“What about below the belt?” Luke asked. “Mrs. W. was pretty clear he won’t be needing that while on the clock.” Luke dodged the pencil missile his sister torpedoed at him. “I’m kidding. Go help Vijay. I’ll be down in a bit.”

He waved his sister off and grabbed another bottle of cold brew. It wasn’t even eight o’clock yet and he was exhausted. Mrs. W.’s office was directly across the hall from the staff rec center. He raised his hand to knock on the door, but the corgi coalition announced his arrival before he got close enough to bother.

“Enter.”

Luke opened the door. Thankfully, the noisy fur balls recognized him and settled their overfluffed bottoms onto their custom-made doggie divans, resuming the other half of their very difficult lives of napping and yapping. “You wanted to see me?”

“Ah, Luke. Yes.” She gestured to a chair. “Please. Sit.” Mrs. W.’s British accent was always toned down when she was one-on-one. It was one of many eccentricities he’d noticed about the woman. After their first project consultation, almost a year ago, Luke had started a running list in his notebook. Out of habit, he patted his back pocket, relieved to discover it tucked safely inside. He’d been so out of it this morning he couldn’t remember grabbing it before leaving his room.

“I know you need to get downstairs to join the others, so I won’t keep you long.” Mrs. W. pulled one of the dogs into her lap, scratching the spoiled beast beneath its little fox-face snout. “I see you’ve joined the game in a more active role. Maybe I missed something during our earlier conversations, but was that always part of the plan?”

“Um, no. That was a recent development.” Luke squirmed, resisting the urge to pull out his notebook. Not because he needed to check his notes but because he wanted to hold it. Maybe Pen and Vijay had a point about it being his security blanket. “I decided I could do a better job making sure the players are having an optimum experience by getting involved directly.”

“Ah. See the lay of the land.” Her mouth pinched thoughtfully. “This leaves your sister with the bird’s-eye view, then?”

“She has taken over control of that aspect of the game, yes,” Luke said slowly, trying to gauge his boss’s reaction. Was she upset he hadn’t cleared the change with her first? There wasn’t anything in their agreement that would require him to. For all intents and purposes, Luke had complete creative control. “I trust Penelope to handle any situations that come up.”