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Introducing our exclusive online daily soap opera for Insider members. Like current soaps on air, Best For Last features daily written episodes focused on the drama surrounding Laurie, Seth, and a host of other players. Get immersed in stories and characters you’ve never seen before and let them become family, like the players we see every day on Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The Young and the Restless, and The Bold and the Beautiful.
Continue from Episode 21
“Lauren tells me you’re almost done with your Mechanical Engineering course,” Granddaddy leaned back in his chair, balancing a tumbler of quadruple distilled whiskey in one palm while keeping his eyes on Seth from across the table.
“Yes, sir.” He also took a sip of whiskey, in Seth’s case, mixed with both water and ice. Lauren wasn’t sure if she hadn’t been offered any by virtue of being under twenty-one, or a girl. In either case, Seth merely seemed to be rationing small, social sips to be polite. The volume in his own glass had barely diminished. “I’m set to graduate in the Spring.”
“I looked into the work you’ve been doing.” Granddaddy studied Seth over the rim of his tumbler. “Interesting.”
“Thank you.” The way he tensed the muscles in his neck suggested Seth realized it wasn’t necessarily a compliment.
“If I read it right, sure looks like all those augmentations,” Granddaddy said the word slowly, like he’d never heard it before, wasn’t sure how to pronounce it and didn’t know what it meant. Which was a crock and everyone at their festive table knew it. “All those augmentations you’re working on could put me out of business.”
“Only if I ever actually get them to work on any kind of reasonable scale. And only if you want them to.”
“Meaning?”
Seth gave no indication of acknowledging that he’d been placed on the defensive. “You so easily being able to find out what I’m working on proves I have no intention of keeping my research a secret. If I can develop a way to build housing that’s both better and cheaper, it’s a victory for everyone. Including the developers.”
“So you’re just going to make it available to anyone and everyone who asks?”
“For a price.”
“Right answer!” Granddaddy slammed his drink down on the table. He turned to Lauren, “I knew this boy of yours was smart!”
“He’s not my – “
Granddaddy leaned forward, pointing a finger Seth’s way. “Now let’s see how really smart you are. Got an offer for you: Soon as you graduate – hell, earlier if you’ve got the mind to – you come work for me. In the office this time, forget out in the field. I’ll set you up with all the money and supplies you need to finish what you started in school. Even pay you a salary on top of it. What do you say?”
Lauren’s head swiveled Seth’s way, but he didn’t so much as look in her direction. Instead, Seth asked, “And you’ll then own all my results?”
“Just the successful ones,” Granddaddy chuckled. When Seth declined to do the same, he added. “Make me a counteroffer, boy. I love a good negotiation.”
“No,” Seth said simply, courteously adding, “Thank you.”
Granddaddy’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, no? What the hell kind of negotiation is that?”
“I’m not interested in commercial construction. I developed most of my techniques for use in the Third World. The goal is to revolutionize building materials and techniques to make them both affordable and compatible with their environment. I’m talking about letting people use what they already have in order to construct what they need.”
“And what, exactly, is wrong with doing that commercially?”
“Absolutely nothing. If my methods are adopted other places, I would be thrilled.”
“For a price?” Granddaddy reminded.
“For a price,” Seth agreed. “However, if I allow them to enter the competitive market first, I risk getting tied up in patents and non-compete clauses, and never making it to the Third World at all.”
“And how do you propose to pay for the development of all this do-gooding of yours? Charity’s nice, but R&D don’t come cheap.”
“You’re right. And, for the record, I’m not in this for charity. I want to make money just as much as the next person. Well,” he conceded Granddaddy’s way. “Present company excepted.”
Granddaddy grunted. “So who you got funding you? Tell the truth. Is it Calista Harrison? Should have guessed. Soon as she got wind I was interested, I just bet she snuck in and – “
“If you’re referring to Harrison Habitats – “
“Damn pretentious, stupid name,” Granddaddy mumbled under his breath, his opinion going unchanged some seventy years on.
“ – I’ve had no contact with them.”
“Government contracts then,” he accused. “Feds got you working for them, don’t they?”
“No, sir. I’m not interested in working with the government, either. In my experience, they take twice the time and three times the money to come up with something half as good.”
“Who then, damn it?”
Continue to Episode 23
About the Author
Alina Adams wrote the “As the World Turns” tie-ins, “Oakdale Confidential” and “The Man From Oakdale,” and co-wrote “Guiding Light’s” “Jonathan’s Story.” She was the Creative Content Producer for “Another World Today,” and worked on the 2013 relaunches of “All My Children” and “One Life To Live.” Her books include romance novels, figure skating murder mysteries, and the upcoming historical family saga, “The Nesting Dolls,” coming July 2020 from HarperCollins. Read more at: AlinaAdams.com
