This, That, and the Other

“Show me the money, dammit!” Jake yelled at his lawyer.

“Well, here’s the problem,” Calvin said. “You never applied for a copyright on your design, so even though you claim it was a uniquely original design, someone else applied for and received a patent from the U.S. Patent Office. Do you remember when I told you that you needed to copyright your design. Why did you decide not to do that?”

Jake’s face took on a waxy appearance. He gave his lawyer a quizzical look. “What the fuck, Calvin? I thought when we discussed this you said you were going to take care of all of that legal and administrative crap, like copyright or patent applications or whatever. I’m out millions because you screwed up.

“Calm down, Jake. You’re acting a bit emotively,” Calvin said. “Fortunately I recorded our conversation. You remember, right? I told you to send me your technical drawings and detailed specifications. But you never did, even after I reminded you several times. I figured you changed your mind. Now it’s too late, Jake, and there’s no money to show you. By the way, you’ll get my bill in the morning.”

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Written for Roger Shipp’s Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner. Photo credit: Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash. Also for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (copyright), My Vivid Blog (original), The Daily Spur (decide), Ragtag Daily Prompt (waxy), Word of the Day Challenge (quizzical), and E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (emotive).