Rent-A-Wife

Chapter 2

When I got home later that day, I wasn't really sure what to do. Should I call her? What would I say? I sat on my couch contemplating this for a good half an hour with a cool beer in my hands and "How I Met Your Mother" playing on the TV. I was still thinking when the phone suddenly rang.

It was my PA, Donald. Strange, considering the time of his call.

"What is it, Donald?"

"Sir, we have a slight problem in the office."

What else could go wrong? I thought to myself. "Define slight."

"Well, it seems the servers have been hacked into. Nothing has been hampered with, so we're not sure what they may have been looking for."

I stand up from the couch and begin to pace around the room. "Good lord. Have you had the IT guy look at the data accessed?"

"Yes, sir. He's looking into it now and... Oh my."

"What? What happened?"

"Well, sir, it seems that the burglar found access to some highly exclusive files..."

"What files have been accessed?" I began fearing the worst. There wasn't much our company had to hide, but what we did could be crucial to the burglars.

"Sir, they've accessed the finance files. All of our records, ranging from the bank accounts to our client transactions have been accessed."

Damn it. I throw the phone on the couch and stomped my foot like a petulant child before picking it up once again to speak.

"Here's what we have to do. I want all those files on paper right now and handed directly to me when I get to the office in half an hour. During this time, I also want our best security to look through all the surveillance videos to identify this thief. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. I'll be right on it."

I end the call and practically sprint towards the front door.

After getting into my car and driving towards the office, I finally have time for this information to sink in. If the files accessed had truly been seen by some stranger, the reputations of my clients could be in danger. And after years of struggling to prove myself to the world, I couldn't let some idiot jeopardize my future.

In high school, I was the class geek. I obsessed over physics and biology, thirsting for knowledge everywhere I went. My family wasn't rich, but my dad worked hard to put bread on the table for my two brothers, sister, and I. A teacher saw my talent in these subjects and recommended a private academy for me to my parents. Being the amazing parents they are, they immediately enrolled me, despite barely being able to afford it. That's probably why I worked my ass off, working and studying to repay my parents and maybe alleviate some of their financial burden.

Actually, the years in the Academy have been some of my favorite. There, I met my fellow colleagues who helped my reach my success today. Michael, my roommate, was the guy I could always rely on to have my back and who was a whiz at math, which is why it made sense to make him my CFO.

My years at MIT gave me the means to become successful. There, I met Professor Harrison, who inspired me to create something that could actually help people. As a result, using my engineering and biology background, I invented a machine that could perform noninvasive heart surgery. I spent years perfecting this, supported my family and Professor while financed by the university, until it finally became public.

Suddenly, hospitals, private organizations, and multiple corporations wanted my machine and the rights to it. But my professor encouraged me to take charge of my own business by giving me the means to do it. He offered his services, as well as his connections, to start up a corporation that could further enhance the product and create more medical "miracles." It was during this process that I met Danny, the Professor's nephew who had just graduated with an MBA from Brown University, a few miles away. At first I was dubious, a rich, popular former jock was going to guide my business? I had a bad feeling, remembering the years of bullying I had received from guys like him. But, he turned out to be a down-to-earth kind of guy who became my roommate during our first years in the Big Apple.

And now all the blood, sweat, and tears we had put into the establishment was going to waste if this problem didn't get resolved. On the way there, I call Danny, who was still my business advisor after four years.

"What's up, man? Did you give her a call?"

"Give who a wha- You know what, forget that. I need you in the office right now."

"What happened?" He said, sensing my urgency.

"The client files have been accessed. I need your help, man. I don't know what to do."

"Hey, hey, calm down. This can be fixed. Just hang tight until I get there, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

***

I rushed into the office building and sprinted up the stairs toward the database room to see Donald and our technical expert talking over a computer. Donald looked over at me.

"Oh, good. You're here, sir. We have the security guard looking over earlier footage from the room and the computer expert is checking up the files."

"Thank you, Donald. I don't know what I would do without you."

The computer guy looked up at us with a grave face.

"Sir, it seems that the information was not only hacked, but copied into a hard drive. Whoever saw this information has a soft copy of the entire database."

I swore softly and began pacing the room. What was I going to do now? Whoever had this information knew confidential information about some of the biggest hospitals around the world. They would learn exactly who had what and valuable bank information.

Danny rushed into the room, wearing a t-shirt and boxers with flip flops. He looked at the men and then at me. "What's the news?"

I replied. "Well, it seems the history involves the transactions between some of our biggest clients. This could jeopardize our integrity and dignity as a business and as people. And all those angry clients..."

Danny swore.

There was a still silence in the room. It suddenly broke when a security guard came rushing into the room.

"Sir, I've been able to retrieve the footage from the database room. And there is a figure able to be seen.

We all rushed to the security room to see a video paused on a large screen. The guard began the playback and we all huddled around the screen to see a vague figure hunched over the computer database. But there was something familiar about that stance... and the hair... and...Dear God, I hope this isn't really happening.

"Who do you think it is?" asked Danny from over my shoulder.

After getting over my complete shock, I replied gravely.

"I know exactly who it is."

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Hey guys! I'm back after a who-knows-how-long hiatus. Hopefully, I'll be updating more frequently now that I've been "inspired to create". nothing has been edited yet, but I want to wait until I finish the book to do that.

Anyways, keep reading and leave comments to leave some feedback!