The Christmas period was very quiet for me. That was a godsend as the last few days of the old company were pretty hectic, so a few days of chilling out in front of the TV, eating and sleeping was very welcome.

That was very much the calm before the storm. With the new year fast approaching and my batteries recharged, I packed my bags and headed for the airport on the 27th. A neighbour took me to Manchester Airport in good time for my flight to New York with a connection to Austin and a day later to Las Vegas.

It was time to launch the new company along with a new and improved home thermostat. The redundancies that Austin had imposed on us in late 2019 had been a blessing in disguise, but no one should tell the bozos in Austin that. Even if someone did shout it from the roof of the HQ building, they would never believe what had happened since then.

The people they selected to be ‘let go’ included the entire R&D team. Despite my protestations, they were not going to alter their decision.

The day before they all left the company, the R&D team, the trade union reps, myself, our local legal representatives and accountants held a meeting at one of those ‘rent an office by the day’ places not far from the M6 at Preston, to discuss a possible alternative future for us all.

All of us were clear from the outset that the future of the company, as it stood, was pretty bleak and that these redundancies were just the first step. I stood up and proposed a solution that could provide a long-term future for all of us.

The outcome of the meeting was that we formed a new company to develop a new product that the R&D team had been tossing around verbally for a few weeks. That was important. As nothing had been written down then, none of the ideas could be regarded as intellectual property of the Austin company.

One other decision was that because the R&D team owned the patents for the current range of devices that we were making, they would grant the Austin company a 3-year exclusive license to sell devices containing those patents that would run from the end of 2019. That would give the R&D team time to fully develop the new product using the income from the patents as part of their funding.

The arrival of COVID on the scene had proven to be very beneficial to the development effort. Thanks to the UK Government aid packages, we were able to keep everyone employed and receiving some income. Once COVID was over, we went back to full production and were making more profit than we had forecast to the people in Austin. Demand for our products remained high, and even after upping the profit forecasts that we sent to HQ in Austin, they refused to give us anything in return.

The works committee and I saw that as a sign that, in time, we were for the chop, so we decided to plan for that eventuality.

Things went on as usual until Austin decided to pull the plug on the entire UK operation from the end of 2022… The arrival of Casey had been the trigger that we'd been waiting for.

That very much forced our hand. Although the product development was done and the device was being prepared for volume production, we were still three to four months from being ready to sell. The last hurdles were the various product certifications.

There were four more products in various stages of development, which pleased me. We could not afford to be a one-product company in the future.

Once Casey had arrived on the scene and had shown us what Austin was planning, we decided to show the new system at the forthcoming CES show in Las Vegas. We were in luck when another company pulled out at the last minute. We had a booth. All that remained was for us to get the signage and everything else in place for the opening day.

Five of the team from the shop floor worked on the project every afternoon once we’d sent Gabe packing. Three days before we officially closed, we air-freighted all our signage and flyers to Vegas. Technically, the people in Austin were paying for it, but by the time they got the bill, the UK company would be defunct.

On my way to Vegas, it would be down to me to hand deliver a 'Cease and Desist' letter to the company HQ in Austin. The patent owners were formally revoking the license to sell devices with those patents. We'd engaged a firm of patent attorneys from Marshall, Texas, which is a renowned hot spot for patent violation cases, to handle the inevitable countersuit that Austin would file.

The R&D team had flown to Vegas the previous day to set up the booth and prepare for the show, which was due to start the following Monday.

While I waited for my flight to the USA, I mentally reviewed what had happened in the past few weeks. Casey was still there in my thoughts even if we had not parted on good terms. Apart from her wanting to dominate me, I had to resist telling her anything about the secret operation that was going on in the next Mill building to our old home and our plans for the future. While she suspected that we had a plan, I declined to confirm it before she went home. It had been hard but was necessary.

I had to put her out of my mind for the next ten to twelve days. Making an impact at the CES show was more important than my love life.

