‘I don’t know what I thought. A hundred million dollars. That was like … Is this serious? Is this for us? Tell me the truth. Were you tempted? You must have been tempted.’
Andrei shrugged.
‘I bet you were!’
‘A little.’
Ben laughed. He sucked on his beer, then he put it down. ‘That was before Chris came along.’
‘Yeah,’ said Andrei. ‘That was before him.’
‘You know, about Chris – you should watch out.’
Andrei looked at Ben. ‘What does that mean?’
‘I just want to be honest with you. As a friend, someone has to tell you. I don’t know if he has the same vision you have, Andrei. Fishbowl’s yours, not his. You built it to what it is. Just remember that.’
‘Is this about Farming again?’
‘It’s about lots of things. He’s not … he’s not serious.’
‘Chris? What are you talking about? Do you know how much time he’s put into this?’
‘That’s not what I mean. It’s a game. Everything’s a game to him.’
‘Look, Chris has his faults. OK? I know that. I don’t think of him like I used to. I used to be a little in awe of him. Not any more.’
‘You should think about whether he’s the right kind of person to be involved.’
‘He has a lot to offer, Ben. He shares more of my vision than you think. And he isn’t leaving.’
There was silence.
‘I’m just saying—’
‘Don’t go! Look, Ben, don’t leave now. Please. Something’s about to start. Something totally awesome. I want you to stay and be part of it.’
Ben waited for Andrei to tell him more, but he didn’t.
‘What is it?’ asked Ben eventually. ‘What would I do?’
‘You can’t leave now. I’ll give you a team. I’ll talk to Jenn. We’ll make sure everyone knows exactly what you do.’
‘What’s this amazing thing you’re talking about?’
‘It’s an idea Chris and I have been thinking about.’
‘Chris and you?’
‘We still haven’t got it all worked out, but we’re pretty close.’
Ben waited again to hear what it was.
‘Look, don’t leave, Ben. You’ll regret it. Just wait. The ride’s not over. It’s only beginning. At least think about it. Will you think about it?’
‘I have thought about it.’
‘Think about it some more. Let’s talk about it again.’
‘Tell me what this thing is you’re thinking about.’
Andrei hesitated. ‘I will. I promise.’
Conversations between Andrei and Ben continued for the next few weeks, but Ben couldn’t be persuaded to change his mind and Andrei, for some reason, didn’t reveal the big idea he had hinted at. When Ben asked Kevin if he knew what it was, Kevin claimed that he didn’t.
Eventually, Andrei grew reconciled to the prospect of Ben’s departure. He tried to accept that becoming a therapist was more important to Ben – at least at this point in his life – than continuing at Fishbowl. The night before Ben left, Andrei went with him and Kevin for one last meal at Yao’s. Lopez served them, just like in the old days, and when Tony Yao heard that Ben was leaving, he came out of the kitchen to say goodbye. Andrei had his usual noodles, but he didn’t have much of an appetite. It was the passing of an era.
The next day Ben was gone.
Within a week Andrei had sat down with Kevin and Jenn McGrealy to let them in on the big idea that he and Chris had been hatching.
33
THE IDEA HAD germinated early in Chris’s mind, even before he flew to Palo Alto to propose the first experiments in Farming. At that point the notion was barely formed, embryonic, but if it hadn’t been in his head in some shape, he wouldn’t have bothered with the experiments. On Andrei’s side, the idea occurred to him later, as the experiments neared their end and he began to focus on the possibilities they opened up – and also the limitations.
For both of them, Farming, in the form in which it had been put into practice in the Fish Farm, was a sideshow. It was labour intensive, requiring a highly skilled, emotionally intelligent sales person to spend his or her time behind a palotl, developing and working a network in order to encourage awareness of a particular brand. Any one person could manage only five or six palotls at a time, so the model would only ever work for high-value items, for which each individual sale generated a substantial revenue. If that was all that could have been achieved with Farming, neither of them would have thought it was