Selene decided to spend Monday working from home, but as soon as she arrived at the lab the next day, Yakov came up to her and said, "Selene, I just got a call from UniTech and they said they want to see the two of us right away."
Selene looked surprised and said, "That's strange. Didn't they say we'd know by the end of the week?"
"I know. I wonder what this means?," asked Yakov, smiling. "I think it's good news. Otherwise, they would have just sent us a letter don't you think?"
Selene looked thoughtful and said, "Or an email. This doesn't seem to be protocol."
They both looked at each other and Selene said, "Ok. Only one way to find out. Let's head over there. Do you want to take one car?"
"I'd rather drive separately in case we decide to celebrate after," said Yakov, as he started to gather his belongings.
Selene laughed, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I still have a class to teach this afternoon."
They started heading out of the lab.
"I have one starting in half an hour," said Yakov with a chuckle. "I guess I'll have to cancel it. I'll call the main office on the way so they can email the students."
"I'm sure the students will be very sad about that," said Selene making a fake sad face and they both laughed. Yakov was known to be a very hard professor, but students still flocked to his classes because of his good looks and cute accent.
Once in the underground parking area under the building, they parted ways, agreeing to meet in the lobby of the UniTech building.
Yakov was the first to arrive, so when Selene got there, she found him talking to one of the receptionists. "Of course, he would be flirting with the first redhead he saw," she thought, slightly shaking her head. Yakov was wearing a light blue button-down shirt with dark tan pants and brown dress shoes. His brown hair was curly and gave him a boyish look that was very charming. It was his hazel green eyes, however, that reeled in the women.
Selene tapped Yakov on the shoulder and said, "Sorry to interrupt," though, of course, she wasn't really sorry. The poor receptionist looked very disappointed.
Yakov turned around with a big grin on his face and said, "Ah, you're here! Selene, let me introduce you to Angelica. Angelica, this is my colleague, Dr. Serian."
Angelica, smiled politely and said, "Nice to meet you, Dr. Serian."
"Likewise," said Selene and then turned to look at Yakov as if saying "seriously?"
Yakov looked at Angelica and said, "Angelica, could you do us a favor, and please let Ms. Escobar know that we are here?"
"Of course, Yakov, uh, I mean, Dr. Agapov," said Angelica. She reached for the phone and made the necessary call.
Selene and Yakov walked a few feet away to wait. She leaned in a little, and whispered, "What are you doing? You know how important leaving a good impression is to companies like this."
"I was just making small talk, while I waited for you," said Yakov, when he saw that she looked embarrassed and not mad. He gave her a big smile. "Besides, I've only been here for a couple minutes."
Selene seemed comforted by that and sighed. She said, "Ok, if you say so."
They were about to head over to the couches in the waiting area when they heard Elise Escobar calling them, "Dr. Serian, Dr. Agapov." They both turned around to see her smiling face greeting them.
She was wearing another stylish outfit, this time a dark purple suit, with pants that were wide legged but somehow made her look thin. She wore a cream-colored blouse underneath the suit that had a slight shimmer to it. The shirt had a large hanging bow at her neck, which gave the outfit a feminine flair. Elise's hair was down today and curled at the bottom. Once again, her make up was flawless. The lavender eyeshadow went well with the suit, as did her light pink lipstick. Selene was grateful she had dressed up for work that day. She had decided that she would dress a little nicer on days that she was teaching.
Normally, on teaching days, she would wear a cardigan over a nice dress or one with a blouse and slacks. But she decided she was going to wear suits from now on. So, she wore a black blazer over grey pants and a red silk tank top underneath. She even put on more make up than usual by adding eye liner. Usually that was only for very special occasions.
Elise said, "It's nice to see you again. Please, come this way." She gestured for them to follow her.
They were once again through the waist high security gates and into an elevator. Although they went to the second to highest floor, this time they were led to a room that had two couches facing each other, with a coffee table in between. The room had the same modern feel as the conference room. The dark blue couches went well with the overall theme, which was sleek but not off-putting. Selene and Yakov were asked to sit on one couch, while Elise stood next to the opposing couch. At the end of the coffee table there was a shallow vase, long and low to the table that contained a cream-colored orchid. It looked very elegant.
The office doors opened and in walked Ben and another man that Selene didn't recognize. Selene and Yakov stood up. Ben smiled at Selene, but Selene only nodded her head once in acknowledgement of his presence. She was trying to hide her shock at seeing him again. She was embarrassed that she was blushing, but she couldn't help it. The first thought that came to her mind when she saw Ben was how his lips felt when he kissed her. She looked down but then Ben stretched out his hand to Selene and said, "It's a pleasure to see you again, Dr. Serian."
Selene had to shake his hand to be professional so, of course, she shook his hand and said, "Thank you. It's nice to see you too, Mr. Liu."
Ben then turned to Yakov, offered his hand, and said, "Dr. Agapov, thank you for coming on such short notice."
Yakov gave a big smile, shook his hand and said, "Oh that's not a problem, Mr. Liu! Anytime! Anytime!"
Ben smiled back, turned to the man next to him, and said, "This is my personal assistant, my right hand man, Max Savio."
After pleasantries were exchanged, Ben and Max sat on the couch opposite Selene and Yakov.
Ben turned to Elise and said, "Elise, could you please bring us all some tea?"