Casey had guessed from our preparedness that something was going on, but thankfully, she wasn't in the UK long enough to undertake any worthwhile investigation. Even if she did find out about our deception, legally, the people in Austin did not have a leg to stand on if they decided to challenge the ownership of the new device. It had been carried out by a separate company. All that secrecy was about to come to an end with the launch of our new device at the show in Vegas.

The flight to Kennedy was full to bursting with people going home after Christmas or travelling for New Year. I was seated near a family with four kids who made so much noise that even over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones could not keep out. I tried dozing, but my thoughts kept returning to Casey. For the love of me, I could not decide what it was that she wanted from me. The many possible answers ranged from humiliation to industrial espionage to wanting to love me and everything in between.

The worst possibility was that she was still in the employ of the people from Austin, and they'd somehow gotten wind of our plans. We'd been lucky so far. I was certain that part of the media would love to rip our plans apart just for the hell of it. I had a responsibility to more than sixty families, and I was going to do my best to honour the commitment I'd made to them when we embarked on this enterprise in 2019. The products that we were going to show in Vegas had been funded by them even through COVID. Everyone in the company had pitched in a little cash every week to fund the product development. They all owned it, not me, not the two engineers who had their names on the patents that had been applied for the day after the closure notice was given to us. That responsibility made even connecting up with Casey before the CES show a very unwise thing.

JFK Airport was as scummy as usual. As I was seated near the rear of the Boeing 777, I was just about last to disembark, and the queues at Immigration were as slow as ever. I finally collected my bag from the carousel just over two hours after landing. I went to the nearby airline check-in desk and tried to get rid of it again.

After almost five minutes of frantic key tapping, the agent printed off a new bag tag. Despite already having a boarding card, she grabbed it from me and tore it up. A new one was printed, to which she stuck the receipt for the bag tag and gave me a plastic smile as she returned it to me.

I nearly swore at her. I’d been moved from seat 16C to 37H, right at the rear of the plane again. The joys of travelling alone in cattle class…

It was already dark when I took the shuttle bus from the airport terminal in Austin to the car rental lot. After another hour in the queue to get a car, I was feeling knackered. My body was screaming at me… go to sleep… now.

Somehow, I managed to avoid paying for all sorts of extras and, after half an hour, walked to my car. At least I would not have to do this again in Vegas. As we were exhibitors, we'd managed to secure rooms at the Holiday Inn, which is right next to the conference centre.

My hotel was about five miles from the airport and close to the company offices. I didn’t even bother to get undressed. I dumped my bag on the floor, took off my coat and shoes and went to bed.

I think that I experienced what is known as the ‘sleep of the dead’ that night. I slept for eleven hours solid, which was a record for me. After a shower and a change of clothes, I went in search of some food.

It didn’t take long to discover that I’d missed breakfast. Unless I ordered room service, there would be nothing available at the hotel until lunchtime. That would not do. So I headed back to my room and packed. That took all of one minute. Checking out took twenty minutes because the couple in front of me argued the toss over every item on their bill. Then, their credit card was declined.

After checking out of the hotel, I stopped at a nearby coffee shop for a latte and a Danish pastry. That would have to do until later. Then, I drove towards the head offices of the company that I worked for until the end of the working day in the UK. That would be at 11:00 local time.

My badge was examined by the security guard at the entrance to the parking lot. That was a new feature to me. The last time I visited Head Office, the lot was open to everyone.

“I’m the CEO of the UK Operation,” I said calmly.

He smiled and returned the badge to me.
“Do you know where you are going?”

“I do. I was last here in 2019.”

“That was before my time.”

He let me into the parking lot. Step one is completed. Only the ‘jobsworth’ on reception to go.

I did know where I was going. I’d been in the office of the Chief Counsel when I was told the extent of the lay-offs in the UK. The receptionist checked something and found my name on the list of employees. I nearly told her that her list would be useless in an hour or so, but I resisted the temptation.

I took the lift up to the 4th floor and walked along the corridor to the office. I had to hope that he wasn't off for the holidays. His allocated parking space was occupied by a top-of-the-range Mercedes S Class. I had hopes, but…

I opened the door to the outer office. It was empty, but I could hear a male voice coming from the inner office. It sounded like the owner was on the phone.

