Just My Luck: Secret billionaire

John

It's Monday again and I am at work at my desk feeling refreshed and lazy all at once.  I think I need another 'meeting' with Mark.  Looking at my calendar and I saw that I had a meeting with John, as I was walking over to his office, I saw that he was on the phone speaking softly, but his body expression was aggressive.  I knocked on the door, and he quickly ended the call.

"Well John, how are you today?"

"I'm doing well, thank you. Are you here to mess around or work?"

I sat down. Closely looking at him now, I see that his appearance didn't look the same as it did a few weeks ago.  He'd lost some weight and the look on his face spelled S-T-R-E-S-S.

"Oh, I'm here to work! C'mon, let's head down to the café.  You can bring your computer and we work together there."

"Ok, for the hell of it, why not," he said.

We got our food and picked a table far from the crowd in the café.

"Can I get personal with you John? You looked a little frustrated back in your office.  Is everything ok, anything I can help with?"

"I don't think you can help me. I have been having problems with one of my client's account, it has been costing me a lot, and I mean a lot."

"What exactly is the problem?" I said cautiously.

"My Client has been using his business funds as personal use and at the end of the month asking me to fix his account."

"So, what have you been doing John! Don't tell me you fall for that."

"You don't understand Emily, there is so much at stake."

"What do you mean there is so much at stake? What exactly did you get into?"

"Don't worry about that now, let's get this project underway."

As he said that, I couldn't stop thinking about what problems he had going on.  The thoughtful side of Emily kicked in but for now, I would give him some space and focus on the project.  We continued to work on the project until the end of the day, which I can say went well without any complications.

Back in my office, as I was packing up to leave, John came and stood by my office door.

"Hey Emily can I speak with you for a while?"

I asked him to come in and close the door.

"Sure John, what can I help you with?"

"It's the problem with the client that I was telling you about.  I see that you're leaving right now, I don't want to hold you up.  Can I call you later to talk about it?" He whispered in hopes that no one heard what he is saying.

Knowing that I don't conduct work related businesses outside of the office, but seeing how distressed he was, I decided to give him a chance to say what he wanted to.  Because he only has my office number, I gave him my personal number.

"John please be mindful that I am only doing this because you didn't look well today, so do not take advantage."

"Great, thank you Emily, I won't."

I received a text from John asking me If I have some time to talk on Friday evening.  Because I had some free time before my time with Mark, I decided to give him a call.

"Hey John, how is it going?"

"Ok, thank you for calling me about this situation.  Like I was telling you at the office about the client's embezzlement activities.  I need your help on this.  Are you able to help me?"

"Wow! John, this sounds very heavy to me.  I don't know what I can do."

John sounds even more distressed than he was at the office.

"In what way do you think I can help you? I can't be involved in any illegal scheme."

"I'm just trying to let someone else know.  You may not be aware, but I feel that I can trust you."

"Oh, um, that's good to know." Having a surprised and perplexed look on my face made me wonder why he would say such a thing.

"I am telling you Emily, it is a mess.  I had to use my own personal funds to cover the payments for my client's account."

"What? John! You've got to be kidding me.  Have you told the CEO about what has been going on?"

"No, I wanted to see if I could've handled it, but like I said, it is costing me a lot."

"John, I'm sorry to hear, now that puts me in a difficult spot."

Seeing how this is bothering him, something in me decided that I wanted to help him. I told him that I would have to get back to him regarding this issue.