by Simon Archer
“Our dealings with Isamu have gone flawlessly,” I started telling Theo. “The more we need, the more he provides, and the lines of communication are fully open. I’ve been waiting for him to talk about a renegotiation since the volume of glass we need is more than double our original projections, but nothing has been brought up.” Theo continued to stare at the fire but smirked a little.
“Looking forward to going back to Japan for that? I hear the hiking is to die for,” he joked. He knew that the last time I went to Japan, I had almost died in a hiking accident trying to save Isamu’s son, Daiki. He also knew that Charlie and I had made certain we wouldn’t have to travel internationally with this deal continously.
“Aren’t you the comedian this morning!” I scolded sarcastically. “The next trip will be Isamu’s. We left an open invitation for him, and Daiki, to join us here.” We both laughed, and Theo started nodding his head. The two of us fell into silence for a few minutes, just watching the fire. One of the things I loved about Theo was that I could sit with him, neither of us speaking, and it was never uncomfortable. A thought crossed my mind that I thought he might like to hear about, so I shifted in my seat.
“Can I run something by you?” I watched his face to see if now was a good time. Sometimes, Theo was in the mood for brainstorming, and other times, he just wasn’t. He looked at me and leaned back in his chair.
“Run away,” he told me.
“Okay. I have been thinking about adding a specialty upgrade line to VGS’s cat girl rebuild services. Since the only thing Omnicorp now has to offer the public is add-on features, I really want to just knock them off the map altogether. The entire industry would be better for it.” Again, I studied his face. He furrowed his brow slightly.
“What kind of features did you have in mind? Do you intend to offer the same ones Omnicorp does?” I always appreciated the questions Theo came up with for me.
“I hadn’t planned on offering the exact same features but would like to take the features they do offer, make them better and add them to an original line of our own,” I replied.
“Give me an example of one an original specialty feature you would offer,” Theo requested.
“The first one that comes to mind is a luminescent tail. The CG would be able to make her tail glow as an accessory, or be used as a full-on light source,” I told him. He started nodding.
“Now give me an example of an Omnicorp feature you would improve upon,” Theo said.
“For that, I would start by upgrading the heat-activated hair color changes they offer by making the option programmable. Let’s say Kennedi wanted blonde hair for a night. Instead of having to do the special infrared heat treatment that Omnicorp is selling, she would simply be able to run a program that would change it for her. The change would still be temporary but much easier of a process,” I explained. “What do you think?” Theo took a drink of his coffee and set his cup down on the end table beside him. He looked up at me and nodded his head again.
“The idea sounds solid. There’s just one issue I can think of right off the bat. The features you are suggesting all have a biological component to them, whereas Omnicorp’s do not. I know you have means to do research and development on new products, especially with the nano-glass, but how would you develop and test these upgrades?” Theo was a master at bringing obstacles to light in the form of questions.
“It would indeed force us into a whole new realm of R and D needs. I ran the numbers, preliminarily, and from what I saw, we’d break even on building a new testing center in under two-and-a-half years from just the features sales,” I started. “I had an independent market research study performed to measure the projected popularity of such upgrades, and the data came back showing an overwhelmingly positive response.”
I sat forward in my chair, laced my fingers, and leaned my elbows on my knees, waiting for Theo to digest the information. He looked lost in thought for a full minute before responding.
“Have you considered contracting lab services instead of building your own lab?” He looked at me with a straight face.
“I have not,” I started. “I like to keep our business dealings in-house, aside from raw materials acquisition, of course. Charlie and I are in agreement on that point for sure.” Theo started nodding.
“That makes sense, but facilities construction takes a good chunk of time. How do you know Omnicorp won’t beat you to it while you are building?” He leaned forward. He was getting into interrogation-mode, which is when his questions tended to yield the most insightful information.
“Omnicorp no longer has access to nano-glass, which makes new biological functions impossible for them to develop,” I shot back.
Theo leaned forward. “But do they hold any patents, like the one they have for the healing saliva, that would stop you from developing?”
“Not that I know of, but that is definitely something that would need to be researched.” I sat up straight.
