when the smoothing happened and you were set by then.”

“I knew that this was a great deal, but I didn’t know it was that great,” I said.

“You got the deal of the century,” she said. “We’re all excited to be on your team. That’s why I wanted you to come to dinner tonight. I wanted me and Ted to be the first members of the team you met. Other than Evan of course.”

“Well it was nice to meet you both,” I said. “So you’re going to be working with me?”

“For you,” she said.

“For me? I’m nobody,” I said.

“You’re somebody now,” Ted said. “You’ve got the hottest game of the season still in production. They’re selling out faster than they can be made. There’s a big back order for copies.”

“Wow,” I said. “I mean I didn’t expect any of this,” I said humbled by what he’d said. They really liked the game that much?

“I need to get him back to the house,” Evan said after dinner. “We’ll do this again.”

“Yes, let’s,” said Julia. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jake.”

“Tomorrow,” I said. “Thank you so much for dinner.”

“Oh we’ll do it again and you can be amazed by our cook’s prowess,” Ted said.

We left their house and went back to the house. Evan was telling me that all that they said was true. I was a designer with a full fledged market buster on my hands. It meant that I had a lot more wiggle room at work than others. My team was exclusive. They’d only work on games thought up by me.

I was astounded. What if I couldn’t figure out another game after “Nightmare”? Well I had an idea that would take hold after that game. It would be an expansion pack for “Legends Rise”. Of course it would be a whole new edition of the DVD. I’d keep that under my hat until I had it all thought it out.

We showered again and got ready for bed. Then we showed our love and went to sleep. The next morning he woke me at seven. I showered and put on clothes that he said would be all right. He did the same thing. Then we had breakfast and headed out to Microsoft Games.

We didn’t work in the actual Microsoft building. That was saved for other things like Windows and other software that they work on. We worked in a building behind it. Microsoft Games had it’s own building where Designers worked with teams of coders, graphic artists, marketing executives, and others. He took me inside the building and I saw nothing but white. The floor had tile, the walls were stark white, and the office doors were all white. We got on an elevator that was white as well and went to the top floor.

Here there were black doors and black windowsills. He took me to my office and unlocked it with a key that he gave to me. I put it on my key ring. Then I was sitting at my desk which was black but long. I had a computer on it and a phone. There were drawers that went into the wall. Some of them had filing systems. There were posters for “Legends Rise” all over the walls. My action figures were there in glass cases. I looked around the office at the black plastic chairs in front of the desk and all of the posters on the wall.

“This is all mine?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said, smiling. “This is your office here at Microsoft Games. You work remotely but soon you’ll be working from this office.” He pointed to the windows in my office that showed the floor. There were people at cubicles and tables working on code. “They’re working on other projects until you come up with another idea.”

“Well I have that new idea,” I said as I took a pad of paper out of my desk and started to write it all down. I’d need to talk to Neal about his part of the graphics soon. I wrote the levels, the monsters, the head witch in the attic and wrote “really scary witch gory even”. Then I wrote the characters for the game and got it all worked out. Then I just handed it to him.

“This looks good,” he said. “Put these in the game sheets in your desk and you can give them to the team and they’ll start coding for you.”

“I want to code this game,” I said.

“You will don’t worry,” he said. “This one is more massive that ‘Legends Rise’. You’ll be coding for months. They’ll help you not do it for you.”

“All right,” I said. “I’ll call Neal and get him to work on the graphics. He can talk to the graphic artists on the team here.”

I did just that. He was thrilled to hear from me. Of course he wanted to do the graphics for “Nightmare”. He about shit when I laid it all out for him. The game and the team. I gave him the numbers to call to talk to the team and told him he needed to be out here this summer. He told me he was way ahead of me. He and Travis would be staying with his aunt for the summer. She lived in Los Angeles. That was perfect.

Then I presented the game to the team. They took off with copies of the sheets to start coding this and that. One called the plantation and out buildings. Another called out the ghosts, and yet another one called out zombies. It seemed they were set. I just sat at my desk and watched them go. Evan said he’d work on the scary, gory witch. That left me with core game files which was what I wanted. I started to code.

