Forever Yours
©2025 Elder Road Books - Lynnwood WA
Chapter 9: Start-Up
“What has got into you?” Chastity demanded. “You’ve been squirrelly all week with text messages and voicemail at all hours. Have you even slept this week?”
“Not much,” Henry said. “Um ... Not at all last night. I had to put my girlfriend on a bus for Cleveland this morning, so we didn’t want to waste the night.”
“Girlfriend? Is that what this is all about? Don’t tell me you’re getting serious about a girl before you’re even nineteen! I mean, I understand Luke and Isobel. They spend most of their time trying to convince themselves they aren’t madly in love, but they are.”
“Oh, it’s not quite like that. I mean, it’s good, but neither Carol nor I have time for much of a relationship other than getting together to screw about once every other weekend. She’s pre-med and I’m...”
“Obsessed,” Chastity said. “What’s with insisting that Luke and Isobel get here by noon?”
“That’s when Don Harvey will be here,” Henry said. “My patent attorney. I went in to finalize the patent filing on the new system Monday and he gave me some good news. But I want him here to tell you all about it so we can all be on the same page when it comes time for a decision.”
“Now you’ve got me antsy. You might need to take me someplace and settle me down. You know how to do it so well.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine until after the meeting at least,” Henry laughed.
“Does that mean you might settle me down later?” she asked.
“Mmm ... Maybe.”
“Okay, it’s a quarter till noon. I see a red Corvette entering the parking lot,” Chastity said.
“I see Don’s Lincoln just behind them.”
It took a few minutes for everyone to get parked and gather at the door of the golf club. Henry introduced everyone to Don Harvey and they got seated for the casual lunch served at the club. They ordered and then Henry took a deep breath and calmed himself to get things started.
“Okay, you’ve all noticed I’ve been a little hyper this week. That’s because of the news Don gave me on Monday when I went in to finish the application for the fourth patent. That’s for the system and method being tested with our testers now. You know we’ve all been running it from a command line and there’s not much of an application built on the system, but that will change in the next few months. But Don had big news. Don?”
“Congratulations to Henry and by extension to all of you. The first two patents have issued. I expect the third will follow by Christmas. That’s on top of the two copyrights for the initial software,” Don said.
“All right!” Luke exclaimed. “We only have pop, but here’s a toast to the first successes of our—meaning Henry’s—big business endeavor.”
Everyone raised a glass of something and congratulated Henry.
“That’s not all,” Henry said. “It seems Don has been fielding offers for us.”
“Somebody wants to buy us?” Isobel asked. “Don’t you mean offers for you, Henry?”
“It could be interpreted that way, but I choose not to. I’m writing code, guys. I’m not thinking business. Don has been keeping me from going off half-cocked. Don, if you can speak around that BLT, better fill them in on the offer,” Henry said.
“Thanks for giving me a few minutes to get at least one wedge of this sandwich down. You know, all the other places in town have decided they need to add something to a perfectly good idea. They want to add avocado or put it on rye bread, or—God forbid—pour some kind of sauce or cheese on it. This BLT is just what it’s supposed to be: bacon, lettuce, and tomato on white toast with a smear of mayo. But that’s not the offer you’re asking about.”
They laughed but waited expectantly while Don wiped his hands.
“A large computer security software company has seen the patent and the copyright on the first piece of software. They’ve decided it would make a good addition to their suite of tools and would like to make it a part of their offering. Of course, their opening bid was to acquire all rights to the patent and the copyrighted application for a ridiculously small sum. Not enough to get the company you are planning started.
“I’ve been teasing them along with alternate ideas, but have carefully left out any details of where the development is going. They’ll figure that out soon enough, though, when they see the new filing. So right now, their offer is for the first patent and application that was based on it. But you don’t have to sell outright. I believe they would accept a deal to buy the app and development rights to it and license the patent it’s built on.”
“Are you going to do it, Henry?” Chastity asked.
“Are we going to do it? I am not cutting my support team out of our first deal. If we do it, we all profit from it.”
“Yeah, but you invented it. The most we can say we did was some testing,” Luke said.
“What are the numbers?” Isobel asked. She’d apparently accepted that they were joint owners without hesitating.
