Chapter 203
After long discussions, we settled on an initial project budget of seventy million dollars. Gordon and I each contributed twenty-five million, JD and Henri added ten million each, and Caltech agreed to provide the facilities and infrastructure.
The intellectual property would be split accordingly: thirty percent to Caltech, ten percent to Henri, twenty-five percent to Gordon—who transferred his entire share to Paige—another twenty-five percent to me, and the remaining ten percent to JD.
In 2002, seventy million dollars for a research initiative was monumental, far beyond the average, even in comparison to national programs or DARPA-funded ventures.
It represented roughly twenty percent of Caltech's annual research budget or ten percent of Harvard's. But seventy million was a one-time investment. Depending on how the research progressed, additional funding could be added.
The scale of funding would be more than enough to attract some of the brightest minds in the field to work alongside Paige. Leslie would need to work hard to maintain her relevance among such talent.
---
Back in our house in Santa Monica, I was lying on the couch with Paige resting her head on my chest, quietly immersed in a book about materials science. The moment felt peaceful, grounded. Hard to believe that just two days ago I shook the country, and today I caused a silent quake in the field of materials physics.
Then Mom walked in, her smile wide as she saw the two of us.
"You heading out too, Mom?" I asked.
"Yes. Since my two jokers are going out, I figured I'd go out with Cam and Mitch," she said with a playful tone.
"So you're trading two jokers for two queens?" I replied, raising an eyebrow.
Judith stifled a laugh while Paige chuckled openly.
"Be nice, son," she said in that mock-stern way moms use when they're more amused than annoyed.
"You're the one that called me a joker," I said flatly.
She just shook her head and leaned down to kiss Paige's forehead.
"It's good you're so focused on something, sweetheart. But make sure you take care of yourself."
"I will, Aunt Judith," Paige said, hugging her.
"What about me?" I said with mock indignation. "Don't I get some love too?"
"You are a lost case," Mom replied with a smirk, then bent to kiss the top of my head.
"How could yo—" I began, but stopped short as my phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen and grinned. "I got a date tonight!"
Mom just looked at me, exasperated, and waved goodbye.
Paige turned to me, curiosity in her eyes. "Which one is it this time?"
"Her name is Lindsay Ellingson. She's good friends with Tasha—they're working together as models," I said, smirking. "She came to visit her parents in Moreno Valley and will be in Los Angeles from today—Tuesday—until Sunday. And Tasha didn't just suggest it. She basically pitched me as the perfect company."
"Tasha is such a nice girl," I added. She's probably one of the few girls I hooked up with who would so eagerly recommend me to a friend.
"Too bad I won't even get to meet her," Paige mocked. "I'll be at Caltech the whole week. I'm only coming back next Monday."
I waved her off playfully, doing the shooing motion with my hand, while texting Lindsay the name of the restaurant we'd be dining at.
Paige scoffed and began walking away, but after a few steps, she turned around. Her voice was softer now, sincere. "I don't know how to thank you."
I looked at her and smiled. "You don't. Just make sure to have fun. Always remember, the Nobel is just a result, not the goal."
She jumped at me and wrapped her arms around my head tightly.
"Just wait," she said into my ear. "I'll be walking by your side."
"So what if you become the best artist in the world? I'll be the most intelligent," she teased.
"Finally, you're becoming a cultured woman. You've read One Piece!"
That gave me another investment idea: One Piece! Basically, there's no official English translation of One Piece yet in the U.S. Paige had to read it on Toriyama's World — one of those fan translation sites (scanlations).
And I looked it up — Naruto hadn't even started anime production yet, let alone Bleach (which I hadn't read, but I know it became a huge hit).
In other words: The Golden Trio of Shonen Jump was just sitting there — completely untapped outside of Japan (even in Japan only One Piece has anime). Perfect timing to secure IP rights. And I can prevent what that piece of sh*t 4Kids did with One Piece.
Paige laughed, still hugging me.
"Now we should call the group and do the barrel scene," I proclaimed. "You know, where everyone declares their dreams."
"Laaame," Paige mocked, then added with a smirk, "The one every news outlet won't stop talking about..."
The Super Bowl hype was far from over (probably will keep going for days). CDs sales had exploded—especially mine.
"... it is a dork lame," she finished, grinning.
---
The next day, Cher, Regina, Carly, Sam, and I were having lunch together.
Freddie was eating with the group from Cara, Pippa, Ravi, and Lauren. The last two had started dating before the Super Bowl, which was one of the reasons Lauren hadn't been invited...
"Traitor," Sam murmured.
"So, Jake, I heard about your great feat yesterday," Cher said with a sly smile.
I looked at her. "Cher, you know I don't brag. Nor do I treat a girl like that... but yeah, Lindsay was a nice girl," I said, smirking.
Regina snorted.
Cher just rolled her eyes. Obviously, I knew she was talking about the graphene...
"We should bet how many days she'll last," Sam said in a teasing tone.
"Hey, that's mean, Sam," I admonished her. "And the answer is until Sunday, when she flies back to New York."
"So party Friday and Saturday?" Carly asked, smiling.
"We could do something more chill at my place, then to Jake's on Saturday and use the mini-club area," Regina offered.
"Can do," I nodded. The mini-club was a small section of the large venue being built since last year—it wouldn't be finished until July. It holds up to 120 people (expandable to other areas).
"We could invite the people filming with us, Regina," Cher suggested.
"Yeah, I was thinking that too," Regina nodded.
Mean Girls and Clueless had officially started shooting.
"Cool! We could do the same," Sam said, turning to Carly with a grin.