Chapter Eight

Tony Kane never had anything handed to him from an early age he had to learn how to make things work and that was a key reason for how successful he was in the tech space. Many often wondered why he opted for Meditech and the 34 year old till date had never opened up to the general public that his mother falling ill and suffering from a sickness they could not detect in the early stages had influenced his decision. 

He was an enigma many people tried to understand and the fact that his circle of friends was small and he lived a private life made him more fascinating than he would have ever wanted to be. 

Tony never grew up in New York, he moved from a small town in Ohio to New York when he realised in order for him to achieve the goals he set from himself he had to leave his comfort zone. 

He was born a genius as his teachers in high school often told his mother who had worked as a nurse to send him to school as an only child. She never failed to mention how proud she was of him as a person and how much he had accomplished as well. 

His mother falling ill was not something they had both planned for and due to the fact that the symptoms could not be detected early and the fact that she struggled with paying for the treatment, Tony vowed to provide an alternative for people who could not afford the expensive healthcare in future. 

Her death rocked his world and left him devasted, he was forced to live with his grand parents till he was old enough to find his way. He never bothered to know who is father was, his mother never mentioned him and he also never cared to ask because he knew if his father had even cared about him in any way he would have found his way to him.

Despite her medical knowledge and connections in healthcare, Sarah faced impossible choices when they had discovered that she had stage three lung cancer. The recommended treatment which involved the use of radiation technology alongside drugs to crumb the growth and wide spread of the cancer pathogens it self would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Their insurance covered only a fraction of the treatment, and even with payment plans, the family couldn't afford the full spectrum of care, it was obvious that they would be embroiled in debt to be able to afford her treatment. Tony watched his mother ration her pain medication and skip recommended treatments to save money, he did not fully understand the repercussions of that and how it compounded the situation until later.

During her final months, Sarah used telemedicine services to consult with specialists, finding them more affordable than in-person visits, these consultations had been done via phone calls and it cost lesser than what hospitals charged for the same service. But there was little to what could be done as it also became obvious that the knowledge of the consultants were also limited in some ways. 

Tony observed how technology, while imperfect, provided his mother some access to care they otherwise couldn't afford. He spent hours beside her hospital bed, when she was forced to go to the hospital when her condition deteriorated, watching her vital signs on monitors, learning about her medication schedules through the internet in a bid to be eduacted enough to provide the much needed support as well as a helping hand in her navigation patient portals.

After Sarah passed away, Tony who was out of tears and anger zoned in and channeled his grief and frustration into purpose one he vowed not to stop til he accomplished. In high school, he taught himself programming, creating a simple app to help patients track their medication costs across different pharmacies. At Ohio State University, he studied biomedical engineering and computer science, driven by memories of his mother's struggle.

He got a scholarship which saw him through university. Tony always wondered if an app that offers its users diagnosis for a minimal amount based on the symptoms they provide can be developed and he got his answer when he came across software technology. 

This reshaped his school of thought as he strived to develop the first app that served this purpose. It had been difficult to get funding because capitalists often found it difficult to sponsor a project that could hinder possible future revenue but a breakthrough had come at one of the galas he sneakily attended where he met Anna who had talked her father into investing into his idea.

From that moment on Tony became indebted to her even though she stated that it never did matter. He was shocked when she placed a call to him and requested that he listened to a proposal a friend of hers had about the marketing strategy their new product should adopt. 

And here he was with the beautiful Sarah Chen. He didn't have any idea that the friend in question had been the recently divorced Sarah Chen. Her divorce from her husband Marcus had dominated the headlines a few months prior and Tony never considered Marcus as a man worthy enough to have her as his wife. 

He had no plans of alarming her by letting her know that he knew who she was, he ould recognise that she was working and striving to take full control of her life and he was in no way going to stop that from happening.

"I've seen your market presence or i would rather say, the lack of it," she countered, matching his stride as they made their way into the coffee shop.

Sarah struggled to catch up whilst still trying to convince him to give her a chance to present her ideas. "Brilliant technology means nothing if nobody knows about it." She emphasised as she tried to catch up with his long strides. 