“How are you giving your rebuilds the medical saliva now?” he continued.
“So far, all of our rebuilds already had it because they were originally built by Omnicorp, and it was a standard feature. If one comes in without it for some reason, we wouldn’t be able to add it. That is one of the things Leah is fighting for through UsForThem. Her goal is to get the courts to order Omnicorp to allow the saliva to be used in the medical industry.” I sat back in my chair.
Theo picked up his cup of coffee and took a drink. As he was setting it down, he said, “It doesn’t make sense to me why Omnicorp hasn’t done that already. You would think they would make a killing on it.”
“They haven’t done it because they need cat girls to mix and administer the saliva. It isn’t something that can just be bottled and used. There is a biological component in conjunction with the way the saliva is mixed in a cat girl system. It is only useful after being added to a CG. Since they no longer have access to make, or remake, cat girls, they can’t do anything with it,” I explained. Theo relaxed back into his chair.
“Well, we’re getting a little off-topic,” he started. “As far as your new features upgrades, I think they are a good idea if you can do it without breaking the bank on a new lab facility.”
“I still need to run it by Charlie and give Krysta the numbers to crunch more thoroughly, but I think it would be a good step forward for VGS,” I replied. Just then, Ellie walked into the room.
“Brunch is ready, gentlemen,” she notified us. “Hope you are hungry! As with any good brunch, it is laid out buffet-style in the kitchen. Come fill up your plate!” I laughed to myself as I stood up. Ellie and Bev made excellent food, but they also made eating it entertaining a good portion of the time.
“Coming,” Theo said, standing with me. The two of us headed down the hall to the kitchen. As we walked in the door, Krysta handed each of us a plate.
“Silverware is already on the table,” she informed us. She gestured to her right so that we would know where to start. I let Theo go ahead of me. I followed slowly, checking out what delights we were about to eat. Ellie and Bev had thought of everything. They had an omelet station, waffles, blintzes, crepes, muffins, pancakes, pork chops, ham slices, bacon, English muffins, toast... the options seemed to stretch forever in their little kitchen. I settled on a breakfast sandwich made with an onion omelet, ham, bacon, and cheese between two mini-waffles. I carried my plate to the table and joined Theo, who was already seated with a plate full of blintzes. The two of us waited for Bev and the girls to join us before eating. Once everyone was seated, we dug in.
The breakfast sandwich was heaven in my mouth. The waffles were crisp and tasted like butter had been infused into the batter. The bacon was smoked but also a little sweet and balanced the onion in the omelet perfectly. The ham had been fried and added a heartiness that had me almost completely full by the time I was done with just the sandwich. I did go back for a couple of pancakes, which were light, fluffy, but not too thick. They were the perfect top off. When
I’d taken my last bite, I sat back in my chair and took a deep breath. Ellie popped up and brought me a cup of coffee to relax with. She brought one for Theo as well, who finished eating just minutes after I did. I looked over at him while he leaned back and rubbed his stomach.
“Babe,” he said to Bev. “I still don’t know how I’m not three-hundred pounds.” It was his way of complimenting her food. She smiled and rolled her eyes.
“Why do you think your honey-do list is so long?” she joked. “Have to make sure you have things to do to burn off the calories!” She took another bite of her omelet and winked at him. Theo blew her a kiss and went back to rubbing his belly.
“Clark,” Kennedi said to get my attention. “Did Ellie tell you that Belavi won an award?” I looked at Ellie.
“No, she did not,” I replied, giving Ellie a ‘how-dare-you-not’ look. “What is it for, Ellie?” I watched her glance at Bev before answering.
“It’s the Best Dining in the Western U.S. Award,” she said matter-of-factly. She smiled at Bev. “We are going to receive it at a little awards benefit tonight.”
“Tonight?” I almost shouted. “Why am I just hearing about this?” I demanded to know. Bev cleared her throat, and I looked over to her.
