Chapter 22
Aknock precedes Walt barging into my office. “Well? Are we locking down this VR production partner or not?” Impatiently, he slaps his large hands down on my desk.
Cade and I share a resigned look. “Walsh’s capacity outweighs the competition,” I concede finally. “We were discussing possible rollout logistics.”
Walt plops himself in a chair next to Cade, chest puffing triumphantly. “Roger already promised to rush the prototype manufacturing if we sign right away.” He leans back, bushy silver brows raised in expectation. “Sign off on the contract, and I”ll approve the transition of Whitmore leadership by the end of the quarter, Jackie boy. What d”ya say? It looks like you smoothed things over with Maddie too, and you’ll be happily married soon. By the way, I think you should pull the wedding up to spring. No need to wait until the fall.”
I rub my temples, the beginnings of a tension headache throbbing.
“Money, lots of money is coming our way,” Walt gloats, rubbing his palms.
“As far as infrastructure scaleup is concerned, it looks like Walsh’s capacity and speed outdoes both Hanes and Burke.” Cade taps the glossy proposal packet splayed on my desk, glittering in the twilight.
I grunt in agreement. “Roger promised production vehicles in under two months leveraging his other in-house tech. But Hanes has solid peer reviews, even if their prototype timeline lags.”
Walt scoffs, clearly impatient with my hesitance. “Roger”s empire can deliver cutting-edge tech at unbeatable speeds. Who cares about peer reviews? We could be making profits now.” He pushes the Walsh glossies toward me. “Roger and I go way back.”
I shift in my seat, the leadership succession thing still weighing on me. Picking Walsh could let me wrap up this whole pretend engagement quicker. Lately, being around Maddie has been downright painful with how frosty she acts since our nuclear blowout on the beach.
There is no need to prolong this debacle.
Walsh”s big factory can pump out the headsets on a mass scale, satisfying Walt and securing my position here. Then I can cut Maddie loose.
With a resolute exhale, I look once more over the ambitious Walsh charts promising delivery. As the day deepens past dusk, the flicker of evening lights transforms the sky into a shimmering canvas.
Cade nods thoughtfully, studying me. “No doubt Hanes craftsmanship is reputable. Their CTO was an adjunct professor at MIT back in the day, right? But still. They are small and new. Launching something cutting edge like our VR product nationwide might be too grand for them right now.”
I swivel my leather chair to face him. “They”re eager and they’re flexible. I like it. They are itching to revolutionize therapy for veterans, just as we are. Our values are a hundred percent aligned.”
“Screw values,” my father scoffs. “You can always set your values straight later. Walsh will give you rapid impact on a significant scale from the get-go. That’s priceless.”
I shift slightly, biting my tongue. The idea of shrugging aside values for convenience and money leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
“Hey, your passion project will be in good hands whichever route you decide to take,” Cade jumps in, his brows lifted. “For better or worse, the Roger Walsh empire controls the distribution pipeline.”
I wince, realizing he is right. Banking on the new kid on the block, as attractive as they are, is risky. Outgunned startups bite the dust every day against Fortune 500 war machines. We will be able to rely on Walsh.
“Legal has done their due diligence?” I ask, sighing.
“Yes. We are ready to roll.”
“Then let’s do it. We can finalize everything first thing on Monday.”
Walt”s lips twitch smugly. He levers himself out of the leather chair with a loud grunt.
“Knew you”d recognize Roger”s potential, son! We’re going to take PTSD therapy mainstream and make a killing.” He shakes a long finger in our direction. “Now finish up this vendor vettin” malarkey here. I expect you boys putting in face time with our shiny new partners tonight.”
Cade and I barely repress grimaces picturing the tedious networking awaiting us at the Walsh event. Oblivious, Walt tugs at his suit lapels.
“Oh, and tell Maddie to save me a dance for later. The little spitfire reminds me so much of your mother. Young or not, you”ve picked yourself a winner there.” With an exaggerated wink, he thunders out.
I release a bone-weary sigh that Cade swiftly punctures, knowing that lingering on my father’s words is useless. “Another night playing pretend power couple, then?” He lifts his eyebrows comically at my exasperated grimace.
Leaning back, he stretches casually. “I ran the VR desert extraction scene last night. Even knowing it”s just a simulation, the feeling of bullets whizzing by kicked up pretty damn vivid memories. Has running that VR captivity simulation module helped you process things some more?”
I nod slowly. “Yes, I”ve mainly been using that one. Though sensations like the sound of the sizzling pipe crushing Marc’s leg are still intense.” My jaw tightens.
Cade exhales heavily. “It sucks reliving this shit over and over. But my sleep is finally calmer. Marc says the programmed treatment room is steadily desensitizing his agony signals too,” he adds more brightly. “And the physical therapy module seems to be working well. He managed to walk a half mile on that leg brace last week.”
I consider this cautiously hopeful news, wondering if time and repetitive exposure will truly offer trauma survivors a reconstructed life. “I’m still tweaking the settings. But yeah, overall, I’ve been sleeping better recently.” I hesitate before adding “Minus the episode that convinced me I needed to end things with Maddie.”
He stays silent, willing me to continue.
“I woke up with my hands wrapped around her neck, certain she was Al-Qaeda.”
Cade pales as I recount the horror. “She’s been trying to persuade me that it won’t happen again, and that even if it does, she is sure I won’t hurt her. But I can’t trust myself.”
Cade studies me silently before observing, “You finally found something real with her, brother. Don’t let her slip away.”
“Too late for that, I’m afraid.”
“Well, guess we better head over to schmooze Walsh.” Cade sighs, realizing he won’t be able to change my mind tonight.
I smooth my features and nod tightly. “Right. Time to cement this partnership.”