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Chapter 1
Trev Adams
Istretchedonmybed. Didn’t want to get up. 5:30 a.m.
Get up now, you slug!
I had taken up working out quite young at my father’s insistence. For years, I had spent nothing less than an hour and thirty minutes working out every day, and having my gym in my house made it a whole lot easier. I stayed strong and it got my head working.
Well, the “head working” thing isn’t going so well lately, is it?
My years in middle school and early high school flashed through my mind, and I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. I quickly pushed the thought away. I needed to be in high spirits and those memories were downers.
I was meeting with my executive committee this morning first thing. I needed to have something to present to them. I had been stalling for months, and they were antsy.
Why am I worried about how they feel?
I’m the founder of the company. I don't have to answer them. Not really.
But they represent tremendous support for me and the business. You need them to be happy.
By the time I was ready to leave the house, it was ten past eight. My meeting was slated for 9 and the drive to the office was under thirty minutes. Right on time.
I looked at myself in the mirror before taking off. The bags under my eyes were real.
Gotta get your mojo back, man!
"Good morning, sir. I just tried getting hold of you. They are waiting for you," my assistant Olivia said as soon as she saw me.
I had forgotten my phone was still off. I did that every night but forgot to turn it back on.
"Good, thanks. And good morning," I replied to her greeting. I entered the conference room where my committee was gathered. Their conversations stopped as soon as I entered; it almost felt like they had been talking about me.
Well, duh. Of course they are. They need you to step up, and you are not!
I took my seat at the head of the long table. The formalities were soon settled, and my mind drifted away from the meeting. I remembered that I had a lunch meeting today with my mother. It had been a while since I saw her. She had been vacationing in the Maldives, a trip I had suggested she take.
My mother was everything to me. She had been supportive in the best of ways. When I realized as a kid that I had a knack for app development, she and my dad had given me a quality laptop to help with my work. She and Dad encouraged me more than anyone else. Now she was the only one I had.
Strict and also soft-hearted. I love you, Mama!
My face contorted into a frown. I again pushed away those bleak memories from my school years.
"Trev, is there something that you don't like?" Eric, a member of the committee, the company COO, and my best friend asked. He had seen me shake my head, so he assumed I was uncool with whatever they were talking about.
"No, not at all," I said.
Get a grip, man! This is serious business we’re talking about.
Getting lost in my head was one thing I did more and more frequently. I would zone out of whatever conversation was taking place.
"How are we moving along on the new game idea?" Eric asked, turning the attention of everyone in the room to me.
His question didn’t really catch me off-guard. I’d been expecting it for days. I had nothing. I was as blank as a sheet of printer paper waiting to be fed through the machine.
"Slowly,” I lied. The looks on their faces showed they were onto me, but I didn't care.
"Why don't you let someone else try thinking up an idea for you? There are many kids with really good game ideas and designs, we could easily buy it off their hands," suggested Mark, another executive. It was a solution I had always adamantly declined.