“Calm down, the short notice is not Ellie’s fault,” she started. “We were nominated months ago but never saw the results, so we figured we didn’t get it. Turns out that one of our newer employees at the restaurant misplaced a small stack of mail, and the notice was in there. We only found out the day before yesterday but were too busy getting your party together.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to fire the person who misplaced the mail?!” I said sarcastically. “That is fantastic, you two! You have got to be ecstatic about it!” My excitement for them was growing by the second, and I started to wonder why neither of them was jumping out of their seats. I looked back to Ellie and could see a wide smile creep across her face. Kennedi was watching her too. I nodded to Kennedi, and she leaned over towards Ellie.
“I am SO proud of you!” she squealed in Ellie’s ear. That was all it took for Ellie to let her excitement out.
“I know!” she squealed just as loud as Kennedi. The two were out of their seats in a flash. Rosie and Krysta wasted no time joining them. The four were bouncing around like excited school girls.
“Bev!” Ellie shouted. “Get up here with us! You are the reason we are getting this award!”
“Oh, I am not!” Bev retorted, shooing the girls away with mock irritation. They were having none of it, though.
“Bev, you are the entire reason I love to cook!” Ellie said, kneeling down beside her chair to get eye-level. “You really are the reason we have come this far!” Bev smiled at her and sat up a little straighter.
“You’re sweet, Ellie. This is fifty percent your doing though. I don’t get an ounce more credit for it that you do!” Bev told her emphatically. She’d never been one who wanted to be in the spotlight. Ellie shot Kennedi a mischievous look, and in a matter of seconds, the two girls had picked Bev’s chair up, with her in it and carried it over to where Krysta and Rosie were dancing around.
“If you don’t want to celebrate willingly, then you’ll celebrate passively!” Ellie told Bev.
“Put me down, you crazy cats!” Bev hollered through her laughter. The girls held her chair even higher in the air.
“You must celebrate!” Rosie cried out to Bev. “You and Ellie are going to be famous!” Bev laughed even harder. She had a death grip on the sides of her chair, and little squeaks would come from her whenever Ellie or Kennedi let one side dip lower than the other.
“Theo, for god’s sake! Get them to put me down!” Bev hollered at her husband. He shot her an amused grin.
“You’re on your own, babe. I think the girls are onto something with the whole idea that you need to celebrate!”
“I’ll celebrate with a nice glass of wine someone else pays for tonight at the benefit! That’s all the celebrating I need!” she protested through more laughter.
“Higher, girls!” Theo shouted. Bev frantically looked from Kennedi to Ellie.
“Don’t you dare!” she yelled. It was too late. Kennedi and Ellie hoisted Bev higher into the air.
“No!” Bev yelled again, but I could barely tell what she was trying to say, she was laughing so hard. Theo and I sat back in our chairs and watched his wife be paraded around the dining room, high in the air. The girls were dancing below her and talking amongst each other at such a rapid pace. They were almost impossible to understand, either. Bev was such an even-keel human that seeing her forced into fun was probably the best impromptu entertainment I’d seen in a long time.
“You can’t keep me up here forever, Ellie!” Bev told her as soon as she stopped laughing long enough to breathe.
“No, but I can keep you up there long enough for you to have fun!” Ellie retorted.
“I’ve had fun, little missy!” Bev said. She let go of her chair long enough to wag a finger at Ellie and then latched back on.
“Oh, alright,” Ellie conceded. “We’ll put you down.” She rolled her eyes dramatically, and the other girls started laughing.
“Do we have to?” Krysta whined.
“Yes, we have to,” Ellie told her, still chuckling. “We’ve pushed our luck far enough for one morning!” Kennedi and Ellie slowly lowered Bev’s chair until it was sitting on the floor once again. Bev took a deep breath and stood up. She smoothed out her shirt and quickly turned to Ellie, a stern look on her face. The entire room went quiet. None of us expected Bev to throw her arms around Ellie’s neck and give her a huge hug. Ellie was most surprised.
“Thank you for being my partner, Ellie,” Bev said. She stepped back and cupped Ellie’s face in her hands. “I’d still be talking about NOT opening a restaurant if it wasn’t for you.”
