The Middleman | ongoing

46 | asking him to euthanize me

46 | asking him to euthanize me

Song: Show Me by Alina Baraz ft. Galimatias

Depicted Above: Zendaya Coleman as Alex Mendoza

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"Adalbert, Adelajda, and Adrian? Is that right? The Boleslaw siblings?" I ask Quinn, holding my fingers up one by one as I memorize each name, etching each vowel and consonant into my head as to not forget the names of the Polish pioneers who had blazed a trail in internet learning with the rise of their website and company, HSBS, a place on the internet that I often myself found myself visiting for guidance when teachers gave lackluster explanations and lessons, and I ended up being lost in class.

Quinn curtly nods his head. As a result, his bed slightly wiggles underneath us both, sitting on our respective sides of it, laptops carefully balanced on our criss-crossed laps as he introduces me to his newest middleman project, seeing as we're now officially partners.

I trace the edges of my laptop carefully, my eyes translocating from its sleek edges to Quinn's eyes as I wait expectantly for him to carry this conversation forward.

Quinn clears his throat. "The reason the Boleslaws got into the business of e-learning and providing a free website for high schoolers and even college kids to use and learn from was because they moved from Poland, actually, in the middle of their school year to America. There family had to just pack up, leave, and adapt instantaneously to it all—to America, the school system, and just the culture and environment here. I guess since they had it hard without external resources at their disposal, they wanted to do something about helping students learn," he informs me, tipping his head back, deep in contemplation.

"How'd you get all this backstory?" I voice my curiosity, staring at him as he rolls his neck in a circle, massaging it.

It's only Friday, a week since our middleman trip at Hotel Alastair. Sure, Quinn was a capable individual and worked hard at his job and securing his future but to know so much about his next project was ludicrous. He couldn't have possibly met up with HSBS professionals already to discuss his objectives yet, could he?

"A lot of successful networking at Alistair," he replies. "I actually met Adalbert and Adelajda Boleslaw there during the expo. They're board members on HSBS... along with Adrian Boleslaw, the third sibling of the bunch. When Adalbert and Adelajda found out about my line of work, they were pretty elated. They kind of jumped to work with me. We'd been talking for some time last Friday... And then I substantiated all the information they'd told me about their case with some internet research myself," Quinn explains, painting a scene of what happened at Alistair when I wasn't at his side.

"What about Adrian Boleslaw—that's the third sibling's name, right? Why wasn't he there... at Alistair I mean?" I ask.

Quinn nods in affirmation. "That's the thing... the project revolves around him. All three of them—Adalbert, Adelajda, and Adrian—are on the board of directors of HSBS, backseat drivers of the company, really. But Adalbert and Adelajjda don't want that anymore. They want Adrian off... out of the business altogether, actually," Quinn says simply as I perk up in my position.

"Spill the tea," I say, mildly interested in the inner workings of these siblings' and business professionals' relationship.

"You sure? The tea's piping hot," Quinn replies, amused, looking at me lazily as he props a pillow under the crook of his chin and slides his laptop off his legs, so it forms a barrier between us.