Chapter 19
ANSON
“I’m not sure about parking, Dr. Day, but I can get you to the …”
“Just head for the Day Research Lab. It’ll be closed for graduation.” I didn’t often throw my weight around, but my driver heeded the suggestion and was able to convince a security guard that it would be okay for Anson Day to park at MIT’s Day Research facility for the graduation ceremony.
I wasn’t surprised at this outcome; what was surprising was finding another vehicle there, a familiar vehicle.
Beck stepped out of his sports car and opened my door before my driver could get to it.
“You’re wearing a suit!” he shouted. Luckily, the building was closed, and we were alone in the small parking lot that was tucked behind it.
“That’s what you’re angry about? What are you doing here, Beck?”
“I … What the hell is going on, Anson. Where were you last night?”
“I’m a grown man, Beck. It’s not any of your business where I was last night.”
“Dr. Day? Mr. Beckett? Everything okay?” my driver asked. He’d been with me a long time and may have been as surprised as I was that I was being yelled at by my best friend.
Beck spat out an unconvincing, “Fine,” as I nodded.
“All good, Danny.” Danny’s hovering had me believing he was skeptical of that answer. Maybe I should have been too.
“Jesus, Anson. Just tell me. Please tell me you weren’t with … Were you with the …”
“Don’t say it, Beck! Don’t call him a kid.
Benji Warren is not a kid. In the next few hours, he will be a PhD whom New Day Technologies is privileged to have on staff.
And yes …” I began calmly. I had thought I’d have time to formulate how to present our dilemma to Erin in HR before sharing it with anyone else, but here was an opportunity to test it out with my best friend.
I could picture our scribbled notes from the night before in my mind’s eye but wasn’t sure our not-very-mathematical equation would be a convincing-enough argument.
Especially not with the way Beck’s face looked like heat made visible. He interrupted me, but I knew he was fuming even before I could measure his tone.
“Are you crazy, Anson? He’s practically still a child.” He spat the word out. “And an employee. And I know you. This isn't your usual one-and-done, is it? If it was, you’d have called me or Ross for a fucking NDA.”
Beck’s voice got tighter, calmer. More calculated.
“I see the way you are with him, the way you look at him. I don’t like it, Ani. I don’t trust it.”
“You don’t trust my feelings, Beck? Because I can assure you, my feelings are true. I’m not stupid, Beck. You know that. Just because I’ve never felt this way doesn’t mean I don’t understand it. I care about him.”
“Anson, it’s just not possible.”
I shook my head vehemently, feeling the long bangs fall out from one side of my ponytail.
As I tucked it behind my ear, I thought of Benji, running his fingers through my hair.
Normally, I would have undone my hair tie and pulled my hair back tight, but I decided Benji might like it better this way if he saw me after the ceremony.
Beck stared at me like I’d just landed from another solar system.
“I know we need to talk to Erin,” I assured Beck. “We’ll have to work some things out about the project, and who he reports to. These are solvable equations, Beck.”
I smiled at my use of the metaphor, thinking again of the pro-and-con list I’d pulled from the wall and left on Benji’s bed a short while earlier.
“We? We! What exactly do we need to talk to Erin about? Goddamn it, Anson. What have you done?”
I reached my hand out. It wasn’t something I normally did, but I thought a reassuring grasp of Beck’s arm might calm him down.
He jerked away from me as he saw it coming, staring at my hand like it might twist itself off my wrist, hop down, and walk away.
I brought it up to my face, tucking hair behind my ear even though it didn’t need it.
“You don’t need to be so worked up,” I attempted to reassure him.
“I don’t like this, Anson.”
“We have a plan. We’ll work it out with Erin. It will be fine, Beck!”
“That’s not what I’m worried about! At least, that’s not all that I’m worried about.”
Silence hung between us, and I noticed Danny standing off to the side, carefully watching our exchange.
“I don’t trust him, Anson. I mean, when’s the last time you hooked up with someone who knew who you were, who didn’t want something from you in the end?
What is it that he wants? What did he ask for?
What things do you have to work out? Did he ask for more money?
Is this about sharing the patent? You never really explained to me how the two of you happened to be working on the exact same project at the exact same time. ”
I mumbled, “Serendipity,” and was formulating a more detailed response, but Beck wouldn’t let me continue.
“Fuck! How could this have happened?” he screamed, turning away from me like he couldn’t bear to look at me. “How could I have let this happen?”
