Chemistry Ch. 02

"You see, this company was founded by my father Mathew Hogan. He had two boys, myself and your grandfather Frank. When he passed he left us equal shares of the company. 50% for me and 50% for Frank. Now, when Frank passed, his 50% was to be divided between your father and Susan." He gestured to Susan, who nodded. "Well, your father passed before Frank did, so the 25% of the company that was to go to your father, was passed on to you. However, as you were 4 at the time, it was held in trust, and as we didn't have any contact with you, it has remained in trust. Now that you are back, Tom here has the paperwork to turn that trust, the ownership, and 30 years of profit share over to you."

I fell back in my chair. This wasn't something that I had considered. "Wow, I wasn't expecting this. I am humbled. Could we delay this for a few weeks?" They look at me with a puzzled look.

I turned to Ted, "Ted, before I take over control of the trust, I think to honor my father and my grandfather, it would be best for me to complete my name change back to Thomas Hogan before taking control of the trust. Can you help me with that?"

Tom replied, "It would be my pleasure." And he shook my hand.

While we sat and finished our lunch. "Uncle, there is another subject that I would like to bring up with you and Susan. I am looking for a job. Do you know where I could find one?"

He smiled. "Well, I am sure that we can find something here for you. Based on your education, we would love to have you join the team. Is there some area where you would like to be?"

I replied, "Research. I was developing something at Prentis that I would like to complete. Don't worry, I have ownership of the research, so there is no conflict with Prentis. I can provide copies of my agreement with Prentis that shows my ownership. Really, I just need access to a decent lab. Even before finding out about the trust I have the money to complete the project."

George looked at Tom and Susan, and said, "Well, let us take a look at what you have and we can sort out the details once we have a better understanding of them."

"Excellent." I said.

George stood and said, "Unfortunately, Tom and I have some meetings to go to. Susan, Why don't you give Tom a tour of our facilities."

Susan said, "It would be my pleasure."

"Ted, It was good meeting you. I likely have to go to San Francisco tomorrow. Could you have something around my name change ready for next week?"

Ted said, "I will have the paperwork ready so we can start the process. It usually takes about 2 months to change a last name in California."

I said my goodbye to George. He invited me to his place for dinner that night to meet his wife Nancy.

Susan gave me the full tour of their facility. They were much smaller than Prentis, so they didn't have all the equipment that I would need, but I had the funds to fill any gaps. Los A didn't do a lot of research. They mostly produced chemicals as per specifications from customers.

I went back to my hotel to freshen up for dinner. Susan and Nathan were joining us for dinner at George's house.

Susan and Nathan picked me up at my hotel. We arrived and were greeted by my great-aunt Nancy. She hugged me and welcomed me into their house.

We sat for dinner. We reminisced about my father. They told me many stories about him and his family.

After dinner, we sat in the living room. I briefed them about my clean jet fuel research. Describing the work that Heather had been doing and the issues that I saw with mass-producing it. Then describing the differences between her fuel and mine. Nancy had worked for the company but was now retired. She was more on the legal and contract side. She questioned the legal side of the company taking on research that had been started at Prentis. I described the issues with Heather's Patents and the release that my mother had signed giving me ownership of my research.

They said that they looked forward to getting into the details as if the research delivered, it could be a boon for Los A Chemicals. They commented that they didn't have the production capacity that likely would be required, but we decided to park that for another day.

After we said our good nights and another round of hugs, I bid them adieu and said that I would return the following week.

I got back to the hotel and sent some text messages to Jennifer about my successful day and that I was looking forward to seeing her back in San Francisco. She sent a text back with a kiss emoji.

I slept well that night.

=======

My flight back to San Francisco was uneventful. I got back before lunch and dropped things off at my hotel. I sent a text to Jennifer asking her about dinner. She responded that she was looking forward to it. She invited me over to her place for dinner at 7.

