AN: Lacking PS. C'mon. ????

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  [New Zeand – Noon]

  Sunlight spilled over the mountain ridges and rolled down into the valley in slow golden waves. The air carried that clean alpine scent, crisp and faintly sweet, like pine and cold stone warming under the sun.

  Alex and Evangeline had both agreed on one thing over breakfast: they won't be going out for hiking or sightseeing today.

  Instead, they rented a quiet cedar cabin tucked along the slope, far enough from town that no one could wander up by accident. The house overlooked a wide stretch of mountains. A private cedar soaking tub sat on the deck and the view from the deck was just beautiful and peaceful.

  Inside, the pce felt warm and lived-in, with thick woven rugs, a stone firepce, and tall windows that let the mountains feel close enough to touch.

  They arrived early morning after breakfast...

  Right now, Evangeline stood at the window, barefoot on the wooden floor, wearing a white shirt. Her hair fell loosely over her shoulders, still slightly wild from the wind the night before.

  "This is perfect," she said quietly, almost to herself, looking out the window.

  Alex walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her neck before resting his chin on her shoulder as he looked at the view with her.

  "You sure you don't want to climb something dramatic today?" he asked.

  She leaned back into him and smiled. "I climbed enough things on set. Today I'm climbing into hot water."

  He ughed softly against her neck.

  "Fair enough."

  ...[A few minutes ter]...

  Outside, the cedar tub had already been filled. Steam curled upward in zy spirals.

  Alex carried the bottle of Pinot Noir in one hand and two gsses in the other while Evangeline banced a wooden tray loaded with cheese, crackers, fresh figs, sliced prosciutto, and a small bowl of olives.

  He set the gsses on the wide rim, popped the cork with a soft pop, and poured deep red wine into both. Evangeline pced the tray beside them, then she took off her clothes. Her skin caught the light as she stepped over the edge and eased herself down into the hot water with a long, contented sigh.

  Alex followed a second ter, taking off his clothes before sinking in across from her. The heat wrapped around his muscles immediately, loosening every knot that months of pnes, sets, and te-night edits had tied into him. He leaned his head back against the smooth cedar and closed his eyes for a beat, letting the warmth seep all the way through.

  Evangeline watched him settle, a small smile pying on her lips. Her eyes went from his chest, down his abs, to his dick. Then she looked up at his face. 'I missed him so much.'

  She reached for her gss, took a slow sip, then stretched one leg across the tub until her foot rested lightly against his thigh. He opened his eyes again and met her gaze without saying anything right away. The quiet between them felt easy, earned.

  She broke the silence first. "This is exactly what I pictured when I texted you st week about needing a real break." Her toes traced a zy circle on his skin under the water. "Just this... You, me and the beautiful view."

  He lifted his own gss and tapped it gently against hers. "I canceled three meetings to make sure we got it." The corner of his mouth lifted. "Rachel handled the fallout as usual. So, don't forget to thank her."

  "I will..." Evangeline nodded and leaned forward enough to set her gss on the rim again. She scooted closer until her knees brushed his. Water rippled around them as she settled between his legs, her back resting against his chest. His arms came around her naturally, one hand spying across her stomach while the other held the wine so she could take another sip from his gss instead of reaching for her own.

  The mountains stretched out in front of them, dark green slopes giving way to jagged peaks still dusted with st night's snow. A bird circled high overhead, zy and unhurried. Somewhere far off, a stream rushed over rocks, the sound faint but steady.

  Alex held the gss before her lips and she took a sip.

  She tilted her head back so it rested on his shoulder. "Tell me something normal," she murmured. "Something that has nothing to do with cameras or deadlines."

  He thought for a second, then pressed his lips to the side of her neck. "I burned toast this morning while you were still asleep. I don't even know how it happened. Maybe I dozed off. The smoke arm went off. I waved a dish towel at it like an idiot until it stopped screaming, then punched it. It broke."

  She ughed again, the sound vibrating against his chest. "You? Burning toast? I need photographic evidence of that disaster."

  "Never happening." His fingers traced slow patterns along her colrbone. "You were sleeping too peacefully to wake up for my kitchen failure."

  Evangeline turned her head just enough to kiss the underside of his jaw. "Good choice. I would have teased you for days."

  They stayed like that for a long stretch, trading quiet stories that carried no weight. She told him about the one Hobbit extra who kept forgetting his lines and turning every take into accidental comedy. He told her about Andrew trying to do a backflip on set just to prove he could, then nding ft on his back while the whole crew appuded sarcastically. They also talked about the girls at home. They ughed until the ughter faded into comfortable silence again.

