Chapter 22
Barry was reading the quarterly report that he’d been putting off for days when his phone rang. When he saw who was calling, his mood sank.
“Hello,” he said cheerfully into the receiver. “How are you today?”
“Cut the crap, Barry. What news do you have for us? Is the cat in the bag yet?”
Barry cleared his throat. “Um, not quite but I’m working on it,” he stuttered.
“We don’t have time to wait around for you to do what we are paying you heavily for. What’s the hold up?”
“Things aren’t playing out as I imagined, but don’t worry, I’ll have everything straightened out in no time.”
“You better. A lot of factors are hinging on your success in nailing this one and you know the schedule. We can’t afford to make silly mistakes now.”
“You’re quite right,” Barry said and mopped his forehead with a handkerchief. He was so nervous that he was sweating in his air-conditioned office.
“The next time I call, I want to hear that this…knot has been straightened out.”
“Of course.”
“Good.”
The line went dead.
Barry leaned back in his chair and exhaled deeply. He waited for his heart to stop racing before he sat up again to think of how best he could wiggle out of the mess he’d gotten himself into. He should have known there would be a heavy price to pay when an anonymous donor opted to revive his dying tech startup about five years ago. After working like a dog for a big tech corporation for over a decade with nothing much to show for it, he was ready to start his own business and create the next big thing—a streaming app that would also serve as an e-commerce portal and payment platform for small and medium scale businesses. It was an ambitious idea, but he had been sure that he had what it took to make it work. He had put in all his money and resources, but nailing an investor seemed impossible. Nobody wanted to take on his app, nor did they see the potential or believed that it was worth considering. Some even said that it was too complicated, and that there were too many things crammed together on one app. Within months, he was completely broke, frustrated and very desperate.
That was when his faceless donor showed up. He expressed his desire to not just invest in Barry’s app, but to also give him enough cash to pay off his creditors and basically start his life over. He also put Barry’s name on the board of directors of a popular investment bank in Wall Street and made him a shareholder in a successful real estate firm. This wealthy savior literally turned Barry’s life around with the snap of his rich fingers, and he felt like a modern-day Cinderella living his dream. It had all seemed too good to be true, but Barry had simply assumed that he was a lucky guy whom the tides had finally turned in his favor.
Until the day his generous benefactor called to tell Barry what he wanted in return for his benevolence. It didn’t seem like a big deal at first, until he got curious and asked questions, and when he got the details, he had been terrified. Unfortunately, he couldn’t back out because he owed his overnight success to this unknown person, and if he pulled the plug on everything, Barry would be back to square one and the thought of that scared him even more.