I decided that I should look for a more permanent place in LA. I spent the afternoon looking at websites for short-term furnished rentals. I left the furniture with Heather, but until I knew how permanent I would be in LA, I didn't want to spend the money on new furniture. I'll make the calls tomorrow on Friday. I figure that I need to face my mother. I reached out to her secretary. I really didn't want to talk to her right now. I asked the secretary to see if my mother was available for dinner on Friday night. She said that she would let me know.

I drove to Jennifer's apartment. I had been there many times to pick her up. I think this was the first time that I had been inside.

She opened the door and gave me a big smile and a hug, welcoming me in. Her place was very spartan. I was a little surprised. Her dining table was just a card table with folding chairs.

She saw my look. "My apartment mate just got a job in New York, and took most of her stuff with her. Sorry, all I have is some temporary furniture."

"Looks like she took everything." I said.

She replied, "Well she owned most of the furniture. She was moving in with her boyfriend in New York, so the one thing she did leave behind was her bed, but you can't really sit and eat dinner on it. So I borrowed the card table and folding chairs until I sort out something better."

I just hugged her and said, "As long as I am having dinner with you, I don't care what your place looks like."

She turned red and retreated to the kitchen, "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Just sit and we can eat."

While we ate, she asked me how things had gone. I gave her a summary about the trust, starting to plan to resume my research at A Los Chemicals with my family.

She frowned. "So, I guess you will be moving to LA then?"

"Yes, but I see many weekend trips back here to see you and maybe you can come and visit me. I want to see where things go with us. You only have a few months to finish your MBA. By then I will also know how things are shaping with my father's family and we, hopefully, will know how things are shaping up between the two of us."

She smiled. "Well, then you will be looking for a place to stay when you come to visit. I doubt that you will want to stay with your mother or Heather. I do have the spare bed....." she left that hanging...

"That would be great." I reached over and grabbed one of her hands and kissed it.

She came over and hugged me and sat on my lap. "You could check out of your hotel tonight?"

I asked, "Do you want to come to the hotel and help me pack?"

She grabbed her purse and we headed to the hotel.

It only took a few minutes to grab my things and to check out of the hotel. We talked as we drove. "Jennifer, I want to take this slow. I know that we have known each other for several years, but I don't want to rush things."

"I understand, you just broke up with Heather on Monday. I am sure some things are a bit raw right now. I want to make sure that things are right also."

I unpacked at her place. I would need to go to the storage locker to get more of my clothes in the morning. We spent the rest of the night chit-chatting and watching a movie on my laptop (her roommate also took the couch and the TV and then we headed to our rooms for the night.

In the morning, Jennifer headed off to work. She hadn't returned her roommate's key, so gave it to me. I realized that I needed to do some laundry, so started on that while I started to make calls for my temporary housing. I found a couple of candidates that were relatively close to the Los A Chemicals office and made appointments for the following Tuesday to check them out.

I emailed Ted, Susan and my uncle that I would be in their office on Monday but would be looking for places to stay on Tuesday.

My mother's secretary called me to let me know that she would be available for dinner tonight. She booked us into her favorite restaurant for 6:00.

I went to the storage unit and got more clothing. I also went to the lockbox, took photos of the agreement signing over my research to me, and emailed them to Ted for his review. On Sunday, I would grab one of the copies of my research in the lockbox and bring it with me to LA.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reviewing my research and drawing up a list of equipment that I would need to complete testing. We also were going to need to contact one of the plane manufacturers to get access to their engines for testing the fuel.

I looked at the clock and it was time for my dinner with my mother.

I arrived at the restaurant. She had beaten me to the restaurant and was at her usual table where she could see everything going on in the restaurant. I did a quick look around to make sure she was alone. I half expected that she would have brought Heather with her. I sat down and picked up the menu.

There was dead silence. I think we were both waiting for the other to talk first.

She finally started first. I heard the strain in her voice as she was attempting to be civil. "So, where have you been?"

