Page 37 of Paint Me Love
I have this ability, I’ve noticed, that lets me know when someone is full of shit or has what it takes to make things happen. To change the world, if you will. Those two are the latter. I don’t know if it’s just because of his sister’s condition, but I’ve kept a tab on Jack Keller, so I know just how smart that head he carries on his shoulders is. He’s a genius, one with just about enough money to leave behind the kind of legacy that will make him go down in history as one of the most brilliant minds of the twenty-first century. And I want in, I want to be part of it in some capacity. I want to change the course of humankind alongside him and his sister.
“You got me, I was,” I confess, looking back and forth between the two. “I also know that you met up with some of Salinger’s competitors already, and that what they offered is not even remotely as ambitions as what my company can not only promise, but actually deliver for you.”
Emily laughs, a full-on expression of amusement that comes out a little deeper than her otherwise melodic voice. “I don’t know you, Derek, but you can’t fool me. For you, this is more of an ‘with you’ opportunity than a ‘for you’ one. You want to be part of this.”
I look her square in the eyes and let my lips arch up. The Board will either hate or love this. “A joint venture. We share expenses and we both take credit for the outcome.”
“I don’t plan to charge for this treatment,” Jack cuts in. “Any profits would be marginal.”
“That’s fine.” I wave him off. “Half-half ownership of the patent, as well as the right for use in the development of our own products for Salinger Tech then. We will make our own profits down the line.”
My proposal is crazy, I know. There is also no guarantee that we will succeed. The technology we are proposing doesn’t even exist yet, it’s all new, all experimental, all theoretical. But I’m willing to risk it. A week ago, maybe I wouldn’t have. But now?
I clasp my thigh. It’s Daniel’s fault, I blame my insanity on him. I’ve gone mad because of his damn paintings and soft lips, but, honestly, I don’t care. It makes me feel alive in a way that I can’t resist. It makes me want to grasp the hope that lies just beyond my reach, and Jack and Emily Keller are serving it to me on a silver platter.
“I want it put into writing that you won’t take on projects from the military,” Jack states, his tone serious. “I don’t want the technology we develop to be weaponized.”
He’s seen through me, or maybe he’s just as good at the game of being rich and powerful. A genius, like I said, even if he rarely ever is in the public’s eye. I would’ve done it—sold the tech to militaries, governments, you name it, but he anticipated it. I glance at Emily, finding her watching me. Two geniuses then, not one, I miscalculated… and as a result, it seems I played right into their hands.
I’m impressed.
“Deal,” I state and stand up.
We shake hands, then Emily takes out a preliminary agreement from her bag, handing it over to me so I can sign it. I skim through but don’t bother to read it in full—for this tohappen, they are interested in working with me as much as I am interested in working with them.
“We should be able to finalize things by the end of next month,” Emily says, tucking away their copy of the agreement. Her smile reminds me of that of Daniel, the genuineness of it pulling at my heart.
“You two live down in Estacada, right?” I ask, following them out of the room. “One of the commuter towns near Portland.”
“We do,” she chirps. “It’s a lovely place and where we used to live before the accident.”
I do know about it, the car crash that paralyzed her from the waist down and awakened her brother’s genius. “I can’t say I’ve been there or heard about it.” I pause, imagining what a town like that would look like. “Don’t you get bored? Surely there isn’t much to do once you are done with work for the day?”
Jack chuckles, pressing the elevator button. “We both pride ourselves as gardening enthusiasts. My husband got us hooked, so there’s usually plenty to do around the house or at his garden center.” He preens, sweetness sliding into his expression.
Ah, he’s still completely in love with his husband, even if they’ve been together for years. It’s in the way he said it, in the way his gaze morphed into a distant thing that’s not really here with me anymore. Is he unable to resist the thoughts in his head, just like I find it hard to shut out Daniel. Is that it? Is what I am feeling the same? I can’t ask him, we don’t have that kind of relationship, but it doesn’t stop me from wondering.
I fold my arms behind my back as the elevator arrives and the two of them step inside. “Thank you for your time, Jack, Emily. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
“Good luck with your Board, Derek. I feel like you’ll need it,” Jack tosses over a shit-eating grin that no business partnerI’ve had in my six years as the CEO of Salinger Tech has ever allowed themselves to show me.
I don’t look forward to getting cross-questioned by my Board, but I’ve got this. Only I don’t expect it to go as badly as it does even if they eventually come around. My ecstatic mood is ruined, the buzz is erased so that the indifference I am so intimately acquainted with slips back into place.
I hate this.
“Mr. Salinger?” Jared comes by my office with a cup of coffee just as I am about to go make myself one. My savior. “Good job today. Perhaps you can step out for a bit? Have a walk maybe or get a sugar fix?” He tilts back the tablet he’s holding. “You have an online meeting with the German, but I can reschedule that for tomorrow.”
That’s actually not a bad idea. I’m not really needed in the office anymore, so I might as well enjoy the privilege of being rich. A walk, or maybe a glass of whiskey before I go see Daniel would do me good. I’d go straight away, but he said he’d be painting and I don’t want to infringe on that. Knowing him, I’m his reward. “Do that. And move everything from the morning to the afternoon.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Somehow, I end up at the gallery. I don’t even know how I got here, but that’s not important. The better question is why did I come here exactly?
I know the answer, but I am pretending not to because Daniel embodies everything that I hate. Because I can’t stand art, and yet I can’t stand not to have his in front of my eyes. It’s a paradox, an outcome dictated by the things my parents instilled in me, my beliefs. Daniel… he has what I could never have, his life is not empty like mine, his passion is a blazing inferno. I want it and I don’t want it at the same time, and thus I’m stuckin some kind of mental limbo, trying and failing to do the right thing.
Which is what exactly? It’s all subjective, all dictated by the specific circumstances. In reality, there is no right or wrong, no correct outcomes, no wrong turns. It’s all an exercise in philosophy, a lesson in mental gymnastics. And yet still, being near Daniel invalidates that. It makes me see the way my actions could affect others, the results, the consequences. If I could come out on top, but not ruin someone else in the process, why shouldn’t I do that?
“Derek, what are you doing?” Adam snaps me out of my thoughts. I twist my head, meeting his furious gaze. He’s red-faced and panting, as if he’s run to get here. “Why the hell weren’t you in the office? I told you we were having dinner with my parents.”