We ordered Chinese for lunch and it was delivered. I got a can of soda from the fridge in my office and went back to coding while I ate. Evan smiled at me every time he looked in the office. I just coded. I got a lot done that day but he came in and told me that they were packing up for the day and that I had to fill out a form that said I was at the office all day. I filled that out and he told me where to put it. Then we left.

“So how was your first day in the office?” he asked as he drove me back to the house.

“It was good,” I said. “I uploaded what I was working on to my portal and can pick it up at home now.”

“We’ll come back to the office tomorrow,” he said. “You just fill out another of those forms. They’ve had you on remote for a while now. This summer we’ll change your status to ‘in office’.”

“Okay,” I said. “It was really nice to be in the office working. It gave me an idea about what it will be like when I graduate and go into the office every day.”

“Well every week day,” he said. “Do me a favor and don’t code while you’re here. Save all of that for the office. I want to spend time with you.”

“All right,” I said as we pulled into the driveway of the house.

We got out and went inside and then he kissed me. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day long,” he said when he came up for air.

“Well I’m glad you wanted to but I thank you for waiting until we were home,” I laughed.

“They frown on public displays of affection in the office,” he said.

“So I have to keep my hands off you all day?” I asked.

“You were wrapped up in coding all day long you didn’t even notice that I was there,” he said.

“Wrong,” I said. “I looked up and smiled at you at least five times today.”

“Yes, you did,” he said mollified. “So I was wrong.”

“Well you’re allowed to be wrong from time to time,” I said as I leaned in and kissed him again.

We had dinner delivered and ate it at the dining table. We talked through the meal. He told me about all the things he waned to show me. I just sat there and let him talk. We cleaned up our mess and then he took me to see some of the houses of the stars and we went to a park and sat at a picnic table.

“So what do you think of LA so far?” he asked.

“I love the weather,” I said. “I’ll want to go to the beach this summer.”

“We’ll do that,” he said. “But right now the water is cold.”

“I figured,” I sighed. “But what I’ve seen so far is nice. I can’t wait to live here full time.”

“This summer,” he said.

“Yeah but I still have another year of school,” I said. “Then I’ll be here full time.”

“Believe me I know,” he said. “I can’t wait until you graduate.”

“Knowing what’s waiting for me in Los Angeles makes me want to graduate now,” I said. “But I’ll pace myself and do it right.”

“Good boy,” he said. “Let’s go home it’s getting dark.”

“All right,” I said and followed him back to his car. He drove us home and I met the neighbor. She was a busy body who asked a million questions.

She was least seventy. She was standing her front porch, glaring at us as we got out of the car. She squinted her eyes at me. I just smiled. She touched her steel gray hair and picked her spectacles off her blouse and put them on.

“Mrs. Stainer this is Jake Miller,” he said. “He lives here but he goes to school in Arizona. He’ll be here all summer this summer.”

“What’s he do?” she asked.

“I’m studying Computer Programming,” I said.

“Oh,” she said. “You like computers?”

“I do,” I said.

“Not for me,” she said. “Why do the two of you live together? Are you together?”

“Yes we are, Mrs. Stainer,” Evan said.

“I never held out for those homosexuals,” she said. “You and him are aren’t you?”

“That’s right,” Evan said.

“Well I guess you’re all right,” she said. “You’ve lived next door to me for a few years and I didn’t know. You don’t throw parties that get loud so I have no complaints. You’re young yet.”

She said that to me. I said, “I’m a college student, Ma’am.”

“Polite,” she said and then shook her head. “Nothing for me here. I’ll talk to you later, Evan.”

“Goodnight Mrs. Stainer,”  he said, smiling at me.

“What was that all about?” I asked when we got in the house.

“Mrs. Stainer is lonely and a bit crotchety if I’m honest,” he said. “She’s also a big snoop. She wants to know everything going on around here. She’s harmless though.”

“She didn’t seem to like me much,” I said.

“How could you tell? She talks to everyone that way,” he said.

“All right then,” I said.