I didn't want to reveal anything as I didn't want her to interfere. "I have been around. I have been checking out potential places to resume my research."

The civility gave way back to judgment. Took longer than I thought. "I don't understand. I had everything planned out for you. Why are you pursuing that dead-end research? You know that Heathers is the future. Look. I'll set you up with your own division. You can be the President of it and work on any project that you want."

"Mother, you just don't get it. Since I was born, you always controlled my direction. Now, I want you to understand. I am grateful for your support, and I love you. I am where I am because of you, but I need to get out on my own. Now I do love Heather, but I have my own plans and unfortunately, you and Heather have your idea of what I should be but that isn't what I want."

She stared at me for a minute. I didn't want to be confrontational with her. I saw the different emotions shifting on her face. "But what about Heather?"

"First, I am sure you are aware, but I have talked to Heather. It wasn't pleasant, but I tried to clear things up with her. I am sure that more conversations will be needed. To recap, since the start of the project 3 years ago, I have been a second priority to the project with Heather. I have given her every opportunity to try and move our relationship forward, but she wouldn't. We need a break. I don't know if we will ever get back together, just as I don't know if I will ever come back to the company, but I need to take some time to figure that out on my own."

She sighed. "Fine. Have it your way, but don't expect me to come and pick you up when you realize that you were better off where you were."

I didn't respond. I didn't want an argument, I just wanted to get this conversation over with and hopefully not have her hire a Private Investigator to try to follow me. We didn't say much for the rest of the meal. She tried to give me an update on how well the project was progressing. I just nodded and agreed that it sounded like things were going well.

We said our goodbye and I made my way back to Jennifer's apartment.

Jennifer greeted me with a nice hug when I got back. I told her that I survived the dinner. I asked her what she was doing this weekend. She had project work related to her MBA that she needed to work on. I told her that I understood. I had things that I needed to work on for a meeting with Susan and George on Monday, but if she needed a break to let me know.

We went to dinner and a movie on Saturday night. I picked the food and she picked the movie. We had many lunches and dinners while we were working, but having a romantic dinner was a different step in our relationship. Outside of vacations, it had been a long time since Heather and I had had a romantic evening out. It was nice to experience that again. Now with Jennifer.

We held hands at the movie and kissed at the appropriate romantic parts of the movie. When we went back to the apartment, we lay down on her bed. Made out for a while and fell asleep together for the first time.

She was sad when I left for the airport on Sunday but knew I would be back the next Friday.

On Monday I spent time with Ted. He had the paperwork for my name change. The process would take about 2 months. One of the steps is that I need to publish the name change in the legal section of one of the LA newspapers for 4 consecutive weeks. I made sure to pick one that was not likely to get Heather's or my mother's attention.

We also reviewed my research ownership agreement that my mother signed. He said that it looked solid. Once I brought the original down, we would get it stored safely with all of the other company's important documents. We also reviewed a document that George and I would sign giving Los A access to my research so they could review it.

I spent the remainder of the day being introduced to some of the lab people on Susan's team. I brought with me a copy of my research and the list of equipment that I had so far identified that we would need. Since I was apartment hunting on Tuesday, we agreed that we would resume on Wednesday. This gave them a day to review my work.

On Tuesday, I met the real estate agent and we toured the 2 locations that I had identified, and the real estate agent had found 2 additional similar locations. The one I liked was a 3-bedroom apartment in a secure building that had separate garages for each apartment. The 3rd bedroom had been furnished as an office. It was available now, so I signed the lease and took possession of the keys. I committed to 3 months and then month to month after that. I called Jennifer to give her an update that I had found a place.

We agreed that I would fly back early Friday afternoon. I would then empty the storage locker into my SUV, meet her at her apartment and then we would make the long drive to LA. She would then help me settle in on Saturday and then fly back on Sunday.

