The R&D labs, much to Henry’s surprise, looked a lot like the accounting department. There were no chemistry sets with strange liquids bubbling in them. For the most part, there were lots of cubicles with people in them and computers. The walls might even have the same color paint, but it was hard to tell as a lot of the lights were turned off. Many engineers prefer the dark for some reason. All of the PC’s looked like they were running screen savers, but has Henry got closer, he saw that they were actually running simulations. They were modeling different proteins on the screen, spinning and twisting them, trying to see how they could be tweaked and changed. A woman with a very tired look and frazzled hair came over to him.
“Are you Henry?” she asked with an exasperated tone.
“Y-yes,” Henry answered. He did not expect anyone to be expecting him, even though it made sense.
“Head over to the third office on your left and have a seat,” she directed. “One of our team leads will be there in a few minutes once their meeting breaks up.”
Henry walked over to the small conference room and sat down. The chairs were not comfortable. He wished he’d brought his chair from his cubicle. He’d bought it with his own money and brought it in, because the chairs the company provided never felt very good. He’d seen an article for it in the breakroom one day. Someone had left a magazine and called it, “The Executive.” When he sat in it, it was easy to picture himself as though he were an executive. Everyone else had to settle for the normal chair, but he got The Executive.
According to the clock, Henry had to wait for a full 10 minutes for the director’s meeting to finish up. It took several more minutes for the director that wanted to speak with him to finish up another conversation that followed him out the room. Finally, he came in, sat down, and closed the door.
“Hello Henry,” the director said with a smile. “My name is Jonathan. Pleased to meet you.”
Henry wanted to say something about being made to wait, but instead smiled back. “And nice to meet you,” he returned.
Jonathan reached into his satchel and pulled out a file. To Henry’s surprise, his name was on it. “We’re starting the next phase of a project Henry,” Jonathan began. “And after extensive review of every employee in the company, have decided that we want you to be a part of it.”
Henry was shocked, and his face betrayed that surprise. Jonathan smiled. “I hope you don’t mind,” he continued. “I took the liberty of pulling your performance reviews. They’re spotless. You really are a company man!”
Henry could not help but smile.
“It says here that you aren’t married?” Jonathan asked.
“No sir,” Henry replied. “Never met that special someone.”
“Are you still looking?” Jonathan continued. He did not look up anymore, but continued to flip through the pages quickly.
“Not recently,” Henry confessed. It seemed an odd question.
“We wanted to be sure that you would be able to fully commit to this project,” Jonathan explained. “Also, and I’m going to mention this over and over again, this project is extremely confidential. One of the problems with married men, is that they have a hard time keeping secrets from their wives. It’s even harder when they’re dating.”
Henry felt his pace quicken. "A secret project!” he thought. “He was going to work on a secret project!” He shook his head. “Haven’t really looked in a while sir,” Henry reaffirmed.
Jonathan smiled more broadly. “This project is going to change the world,” he proclaimed. “We’ll go down in history as having done something no one has accomplished before. And, well, it’ll probably make us all rich!” Jonathan leaned back in his chair. He looked like he should be wearing a pinstripe suit and holding a cigar, but the effect was lost as the light struck the bald spot on his head, causing Henry to squint. “So,” he continued. “Do I have your interest?”
Henry nodded vigorously. “Please go on.”
“Good,” Jonathan smiled.
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