Plans and Schemes

5 hours. That is how long I had been waiting for the answer. I rechecked my data. I had already examined it thoroughly multiple times. I knew my math was correct. I had an advanced degree in engineering and had done calculations much more complex. I knew she would be second guessing my addition, as well as my subtraction, multiplication, division, and probably my motives. I had explained my logic multiple times, but she doubted me.

I remembered my dissertation from Caltech: Mathematical Modeling of Electronic Systems. The mathematical equations and analysis were revolutionary, earning me accolades from around the world. I had some of the greatest minds in science and engineering congratulating and telling me how my ideas had influenced their own researched. I had companies throwing money at me left and right in prestigious job offers. Universities from around the world were offering me research positions normally researched for people with much more experience than myself. And yet, not even a couple of years later, she was questioning whether “I was sure” and if I had “done the proper research.”

I brought up the schematics again, for the hundredth time that day, just as she sent me another text message.

“I’m just not sure you have thought this through and considered ALL the options.” She said, emphasizing ‘all’ just to get under my skin. “What about this?”

I had already made up my mind. I wasn’t asking for her permission; I was telling her what I was going to do. I didn’t need a green light from her to pull the trigger. I had the target in my sights, and it was game over.

Like a vulture, I had spotted my pray and was circling. I was moving in for the kill when I received a notification that she had sent an attachment to my email.

“Damn it, what is she playing at,” I growled under my breath. “She knows I am right, and we have to do this. We have no choice!”

I grudgingly pulled up the email and opened up the attachment.

My heart stopped. I couldn’t breathe. Everything was spinning around and around, my world changing and everything toppling in on top of me.

I had done the math but hadn’t figured in the unknown. I stared at the picture, looking at the measurements, the data listed on the side. If this was true, it changed everything.

“Did you get it?” A new message read. “Did you open it?”

“Yes!” I answered. My brain still foggy, struggling to understand and comprehend, break down the math, and make the new calculations.

“Are you sure?” I typed, struggling to spell out the words, having to delete wrong letters and space jumbled words. “ARE YOU SURE?!”

“Yes!” She responded.

I stared at the picture. Taking in the new information. My calculations melting away, logic, theories, and plans dissolving under the weight of the new information.

“Still think it is a good idea?” She asked.

I looked at the specifications one last time and closed the file. I dragged the file from the desktop and placed it in the garbage can. I closed the spreadsheet and did the same. My plans were not longer viable. I stared at the image. A tear ran down my cheek as I made new calculations in my head, created new parameters, and developed new plans.

“No. It is no longer a good idea.” I said, pointedly.

“Are you okay? I didn’t want to tell you this way.” She said, throwing in a sad face emoji. “I was making some plans on the best way to do it, but you had this big idea in your head, and it just wasn’t going to work.”

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have been making those plans.” I said, still staring at the image. “The roadster is still an awesome car, but it only has two seats.”

“I know,” she said sympathetically. “But you are going to be a Daddy now, and a baby won’t fit in a two-seat roadster.”

“I’m going to be a Daddy!” I said, driving away from the car dealership, no longer thinking about the cherry red roadster. “I’m going to be a Daddy!”