  The wine bottle emptied slowly. The tray of food disappeared piece by piece between zy reaches and shared bites. Steam kept rising around them, carrying the faint scent of cedar. Evangeline eventually twisted in his arms so she faced him fully, legs draped over his hips now. She rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes.

  "I could stay right here forever," she whispered.

  Alex brushed damp hair away from her face. "We might have to negotiate with the owner for an extension." His voice stayed low, almost pyful. "But I'm not in any hurry to leave either."

  She opened her eyes and looked at him for a long moment, really looked, like she was memorizing the way the sunlight hit his features. Then she kissed him, slow and deep, tasting like wine and salt and everything they had both been missing for too many months.

  Her kiss deepened, warm and unhurried, but it stayed soft. There was hunger in it, yes, months of distance and missed nights, but there was also relief. Relief that he was here. Relief that neither of them had to board a pne tomorrow morning.

  Alex's hands slid from her waist up along her back, fingers tracing the curve of her spine in slow strokes. His mouth moved from her lips to her cheek, then to her neck again, where he lingered, breathing her in like he needed to remind himself she was real and not some te-night fantasy after a twelve-hour edit session.

  Evangeline shifted closer, her fingers threading into his hair. Her legs tightened around him under the water, and she kissed him again, softer this time. Heat built between them, steadily, but neither rushed it. This day was about slowing down, about feeling every second instead of chasing the next one.

  And while they were enjoying their break...

  [Back in NY]

  Rachel sat alone in her office. Her desk was clean except for a bck coffee mug and a slim ptop connected to two rge monitors.

  The quarterly funding report from the console and GPU development branch sat open on the left screen. The manager had sent it earlier that afternoon with a polite summary email and a confident tone.

  On the surface, everything looked solid.

  Milestones met.

  Budget allocations tidy.

  Progress charts are neat and reassuring.

  Rachel did not care about being neat.

  She pulled up the second folder on the right screen. That one came from her internal sources, or we can call them spies. Engineers and analysts who reported quietly to her when something felt off. They just sent raw data.

  She lined up the spreadsheets side by side.

  Procurement costs.

  Testing equipment.

  Silicon fabrication.

  Software optimization budgets.

  Her mouse moved slowly as she scrolled line by line. She compared transaction IDs, vendor names, and timestamp clusters.

  Then she stopped.

  Advanced silicon architecture allocation.

  The official report listed 12.8 million.

  Internal tracking data showed 11.3 million cleared through authorized vendors.

  She leaned back slightly.

  1.5 million dolrs missing.

  The official expnation referenced "external consulting and stress testing contracts." There were no matching legal filings in Titan's system. No approved vendor agreements or signed NDAs tied to those amounts.

  She clicked into the payment logs.

  A few transactions had been routed through a recently created supplier account. The company name looked legitimate at first gnce, technical enough to avoid suspicion. The registration date was three months ago. Address listed in Deware.

  Rachel opened another tab and pulled up the corporate registry database.

  The listed office was a shared workspace building.

  She clicked deeper.

  Ownership structure is traced to a holding company, and that holding company is traced offshore.

  Cayman Isnds.

  "Interesting," She mumbled. "Clever routing yered enough to pass a casual audit. They are really good." She checked timestamps again. Transfers were spaced out in controlled intervals. Nothing dramatic or rge enough to trigger automatic alerts.

  Someone had taken their time to pn this.

  Rachel opened a secure messaging app on her PC and typed a short message to one of her spies inside the tech division.

  "Pull full vendor creation history for any supplier added in the st three months. Cross-reference with payment approvals signed by the branch manager. Do not notify accounting."

  A reply came back within a minute.

  "Understood. Will revert with breakdown."

  Rachel closed the chat and folded her hands in front of her keyboard.

  The branch manager had been with Titan for years before he was shifted to the new tech division as a promotion. He has clean performance reviews and no visible lifestyle spikes that scream fraud.

  That made this worse.

  It meant he thought he understood how Titan worked. He thought the system would not look too closely. However, there's also a possibility that he is being set up by someone else.

  Her expression stayed calm.

  One and a half million now could turn into ten ter if ignored. Titan's console project was projected to generate billions over its lifespan. Anyone siphoning funds at this stage was either greedy or testing boundaries.

  Either way, they picked the wrong company...

  ...No. They picked the wrong girl to mess with.

