Chapter 52

It took almost a year, and a lot of practice, to give Melissa the graduation present she wanted. We had managed to move to a bigger house in the same area long before that. It turned out that money would not be an issue. The movie that had used our digital effects turned out to be a hit. That, along with the fact that the expenses were only a fraction of what they would have been otherwise, made the production company very happy. I didn't give that much more thought since I knew that the ideas that I had used would be good for only a few more years, at the most. Then, probably, somebody else would invent something better and faster.

We were now living in a house in which you could get lost, as I sometimes complained. We had just passed Christmas and New Years. Luke would be five, soon, and Melissa would probably have her - our - first child, a week or two after that. I was negotiating with the production company about selling my company and patents to them. For some reason they had been in hurry to buy, but since we had all the money we needed, I felt no obligation to agree in a hurry. I knew that I wanted to do something, and I knew that this would not last forever. But still, it might be fun for a while. Also, once again, I had other people to worry about.

My thoughts were interrupted by a phone call from Rob, my left hand in business.

"Hi, Rob, what is it?"

"Noel, I hope that you have not agreed to anything, yet?"

"No, as I told them, I'm in no hurry. Why?"

"Look, this is just a rumor I heard, and it may be nothing. But just in case, you should watch the entertainment section of the news, today."

My lack of interest considering the entertainment news and gossips was already legendary among the people I worked with. This did not mean that I wouldn't know about certain items, but that was totally another thing. I made him a promise that I wouldn't agree to anything - and I'd watch the news.

I mentioned the call only briefly to my ladies, but true to my word I watched the news that evening. Once the news started, it hit me. They would be announcing the Oscar candidates! Suddenly, all the pieces clicked together. Ok, I had thought that the first movie we had worked on was good, and had some nice sci-fi special effects. It was not mainstream, but it was good. Plus, the digital effects we had created were something else. But to me, it had been just a programming challenge, combined with a business opportunity. I just wanted to work with people who seemed to know what they were doing.

"Daddy, they just said your name, together with the movie you were making, on the TV."

Katy just said it out loud. I had seen it there myself, but only the words of my 12-year-old made it true. Suddenly all the women were cheering and talking at the same time while my mind was in turmoil. What would than mean to me - or rather, what would that mean to US? The people in our state were quite tolerant, and our living arrangements had only caused a few raised eyebrows. Still, I did not want anyone finding out about the painful things of our past. I did have to admit, though, that the enthusiasm of all the girls was infectious.

It was later in the evening, after some calls and congratulations, when I expressed my concern to all of them - excluding Luke, of course. We agreed that the category of 'Best Visual Effects' was not something that would gather major attention, but we still decided to keep a low profile. I had made sure that almost nobody knew where I lived. I had my private phone, and my company phone. For some silly reason I had been wearing some goofy eyeglasses I did not really need, in the pictures given to the production company. All the women of the household had hated those pictures, but suddenly they made me quite happy.