After taking a deep breath, I pulled the envelope containing the legal ‘cease and desist’ letter and walked into the inner sanctum.

He saw me and looked surprised but carried on talking to someone on the phone. It was about a problem at the production facility in China.

Finally, he said,
“I have to go. There is someone here to see me. Get the problems resolved by the second, or else!”

“How can I help you, and who are you?”

“I’m Lucas Beatty.”
I looked at my watch.
“For the next few minutes, I am still employed as the boss of the UK production operation.”

“I remember you now. What are you doing here?”

“I am here to give you this legal document.”

I put the envelope down on his desk and swiftly took a photo of him with the envelope.

“Does that photo mean that I have been served?”

“It does.”
The alarm on my watch went off. It was 11:00.

"As I am now officially not employed by your company, I am informing you that the documents contained in that envelope are related to the patents that are held by the former UK Design Team that you laid off in 2019. They granted you, as in this company, the rights to sell the devices that contained that patented technology until the last working day of 2022. This is that very day, and as the license was signed under UK law, you, sir, are out of time, but I'm not here to quibble about a few hours. You are hereby prohibited from shipping and selling any more devices that contain that technology. If you do, a firm of patent attorneys based in Marshall, in this fine state of Texas, will haul your fat ass into court and take you to the cleaners.”

I took a breath and continued.
“Furthermore, the owners of those patents have instructed me to inform you that because your company decided to close the profitable UK site that I was the MD of until just now, they will not negotiate any extension to the license for all the tea in China. Do I make myself clear?”

“Perfectly. I will have to get my legal people to go through these documents.”

“As is your right. They were prepared by an Attorney in DC who has spent 20 years dealing with patent contracts. They will be in order. His contact details are in the envelope, as are the details of our Patent Lawyers in Marshall.”

He fingered the envelope as if it contained something very delicate.
“Please answer my question?”

“If I can, I will.”

“Why not just send a process server to do this?”

I smiled.
“Call it personal vanity if you like. You and your overpaid fuckwits here on the ‘C’ level screwed us over in 2019 by firing the whole of our R&D Team. Then you screwed all the workers last November by closing us down despite us making record profits. Was it so that you could buy a new yacht or something? Anyway, we, as in the former employees, are starting again with a brand-new line of thermostats. These have been developed by the same R&D team that you told to fuck off in 2019. If it interests you, you can come to Vegas and the CES show next week to see the world premiere of the new devices. These have been entirely developed by the people you laid off in 2019. Ironic, isn't it? If you and your ilk had not fucked us up, then they could have been your brand-new product line."

I didn’t wait for an answer but left him to fume if his reddening face was anything to go by.

Once I’d handed my car back, I went into the terminal only to find that my flight from Austin to Vegas was cancelled. For some reason, the travel agent had booked me on Southwest Airlines and due to the weather and an almost total IT Systems failure, their operation was in chaos. No, make that total chaos. Hundreds of people were milling around trying to find out when they could get a flight to somewhere or anywhere that would eventually allow them to get home before Presidents Day, 2024.

None of the rental companies had a car, so I was more or less trapped in Austin for god knows how long.

More out of frustration than anything, I took the bus downtown. As we passed several used car lots, I had an idea. I would try to buy a car, but first, I needed cash and lots of it. Thankfully, my travel credit card had a lot of dollars in the account. This was supposed to be used to pay for our hotel rooms in Vegas. The words… 'needs must' came into my mind.

As the bus slowed for the next stop, I made the decision… I would buy a car.

I found a bank and drew almost all of the credit on the card as cash. Then I hailed a Taxi. If anyone in this city knew where I could obtain a car that would get me to Vegas, then it would be a Taxi driver.

I lucked out with the first driver. He could hardly speak any English, so I switched cabs. This driver was more helpful. Less than ten minutes later, my cad arrived at ‘Mort’s Used Car Lot’.

