Chocolate and Gold Ch. 06

When the meeting adjourned, I asked Mike and Jeannie to stay behind. I have been giving some thought to what the needs of the company would be and it was time to voice my idea.

"Mike, is it possible for you to get a leave-of-absence from your company?"

"I don't know, Harry. I haven't heard of anyone requesting one."

"Harry, what are you thinking?" Jeannie asked.

"I have a feeling that while the cell is somewhat developed, it isn't a finished product. The outer casing isn't designed, so there's nothing to mount and protect the panel. I saw another smile appear on Mike's face.

"You've been reading my mind. I can think of a couple of ways to make the panel more useful in construction. We should standardize the dimensions so that it will fit in conventional construction without special framing. I'm sure there's more than that, too."

I nodded and said, "I've been talking to Winston about what we're going to need to get this product launched. Without trying to steal Ben's thunder ... or his idea, we want to make sure it's as market-ready as possible. We could team up with Ben to develop the size and features, and it would still be his product."

"Yeah ... I can see that. Ben's a really bright guy, but I think he's totally focused on the performance of the cell, rather that the commercial application. That's where we could help."

I nodded, "Exactly. So, if we get the funding and support for this project, would you be interested in taking over the supplemental engineering for a year? Naturally, you would be paid for your time." I looked at Jeannie as I asked this question. I was sure Mike would need her support before any commitment would be made. My sister saved Mike the trouble.

Jeannie spoke first, "I think that would be wonderful, if Mike could get a leave. I'm sure Ben ... and Charlie would be grateful."

Mike smiled and shrugged. "I'll talk to my boss tomorrow morning. We're busy right now, but I'm just one of a dozen engineers that can be replaced fairly easily. On top of that, if this deal goes the way I think it could, I wouldn't mind being involved with Orient Pacific on further development ... and other projects."

I looked at Jeannie and she was smiling, which I knew was her way of supporting what Mike wanted to do. It would make our company truly a family business. I didn't have any idea what the development cost for the solar panel would be, so we were only guessing just how much money we would need to borrow. I voiced my concern.

Again, Mike came to the rescue. "I think I can help you there, once we've found a resin source and I've had a good look at the current construction. I've got some experience and some sources that could give us ball park estimates for starters. At least we'd have an idea of the scale of the project."

"Great. This is working out better than I had hoped. Thanks for kicking in, Mike."

"Harry, I'm amazed. You act like this is all routine for you. I think my little brother is a natural leader," Jeannie grinned.

"Well, I guess I've got you fooled," I laughed. "Honestly, Jeannie, I'm just winging it, trying to do the right thing to keep the company moving along. The real test is yet to come. Making big decisions on the solar cell and other new products will require a lot of thought. That's what I worry about more than anything. We have a chance to make this little family business into something very big and very important. But ... we also have the risk that it might all come crashing down on our heads."

"Somehow or other, I don't think that's going to happen," my sister said confidently.

I had the strangest conversation with Vannie a couple of weeks later. Even though I had been talking to her irregularly, we really didn't have a lot new to talk about. I was keeping her up to date on Ben's project, while she would tell me about her latest product launch. Apparently her company had developed a new fragrance that was aimed directly at the drug store market. Mid-priced, but with her company's name as the manufacturer, it would help give it a cachet the other brands would lack. It sounded like she was going to be busy traveling for the next months introducing the new line.

I asked about Mariah and got a strange response.

"She's great. She's been going out to the social center a couple of times a week. I think she has a boyfriend, but she won't admit it yet. My strategy counselor helped me set it up."

"Strategy counselor? What the heck is that?"

She laughed. "Someone who is smarter than me. Nothing for you to worry about, Harry. Just a little plan she and I have hatched to see what we can do about Mama finding a man."

"Oh ... and who is this she?"

"Never mind. You'll find out in time. It's all part of the big picture," she giggled. She was clearly enjoying her mystery. It was good to hear her in such a good mood. It gave me some hope that we would be together sooner or later. I just didn't know when.

The weeks passed and I was concerned that we might be losing our advantage with the slow development of our plan. Ben and Charlie had narrowed the choice of resin manufactures down to two, Dupont being the most likely, with the little-known AmChemTech as the next best. Both had signed secrecy agreements, so we were secure with our information.

Winston had pretty much decided on Connie-Life as the best choice of lender. The Constitutional Life Insurance Corporation had all kinds of capital to invest, and were anxious to find some new opportunities to strengthen their portfolio. They too signed the secrecy agreement, as did Bank of the West, our potential backup financier. It gave us four solid choices to work with. While we didn't want more than one resin supplier to begin with, we didn't have any problem with syndicating the borrowing among two lenders.

There was little point in bringing in the lenders until we had secured a resin supplier, so their presentations took precedence. Charlie had taken my offhanded comments about being the spokesperson seriously and was keen to be the presenter, while Ben and Mike could back her up technically. Once again, I saw the enormous energy that Charlie put into this opportunity, and I felt sure it was contagious.

Our first resin supplier was Dupont, and they were suitably impressed. They had a team of six people, all men, to review the project and ask questions. On two occasions they asked to be excused to meet in private, but I felt it was easier for our four people to adjourn to my office and they could let us know when they were ready to proceed.

