I Woke Up 173 by M.P. Arsent
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I wondered who would be calling me on a land line? Karl surely would have used my cell as would almost any of my friends.
I went into dads office and picked up the line.
"Hello?"
"Ahh good glad I caught you before you left Mr Sawyer. It's Mr Jacobs. We have news,some good some not so good. We have indeed found your brothers adoptive parents. The not so good news is that they think this is some kind of a scam."
"What can we do to convince them otherwise?"
"I'm not sure that it really matters Mr Sawyer. According to them they haven't seen their son in almost 2 years. They do believe that he is alive as they occassionally get a postcard or letter from him. No return address on any of them unfortunately and they are postmarked from all over the country."
"Are the parents at least open to meeting with me?"
"They're considering it Mr Sawyer. As I said they think this is some kind of a scam. They were not aware that you existed."
"Yes I can imagine it is as much a shock to them as it was to me and will be if the word ever gets to my brother. Well keep me informed on that front Mr Jacobs. I would like the oppurtunity to speak with them."
"We'll keep working at it Mr Sawyer. Have a good weekend."
I hung up and I was on my way home. Karl took one look at my face and knew something was up.
"What's going on lover?"
"The lawyers have found my brothers adoptive parents. They think my looking for him is some kind of scam as they had no idea I existed. Worse yet, they haven't seen him in 2 years and have no idea where he is."
"Look on the bright side Den, at least you know he's out there."
"Yeah I suppose. I'd still like to meet his parents though,maybe get some idea of what's going on."
"Yeah there's got to be a story there if they haven't seen him in 2 years. How do they know he's still alive?"
"They get the occassional letter or post card, but they're from all over the place."
"Which suggests what?"
"Some kind of traveling show I'd guess."
"Probably not pro sports or anything televised or likely he'd have been recognized."
"Unless he was support staff. Maybe a traveling circus or some such?"
"He'd still have to be paid. Maybe they can track his social?"
"I'm sure the investigators have already thought of that."
"You're not going to get any sleep tonight are you love?"
"Probably not."
Supper was ready shortly after that and Mrs Ohanlon was gone for the weekend. Bedtime rolled around soon enough, and before I was really ready for it the sun was up. We all got our jogging in and breakfast had and we were once again on the road to practice.
This week we were working on getting a triple somersault worked into my floor routine. Coach Matthews must have seen that my mind really wasn't on what I was doing.
"Dennis! What the hell?"
"Sorry coach. Something serious on my mind."
"Then you had just as well get the hell out of here. You're not doing yourself any good in here. Anything I can help you with?"
"Doubtful coach."
"How about your shadow over there?"
"Karl? No there's nothing he can do either."
"I meant your other shadow."
"Yeah likely he could but it wouldn't be ethical."
"Regardless, until you can get your head into it I want you out of here before you hurt yourself."
"Yes coach."
I didn't even bother with the jacuzzi today and just went and showered up. We were soon enough on the road home and once there,I went into the workout room and used everything but the gymnastics equipment. I eventually hit the pool with Karl and Bobbie, Connie even came over, and then got showered up for supper.
Tonight we were living dangerously. Karl had cooked for us. A basic meatloaf, baked potatoes and corn on the cob. Everything turned out better than I had expected. So well in fact that there weren't any leftovers.
"I'm sure we're going to wind up with our share of microwave food lover, but Mrs Castanza shouldn't have any room to complain."
"I sure hope not. Having one mother is enough."
Saturday finally came to a close, and Sunday showed up bright and early. We got out jogging done and the rest of our day was spent just hanging out with Karl's family.
Monday morning dawned to a drizzle of rain so we didn't get our jogging in today. Al and I were off to the office. Again I would be listening into Angelos conversations. He even let me handle a couple of his minor clients who had questions but didn't want to make any trades.
I kept an eye on my imaginary investments as well. Nothing out of the ordinary happened on that front today. The 4:30 bell sounded and people started shutting down for the day. I checked with Stan Bellows and there was nothing unsual to report today.