“Do you want to continue to talk about Mrs. Stainer or do you want to come to bed and ravish me.”

“Oh I’d definitely like to come to bed and ravish you,” I said with a smile.

“Then come,” he said, holding out his hand.

I took it and let him pull me to the bedroom for an evening of showing love. We did fall asleep in there somewhere because he woke me up at seven to get showered and dressed for the office. Today we had little plastic tubs of yogurt and bagels. Then we were on our way.

“Looking forward to coding all day?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said honestly.

We pulled up to the building and got out. I used my own identification card to open the front door of the building. Then we were on the elevator and up to the top floor. One of the coders saw us and smiled. I smiled back. Evan went to his cubicle and I went to my office and unlocked it with my key.

I sat down and started to code as soon as I had the program open on my computer. Then Evan stuck his head through my door and told me that I was supposed to hold a status meeting with the staff.

I got up and went to the other room and stood at the head of the room. They all stopped what they were doing and looked up at me. I started by apologizing for all that I didn’t know. They laughed at this. Then I told them that I was Jake Miller, the designer who was still in college. I asked for a status report.

“We’re still coding our monsters at the present time,” said a red haired man. “We’ll be coding them for the rest of today. We might have them done tomorrow.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “I’m still coding the core of the game and am not ready for the monsters yet.”

“Neal called and told us that he was working on graphics for three of the monsters,” said a curly brown haired man. “He’s working on the ghosts, zombies, and vampires. He left the rest of them up to us. We’re working on computer simulations for the rest of them and should have something for you tomorrow.”

“Very good,” I said. “Well I’ll let you get back to work. Thank you for your time.”

I went back to my office and started to code. My phone rang and it was my boss. His name was Nico Fleming. He asked if I was working on anything and I told him I was but wasn’t ready to show him anything or tell him anything yet. He said that was fine he just wanted to know if he should be sending projects to me and my team. I told him we were all working away at a new game. He thought that was great and told me to carry on.

After that call I went back to coding the environment for the game. It would have to be sent to graphics to get a rendering but I was putting in the code for how it wold move and sway around the characters. It took me until lunch to get the code for that in there.

Today we had burgers and fries with soft drinks from somewhere. They were good but I went on coding to set up characters and the character interface. I did it until we left for the day. Then I was locking everything up and telling everyone I’d see them tomorrow. I filled out the paperwork for being in the office all day and then we left. My days went really fast and I liked that about them. I didn’t like that I wasn’t coding at home but I understood why he didn’t want me to.

Tonight we were having dinner with two of his friends. They were coming to the house so he was cooking almost as soon as we got home. I went to change into shorts and a Blue Devil t-shirt. Then I joined him in the kitchen and helped him cook. We were making finger foods that could be set up buffet style. He got a bottle of red wine out of the wine rack and put it in a bucket of ice to chill.

“You’ll like Dave and Terry,” he said. “They’re great guys.”

“Okay,” I said. “Are they together?”

“Yes,” he said. “They’ve been together since college. Dave is a social worker and Terry is a lawyer.”

“Okay,” I said. “So these friends have nothing to do with what we do?”

“None,” he said. “These are my friends and nothing more.”

“Okay,” I said again.

We got the food done and then I went to shower. I came back in my dress khakis and a blue polo shirt with my deck shoes on my feet. He smiled at me and then went to take his shower. He came out in virtually the same thing but his polo was purple. We kissed and were interrupted by the doorbell.

“Dave, Terry,” Evan said when he opened the door. “Come on in.”

“Evan, we’ve been meaning to get together with you to help ease the suffering of having a lover so far away,” said one of them.

I came out of the kitchen and they both looked me up and down. The dark haired one said, “Is that boy wonder?”

“He’s not a boy,” Evan said. “But yes. Jake Miller this is David Brennan. The blonde is Terry Logsdan.”

“Hi guys,” I said as I came into the living room.

Terry was blonde and blue with a very thin physique. He wore jeans and a polo shirt that looked a bit big on him. Dave was the tall dark and handsome guy. He had dark hair and dark eyes and a five o’clock shadow. He wore jeans and red polo.