"Of course, Mr. Liu, I have everything prepared. It will take but a moment," said Elise and she walked to the other end of the room where there was a table with all sorts of cups clay jars. Selene had watched her walk over there and saw that there was a clay tea kettle. There were also various other things she couldn't see because Elise was blocking the way.
Selene's attention was diverted back to the couch area, when Ben said, "I've asked you both here to discuss the good news that we have decided to invest in your design." His face betrayed no emotion.
Yakov's face, on the other hand, was all smiles. In fact, he was beaming. He turned to look at Selene and saw her sitting up straight, with a stiff back, looking very professional.
She said, "Thank you, Mr. Liu. This is a great honor. We will not let your company down." Her tone was very polite.
Yakov's smile slowly came down and he assumed a more professional tone as well. He said, "Yes, Mr. Liu. We are so appreciative of your acceptance of our application. This means the world to us. We will do our absolute best." Still, he couldn't help but be smiling a little.
Ben said, "Great. I know we will work great together. In fact, this is going to be our top priority at UniTech."
Both Selene and Yakov looked at each other and then back at Ben.
Ben continued, "We all know the value of this technology. In the right hands, in this case ours, the potential is limitless. We are prepared to offer you more than what is in this grants competition. In fact, we want you, and the university, of course, to partner with us on a much bigger project. We think this partnership can make both sides a lot of money. The kind of money the University has never seen before and never would. And not just the University. The team as well."
Selene and Yakov were in absolute shock. They were not expecting this turn of events. Selene said, "What kind of project?"
Just then, Elise came over with the tea. She placed little cups in front of everyone and then put the tray under the coffee table, which had what looked like a little insert area on the side just for this purpose.
When she stood back up, Ben gave Elise a look. She nodded and went to the shelf behind the couches.
She came back with some folders and handed them to Ben. He put the folders on the table, and said, "Before we go over the details, let's drink some tea, and I'll go over the conditions that I have first."
Selene hesitantly reached for her tea and brought the cup to her lips. Yakov did the same but with no hesitation. In fact, he gulped the whole thing down, put it back on the table, and gave a very satisfied smile.
Selene took a careful sip, her eyes never leaving Ben's after he said those last words. She arched one eyebrow and gave him a look that indicated, "I know you're up to something." She slowly put her hands on her lap with the teacup gently nestled there and said, "And what are these conditions, Mr. Liu?"
Ben leaned back and put one arm on the arm rest, never taking his eyes off of Selene. He thought, "She looks so beautiful. I love that eyebrow. I can't wait to kiss it again." Then he thought about licking it again. But before he got too far, he stopped himself.
He said, "As I said, this project is going to be our top priority. Therefore, I'm going to make it *my* top priority and be more involved. Also, because of the nature of this technology, it is more open to…let's say…outside interests. Your lab does not have the sufficient security to protect it." He leaned forward and continued, "So. My conditions are these. They are actually quite simple and there are only two of them. One, the project needs to move into this building where I will ramp up security and protect it. And two, Dr. Serian needs to agree to have dinner with me once a week."
Everyone was silent. Yakov turned to look at Selene who was staring at Ben with calm look in her eyes, while holding the teacup in a death grip. She quickly recovered and assumed a very professional voice. "Mr. Liu," she began, "As for your first condition, I believe we would need to speak with the University about such a move, but I really do not foresee it being a problem. However, I'm not quite sure how dinner with me would be related to this project."
"Simple," said Ben, giving a mischievous smile before continuing, "I would like to be kept up-to-date on the progress of the project and I do not have time in my day for additional meetings. Therefore, I would like to 'kill two birds with one stone' as they say and meet with you during dinner. I have to eat and so why not have you fill me in while I do that."
Selene's eyebrow arched up once again. She had a feeling her poor eyebrow was going to get quite a workout at this rate.
Yakov said, "Could we please talk outside for a minute?"
Ben replied, "Of course."
Selene looked at Yakov and he gave her a pleading look. She put the teacup on the table and got up. They went outside the room, closing the door behind them so they wouldn't be heard. Yakov whispered, "What do you think?"
"I don't know, Yakov," Selene said, shaking her head. "I don't want to have dinner with him every week."
Yakov said, "I guess that is a little creepy even though he said it's for work purposes. But…This is so huge. I mean, we could become millionaires Selene."
Selene was weighing everything in her head and said, "Ok, give me a second to think." She thought about the money, which, of course, was a huge consideration. But she also thought about her work finally coming to fruition. And not just the gaming system. Part of why she was working on this technology was because she also wanted to adapt it for use with individuals who have lost limbs and who somehow feel pain where the lost limb used to be. Selene was working with researchers in the psychology department at her University who were specialists in this phantom pain. They wanted design a way to help these individuals by showing their lost limbs in a virtual setting that they would then be able to feel.
Selene thought, "How can I have dinner with Ben once a week? It's like asking for heartbreak over and over, every week. Can I handle that? And why does he want to have dinner anyway? It can't be to get updates. Does he want to get back together or something? No way! But then, why? Does he just want to make out every week? Well, that might not be too bad either. Ugh!" Then her thoughts turned back to the project and all the good it would do.
"Ok. I'll do it," said Selene.
Yakov looked at her seriously and said, "Are you sure?"
Selene nodded and said, "Yes. Let's go."
They both walked in and sat on the couch. Selene looked Ben right in the eye and said, "We accept these conditions. Now let us discuss the details."