Soon enough Al and I made it home. Dinner was ready soon and afterwards I hit the pool for a bit. 11 rolled around and Karl and I were soon enough zonked out.
Before it was wanted the sun was up and so were we. Our jogging was taken care of along with breakfast and Al and I were off to the office once again.
Things were going along as usual until about 11 when I could see that Al got a call. He didn't usually get any. He headed over towards me after he hung up.
"That was Stimson. Just a heads up that they're going to move on Andros in a couple of hours."
"They going to make it very public once he's taken?"
"Press conference just in time to hit the evening news."
"Well none of our clients have anything to do with any of his companies, so we shouldn't be affected."
"What about the legitimate companies he does business with?"
"Crap!"
I unplugged and made for Stans office. He was in with somebody so I had to wait.
I finally got in to see him and explained the situation.
"My dilemma here is can this be considered insider information?"
"It could easily be construed as such Dennis. Best we can do is keep our eyes open."
"What about trying to see who he is doing legitimate business with and predicting how the take down might affect them?"
"I don't expect there would be much of a disruption immediately. Long term is something else entirely. I'm in for a late night Dennis."
"You want me to stay as well?"
"If you want. It might well prove educational."
I got on my phone.
"I'm not comimg home tonight lover."
"What the hell?"
"Stimson is moving on Teramedies in a couple of hours. We're going to be busy tonight trying to stay on step ahead of everything. We can't react until the announcement is made, but we can sure as hell get ready for the fallout tomorrow. I need you to tell your mom and dad just in case."
"Who else do you think needs to know?"
"A lot of people I'm sure,but I'm betting that I'm not suppose to know, so we can't be spreading the word. Too easy for it to get back to him."
"You want I should come down there?"
"No love. I've got a feeling we're going to be busier than a one arm paper hanger. I probably won't even have time to acknowledge your 11 pm text."
"Hey, I can at least keep the coffee maker going."
"I can't stop you lover, but you have to promise to stay out of the way."
"I can do that and be a gopher for you."
"I'll see you later then lover."
I went back to Angelo's desk to let him know why I was going to dissappear and to tell Al that we probably wouldn't be going homr tonight.
"Mr Terrentollo,something has come up and I need to dig into it."
"I figured something was up the way you booked it to Mr Bellows office. Anything you can share?"
"Not at this time. Just keep an ear to the news and a 'weather eye' on the rest of things."
I headed back to my dads office. Stan had cancelled his appointments for the rest of the day and started digging into services and goods that Teramedies companies provided. As soon as he identified something I started looking for alternate suppliers of goods and who was purchasing from Teramedies. Both ends of the supply line were likely to be impacted down the road if not immediately. About three oclock sercurity called and wanted to know if they could let Karl through. I authorized him in and he came straight to the office. He didn't say a word but sat there and was ready to run for either me or Stan.
Along about 7PM I smelled food and Karl brought me a burger and a drink. I fairly inhaled them and got back to work.
By midnight we had identified those markets that would be most heavily affected by the disruption of trade with Teramedies. By 1:30 we had a list of alternate suppliers. By 3 we had them rated as to who was best suited to take up the slack. We then went to work on who was going to be hit hard by the news. By 6am we had figured out who should be watched the closest and the recommended buy/sell list was printed. Karl walked them around to each and every desk. This couldn't wait for the early mail distribution.
When I finally took two minutes to look around, Angelo was still at his desk,having been there all night doing his own research, looking fresh as a daisy, while Stan and I were ready to fall out.
"Dennis, why don't you head home."
"Are you going home Stan?"
"Nope."
"Then what makes you think that I am?"
"Then at least do what I'm going to. That couch in the office is a futon, just as it is mine. I'm going to grab a couple of hours sleep."
"That sounds like a plan to me."
Soon enough I was crashed out with Karl along side of me.