I Woke Up 323 by M.P. Arsent
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I quickly called up his account on my computer.
"Good Morning Mr Bartlett. What can I do for you today?"
"You can tell me about this venture you mentioned to Gordon the other day."
"I'm looking into buying the old "Y" building locally and turning it into an exercise center and gymnastics training facility. In anticipation of your next question, I didn't say anything to you about it as I didn't want to trade on my friendship with Gordon. I explained that to him the other day."
"Where do you stand at this point?"
"I'm waiting on a report from the building inspector to see if there are any hidden problems to be taken care of."
"And that should be coming when?"
"Approximately a week."
"Can you get a copy of your proposal to me?"
"I have your email on file, so I can send the PDF just soon as we hang up."
"Please do so. I appreciate your stance on not letting me know of this opportunity, but now that I've heard about it I am curious. I shall be in touch."
"Yes sir. Is there anything else I can do for you today?"
"Not today Mr Sawyer."
"Then have a good day sir."
I hung up and then turned to my computer and sent the PDF of the proposal.
I half hoped that Mr Bartlett didn't go for it. If the whole thing did go belly up, I wouldn't want it to affect the rest of the business relationship with Harrison. Gordon on the other hand I was going to have words with.
"Did I hear that Harrison Bartlett called?"
"You did. His son told him about the proposal for the "Y".
"And you didn't want him knowing so there wouldn't be any friction?"
"That about sums it up, Stan."
"So think he's going to want in?"
"I'm hoping not. I doubt like hell he'd commit to the whole thing anyway. I didn't want to do shareholders per se, but it might come to that."
"So long as you hold the biggest share, or at the very least you and your staunch friends."
"And really, none of them have that kind of money to invest."
"So how much longer are you going to give everybody to get back to you before you either give it up or go all in yourself?"
"I'm thinking the first of the month."
"Hell of an anniversary present you're giving yourself."
"Damn! Has it been a year already?"
"Almost."
"And then 2 weeks after that and I have to get back to school. Looks like I may have to use the office up there whether I want to or not."
"And I'm betting you still don't want me to give them a heads up do you?"
"No, I don't, but you should be prepared to back me up when he inevitably calls."
"You know that won't be a problem."
"Not for you but it might be for whoever is running the operation up there."
"Randel Judson is the guy's name, and even if you are the boss don't ever call him Randy."
"Touchy is he?"
"Yeah, I'm sure there's a story there, but I never got it."
"Noted. You spot anything so far today that I missed?"
"Haven't seen anything worth getting excited about."
"It's been a damn quiet quarter so far. Think something big is coming?"
"No real way of telling Dennis. There's always rumors of course, but you can never pin anything down until it drops in your lap."
"And there's always more of those than is practicable to try and keep track of."
"Ain't that the truth."
Stan got back to his office at that point and we just continued on for the day.
The closing bell eventually sounded and everybody started closing down for the day.
"Can't say as I saw anything today Stan."
"Neither did I Dennis."
"Then let's call it a day."
Karl and I got home at about the same time tonight.
"So how was your day?"
"Almost totally uneventful."
"Almost?"
"Gordon must have been running his mouth when he got home. Harrison Bartlett called me and wanted to know about the "Y" proposal."
"And?"
"I sent him a copy of the proposal. I doubt like hell that he's going to commit to the full thing if he gets involved at all."
"So, should we start planning on 'tightening' our belts?"
"Not quite yet I don't think."
"If it does come down to that, how much of everything are you going to have to get rid of?"
"Damn near everything, except the brokerage."
"Would what you get from that be enough to keep us afloat?"
"Just barely I think."
"Well, I'll be able to kick in once I graduate."
"Well, I'll worry about it after I get the building inspector's report. If there's anything major wrong with the place it might not be worth it to even try."
"If there is, they might drop the asking considerably."
"Always possible and then that would require a major rethink. I'll just have to wait and see what that report says."
We sat down to eat shortly after that and after supper had ourselves a little swim. An hour in front of the TV and then we crashed for the night.
Wednesday dawned with a light drizzle falling, so there was no running today. When I got to the office, Stan was already there.
"Nothing to get excited about in the overnights Dennis."
"Why do I get the feeling that there's something getting ready to happen Stan?"
"Maybe because it's too quiet. There's almost always something happening even if it's just little stuff. There doesn't seem to be any of that even."
"So for today, let's think about what could be the most dangerous developments that could happen and dig into those possibilities and see what we turn up."
"Like what?"
"Little wars breaking out, hell big wars breaking out. What governments are shaky right now? If oil production gets disrupted again? Worst case scenarios."
"Sounds like you want to turn us into a 'think tank'. That's what we have Homeland and the NSA and all the rest of them for."
"True enough, but we don't have access to their work, do we? Plus they look at things from a strategic point, where we would be looking at them from an economic point. Also, I don't want the whole company working on this, just us. Let everybody else take care of business."
"So, really you just want us to dig a little deeper?"
"Yeah, I guess that is what I'm asking."
It soon got to be time to talk to the troops. Stan had his say and then it was my turn.
"OK, folks I've got nothing to go but my gut, and it's telling me that something is getting ready to happen. Keep your eyes open for anything unusual. Now, let's make some money."
I spent the day digging into news stories that might have a significant influence on the market depending on which way they went. That kept me busy right up until quitting time.
"I didn't find anything significant today Dennis."
"Neither did I Stan, still doesn't mean something isn't out there lurking."
"I suppose not. Call it a day?"
"Yeah, I suppose we can."
Soon enough everybody was heading home.
I got home a bit before Karl tonight. When he walked in he could see something was bothering me.
"What now Den?"
"Nothing, and that's the problem."
"Come again?"
"It keeps feeling like something is about to happen with the market, but nothing has."
"You've had this feeling before."
"I have. I forget what it was, but something big did happen."
"So everybody has their eyes open?"
"They do."
"Then there isn't a hell of a lot more that can be done until something happens."
"True enough."
We ate, went to the exercise room tonight, and crashed early.
Thursday morning rolled around and the routine took over. We were down to the track and our laps were run and we were on our way back to the house when Dana Pembrose pulled up.
"Morning boys. How's life been treating you?"
"Can't complain officer Pembrose."
"Good to hear it. Stay safe."
He took off and we continued on home.
Dana's advice to stay safe kind of stuck with me for some reason.
Showered and fed, Karl and I headed off to our jobs. When I got to the office though I called the lawyers.
"Mr Sawyer, what can I do for you today?"
"Good morning Mr Jenkins. Just checking up on things, specifically on the Browns."
"Well, I'd have to do a little digging to answer that one. Shall I call you back when I have that or will an email do?"
"I suppose that depends on what you find."