“Hello to you, Jake Miller,” said Terry. “We’ve been told about you and shown your picture but you in the flesh is much better.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Would either of you like a drink?”

“Do you have red wine?” Dave asked.

“Coming right up,” I said and went off to the kitchen again. I poured two glasses and brought them back. I handed one to Dave and one to Terry. They thanked me.

“Where’s the food, Evan?” asked Terry.

“We’ll bring it out in a moment,” Evan said. “Calm down. I know I invited you over to eat but I didn’t expect you to be so eager.”

“He’s just tired after a hard case,” Dave said. “Don’t let him bother you.”

“Oh all right,” said Terry. “I’ll wait.”

“Jake, you wanna give me a hand?” Evan asked. “It sounds like Terry might start eating his fingers if we don’t bring the food out.”

We went into the kitchen and grabbed platters of finger food and took them to the dining room. We sat them in the center of the table and told them to come eat. We got plates and set the table. They came in and sat with their wine glasses. I went to get mine and Evan’s out of the kitchen and to bring the bottle. I grabbed the glasses and brought the bottle with me. I poured mine and his.

“Are you twenty-one, lad?” Terry asked.

“I am old enough to drink this in my own home,” I said.

“His own home?” Dave asked. “I thought he lived in Quincy, Illinois.”

“Not anymore,” Evan said. “He lives here but he’s got one more year of school to get through.”

“Ah,” said Dave. “You go to Saguaro in Arizona?”

“I do,” I said.

“Good school,” he said. “Terry did his undergrad there and I went to school here.”

“I like it,” I said.

“Is he Aboo?” Terry asked.

“Would I marry outside of my house?” Evan asked, smiling at him.

“Oh good,” said Terry. “At least he’s civilized.”

“Oh he’s civilized,” Evan said.

“So tell me about you, Jake,” said Dave.

“Well as you now I’m a college student, Aboo brother, and working for Microsoft as a designer. I came from Quincy, Illinois where I lived with my uncle from fourteen and played baseball on the high school team. Now I play baseball at the college level and I’m currently moving to Los Angeles.”

“That about summed him up,” Terry said with a cackle.

“So you’re the youngest designer in Microsoft history?” Dave asked.

“I don’t know about their history but I’m currently the youngest designer in the company,” I said.

“Working on anything that isn’t hush hush?” Terry asked.

“Nothing I can speak about,” I said.

“He sounds just like you, Evan,” said Terry. “I’m working but can’t tell you on what.”

“Microsoft rules,” Evan said. “I’m never at liberty to tell you what I’m working on.”

“At least you don’t work on Windows,” said Dave. “We have the most trouble with it at work.”

“I use a Linux system,” I said.

“Is that as good as everyone says?” Dave asked.

“I love it,” I said. “I have it on my laptop and my computer, although on my computer I have dual operating systems so I can play the games I create on the computer.”

“So Microsoft doesn’t make Linux based editions?” asked Terry.

“No,” I said. “Though they could but it would defeat the purpose of Windows.”

“You are correct,” Evan said. “Microsoft Windows is supposedly the biggest and most popular operating system in the world. But Linux is rapidly climbing the ladder. All of the coders use Linux.”

“Well then what do they say about it?” Terry asked.

“It’s the unspoken deal,” Evan said.

“I’ll bet,” said Terry.

“Terry hates all things Microsoft,” Evan told me.

“Well I can’t blame him the only thing from Microsoft that I like is the games, and some of them aren’t anything to get excited over,” I said.

“But you’re making more exciting games?” Terry asked.

“Apparently,” I said. “It’s still selling out everywhere.”

“Nice,” laughed Dave.

“Oh shut up,” Terry said with a smile on his face.

“The food is good,” Dave said.

“Thank you,” Evan said. “Jake helped.”

“Well thank you, Jake,” Dave said.

We were silent for a while as we ate. I was wondering what Terry’s problem was with Microsoft. Then I decided I didn’t care. I worked for the place but didn’t use a lot of their products I was sure that was more of a problem.