It was no surprise Tony was fast-paced on the move, Standing at 6 foot 4, his long legs gave him an edge or the grace to move faster than Sarah could ever do in her 5-foot height with relatively short legs. Sarah could not help but roll her eyes and wonder why the man had been in such a hurry to get to a coffee shop that was in the same building as his office, she however understood the reason for him moving so fast when they approached the coffee shop counter.

The coffee shop was crowded, but Tony led them to what was clearly his regular table in the corner. As she sat down his eyes crinkled at her obvious discomfort of having many people around. 

It was as if Sarah was trying to avoid people at all cost and prevent them from recognising who she was and what she had done. As they settled in, the initial spark of attraction gave way to a heated debate about marketing approaches. Tony had strong opinions about maintaining MediTech's image as a serious medical technology company, even though this was a start-up, Sarah was impressed by his passion for his business and his knowledge of how he felt this brand should be portrayed when advertising.

"We're not selling sneakers or smartphones," he argued, leaning forward intensely. "We're developing AI that could save lives." He explained how important this project was to him as a person and from the way he spoke Sarah realised that this seems to be a rather personal project for the man who sat in front of her. 

She could not resists the urge to show the slides she had prepared to back her points as the server approached their table to find out what their coffee order would be for the day. Sarah was still struggling to explain when Tony gestured at her to respond to the waiter and share what type of coffee she would prefer. 

Tony saw himself also being fascinated as to how she liked her coffee and he was not disappointed when she requested for an iced americano with lots of sugar in her own words. He could not help but smile discovering she had a sweet tooth and requested for pastries for them both with his expresso order as well.

Sarah met his gaze unflinchingly. "And how many lives aren't being saved because hospitals don't know about your technology? You're so focused on the scientific reputation that you've forgotten about reaching the people who actually make purchasing decisions."

Tony was not ready to tell Sarah off that the target audience for his technology were not hospitals but people who can't afford to go to hospitals he was so intrigued by how much she knew and was impressed with her passion to marketing.

Their coffee grew cold as they battled over marketing philosophies. Every time Sarah made a point, Tony countered it, but she noticed how his eyes lit up when she challenged his assumptions, Tony had clearly done his research and knew what he wanted in terms of branding and advertising, Sarah was beginning to wonder if this was the reason his establishment had not hired a company to handle it till date.

Tony was looking like a very hard man to please as the conversations proceeded. The tension between them crackled with something that wasn't entirely professional disagreement. Sarah chose to ignore that aspect of their meeting at least for now till she got the job, she was not sure she was ready for anything love or romance related since she left her marriage a few months back.

"Look," Sarah finally said, showing him the screen of her tablet. "I've analyzed your competitors' strategies. Here's what they're doing right, here's what they're doing wrong, and here's the gap in the market that MediTech could fill." She slid the tablet across the table. "But my approach requires you to trust my expertise as much as I respect your technology."

Tony studied the presentation in silence, his expression unreadable. Sarah waited, refusing to fidget or fill the silence with nervous chatter. Finally, he looked up, and a slow smile spread across his face.

"You're going to be trouble, aren't you?" he said, but his tone was admiring. He hwoever explained to her that what he was looking to build was for the people and not hospitals. He went into details about how this was a business to consumers software solution aiming at providing what many would call consultation given how hectic and expensive the American heallthcare system is till date.

"Only for your competitors," Sarah replied with a confident smile.

Back in his office, as they finalized the contract, Sarah couldn't help but notice how Tony's hand lingered slightly when passing her the pen. The air between them was charged with unspoken awareness, professional boundaries barely containing something more complex.

"This is strictly business," Sarah stated firmly as she signed, though her pulse quickened when their fingers brushed.

"Of course," Tony agreed, but his slight smirk suggested he was no more convinced than she was. "Welcome to MediTech Solutions, Ms. Chen. I have a feeling this is going to be an... interesting partnership."

As Sarah left the building that afternoon, contract secured and first campaign already forming in her mind, she knew she'd have to be careful. She had fought too hard to build her business to let attraction complicate her first major client relationship. But as she caught Tony watching her departure from his office window, she couldn't help but wonder if maintaining professional distance would be the biggest challenge of all.