At the end of the discussion, they voiced their interest in the project, but would have to get formal approval from their senior management, if not their board on what they perceived to be a major development. I could see that dragging on for months, but kept my mouth shut until we had talked to their competitor. Dupont were a highly specialized producer, having exited the commodity end of the market almost twenty years earlier. This was just the type of development that would fit their objectives, I thought.

AmChemTech were next. They were an unusual collection of small, uncompetitive commodity resin companies that had been acquired and were gradually being remodeled as specialty units. Each plant had a specific product group, and all of their products were designed to be value-added and specialized. It was modeled after Dupont, in a way, but much more flexible and entrepreneurial.

Their response was crafted right in our board room. They wanted in, and they were prepared to back it up with resources and their own development team. It wasn't hard to make the decision. A brief discussion between one of the AmChemTech technical reps and Ben confirmed that they had what was needed to make the project go. Ben was delighted, especially after the dour response from Dupont. Charlie was literally bouncing in her chair.

I left them to chat among themselves and went back to my office. I was on a high, too. It was the first big step toward remaking Orient Pacific into something very special. I wasn't there long when Mike appeared at my door, and I motioned for him to come in.

"That was exciting," he said, shaking his head. "Can you see the difference between Dupont and these guys? They bought into the concept and started to think of ways to make it work, rather than look for ways to get permission. We'll have that alumina nanoparticle resin before Dupont can make a decision."

I smiled at Mike enthusiasm. "I think you're probably right. I know Ben is satisfied with what he's seen so far, but if it doesn't work out ... if they can't pull it off, then ... we've still got Dupont as back-up if they approve the project. I think that's what's called 'deep cover.'

Mike nodded. "Yeah. You're right. Let's not cut them off just yet. You never know with these development deals." He paused for a moment, then continued, "What are we going to do about the frame and the module size? We haven't addressed that yet."

"Over to you, Mike," I grinned. "You're the engineer. What do you need for resources?"

He looked at me for a moment, and then shrugged. "Well, to be honest, I need to do some homework, then I can tell you. I'd better get started on that." Mike had received permission for a leave of absence from his firm, starting at the beginning of the next month. In the back of my mind, I was hoping that it would be a permanent leave, if all went according to plan.

And so, the full process was under way. I was sitting in the outer office, having a tea and chatting with a couple of the staff when Mrs. Wong came out of her office. She motioned to me and I followed her back into her office, closing the door behind me.

"Mr. Yee Fung is very poor today, Harry. I talked to the nurse, and she said he was only barely conscious. I fear it won't be long now."

I breathed a deep sigh. I was glad I had made the effort to see him twice in the past two weeks. Each time he was weaker and less able to communicate. On my most recent visit last week, he was aware it was me, but little more. He didn't seem to be in much pain, and I assumed the nurse had made sure he was medicated to make him as comfortable as possible. He was determined to die in his own home, and not in some nameless hospital bed.

Mrs. Wong looked at me with a fixed stare. "Harry, you are the proper and natural leader of Orient Pacific. I have watched you carefully since you have returned, and I am confident that you will lead the company in the right direction. I have told you before, and I will repeat it again. You are so much like your late father. You give people an opportunity to succeed. They want to succeed both for themselves and to please you. That is a gift. You should prize that gift."

"You're the second person that's told me I have a gift," I mused. "Vannie's mother said I had a gift ... but I think she was talking about something different."

Mrs. Wong was smiling faintly as she nodded. We sat there for a few minutes, sipping our tea, talking about how close the family had become since I returned. It gave her pleasure to see the change in Charlie, and she was pleased that Mike wanted to be part of the group as well. Like me, she felt he could be an important contributor.

I was about to get up and leave when Mrs. Wong unexpectedly stood, her face a mask, and her eyes wide. "He has passed. Yee Fung Hong has left us," she said solemnly. "I felt him go." After a moment, she sat again and reached for the telephone, pressing in the familiar numbers. Her conversation was hushed and brief. The nurse confirmed her belief. Mr. Yee Fung was dead.

I walked out of the office and announced his passing to the staff in a quiet voice. There was genuine sadness among them. He was well liked and would be greatly missed. Now, only Mrs. Wong and my grandfather remained from the origins of the company. We were truly on our own.

My grandfather and grandmother never really knew Mr. Yee Fung. He had come into the business shortly after grandfather had retired and handed the reins to my father. They were acquainted, of course, but when my grandfather left, he really did leave all the day-to-day running of the business to my father. He had trained him well and he expected my father to succeed. It was a demonstration of faith and confidence that was not lost on my father. It gave him the courage to push the company in new directions, and with Mr. Yee Fung's help, prosper as they had never imagined.

And now, it was my turn, the third generation of Zhengs, and for the first time, all of the family would be involved. I felt an enormous responsibility to make sure I protected what Mr. Yee Fung, my father, and grandfather had created. There was a great opportunity in front of us, but it wouldn't be easy, and it wasn't guaranteed. I wondered if I was up to the challenge. What the hell, I was a marine biologist, not a businessman. Now I was thrust into this role, and I was being told it was my leadership the others were looking to.

