Forever Yours
©2025 Elder Road Books - Lynnwood WA
Chapter 17: Disclosure
IT WAS THE FIRST time Henry had anyone visit his apartment outside of his parents and business partners. Chastity came in once a week just to use the office as an official place of business, though there was very little paper mail. She did handle all the non-disclosures and business records, though. And she’d begun looking at resumes for part-time user interface developers. Very few wanted a job of only ten hours a week with possible weeks off, and of those, most wanted $50 an hour or more.
When Henry’s cohort and classmates finally found parking spaces, he led them into the main floor of the apartment. It was still so sparsely furnished that the living room echoed with their voices.
“This place is huge!” Josh said, coming out of the kitchen. “But there’s no bedroom.”
Henry pointed to the stairs and led them to the second floor suite. They explored the front bedroom, back bedroom, and sitting room.
“Don’t you use one of the bedrooms?” Dan asked.
“No. I’ve got an identical suite on the third floor. This whole floor is to be rented by my subletter.”
“I’d pay two grand for this,” Leonard said. “Can I have the second floor?”
“No!” Lisa said. “Is this an auction, Henry?”
“Not at all, Lisa. I offered the suite to you for $1,500 plus your utilities. If you want it at that, it’s yours.”
“Sold!” she shouted. “When can I move in?”
“Henry? Is that you? I thought I heard voices,” Chastity said as she came down the stairs.
“Hi, Chastity. I’m just showing the second floor suite. I think I have a renter,” he said as she appeared on the stairs.
“Holy sh...! I mean ... Is this your girlfriend, Henry?” Josh asked.
Chastity was dressed in her usual ‘office attire,’ with a mini skirt and a crop top. At the moment, she happened to be barefoot, having jumped up from her desk and rushed downstairs when she heard voices. She stopped short when she saw the group.
“No. Chastity is one of my business partners. We have a small office on the fourth floor. Lisa, I should have mentioned that there would be others coming in to work on occasion, though none of us are around full time. Chastity likes to come in on Fridays so it feels like we’ve got a real office.”
“I’ll always knock first,” Chastity said. “I won’t come in without letting you know.”
“I guess that’s okay. Are there a lot of you?” Lisa asked.
“Only the four partners at the moment,” Henry said. “I’m looking for another part timer, but he or she might not even work out of the office. And the other two partners are students at Villanova, so they really only show up with one of us.”
“Wait! Wait!” Simon said. “Chastity? As in ... Like, are you the person I sent my non-disclosure to at PRPP for testing?”
“Oh, you’re kidding!” Josh said.
“You guys are PRPP?” Leonard asked.
“You guys are all testing for PRPP?” Henry asked, holding his breath. They all raised their hands and nodded.
“Jacoby said it was a good opportunity and we should all take a look at some practical AI development,” Josh said.
“Okay, then you know that your non-disclosure includes not revealing who you are testing for,” Henry said, scowling at them.
“Was that a violation?” Lisa asked.
“Technically, yes. But I’ll let it pass. I just want to remind you that your discovery of our actual business and ownership is not permission to disclose it to anyone else. Let’s go downstairs and have a pop. I’ll answer your questions.”
“Can we see the office first?” Leonard asked, apparently not quite believing the story.
“Sure,” Henry said, turning to the staircase.
All of his classmates were watching the retreating figure of Chastity in her short skirt going up the stairs. They followed Henry.
“It’s not really much to look at,” Henry said, pointing at the four stations where computers could be set up.
Chastity’s laptop was on her desk and she quickly sat behind it. She’d done some minimal decorating over the summer with plants and some artwork. A photo of the four founders the night they signed the incorporation papers hung on one wall.
“We have a company server,” Henry continued. “We self-host our online work and our website where you’ve downloaded the app you’re testing. Because it’s just Chastity and me at the moment, there really isn’t much else here.”
“Nice patio, though,” Dan said, looking out the French doors.
“I figure it will be unusable after the first snowfall,” Henry laughed. “Let’s head downstairs now and let Chastity finish her work.”
They all left, several of the guys giving a backward glance at the sexy Chastity behind her desk.
The discussion continued in the living room after they had chosen soft drinks and Henry found a bag of chips.
“So, you’re really the inventor of the stuff we’ve been testing for the past six months?” Josh asked.
“Yes,” Henry sighed. “I hope you can understand why we want to keep that quiet. I don’t have a lot of jobs to offer and everything is really experimental at the moment. I’ve filed the necessary patents and five of the six have been issued. But the app is still under development. If I was fielding questions at school all the time, I’d never get any studying done.”
