Change of Fortune
Part 1
Chapter 1: The appointment
Laura pulled to the side of the road and felt a chill snake down her spine. She looked ahead and saw the lights indicating her destination but did not feel ready to drive further. 'Surely, there must be some other way', she thought, but nothing came to mind. She took a deep breath to try to calm her nerves and remembered the events leading to this night.
She had been in the center of the society for the past five years. She married Jim when she was 26 and the two of them circulated among the city's finest circles. They had their first daughter a year later. The second daughter arrived three months ago, and they were the envy of everyone they knew.
Even Laura thought that her life was perfect. Jim was a loving and attentive husband. And he had always been a good provider. She was treated to club memberships, shopping trips, spas, personal trainers, and anything else that she could imagine. Life was perfect.
Then the bottom dropped out of their life. Jim's business contacts simply dried up during the recession. He laid off employee after employee but could not cut his costs fast enough to keep up with the drop in his earnings. He started borrowing money, although Laura was not aware of this until much later. She wondered if anything would have turned out differently if Jim had consulted with her before he got into so much debt.
She sighed as she realized that nothing would have been different, in all likelihood. But now she was the one to face the effects of the poor judgments. Jim had described to her how things had led to tonight.
Jim had relied on a mentor for years. Benjamin had always provided sound advice when Jim had asked him for help. Jim's only fault was that he did not ask Ben for advice as frequently as he should have. Finally, when things seemed so bleak that Jim was actually contemplating suicide so that Laura could benefit from his life insurance policy to bail herself out of debt, Jim went back to Benjamin once again.
"I don't know what went wrong. We had plenty of clients. We had plenty of repeat business. That should tell you something about the quality of our work. Then it all just stopped," Jim told Benjamin in the coffee shop where they generally met.
"Why do you think it stopped?" asked Ben.
"I have no idea" replied Jim. "The economy slowed, but not enough to explain this. People are generally more distrustful these days since the terrorist activity, but that wouldn't explain what we have seen. I just don't know."
"I'm sure that it is troubling to you to see your business falter like this."
"Falter!! This isn't faltering. This is dying!" exclaimed Jim as he tried to maintain his composure. He was on the verge of losing everything.
"Yes," replied Benjamin as he puffed on his pipe. "I always understate things. It's a fault of mine. How can I help?"
"I don't know, Ben. I honestly don't. It's like there is a curse on my business. No clients call. Nobody wants to talk to me. It's almost as if someone has put the word out not to do business with me. But I don't understand that. We have always been everyone's favorite."
"Perhaps I could ask around. Maybe I could learn something," he said.
"Would you like me to do that?"
"Oh yes. Please. Anything. Thank you, Ben." And that meeting ended.
Several days later, Jim and Benjamin met again. This time, they were in a different coffee shop, but a coffee shop nonetheless. Jim was becoming even more anxious and was desperate to hear what Ben had to say.
"Is there any hope?" asked Jim, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer to his question or not.
"There is always hope, Jim," replied Ben. Ben smiled warmly. While Jim was only 39, Ben had just turned 60 and had that disarming combination of seasoning that comes with a weathered face and white hair and the smile that most politicians would have killed for. He could make anyone feel at ease with just the turn of his lips.
"What did they say?" Jim asked, although the smile had already told him that he was in good hands.
Benjamin took a long puff of his pipe and then exhaled the smoke slowly. He paused as if he were trying to compose his thoughts before speaking. "It seems that someone has put out the word that you have been defrauding your clients in your billings and your research. Someone has told all of your clients that they have been tricked."
"What?!?!?!" gasped Jim in total shock. "What are you talking about? That never happened. My clients know that. Who is making this up?"
"Calm down, Jim," said Ben as he took another puff on his pipe. "You and I both know that you aren't capable of the things they are saying.
You are the best out there. And I want to help."
Jim was still shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't believe that they would believe that trash."
"People believe the oddest things" mused Benjamin as he blew a smoke ring into the air. "Fortunately, we don't believe it. And, as you know, I sit on many boards. I could get you into a fair number of clients. In fact, with my connections, I could provide you with a lifetime of work. So all is not lost."
The shaking of Jim's head slowed gradually as he listened to his mentor. He eventually raised his eyes and looked over at his older friend. "You would do that for me?"
"Of course. I would be only too happy to help you with your career."
"Oh my gosh. All of this worrying for nothing. I should have come to you sooner. I can't thank you enough," gushed Jim. "I'll make you proud. We won't let you down."
Benjamin leaned forward and blew a ring of smoke at Jim. "You are right, my boy. You won't let me down. And you will make me proud. But I'm not sure that I would say that you worried for nothing. What I am offering you has worries of its own."
Jim cocked his head to the side indicating that he was confused. "I don't understand. What would I worry about?"
Ben leaned back again and struck a pose that belonged in academia, with one leg over the other and the elbow of the arm holding the pipe resting on a knee. "Worry may be the wrong word. Regret might be a better word. I am providing you with a business opportunity. I am making you a proposition. I am offering to enter into an agreement with you. You may not be pleased with the terms of the agreement, however.
"Now you are confusing me even more" Jim said, not knowing how to better pursue the conversation.
Benjamin cleared his throat and then leaned forward again, looking Jim directly in the eyes. "What I am offering you is a stream of clients.
They will use your services without question. You will be rich from the fees that you charge them. What I am requiring from you in return is Laura."
Jim blinked and then shook his head to try to clear it. "I don't understand. You want what?"
"Not what. Who. I want your wife," he smiled. "Not full time, mind you. No, I am a reasonable man. I want her on an occasional basis. Perhaps one day per week. There would need to be a longer period initially, of course, because she would need to be trained. But, after that, I think that one twenty-four hour period per week should be sufficient. And just think of all of the wealth that you will be accumulating because of all of this."
The conversation continued for a while. And then resumed two days later after Jim had been able to shake off the initial shock. It had been hard for Jim to picture his friend wanting his wife. Especially because he thought that Ben was happily married to Diana. When Jim arrived for the second meeting, Diana was sitting beside Ben sipping on her cup of coffee.