“I believe that we’ll be able to pull in seven figures when we’re done. Not high seven, but more than a million,” Don said. “Their real interest is in the patented method and system. They want the application and development rights so we—or Henry—doesn’t keep developing that line. In our conversations, Henry has said he considered that a test for making something that worked, not something that he’d keep improving. The other apps and patents stand alone. I think we can license the patent for a long-term royalty without a second thought, but these guys seem interested enough that we could license this one patent with non-exclusive rights for a one-time license fee that would give you enough to get your business started.”
“Holy cow! Henry, why are you even considering sharing this with us?” Chastity insisted. “You could fund the startup costs and own the entire corporation.”
“Guys, I started developing this shit when I was a freshman in high school. It was the three of you who listened, brainstormed, and even tested my initial attempts. Even when the results weren’t pleasing. We are the only ones who ever tested the app before we’d turned eighteen. That means our puny non-disclosures we signed were never enforceable. Not like the one we’re using now. What I’m proposing is that I sell the patent and copyright outright to our LLC. Our little preliminary company can then license and sell them to this manufacturer. That money will be paid to the LLC and used to fund our startup. It gives us all equal shares as founders.”
“How many thousand do you want for them?” Isobel asked. She’d been typing on her cell phone during the entire meal and her salad was still untouched.
“I have to show that it’s a real purchase, so how about twenty each for the patent and copyright?” Henry asked.
“So, forty thousand from a company that has a total of not quite four in the bank?” Isobel scoffed.
“No, no, no! Twenty dollars each. That’s only $40 total, okay?” Henry said.
“You’re kidding,” Chastity whispered. Henry shook his head.
“I’m dead serious. You guys need to have a significant vested interest in this company and this is the best way I can think of to get it.”
The discussion and questions continued through the rest of the meal and eventually Isobel got around to eating her salad. Don also had to tell them what he would get out of the sale for negotiating the whole deal. He was asking for only five percent. It didn’t sound like much until he quoted $75,000 as his expected take.
“I’m really horny now,” Chastity said as they walked to Henry’s car. “I doubt Isobel and Luke will even say hello to their families until tomorrow. If you’d expressed the least interest, we’d have been invited to join them. Can you imagine? Isobel and me with our legs parted and you and Luke switching back and forth between us?”
“No matter how erotic that image may seem, I don’t want to be in any room where Luke is balling either of you. It’s just not my thing,” Henry laughed as he brushed her lips with his.
“Um ... So, is it okay for you to come up to my apartment for a while? I mean with your girlfriend and all?” Chastity said.
“Ever heard of a hall pass?” Henry asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s a limited permission to fuck one other person during a particular span of time. It’s pretty much what Avril had last summer when she slept with me and then went back to her boyfriend. You are my hall pass for the weekend.”
“Wow! What did you have to trade for that?”
“Carol has a favorite cousin who will be joining her family for Thanksgiving. Seems they’ve had at least one encounter before. She wants to try her new-found skills on this girl. She thinks she’s learned a lot since the last time they were together.”
“A girl?”
“Yeah. Who knows? She might come back a confirmed lesbian. She sure likes it when I go down on her.”
“So do I.”
“Just a little more. Oh, goddess! I’m ... Ohhh!” Chastity moaned as Henry licked her to fulfillment. “No! Yes! More! I’m coming again!”
Henry was determined to give her the best he had. He’d learned a lot from his fairly regular, though infrequent, times with Carol. When Chastity began to come down, Henry lay beside her and planted little kisses on the side of her head and face. Chastity’s hand circled his penis.
“Yeah. Give me just a minute so I can fully appreciate what’s coming,” she moaned as she stroked.
Henry reached to the bedside table and grabbed a condom. When he was ready to roll it on, Chastity took over.
“Yeah. You’ve got another partner. Better take precautions,” she said. She put a leg over Henry and looked down at him as he held his cock in position for her to settle onto.
“How about you? Don’t you have another partner?”
“Yeah. A couple. Or three. I go in to a special clinic in town to get tested every two weeks. It’s recommended for sexually active women. I insist they use condoms, too.”
“Wow! With so many options, why choose me tonight?” Henry asked.
“So many reasons. You made me horny, so why take that to anyone else?”
“How did I make you horny? We sat in a business meeting all through lunch.”
Chastity started rocking back and forth with Henry buried deep in her. Henry was ramping up pretty quickly now that he had skin in the game, but Chastity was getting there just as fast.