The Mommy Gene - June 30
Six years after we both graduated from college I ran into Allison Caroll in the mall. While we were only casually acquainted in college, we found out that we had a lot in common now. Namely we are both obsessed with work and career. That was three years ago and at the time Allison was an accountant with aspirations for a career in corporate management, since that time she has started her own investigative accounting firm. My name is Brad Marks, at the time I was a young lawyer is a large and prestigious firm, recently I've become a partner in a fast paced tech start up in the business of developing hardware and software for additive manufacturing. Neither of us were looking for a long term relationship, both us have a powerful interest in sex, but neither have the time or inclination to play the boyfriend/girlfriend game. We worked out a mutual agreement to meet mostly for sex on occasion, no strings attached; both are free to spend time with others between meetings. The fuck buddy arrangement didn't work out at all, we fell in love. While we are still interested in sharing our bed with another man or woman occasionally, romance is getting in the way of our wild sex lives, and we both love it. Three years ago Allison told me she lacked the mommy gene, six months ago she told me the mommy gene had found her and she was thinking more and more about starting a family. I was thrilled with her change of heart.
It's been a difficult six months, things haven't gone as hoped with my tech start up. We are in the business of developing technology and equipment for additive manufacturing or 3D printing as some people call it. The original idea guy and tech leader of my company has moved on to his next big idea for a tech start up, leaving me with majority ownership and total responsibility for accumulated debt. Venture capital investors stop by one day to deliver pep talks and make sure I have the patience to keep trudging forward and the vision to deliver the benefits as described in the initial business plan. Then they send financial people in the next day to hound me about reducing expenses and producing payback. They are in too deep to walk away, but they aren't about to send any good money out to rescue a potential bad investment.
Allison's business has fared better, she hasn't had any more recovery projects that turned into jackpot payoffs for her, but business is steady and good. She owns a forensic accounting business and has a small staff that keeps busy. They track down what happened when money disappears and businesses fail. She has formed a good partnership with Kate and Mike, a couple we met on a ski vacation over the Christmas holidays. The two of them are in the recovery/private investigation/bounty hunting business and they benefit from Allison's skills in following the money trails to track down people on the run. Allison sometimes needs them to be the muscle in the field to handle projects for her.
For the past six weeks I've been in Guangdong Province, China. We are making progress in working out tech bugs that have been causing long delays. It is very possible that with a few more tweaks we will have a fully functional system and be ready to move to the next step. But we have been here before, only to encounter major setbacks.
The next steps are to clean up the software, finalize product design features, complete the manufacturing arrangements, address packaging, and work out the marketing. We are doing all of this for a product that is well ahead of its time in terms of utility. With 3D printing, consumers at home will be able to print replacement parts for appliances or create art and jewelry for themselves. We know what it can do and the techies will love it, but the general market doesn't have a clue what it can do or why they might have a need. Right now I have doubts that I'm going to be able to hang on long enough for the market to mature. I'm currently of the "build it to flip it" attitude, if everything comes together perfectly we will have a very cool product looking for a market, that is not a desirable situation.
It's the patents that we have that I'm really interested in. If I can hang on to the patents there is a good chance that they will generate a substantial lifetime annuity for me, but first we have to get this technology to work and bring it to market; not an easy task.
I arrived home from China on the Saturday before July 4th, I hadn't seen Allison since the day before I left. We were living together by that time, she sold her condo and moved in with me, but I have been working and traveling since she moved in and we haven't been able to spend much time together. I expected Allison to pick me at Logan Airport, and I expected her to be driving her battered old Ford, she could afford a better car, technically she does own a better car, she bought me a new BMW as a Christmas present after she scored an enormous bonus from a recovery project. We left the car in her name so in wouldn't get bundled with my company assets when or if my business goes under.
"Honey, I'm home," I said lamely as she greeted me with a hug. At that moment the exhaustion of working long hours for seven days a week plus the disorientation of jet lag hit me hard. I'm not sure I could have stayed on my feet if she hadn't held me up. Unexplainably there were tears in my eyes. She got me in the car and then loaded my luggage.
"I missed you, I am so happy to see you, so relieved to be home and with you," I muttered, "all the stress in the world just drained out of me when I touched you, and the only thing I care about right now is to be near you."
We sat in the car hugging for so long that horns were blowing and somebody yelled, "get a room."
"Are you ok?" Allison asked as we headed into the tunnel.
I assured her I was, just overwhelmed with relief.
"Are WE ok?" she asked.
"Better than ever," I exclaimed, I'm just so happy to be home with you, I don't have words to tell you how much I love you."
We drove on is silence, touching each other.