  ...

  [Next day]

  New Zeand – Early Morning

  Steam rose gently from Alex's mug as he sat outside in a thick sweater, legs stretched out, boots resting against the wooden railing.

  Hot chocote instead of coffee this time.

  He took a slow sip and watched sunlight creep across the valley. The world felt distant from deadlines and production boards. Evangeline was still inside, curled up in the oversized bed.

  His phone buzzed against the small side table.

  He gnced at the screen.

  Travis Owen.

  Game Development Director.

  Alex picked up the call and leaned back in his chair.

  "Morning, Travis," he said, voice rexed. "You're up early."

  A brief pause came from the other end before Travis answered.

  "Morning, Alex. Sorry to call this early. I wanted to catch you before your day gets busy."

  "You caught me staring at mountains," Alex replied. "What's going on?"

  Travis cleared his throat lightly.

  "The team is ready to move forward. Pre-production framework is locked. Core engine selection is finalized. We can start building within two weeks."

  "That's good news," Alex said. "So what's the hesitation?"

  Another pause.

  "Well… we had originally assumed our first project would be something smaller. An indie-scale title. Eighty thousand to maybe a million budget. Something contained. A proof of concept for the studio."

  Alex said nothing. He let him continue.

  "Project Mass Effect," Travis went on carefully, "is not that. The scope alone is massive. Branching narrative systems, cinematic cutscenes, full voice acting, original soundtrack, advanced AI combat behaviors, extreme level visual details, and open-world pnetary hubs. We're looking at approx twenty million for phase one."

  Alex took another sip of hot chocote.

  Travis continued, voice tightening slightly.

  "I just need to confirm something before I greenlight the production. Are you completely comfortable putting twenty million behind a brand-new team that hasn't shipped a single title yet?"

  Silence hung for a few seconds.

  Alex leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees.

  "Tell me something," he said calmly. "Do you believe the team can deliver it?"

  "I believe they're talented," Travis answered immediately. "Some of them left major studios to join Titan. We've got experience from AAA pipelines. What we don't have is a shared history as a unit. That's the risk."

  "Every studio starts without shared history," Alex replied.

  "Yes, but most don't start with a cinematic sci-fi epic as their first swing."

  Alex smiled faintly.

  "That's exactly why we are."

  Travis exhaled softly through the line.

  "You're really okay with it," he said.

  "I didn't approve that concept because it looked safe," Alex replied. "I approved it because it has long-term franchise potential. We're talking about multiple games, books, series and merch. If we build a universe that people care about, twenty million becomes the smallest number in the room."

  Wind brushed across the deck and stirred the steam from his mug.

  "You think big from day one," Travis said quietly.

  "I am where I am today by thinking big from day one," Alex answered. "A small indie game would prove we can release something. A Mass Effect-scale project proves we belong in the industry."

  He paused, then added, "But that doesn't mean we burn money blindly. I want milestone-based funding. Vertical slice in six months. Fully pyable combat and dialogue demo. If it doesn't hit the quality bar, we adjust. If it hits, we double down."

  Travis was quiet for a moment.

  "That's fair," he said. "We can structure development around that. Tight internal review cycles without any bloat."

  "Also," Alex continued, "no ego hiring. I don't care about fshy resumes. I care about people who can build systems and finish tasks. Keep the team lean until the vertical slice passes."

  "Understood."

  Alex leaned back again and looked toward the cabin window. He could see movement inside. Evangeline was awake.

  "Travis."

  "Yes?"

  "You called because you were worried about burning money."

  "That's part of my job."

  "Good," Alex said. "Keep worrying. Just don't let fear shrink the vision."

  A faint ugh came from the other end.

  He gnced at his watch.

  "Draft the milestone structure and send it to Rachel for review. She'll audit the budget allocations. Once she signs off, you move."

  "Alright," Travis said, more confident now. "We'll start assembling the narrative and systems leads this week."

  "Good. Build something that makes pyers lose sleep."

  "I'll do my best."

  "I know," Alex said and ended the call.

  He set the phone down just as the cabin door opened.

  Evangeline stepped out, wrapped in a bnket, hair messy, eyes still heavy with sleep.

  "Work call?" she asked, walking toward him.

  "Game division," he said. "We're making something legendary as our debut project."

  She slid into his p without hesitation and stole his mug. He wrapped an arm around her waist and looked back at the mountains.

  ---

  NOTE: I'll add other games if I go that far with this ff. ????

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