The rest of the week was spent with Susan's team. After George signed the agreement to access my research, they were reviewing and asking me questions about it. We also touched on the advantages of the fuel that would come out of my research versus the fuel that Heather and Prentis were producing. The plan was that Susan and George were going to give me an appraisal of how much they were willing to invest in the research the following week.

=======

I flew back Friday and picked up all my things from the storage unit and the lockbox. I then picked up Jennifer at her place and we started the 6 to 7-hour journey to my apartment in LA.

I got to find out the quirky music that Jennifer liked to listen to on the drive. She and the music made me smile. I was falling for her. We stopped a few times for some fast food and breaks but made good time.

We got to the apartment. Moved the important things from my SUV to the apartment and collapsed on the bed.

In the morning, I brought the rest of my things up from the SUV and started to sort through my things while Jennifer spent some time on her MBA. We went out in the afternoon to shop for things l that I was missing. Since I only had my clothes and mementos, I needed basically everything for the kitchen and bathroom. We decided to eat in and cook dinner together. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was fun trying to distract each other with hugs and kisses while we got dinner ready. It had been a long day, so we cuddled together on the couch and watched a movie. I could get used to this.

On Sunday, I drove her by the Los A Chemicals facility. She noted how much smaller it was versus Prentis. I agreed, but if my fuel works out, then that will change. We did a last shopping trip for my apartment to pick up the things that we missed. We went out for a nice dinner and then unfortunately, we had to say goodbye and I drove her to the airport. She said that she was free the following weekend. I told her that I would fly up and surprise her with something. She asked what and I put a finger on my lips and said it was a secret.

The following week was spent finishing the review of my research. Susan and George decided that there was a risk, but they were willing to have Los A Chemicals fund the remaining research. We came to a financial agreement which would pay a percentage to me after the Los A Chemicals investment was paid back to the company. For me, the great thing about that was that, other than living expenses, I didn't have to touch my investments.

Jennifer had been texting me about my surprise for the following weekend. Actually, at the time, I made up the surprise, but knowing that she was free, I wanted to do something special for her. I talked to Susan about ideas for a romantic getaway. We spent some time in her office looking for ideas and settled on a cottage in the wine country of Carmel Valley. The cottage had a hot tub and a fire pit. I also made a dinner reservation for Saturday night at one of the more exclusive restaurants.

I called Jennifer and told her to pack for the weekend and bring a bathing suit and a couple of bottles of wine. With the agreement with Los A Chemicals in place, I now could start to think long-term.

The weeks now were just research and planning on the project. Although I enjoyed the progress on the project, the weekends with Jennifer were what I was really looking forward to.

=======

Jennifer picked me up at the airport and we headed out. I had the location of the cottage on my phone's GPS but kept it hidden from her so she wouldn't know where we were going. We grabbed some dinner on the road, and got to the cottage around 9:00. We dropped our bags off inside and quickly changed into bathing suits.

I tripped over a piece of furniture when I saw her in her bikini. She was stunning. After she helped me off the floor, she gave me a big hug and a kiss. We poured a couple of glasses of wine and we jumped into the hot tub.

We chatted a bit about how our weeks went. I told her about the research agreement that was in place now. She told me that Prentis was moving ahead with the fuel, but the progress was slower than Heather anticipated. I didn't want to press further since I was now working for a competitor and didn't want to compromise her if they found out about us.

We then switched to some lighter subjects. Jennifer then decided to surprise me. She kneeled in the water and when she popped to sit in my lap, she had removed her bikini top. Her small perky breasts were heavenly.

She said, "I know you aren't ready to go all the way yet, but I thought I would give you a preview. However, just look. No touch." She giggled and then we had a nice long kiss and she rubbed her bare breasts up against me.

At this point, we decided to retreat to the cottage for the night. We dried off and crashed for the night. I held her in my arms as we drifted off to sleep.

The next day, I had arranged the winery equivalent of a pub crawl. I had hired a tour guide to take us from one winery to the next. That way we could enjoy the wines without worrying about how much wine we enjoyed.