Page 66 of Technical Advances

I could hear Anson’s voice answer but not his words, and I jolted in surprise when my dad yelled back.

“Don’t deny it. You’re taking over a company as we speak!”

I stepped closer, paused, and listened as my brain tried, and failed spectacularly, to figure out what the hell was going on. I could see the three men, Beck and my dad facing Anson in a tense triangle.

Beck sputtered, “We merge with other companies all the time. Why are we even talking about that?”

Anson, whom I could finally hear, calmly attempted to ask a question. “What do you mean, we destroy companies?” Jesus, he sounded hurt.

“I’ve done my research on New Day Technologies! You’re involved in a merger right now with some software company from England.”

“Well, that’s true.” Anson remained calm. Maybe he was going to elaborate, but Beck charged ahead with an explanation.

“Yeah! A merger. Is that not a word you understand? I guess there aren’t a lot of mergers of local handyman businesses. It’s a merger, for fuck’s sake. We’re not destroying anything. We’re incorporating a company that’s working on something compatible with what we’re doing. Incorporating, not destroying.”

Anson’s calm was decidedly out of place amongst all the yelling. “Ben’s not a handyman. He builds houses. Isn’t that right?”

“I … what? Not the point. This asshole needs to stop talking about my kid like he’s some kind of evil mastermind, when I am literally standing in front of two evil masterminds! Benji shared his project with you. His amazing project that’s going to change lives, and you … you wooed him. You snapped him up so you could steal his work!”

“Evil mastermind?” Anson sounded distressed, and I started to move but found myself frozen on the spot again when my dad responded, his voice finally softening.

“I’m sorry, Anson. I really am. It is nice to see you again and remember old times. I know from my research that you focus mostly on the science, and you probably aren’t involved in many of the business decisions, so I don’t expect you to know what’s going on, but come on! My son is talking about patents and profit sharing on a project he created! You’re taking advantage of him, Anson, or I mean, your company is.” He turned slightly and pointed at Beck. I took a step back to stay out of his line of sight. “He’s taking advantage of my son!”

Beck practically roared, “That’s utter bullshit. If anyone's being taking advantage of here, it’s Anson. That kid wormed his way into one of the most elite labs in the world, and then he wormed his way …”

I could barely hear Anson’s, “Beck, stop,” over my dad’s shouting.

“How can you look me in the eye and say something so ridiculous! My son, my Benji, wouldn’t know how to take advantage of anyone. And I don’t want him learning how and getting destroyed by it at the hands of New Day Technologies!”

Anson’s quiet calm filled the room.

“It’s not like that, Ben. Not at all. And whatever you’re thinking, Beck, that he’s taking advantage of me to get a foot in the door, or to get ahead, it’s not like that either. Benji loves and respects you, Ben. And Beck, you might as well be my brother. So how is it that you’ve both gotten this so wrong? It’s like you don’t know either of us at all.

“Take it all away. Take away the project, and the money, and the prestige of New Day. Take away that Benji is just starting out, or that we met when I hired him. Take away the fact that I need a driver who’s really a bodyguard, and that I can’t go to the fucking park, or to a Goddamn restaurant without being hidden away. Now …”

I dared to slip into the entryway to find Beck and my dad with their backs to me, focused on Anson. He slyly acknowledged me before continuing.

“Now wipe all of that shit off the whiteboard and tell me what you have left.” He paused but not long enough for either man to answer him. “No, I’ll tell you. You have two men.”

Beck scoffed, and Dad stood up straighter.

“Two grown PhDs whose minds work in such similar ways that they created parallel projects. You know he couldn’t have stolen my data, Beck. You know the protocols I have in place, and I know that you had him investigated. I explained the science to you, the differences in our work. It’s simply just not the case that Benji stole my idea in order to benefit financially or in furtherance of his career.

“And Ben, Benji and I can explain it to you if you’d like. Show you how the projects differed. Explain how we came up with our ideas, independently, before we knew each other. I didn’t hire Benji because of this project. I hired the man smart enough to come up with what he did.

“I know you haven’t been around to see it, Ben, but Beck, I know you’ve seen how compatible we are. Our independent work on the exoskeleton … it complimented each other, like two puzzle pieces fitting together.” Anson locked his fingers together in front of his chest. “Then we just kept on building the puzzle. We enjoy working together. We enjoy being together. We fit together.”

Anson clasped his hands tighter and looked directly at me then. “And if he’ll have me, I’ll spend every day solving whatever equation life throws at us. A plus B …”

“Equals yes!” I ran to him, past both angry men, and wrapped myself in Anson’s arms, burying my head in the nook of his shoulder, where a teardrop hit his skin. He pulled me from him then to look me in the eye.

“Yes,” I said again as he caressed my cheek, and we both ignored the huffing, anger and surprise behind us.

Anson leaned in and kissed me, softly, chastely, which, okay, I understood since we were standing in front of my father. His hand came up to swipe away one more errant tear before he pulled back again, smiling at me as we ignored whatever the two men behind me were fuming about.

Anson kissed me once more before looking at me with those crystal-blue eyes.

“Congratulations, Dr. Warren.”