“Mort will give you a good deal. If he does not, call me, and I’ll sort him out as I’m his older brother.”
“Thanks, Dave. Will you hang around while he tries to rip me off?”

“Sure. Why not. I’m due a break.”

Together, we went into the office.
“Bro! shouted a man who was probably Mort.”

“This guy needs to get to Vegas for the CES show. He needs a car that will get him there. I thought of you. Southwest has canned all their flights, so…?”

Half an hour later, I drove off the lot in an aged Toyota Camry and a thousand dollars lighter. Mort, at the insistence of his brother, had essentially rented me the car. I had a copy of the title and Mort's insurance details, so I was legal. All I had to do was return it after the CES show. I gritted my teeth and put Las Vegas, NV, into my phone.
“How far?” I exclaimed when I saw the mileage. 1300 miles each way!”

I shook my head and headed for the nearest Gas Station. Before leaving Austin, I found a supermarket. I would need some supplies, and from previous experiences of driving long distances in the USA, I knew that gas station food was not going to cut it. I included a good supply of water in my provisions and set off on my trip. The route to Vegas was not hard. I-10 all the way to Phoenix and then Route 93 via Kingman to Vegas. Sounded so simple but daunting.

I made it to El Paso that night, and luckily, I found a motel with a free room on my second attempt. There was a Tex-Mex fast food place next door, which filled my stomach without draining my wallet. My team were understanding about the travel problems. Thankfully, they had everything under control and ready for the press day on Sunday. I reminded them to keep the new devices under lock and key until the opening. The last thing that we needed was for the devices to be stolen before the show.

I made an early start the next morning. I’d covered less than half the distance, but I felt confident that I would make it to Vegas that evening.

What I hadn’t thought about was the lunchtime traffic in Phoenix and a series of construction delays. Nevertheless, I made it to Vegas just before 8:30 pm. I'd been on the road for 12 hours and was knackered.

After checking in, I headed for the bar, where I found my team. Instead of being happy to see me, they immediately took me to a quiet place near the entrance to the exhibition centre.

“Boss,” said Dave Mace, the software designer.
“She’s here.”

“Who?”
“The woman who came to close us down in November. I saw her going into the ladies this afternoon.”

I felt as if all the blood had been drained out of my body.

“Fuck,” I said under my breath.

“Some people from Austin have been poking around. They have a stand in the next hall to us,” said his brother Tony, who was the test engineer.
“I did some snooping, and I think that they are or were going to show a new version of the old device.”

My day had just gone from bad to worse.

“We could make a scene when they announce? You know, claim patent violations?” suggested Tony.

“We’ll do no such thing,” I said sternly.
“We have no proof. The main objective is to promote our baby, not to slag off the competition.”

I added.
“Understood? While we will not make a scene, we will visit their stand, and if they are doing what we think they are, we will gather evidence for our attorneys in Texas. Softly, softly is the order of the day. When you do visit them, have your phones out and ready. A photo is worth a thousand words and all that.”

No one disagreed with my plan.

"Good. Tomorrow, half of you should take the morning off and half the afternoon. See the sights if you want to, that is?"

“What will you be doing, Boss?” asked Dave.
He was the only one who called me ‘boss’.

“I will be getting the lie of the land and doing a bit of management-level snooping, so keep up the good work, and we’ll come out on top.”

No one had anything else to say, so I said,
“I’m going to bed. Driving the thirteen hundred miles from Austin is not my idea of fun. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
I dropped a $50 bill on the table. I hoped that it would pay for at least some of their drinks that night.

I don't know what time it was that I finally dropped off to sleep, but it was well past midnight. The fact that she was here and probably still working for the old company made my decision easy. Even so, that woman had gotten to me big-time.

Just before 8 am, I got myself a table for breakfast. I was famished, so I had ‘the works’. The stack of pancakes and syrup defeated me, but I was ready for the day ahead. Feeling good about myself and the world didn't last long.

I'd just finished eating when I smelt her. Her perfume was… was both alluring and very distinctive.

“Hello, Casey. Not nice to see you again!” I said without even looking up.
[to be continued]