Smartystan

As the late spring day called for cookouts, the way that Dr. Frampton enjoyed her time away from her desk or the factory floor sipping wine and lighting a cigar. She knew this usually called for a man to do this, but she felt secure in her femininity. At the same time, she still brought home her assignments and agenda.

“Why don’t you put down that tablet?” her husband asked.

“In just a few. I’m looking at the markets in Europe right now. The synths are truly taking off in that part of the globe.”

“Of course.”

She peered at the various numbers that looked green abroad but red in the United States.

“Our sales have dropped thirteen percent in the last four months but gone up in Sweden, Germany, UK….”

“Listen, Hon’, you’re doing too much. Men and women fought for our ability to relax.”

“I still maintain they died for their own selfish freedom, our liberty was the bloody residue.”

“Alright, we’re not going to get anywhere. I’m going to tuck in the kids.” He leans and kissed her good night and enters their enormous mansion.

“How do I do this? How did the US trail so much in relation to other countries abroad?”

She then got a ring. Belinda.

“Hey, girl.”

“Hi,” Dr. Frampton replied.

“Let’s go out for drinks.”

“I’m sipping right now. Why don’t you come over here and we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“Bottom of what?”

“I’ll tell you when you get here.”

Belinda trekked over to her friend and business partner’s awesome house. Once she arrived, Dr. Frampton heard the click of Belinda’s stiletto heels.

“Look at this.”

“I know. We’re experiencing higher sales in Asia. America has remained stagnant for the most part. Do you have any wine?”

A synth offered Belinda a wine list.

“The Gardener's White, please. Thanks.”

“Absolutely, Miss Gummer.”

“We can talk numbers or we can talk numbers. With a merger, we can certainly create an even bigger company, but we’re going to have to remember what the market is.”

Belinda sipped. “This is true. All we have to do is sign a single document and we’re ready to take that dance and make even more billions,” she replied.

Dr. Frampton looked at her watch. The long hand edged towards the twelve and the short hand stayed on the eleven.

“If we are able to consider taking UltraMinds and SuperSynths to the WiSE, we’re going to need to recognize our powers.”

“When two powerhouse women get together on anything we’re going to attract the hate and ire of not men, but other women.”

“Facts to be told. There is nothing as vicious as another bitch hating two ladies who want to elevate.” The both of them clinked glasses at this remark and grinned.

“I just don’t understand how they could look at us with such an abhorrent eye,” Dr. Frampton announced.

“I do. I’ve been doing this since I said no to a cap and gown in my high school. I found a library and read everything I could about mechanics and physics. I graduated under the tutelage of a library card. So, when I go to these summits and everyone’s carrying around their masters and doctorates, the one I met you at I knew you had just earned your post doctorate. You were the only one who talked to me.”

“I remember. You were just as green as a conifer. I knew you had started your company and you were fledgling. That’s the way I had to get to you and say, ‘Hey!’ I knew just that much.”

“That’s what we’re fighting today. We’re making ourselves better comprehend the reality of who we are. Your intelligence is not in degrees. Your virtue is not in degrees. You just happened to be there and I saw your entire potential.”

Belinda lifted her head almost in salute to what Dr. Frampton had just mentioned.

“I am indebted to you, though. These problems we’re facing now are nothing to what we were when we first started. You didn’t give a damn about skin color or anything like that. You cared about brains and morality. With us forming a country-state, it was always about the next excursion that we might know of in particular.”

“That’s the method in which we have to use in order to bring about the truth.”

“That truth,” Belinda replied, “rests on ability, yes but also morality. The aptitude tests are still about testing whatever gifts people may possess and also their morals. That’s the connection that we have to express as well.”

“You speak more facts,” Dr. Frampton added. “What we’re going to do is couple up our firms and begin down a trail of greatness.”

The cool breeze of the night allowed them to remain outdoors and the cigar smoke and the scent of the alcoholic beverages brought about the idea of success. In a land that had been identified by the excellence of their righteous behavior permitted them to keep going. They sat in silence for a few moments. Each thought just bubbled in their minds and they could probably tell what the other was thinking but ne'er expressed it. There seemed to be an electricity in the air that was not a thunderstorm but a synergy that remained between both women. For all the years they had spent together, they had their own sense of knowing when to be quiet and when to speak. Then, Belinda burst out laughing.

Dr. Frampton looked at Belinda knowingly. She knew why she had given such a hearty bit of laughter. Dr. Frampton pulled from her cigar and sipped more whiskey. The smooth and smoky cinnamon infused cigar and the earthy, nutty finish of the whiskey gave her a slight jolt to better feel the lateness of the evening.

Belinda sat down her glass and rose to her feet. “You’re excellent. Thank you again, Keij’. I needed that. Tuesday we make the merger final.”

“Yes.”