Eternal Sunshine

Dangerous Woman

Elon could hardly believe his luck. Surely this was a simulation, a dream, or a sweet escape of cosmic proportions. He did not think of himself as lucky, although he deeply wished he could hold such an awesome superpower.

But no, he was not lucky to have the childhood he had; that had been brutal. He was not lucky to have the mind that he did; there was no peace, just relentless thoughts and ideas that never stopped. He was not lucky to have successful companies; he had suffered through numerous 120-hour work weeks and risked his health. No, he was not a lucky man.

But as he walked with Ariana Grande on his arm...well, he had to reconsider that statement. For he truly felt lucky. She seemed interested in him. Maybe. God, he hoped so. He knew he wasn't great at picking up social cues, but her flirty manner and lingering touch had to mean something.

She was his type. Intoxicating mix of sweet and sultry. Femininity at its peak, encompassing seemingly contrasting qualities in a blend that made his head spin. She was beautiful, of course, but it was more than that. She was talented and complicated and a mystery. A beautiful star who burst into his life. He couldn't help but to be drawn to her.

After his burst of anger he had worried that he had blown any chance he had with her. This was a woman with her own money and influence. She had her own career, which surely held its fair share of frustrations, but she probably didn't blow up at other people. Elon had many women leaders in his companies, and he had observed time and again how much better they were at dealing with people. Not like him. His volatile nature could light a fire under his employees to meet deadlines, but it did not endear people to him. Especially not women.

Elon thought about other times he had let his anger get the better of him. Times he had berated colleagues, employees or business associates. In those moments he would watch their eyes dart around the room as though planning an escape route in case he went nuts on them. He knew he had a temper. It was an unfortunate inheritance from his awful father. That thought was like a punch to the gut.

He hated to think too deeply about how much of his father was in him. His father's rage was brutal and often turned physical. Elon often fought his partners, but he had never ever gotten physical. There are some lines you cannot cross. And certainly hitting your wife or your small child was the type of depravity that characterized his father. But people could assume it was the same with him.

Ariana did not. She had seen the fire in his eyes, and instead of running she approached him. She had not been afraid. Was she simply curious or did she recognize something in him that she understood? She was intriguing. A force of nature. And so small. She could make you think she was a delicate, fragile thing, but no. She was strong. Hypnotic. He was pulled in. He knew that in itself was problematic. He was weak for beautiful women. So often a fool. And this gorgeous woman on his arm could pull him under. A dangerous woman. But he just couldn't help himself.

Elon liked to take risks. Calculated risks. People thought he was reckless, but he was not. He may be impulsive, yes, but not reckless. The problem was calculating risk was so much easier when you were talking machines, robotics, engines and rockets. Physics was simply applied mathematics and often produced a quantifiable percent of success or failure.

Elon could not only calculate mathematics very quickly, but he also had a gut feel for the answer even before he arrived at the solution. People were much more complex. Throw people into the equation and suddenly risk was almost impossible to calculate. That was the difference between SpaceX and X. People – the unknown variable. So much easier to make a reusable rocket. People were hard.

Elon glanced down at Ariana. Her tiny arm was holding onto him. She was so dainty and petite. He felt large and lumbering beside her. A shadow of doubt crossed his mind. Maybe she hadn't been flirting earlier. Maybe she was just very touchy feely. A quality he sorely lacked, but felt compelled to mirror when she was close to him. Pulled in like a magnet. He thought again how dangerous it would be to get too carried away with her. It was just supposed to be a factory tour right? Now they were heading to lunch. Where else would this lead?