Universe Inventions

Norah sat down in a leather couch, feeling awkward with how the couch sunk in. Robert sat behind his desk, the movement of the city swam behind him. He ran his hand through his grey-streaked hair, then folded his hands before him. It was an intense moment for both Norah and Robert.

"Hello, Ms. White. It's nice to finally meet you in person."

"I understand you've been watching me." She pursed her lips and cleared her throat, trying to get her discomfort across in a respectful manner.

"It's all with good intentions. Cigar?" He pushed a box towards her with a slight smile. She shook her head. "I don't smoke."

"I understand. I don't either. I just keep them here to break the ice." He put them back in a desk drawer. "Not many people have come up here."

"Why'd you want to meet me, Mr. Lanson?"

"I've been observing you, Norah. I understand that you aren't okay with okay products. That's impressive in itself, Ms. White. But the reason you're here now is your ability to better the inventions." he chuckled to himself, "Our scientists have already done everything they could do! And you take their scraps and modify it. It's amazing!"

Norah was unphased. She did what she had always done. Never had she felt proud about it, because it's what people had always expected of her. "And?"

Robert stopped laughing to himself and leaned closer to her. "I want to make you CEO of Universe Inventions. I want you to do this to all our inventions. I want you to take this company to the top and make sure everybody buys our stuff."

"Mr. Lanson, I can't."

"And why's that?"

"Because I don't want to spend my life fixing machines. There's more important things to me."

Robert shuffled his feet and traced the edge of his desk, preparing himself for the next question. "How about fixing the world?"

Norah looked up and raised her eyebrow. The city seemed to move faster now, the clouds covered the sun and created shadows that danced along the metallic floor.

He continued, his voice softer, almost a whisper. "I want to fix the world, Norah. Look at the city." He turned his chair and pointed out the window. "Look at all the traffic, the cars, the hazy skies. Look at the crowds of people and hear the noise."

She listened, she looked. "It's stressful." She said clearly.

"It is stressful." He over enunciated his words, still turned towards the window. "It's disgusting. Overpopulation is destroying the world."

Norah zoned out looking out the window, her mind processing the information. "And you want to use Universe Inventions to fix this..."

"Precisely."

A smile formed on her lips as she looked directly into Robert Lanson's eyes. "Excellent."