Luke marched into Dec in time. He was led into the conference room by one of the company’s representatives.
The panel was already set. It included the director, the chief engineer and three others.
“Where is Marie Tanner?” The Director of Dec; Director Shell asked and looked behind Luke expectantly. “She won’t be here… I am not sure it is supposed to affect our deal. Is it?” Luke asked.
“Not really, in as much as the merchandise is intact,” director Shell said with a lopsided grin and showed Luke to a seat.
“We saw the news, Lense Clinic launched the machine two days ago. With such development, it seems wise that we go for another one of Evans’ data. If more of Evans products get reproduced, it would break the company and we could break even but that isn’t our goal. As much as we all want to rattle Evans Mechanics, we appraise technological know how and development here in Dec. We have purchased a piece of the machine for a sample. When our engineers broke it down the design was a mess. The design did not follow anything we have known in mechanics. Young man, that’s why we are buying your data. It could give us the signature… hmmm… you could call it an idea or a blueprint of the whole ideology behind Evans designs. Now, let’s see what you’ve got. Let’s get down to business,” Director Shell said.
Luke provided a flash drive. It was inserted into a computer and the file that propped up was projected.
They all watched with rapt attention. The engineers took note of every description and stages in the design.
“Stop! Play back a little,” the chief engineer ordered. “Wow! He exclaimed, “this is indeed crazy!” He nodded and made eye contact with others.
“Young man, your product has been verified and ascertained. It meets our quest, we look forward to closing more deals in the future. We are presently paying half the total amount we agreed on, the remaining would be balanced up at a stipulated time which would be made known to Marie,” Director Shell said.
“How do you mean sir? That was never the agreement”, Luke complained.
“You should be grateful we are paying this much. We made the bargain before Lense Clinic had their launching. The higher-ups lost interest because of the launching. We only fulfill the deal out of necessity. That is all for now. “Director Shell said with finality.
Luke’s phone buzzed repeatedly, it was Marie. Having known her, he refused to pick her calls. He was going to explain the situation to her but not on the phone.
Marie burned with anger when she realized Luke was deliberately ignoring her calls. She checked her phone repeatedly for another alert from Dec. They had just paid only half of the amount they had bargained for.
Marie’s phone buzzed again, she checked it angrily but it wasn’t an alert. Dec had sent her a letter headed document stating how the remaining amount would be paid in installments.
“What the heck are they trying to pull?! This isn’t part of our bargain! What a bunch of dubious people!” Marie yelled and continued to dial Luke’s number angrily.
******
It was a hectic day at work. Benny was in a meeting with the company’s board members. The video of the launching at Lense Clinic was downloaded and displayed.
Benny was blamed for the leak. Different questions were thrown at him. Issues were also raised about the empty seat of his boss. He apologized for the carelessness and promised to bring whoever did the deed to book.
Benny spoke with the Company’s lawyer immediately after the board meeting. They were all clueless about whoever made such a leak.
Above all, Benny prayed Alex would not see the news nor get hold of the launching. In his present state of health, it would blow him up.
Benny was the brain behind every single mechanical design in Evans. He had met Alex during his final year in high school when Alex was just establishing Evans Mechanics.
Alex noticed Benny’s extraordinary giftings and proposed a deal. He promised to sponsor Benny through university only if he would come to work with him after his first degree. Benny grabbed the opportunity. He was an orphan who lived with an abusive uncle. He never dreamt of attending a university.
He returned after he had bagged his first degree in mechanical engineering and had since led Evans Mechanics to success.
Benny was perplexed. He feared the company could collapse at this rate. They were still struggling to recover from the loss they incurred from the fire.
Benny returned into his office frustrated and disturbed. He ignored Julie’s greetings and locked the door behind him. He settled in and picked up his phone, he dialed Jane’s number. He needed a diversion and the only person that came to his mind was Jane.
Julie looked thoughtfully and shrugged it off. She had never seen Benny looking lost and perplexed. The crookedness of his shoulders, his tired looks and tardiness were all obvious.
Benny bumped out of his office while Julie was still wondering. He walked out of the office without sparing her a look. Julie watched on and smiled as a crazy idea occurred to her.
She crushed on Benny and had asked him out outrightly on different occasions. Her fascination about him was endless; his cockiness, the way he held his shoulders high, his height and strides and one more thing; his confidence.
She could not bear to see him shattered.