As August approached, I was finding myself completely immersed in the running of the business. My crash course in finance with Winston was reduced to a weekly review that help keep me current and remind me of the important issues I should be paying attention to.

Ben and Charlie were reporting good progress with AmChemTech in developing the resin. Their first trial batch was scheduled for mid-August when a reactor would be available to run the special resin. Thousands of pounds would be created before compounding with the nanoparticle additive in preparation for the trial, but how much of it would be suitable for the trial was uncertain. It was a risk that our supplier acknowledged and entered into on their own. Both Ben and I felt we had found a good partner.

Dupont had finally responded, indicating they were interested, but unable to undertake any testing for at least three months due to other commitments. In addition, they wanted to discuss cost sharing before undertaking any trials. We were non-committal in our response. Again, we wanted to keep them as a safety supplier. It looked now as if it wouldn't be necessary, but we still hadn't proven AmChemTech's capability. No need to cut ties just yet.

Mike had developed several ideas on the outer casing of the panel. To begin with, he wanted to use anodized aluminum for maximum performance. His long-term goal was to replace metal with a non-conducting engineering extrusion, imbedded with an aluminum tape, or perhaps an aluminum coating; a much less costly alternative. For now, he had based all his design concepts and sizing on structural aluminum.

We had run out of room at the office, and Mike needed a place to work. There was an empty office one floor below us, so Winston and Mrs. Wong approached the owners about a short-term lease. We haggled a bit and ended up with a year. That made sense since Mike would be with us for at least a year, we thought.

Mike located a powerful computer, and loaded a familiar CAD program. We purchased a used plotter printer for his drawings. Mike was a fully qualified designer, and was soon rendering his proposed engineering drawings in three-dimension for our review. He had some great ideas for the outer casing, and his investigations had given him a pretty good idea of the range of sizes of the cell. We would begin with two sizes, each depending on the application.

I was getting antsy as the trial date approached. Ben and Charlie had virtually been living in Houston, the site of the AmChemTech plant. We had begun to spend money, and Winston and I had set up a separate accounting system for what would be known as "The Metzler Cell." It was an arbitrary decision to call Ben's invention after him, but it recognized he was the inventor/owner of the cell. The new company would be called OP Power, Inc., for the manufacture and distribution of the product.

I thought about flying down to Houston on the day of the trial, but I was told there would be nothing to see at that point other than some resin pellets. It would be the extrusion and conversion of those pellets that would tell the tale, and that would be done in Ben's laboratory in Emeryville. I would have to force myself to be patient until that happened.

I had been talking to Vannie more regularly, voicing my anxiousness about this first important step. She had been very supportive and remained upbeat about us, despite the fact that we hadn't been together since June. She was still traveling to introduce the new fragrances, and was hoping to get the introduction process over with soon. She had been doing "fairly well" by her account, but more than once said she wished I had been with her to improve her sales results. She was still convinced I was her lucky charm.

I had Jeannie helping me decorate my apartment on the weekends. All the walls and trim had been done by hired painters, although my sister chose all the colors. Now it was a matter of the finishing touches, and she seemed to know exactly what would look good. I turned the project over to her and she was delighted to take charge. I was going to have a very nice place to live when she was done, and I was pretty sure Vannie would agree.

The weather had been typical summer San Francisco, mostly sunny, with a bit of fog in the late afternoon. Statistically, August and September are the two sunniest months of the year, and this year was no exception. I was getting my exercise by walking the hills in my neighborhood, as well as day trips up the coast, or occasionally over the hills to Half Moon Bay.

I'd just gotten back to my condo one Sunday afternoon when there was a knock on my door. I opened it, doing a double-take I'm sure. There stood Vannie ... my Vannie. I was unable to say anything other than "Hi."

Vannie didn't bother responding. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me one of her soul-searing kisses. She finally unlocked my lips and leaned back with a beautiful big smile.

"Hi, stranger. How's my guy?"

"Amazed! You have caught me completely by surprise."

"I thought I would." She was enjoying my discombobulation.

"What are you doing here? Why didn't you call and let me know you were coming?"

"Oh, I just thought I might catch you with your new girlfriend," she snickered as she walked by me, inspecting the apartment as she went.

"You know better than that, Vannie." I wasn't trying to hide my irritation at the suggestion.

"Don't get all upset, Harry. I know you've been faithful. You don't have to explain anything to me. I was just having a bit of fun with you." She didn't sound apologetic. "By the way, I really like this apartment."

"You still haven't told me what you are doing in San Francisco. I assume it's work related?"

"Yes. We're just finishing up our introduction of the new fragrance. Tomorrow here, Wednesday in Los Angeles, and finishing up in Seattle on Friday. Then I get to relax for a few days. I thought you might be happy to have me as a diversion from your big project."

"Yeah ... absolutely. So, can you stay tonight?"

"Yup, tonight, tomorrow, and then I'm flying back from Seattle on Friday afternoon and you can have me for five days. How about that?"

"Fantastic!" It was too. It was exactly what I needed right now; a big dose of Vannie.