“Got it,” Dan said expansively. “We’ve all become close over the past year. I think we can keep this among ourselves. Right, guys?”
“No question,” Leonard said. “I’d still want to know what I needed to do to work here. The app is rad. My machine runs faster than it ever has.”
“I noticed a new feature that lists ‘Degrees of Separation.’ But it’s locked at zero. What is it?” Josh asked.
“You should read the release notes,” Henry laughed. “We’ll test that feature sometime soon, but it has to be in a controlled environment. Locking it at zero means it can only run or affect the machine it’s installed on. But in a small business or corporate environment, you might want to have it running on the network. I have it installed on our server upstairs, but that means it only runs on my machines and those of my partners, who attach via VPN.”
“Our computers?” Leonard asked.
“No. You only access the website. You never actually get on the network.”
“Are you going to launch it as part of PRPP? It’s not a very sophisticated name. I thought it was a law firm,” Dan said.
Henry paused to think about the answer. These were the people he was closest to other than his partners and it would be helpful to bounce some ideas off them occasionally. He figured he could afford some transparency.
“PRPP is, like, a holding company. The four of us are partners in it. But as soon as the patents issue, they are assigned to Open Cloak Design, which is our development corporation. If you decide you want to continue testing after this release, your next non-disclosure will come from OCD. Eventually, when we’ve got everything running correctly, no one will ever see PRPP. It will just be a stock holder.”
“Any way to buy in?” Josh asked.
“Not at the moment,” Henry said.
“Not to make this all about me, but when can I move in?” Lisa asked. “The sooner I’m out of the sorority house the better.”
“I can help with that,” Chastity said, entering the room. “If you’d like to come over here to the dining table while Henry entertains the guys, I’ll go over the lease with you.”
Lisa went with Chastity and the guys continued talking for half an hour before they finally took off.
“As much as I’d like to move in tomorrow, I need to set some things up first. I’ll move next weekend,” Lisa said as Henry drove her home.
“Anything I can help with?” Henry asked. “I could get a couple of guys to help with the move.”
“It’s not that, exactly,” Lisa said. “I just rented an unfurnished apartment and I don’t have any furniture. I have some things at home my parents will haul up for me. I’ll have to stop at some used furniture place, too. I don’t even have a bed.”
“I hear you. I spent a week shopping for used furniture before I moved in. Mom and Dad and my partners all helped get the apartment set up.”
“Are your ... other partners ... as slick as Chastity?”
“Chas is in a class by herself. Isobel is more glam. Luke is conservative, but good looking, I guess. Why do you think Chastity is so hot? Keep in mind, I’ve seen you in a dress and makeup.”
“Yes, but that was, like, a character I put on in order to survive the night. I bet you’ve never seen Chastity when she didn’t look like she was ready to go out on a date.”
Henry wasn’t sure he wanted to continue that conversation.
“Probably.”
“There are girls in the sorority who would literally kill to look like her. But they aren’t willing to put in the work,” Lisa said. “I really like Chastity.”
“I’m glad,” Henry said. “I do, too.”
Lisa didn’t pursue the conversation as Henry pulled up to the sorority to let her off.
“By the way, there’s a bus line a block from the house that comes straight to the student union. If I’m driving and we’re going in at the same time, you’re welcome to ride along. It’s twenty minutes by bus and usually takes me that long to find a parking space. Most of the time, I ride the bus.”
“Good to know,” Lisa said. “Thanks for everything, Henry. I’ll see you in class next week.”
“Please don’t cancel our rental agreement when you meet my parents,” Lisa said when she met Henry after class on Monday.
“Did they not think moving was a good idea?”
“Mother. She’s so tied to the sorority that she thinks I’m throwing my life away by leaving it. She wants to be sure ‘my boyfriend’ is upstanding and will be able to support me.”
“Wait! We’re not involved like that,” Henry said.
“My dad understands that, but Mom is still convinced that a girl should go to college to find a husband, and should have as much fun as possible during the hunt. She can be a little overbearing at times. Please, don’t even mention that we’ve been on a date. That was a nice thing to do for a friend, but Mom would immediately jump to wedding invitations.”
“Do you want me to just not be around?”
“Henry, it’s your house. I’m just a renter. And I really will appreciate the help when it comes to moving furniture up those stairs. Dad isn’t exactly a super fit jock.”
“I’ll get Josh to come over and help. He said he was willing.”
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