Page 36 of Paint Me Love
I sometimes do stuff that I don’t remember doing. It’s because my head is always focused on the next thing to accomplish. Most everything is white noise—unimportant to me variables that don’t affect the outcome of what I’m trying to achieve sufficiently enough to warrant my brain allocating them attention. It’s just how it is and it’s how it should’ve been with Daniel too, yet he dominates my thoughts despite my efforts not to think about him.
Funny how the world works, isn’t it? Instead of mulling over my billion-dollar make-or-break deals, I’m here obsessing over my cute little artist.
“What’s so funny, Mr. Salinger? Care to share?” Jared probes with a smile as we traverse the hallway toward conference room three.
I look at him with an arched eyebrow, unsure what has caused his comment.
“You laughed,” he points out, gesturing at my face with his fingers. “Something on your mind?”
“Various something-s, believe it or not. I’m a very intellectually active man.”
He blinks at me, caught off-guard by my ridiculous comment. “I’ve told you before, but I think it warrants repeating. You are strange, Mr. Salinger. Not in a bad or good way, just strange.”
I muse that over and shrug. “I wouldn’t be offended if you said it was in a bad way, Jared, though I would demand you help me figure out how to hide it better. I do pay you to be both honest and helpful, after all.”
“I am being honest. I suppose you have been a bit more…” He hums, looking for the word. “Irritable this week so far,” he settles on. “Did something happen?”
It did, though it’s not the kind of thing anyone can help me with, even if I was willing to let them try. Which I’m not, I realize, as some strange sense of possessiveness over whatever I’m feeling settles over me. “Nothing I can’t handle,” I assure him, giving him a smile as we reach the conference room.
Jared knocks, walks in first and announces me to my guests, placing the folder on the table. There are coffee and pastries as well as a bowl of fruit in the middle of the table, a small stack of plates sitting untouched next to them.
“Thanks, Jared, I’ll let you know if we need anything,” I prompt my PA, taking my seat across from Jack and his sister, Emily. “Good afternoon. I hope your journey here wasn’t too bad.”
Both of them smile. “It wasn’t, though there was an accident just before Tacoma that slowed us down a bit,” Emily responds.
She’s sitting in her wheelchair next to Jack. In person, she looks even more like a porcelain doll with her pale skin, dark hair, light blue eyes and elegant features. They are the embodiment of fragile beauty, making her the kind of model no artist would ever turn down. I bet that given the chance, Daniel would do an amazing job of capturing her ethereal features on the canvas. Perhaps he’d play with a darker background or theme so he could offset her fairytale vibes even more.
But enough daydreaming, I’m not here looking for art inspiration.
“That’s unfortunate, but not unusual, I have to say. Besides, you still made it on time,” I throw in an appropriate joke, looking to get a feel for them.
“That we did.” Jack crosses his arms. “It’s up to you to wow us now.”
I like that he wants to get down to business, it’s the opposite of how these negotiations normally go. People in positions like mine like to beat around the bush, to sit and sip coffee or whiskey while you butter them up and offer them the world.
I crack a smile and settle in, leaning forward slightly as I lace my fingers together. I don’t bother to open the documents folder or turn the presentation on, needing neither as I start to feel back in my element again.
“My team and I have a conceptual proposition ready, but I’ll leave the specifics of that for later.” Those specifics are not important right now, all that matters is that I sell Salinger Tech to Jack and Emily and make them believe we are the best peoplefor the job. Is that true? Who knows, but we aren’t one of the best tech companies on the West Coast just for shit and giggles. “I’ll start with why you should go with us even if we didn’t have a proposal ready.”
“Let me guess,” Jack cuts in before I’ve launched into the meat of my pitch, mimicking my pose. “It’s because Salinger Tech is one of the best companies when it comes to experimental tech, be it software or hardware.”
He’s challenging me right away. Can’t say I didn’t expect it. “You’ve done your homework, Mr. Keller,” I say, my smile growing. This is going to be fun.
“Jack is fine. And I have, yes. Only a few among you tech giants could potentially help me and Emily achieve what we’ve set out to do. I’ll be frank, Mr. Salinger—”
“Just Derek, please, Jack.”
“I’ll be frank, Derek. This is nothing like the technology used for current prosthetics. It’s nerves, yes, interfaces, but the nature of how we want to integrate the two is not… currently possible.” He nods and looks at Emily. “Our limited tests so far have shown promising results, but JE Pharma doesn’t have the necessary expertise that someone who’s dabbled more profoundly into robotics and human-machine interfaces has.”
Oh, now that has me intrigued. It was obviously the direction in which the team I assigned the prototype project went, but as far as I am aware, JE Pharma’s focus was never on the tech side of things. Analytical software, maybe slightly more advanced prosthetics, yes, but what Jack is implying is next level stuff. It’s the technology of the future.
“I thought your experimental treatment centered around the development of a substance that can be injected directly into the spine and reverse damage?”
His gaze hardens, followed by his jaw clenching. “Initially, but we saw limited success with it. We’ve since expanded the scope of our research.”
I shove the folder open and slide the concept we came up with across the table to him. It’s a crazy one, probably the most ambitious proposition we’ve ever put forth. He quickly scans it, passing it over to Emily, who takes a little longer than him.
“I see.” She grins, flicking hair off her shoulder. “That’s how you were planning to win us over, isn’t it?”