Ellie smiled bigger than I’d ever seen. People had told Bev most of her life that she should open a restaurant because of how good a cook she was, but she always found a reason that it wouldn’t be a good idea. That changed when she and Ellie teamed up, and the look on her face showed how grateful she was for the change.
“Thank YOU for helping me make people happy with the BEST FOOD IN THE WESTERN U.S.!” Ellie’s voice climbed as she spoke, and then, to all of our surprise, both Bev and Ellie squealed with excitement. As soon as she did it, Bev looked around and blushed, hoping nobody heard her. Theo and I busted up laughing.
“Oh, shush, you two!” Bev scolded through a smile. “Finish your coffee already!”
“Yes, dear,” Theo replied, winking at her.
“Yes, ma’am,” I added, pretending to tip my invisible hat toward her. I glanced over at Theo while the girls sat back down, buzzing amongst themselves about what to wear to the event that evening.
“Guess I’d better get moving, so I have my to-do list done early enough to get us to the event,” I joked with him.
Theo raised his eyebrows as he stood up. “You go do your to-do list, and I’ll go do my honey-do list!”
I stood up, as well, and Kennedi caught my eye.
“Do you need me to come with you to VGS?” she asked sweetly as she smiled. I knew she would spend the entire day shopping and primping with the other girls if I let her, so that is exactly what I did.
“No, I’ll be fine,” I told her. I raised my voice slightly to address the rest of the girls as well. “In fact, why don’t you all take the day to do whatever it is you girls are already talking about wanting to do?”
“Oh, thank you, Clark!” the four cat girls said in unison. They immediately looked to each other and started planning their day.
“I’ll call Samuel and make sure he’s set at the gallery,” Kennedi shot out.
“I can put Cora’s books off until tomorrow, and I’m already half done with the marketing plan for the new skillet, so I’m good,” Krysta added.
“I won’t have to do a self-test on the heating pad until tomorrow after QC does theirs,” R
osie chimed in.
“Well, girls, I have a restaurant to run,” Ellie piped up, giggling. Bev looked at the four of them.
“Have whatever you are looking to wear delivered to Belavi. The four of you can have one of the private dining rooms to do whatever in,” she told them.
“You’ll be joining us, right?” all four girls asked her in unison. Bev chuckled.
“Yeah, I’ll join you. Dee can hold down the fort for the most part,” Bev replied. Dee was a manager that they hired a few months back to help out with the workload. Theo and I started to inch our way out of the room while the girls continued making their plans.
“Goodbye, ladies,” I said as I started walking down the hallway. Theo darted over to give Bev a kiss on the cheek and followed me.
“Phew!” Theo said when we reached the front door. “Feels like we’ve accomplished freedom from the jaws of cat girl glamour-world!”
“Come stay at my house for a few days,” I laughed. “There is no true escape. That is why Kennedi’s closet is so big!” I slapped Theo on the back, and the two of us headed down the porch steps to our vehicles.
“I’ll see you tonight, Theo,” I called to him as he climbed in his truck.
“Sure thing!” he replied, leaning out the driver’s side window. “Event is at seven. I’ve got to run and get some supplies for Belavi that Bev asked me to grab, but I’ll see you there.” I nodded acknowledgment, and he sped away. Theo might be quite a bit older than I, but the man didn’t drive anywhere slowly, that was for sure. I climbed in my 4Runner, started it, and pulled out of the drive. I needed to get to VGS and make sure the day was wrapped up early so Macy could go to the event. I wasn’t even sure if she knew about it. As a matter of fact, I didn’t know if anyone outside the six people I was just with knew about it. I was certain Leah and Charlie would want to go at least. I made a mental note to call them when I got to the store as I sped down the road into town.
6
I noticed the parking lot in front of VGS was nearly full when I drove by. I went around to the parking garage in the back and parked. There was a door that opened up to the storeroom connected to my office, so that was usually the way I got in. When I unlocked the door, I found the storeroom empty. I walked through and unlocked my office door. From my office, I could see the entire store through the floor-to-ceiling glass wall. The showroom was buzzing with people. We were busy most days as a rule, but today we were exceptionally full. I dropped my keys on my desk and went to the door.
