after dropping the kids off at school to find a long white limousine with dark, tinted windows parked in front of their house.
When they walked inside, they were startled to see a small woman and a large man sitting in their living room. The large man had proportionally large hands and rings on every finger of his right hand, which held a brown leather briefcase. The woman was tight-lipped and had long red fingernails. She wore a ring as well, which bore a letter P made up of wavy blue lines. Ethan thought the wavy letter P looked very familiar.
With his non-ringed hand, the large man was petting Pinky’s head, which at the time was still very scruffy, as most dogs’ heads are. She enjoyed having her head rubbed nearly as much as she enjoyed drinking from the toilet and she sat there, wagging her tail happily. Pinky was not much of a watchdog in those days.
“What are you doing in our house?” Ethan demanded.“Who are you?”
“Relax, Mr. Cheeseman. We mean you no harm,” said the small woman. “We’re here to make you a very generous offer.”
“If you’re talking about the LVR, it’s not for sale,” said Ethan.
“Don’t get excited here. We’re not about to purchase some contraption that is half finished and that we have no idea how to operate. What we’re offering, Mr. Cheeseman, is a job. A very high-paying job with considerable fringe benefits.”
“And who is ‘we,’ exactly?”
“I work for a company called Plexiwave. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Olivia said. “You manufacture weapons. And we have no desire to have our inventions turned into something that might harm or kill people.”
“You forget, Mrs. Cheeseman, we’re also the world’s leading manufacturer of refrigerators and microwave ovens.”
Ethan now realized why the woman’s ring looked so familiar. That same wavy letter P could be found on their microwave and their refrigerator in the kitchen.
“Well, our ‘contraption,’ as you say, will do nothing to keep food cold or heat up a frozen burrito,” said Olivia.
“Don’t be so naive, Mrs. Cheeseman,” sneered the woman. “All great inventions will eventually be used to make weapons. I imagine the club was first invented as a means of cracking a nut. It was inevitable that one day it would be used for cracking skulls. That’s just the way of the world, I’m afraid.”
“Thank you, but we’ll happily leave the business of skull cracking to people like you,” said Olivia defiantly.
“How does two million dollars a year sound?” said the woman, ignoring what Olivia had just said.
“Two million dollars a year?” said Ethan.
“To start. With the first year’s salary paid in advance.”
The woman nodded to Mr. 29, who opened the briefcase revealing stacks and stacks of U.S. currency totaling what certainly looked to be two million dollars.
“Plus, you’ll be entitled to benefits too numerous to list,” the woman continued. “For starters, you and your family will be put up in a beautiful estate on a tropical island where the schools are second to none and there is absolutely no crime.”
“The crime is people like you,” Olivia shot back. “People like you devising new and innovative ways of hurting others and then selling that technology to the highest bidder. We will have no part of it, thank you.”
Olivia walked over to the door and opened it.
“I will thank you to take your ill-gotten money, get back into your limo, and return to your factory of death,” she asserted. “And furthermore, be advised that I fully intend to report you to the authorities.”
With that, the small thin-lipped woman and the large man got up quietly and walked to the door.
“Very well,” the woman said. “But I guarantee you’ve not heard the last of us.”
The man and the woman walked out of the house and Olivia quickly slammed the door behind them and locked it.
“Well, that’s it,” Ethan said to Olivia. “I guess
When they walked inside, they were startled to see a small woman and a large man sitting in their living room. The large man had proportionally large hands and rings on every finger of his right hand, which held a brown leather briefcase. The woman was tight-lipped and had long red fingernails. She wore a ring as well, which bore a letter P made up of wavy blue lines. Ethan thought the wavy letter P looked very familiar.
With his non-ringed hand, the large man was petting Pinky’s head, which at the time was still very scruffy, as most dogs’ heads are. She enjoyed having her head rubbed nearly as much as she enjoyed drinking from the toilet and she sat there, wagging her tail happily. Pinky was not much of a watchdog in those days.
“What are you doing in our house?” Ethan demanded.“Who are you?”
“Relax, Mr. Cheeseman. We mean you no harm,” said the small woman. “We’re here to make you a very generous offer.”
“If you’re talking about the LVR, it’s not for sale,” said Ethan.
“Don’t get excited here. We’re not about to purchase some contraption that is half finished and that we have no idea how to operate. What we’re offering, Mr. Cheeseman, is a job. A very high-paying job with considerable fringe benefits.”
“And who is ‘we,’ exactly?”
“I work for a company called Plexiwave. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Olivia said. “You manufacture weapons. And we have no desire to have our inventions turned into something that might harm or kill people.”
“You forget, Mrs. Cheeseman, we’re also the world’s leading manufacturer of refrigerators and microwave ovens.”
Ethan now realized why the woman’s ring looked so familiar. That same wavy letter P could be found on their microwave and their refrigerator in the kitchen.
“Well, our ‘contraption,’ as you say, will do nothing to keep food cold or heat up a frozen burrito,” said Olivia.
“Don’t be so naive, Mrs. Cheeseman,” sneered the woman. “All great inventions will eventually be used to make weapons. I imagine the club was first invented as a means of cracking a nut. It was inevitable that one day it would be used for cracking skulls. That’s just the way of the world, I’m afraid.”
“Thank you, but we’ll happily leave the business of skull cracking to people like you,” said Olivia defiantly.
“How does two million dollars a year sound?” said the woman, ignoring what Olivia had just said.
“Two million dollars a year?” said Ethan.
“To start. With the first year’s salary paid in advance.”
The woman nodded to Mr. 29, who opened the briefcase revealing stacks and stacks of U.S. currency totaling what certainly looked to be two million dollars.
“Plus, you’ll be entitled to benefits too numerous to list,” the woman continued. “For starters, you and your family will be put up in a beautiful estate on a tropical island where the schools are second to none and there is absolutely no crime.”
“The crime is people like you,” Olivia shot back. “People like you devising new and innovative ways of hurting others and then selling that technology to the highest bidder. We will have no part of it, thank you.”
Olivia walked over to the door and opened it.
“I will thank you to take your ill-gotten money, get back into your limo, and return to your factory of death,” she asserted. “And furthermore, be advised that I fully intend to report you to the authorities.”
With that, the small thin-lipped woman and the large man got up quietly and walked to the door.
“Very well,” the woman said. “But I guarantee you’ve not heard the last of us.”
The man and the woman walked out of the house and Olivia quickly slammed the door behind them and locked it.
“Well, that’s it,” Ethan said to Olivia. “I guess
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