Danny took a few steps toward me, but I waved him off while Beck continued to huff and puff. A text pinged my phone.
Ross: Sorry, boss. Beck asked where you were and then freaked out about the furniture. Seemed pissed. Possibly headed your way.
Ross: I think it might be homemade, bee-tee-dub. I can ask your hookup when I file the NDA. Do you need me to meet you?
Anson: No, thank you. All good. I can ask him myself.
I watched dots play out on my phone for a second, but then it was Beck’s phone that voiced an alert.
Likely Ross reporting back on our conversation.
It didn’t come as a surprise to me how much the two men were involved in my personal life.
The surprise in that moment was my realization that I did not need them to be so involved any longer. Beck would just have to understand.
“Beck. I’m a grown man. You haven’t let anything happen. I’m my own person, and I make my own decisions.”
My friend opened and closed his mouth like a fish on dry land, his eyes wide. He sputtered a few sounds that were not words before landing on, “Bullshit!” He got up close to my face.
“Bull. Shit, Ani. You make complex machines and solve detailed problems. You program computers that could run the world and create apps in your spare time that have made the both of us wealthy men. But you do not make your own decisions. Until that fucking kid came along, you couldn’t even be counted on to decide what to have for lunch without me!
“But Anson, that’s not the point. The point is …
” Beck centered himself and placed his hands around my biceps, giving them a small squeeze.
“That kid clearly worships you. He wrote about it in his application. You were an inspiration to him. I’m sorry to say this, Anson, but what makes Benji Warren any different than any other young sycophant you’ve had in your bed or working for New Day? ”
“You don’t trust him?” I said matter-of-factly.
Benji and I had worked out that Beck would be one of the factors in our equation, so at least I wasn’t surprised by his concerns.
I wanted Beck to be happy for me, but he couldn’t see past his issues.
That he didn’t trust Benji was clear, but why wouldn’t he listen to me? Trust me?
“Ani. Listen. At best he’s young and fulfilling some hero-worship dream. At worst he sees the potential of Project Orthos, and he wants more than his fair share.”
“You don’t know him.”
“And you do? You only met him a few weeks ago.”
“I know,” I said. It wasn’t a response to his last comment. It was said emphatically, confidently, and with finality. I knew Benji, I understood my feelings, and I was looking forward to a future I’d never really allowed myself to imagine.
Beck, my best friend, should trust me, and I shouldn’t have had to defend myself or my actions. Beck clearly didn’t want to hear me anyway.
I turned and headed toward the outdoor courtyard where the ceremony would take place, Beck hot on my heels.
“Ani. Ani! We need to nip this in the bud. Today!”
I turned and looked my friend directly in the eye. It seemed to surprise him. “Leave him alone, Beck. Leave us both alone.” I pointed a finger in his face before realizing I had nothing else to say on the matter, so I turned and joined the queue to enter graduation.
When a young usher asked for Beck’s ticket, he lowered his glasses, looking from her to me before saying, “Do you know who we are?”
The MIT student nodded and handed each of us a program. “Welcome Back to MIT, Dr. Day!”
We’d entered from the front, passing the stage and facing the neat rows of folding chairs that had been set up on the green. Seats were filling up quickly. I slipped into an aisle seat near the stage, but Beck grabbed my wrist and walked us toward the center of the row.
“You could have at least worn a hat or a pair of sunglasses.”
“I didn’t think about a disguise. I got dressed quickly.”
“I bet you did.”
I was reading through the program when a familiar male voice questioned, “Anson?” I looked up to find Ben working his way to us.
“Ben!” I jumped up.
“And now the father,” Beck muttered.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Ben looked at least as concerned as he was surprised.
“Bet you didn’t.” Luckily, the chatter around us kept Beck’s voice from traveling to my other side, so Ben didn’t hear as he worked his way toward us.
“Benji invited me last night.”
“Last night? At the restaurant? I must have missed it.”
“Jesus, Ani,” Beck whispered in my ear, his words spit out like crackles of fire. “I know you don’t like to lie but tell the fucking father that the kid texted you or something. For fuck’s sake.”
Ben may not have heard the words, but he was staring at the man whose mouth was close to my face. I could feel my hair flopping from behind my ears as I looked from one man to the other.
I stood and shook Ben’s hand. Beck stood as well, and I turned.
“Ben Warren, meet my partner, Henry Beckett. Beck, this is Benji’s dad, Ben.”
“Your partner?” Ben looked between us, his eyes narrow even as they looked like they could incinerate us.