"Lucas!" Jim's voice was sharp, and angry, ripping Lucas out of his daydreaming.
"Yeah, Jim, whaddaya need?" Lucas asked, rubbing his eyes.
"I need you to goddamn listen when I'm talking you! Where were you just now?"
"Ah, just reminiscing." Lucas said, trying to dodge the question.
"About?"
"Nothing. What did I miss, Jim?"
Jim sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I'm saying I'm not entirely sure we can keep up with the demand of both the LEO market and the civilian market with the equipment we have, so I brought in more people and supplies."
"Good, Jim, real good. So what's the problem?"
"Well, we still might not have enough profit to justify the costs. We're gonna have to raise the price for the LEOs."
"They already paid us, Jim, I'm not gonna go to Uncle Sam and say, 'hey, we need more money to make sure your troops can all get a rifle that can increase their chances of survival, even though you've already paid us an agreed-upon price'".
"Then we have to raise the MSRP." Jim said.
"That's even worse!" Lucas said, raising his voice.
"Lucas, we have to get the money somewhere!"
"Fuck, Jim, I'm not the one who brought in excess people and equipment! Why don't you do your job and deal with it?"
Jim shook his head, exasperated.
"God dammit, Lucas... If it weren't for me, you'd run this company into the ground. You just remember that!"
He stormed off.
Lucas watched him leave, and felt a pang of guilt. Jim was right, it was only because of him that the company was still afloat. But he couldn't raise the price after he had sold a product.
He sighed, and tried to stay optimistic. Maybe things would pick up tonight.