Before the party

I was sitting on Sarah's bed, going over some budget issues with the party when I received a phone call. The phone was next to Sarah and she looked at the caller ID. She sighed at the name and tossed the phone at me.

"Robert, CEO"

I answered the call, ready to give my answer. I put in on speaker just so Sarah can listen. However, Robert sounded frantic.

"Jake! Listen, we scheduled the release of the sequel of one of our top game for the summer. Our lead programmer worked on it but quit halfway through. We only have 50% of the work done! I need to know if you're coming over to take over this project."

I felt bad for the CEO but my place was here. "I'm sorry Robert but I'm not going."

There was a slight pause on the other end. "...how about six?" was the response.

"Huh?" I said.

"How about we pay you six million dollars for this project?"

I looked at Sarah and saw her jaw drop. "That's a lot of money." she mouthed. Her eyes locked onto mine.

"...Give me a minute to think about this." I told the CEO. I put the call on hold.

"Six...fucking...million dollars." Sarah told me. I just nodded, stunned at the number.

"Look at how much money that is. Our future family is provided for if you take the job. We could be rich!" exclaimed Sarah. Her eyes were as wide as saucers.

"But that means we have to move to California." I pointed out. "You were against the idea of me going back to California. That is the sole reason for all our misery."

Sarah looked down. "I know. It is a lot of money though." We sat quietly for a few seconds, mulling over the decision.

"Why do they need you though? Can't they just hire some other programmer? What makes you so special?" Sarah questioned.

"I don't know but I think it has to do with me being a promising and young talent who graduated at the top of his technology class from a prestigious school. In fact, I created my own app just for Stanford to use." I answered.

"Well aren't you a humble guy?" Sarah sarcastically told me. I gave her a small smile. "So what is our answer?"

I reconnected with Robert. "Jake, your answer?" he asked.

"Can I come back to you in a few days?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah. But we need an answer by next week. We are on a tight schedule." Robert then disconnected the phone.

"Now what?" Sarah asked.