Pawn's Gambit

List of main characters

Adam Carter - JP Morgan (Stocks & Shares Portfolio Manager)

Jean Carter - Wife of Adam Carter. Miller Real Estate (Sales Agent)

Dean Carter - 14 year old son

Katie Carter - 12 year old daughter

Anthony Miller - Miller Real Estate (Founder and sole shareholder )

Evelyn Miller - Daughter of A Miller. (Miller Real Estate. Marketing Manager)

MRE - Miller Real Estate

SGX - Singapore Stock Exchange

Disclaimer: All characters engaging in sexual acts of any kind are over the age of 18.

Pawn's Gambit

Twenty hours from Singapore to O'Hare International with a stop in Taipei, flying Business Class which was only marginally better than the cattle car called economy and on my birthday hardly fazed me.

Heading back to Chicago for what was looking to be a brutal meeting with the Head of our International Stock and Share Trading Department didn't faze me much either.

Trying to anticipate what was going on at home did.

We landed a little after 08:30 in the morning and I caught the shuttle to the nearby, Chicago Sheraton Suites. I had booked a room from the night before so it was available immediately. I dropped my bags, had a shower and hit the gym. I worked out with weights for thirty minutes and ran on the treadmill for another thirty then went and had a second shower. This time I stayed under the spray for almost fifteen minutes before switching off the hot water and giving myself the wake up call of cold water until I was almost frozen. Anyone can tell you that April in Chicago is not warm but I bore it until my teeth were chattering then five minutes of hot water to warm me back up and I was as close to awake as I was going to get.

I headed down to the restaurant for an American breakfast which I had sorely missed over the last four months. In between pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage, all drenched in maple syrup, I drank four cups of coffee then headed out to JP Morgan on Dearborn Ave; where my 10:30 meeting was scheduled.

I took the elevator to the 8th floor where the Private Bank suites were situated and walked through the foyer showing my ID card. From there I was escorted to one of the small conference rooms and asked to wait. So that's how they wanted to play it! There were two cameras covering the room from opposite corners and I'm sure they were watching me. I dropped my leather laptop satchel on the table uncaring for the polished wood and went to stand by the window. I stood and looked out without moving.

They left me there for over seventeen minutes. I know because I got to one-thousand and twenty Mississippi. During that entire time I didn't move an inch. I had learned some things from my many trips to the Far East and South East Asia. One of them was 'face'. Show no fear and no weakness regardless the odds.

Joe Rutlidge, the International Stock and Commodities Traders, Vice President walked in with Samuel Young, our Corporate Lawyer following close behind.

Had it been just Joe, the meeting would have been a brainstorm about fixing the problem and plugging the haemorrhage. If it had been Samuel alone it would have been about covering the banks ass in legalese.

But it was both of them so someone was about to be fired and that someone was me.

"Adam." There was no handshake. He gestured to a seat and they chose to sit opposite me. The battle lines had been drawn.

"What the fuck happened in Singapore?" It wasn't really a question. "We sent you there to bring some stability to the young guns and instead you approved a three hundred million USD stock buy on a brand new company floated on the Singapore Stock Exchange with no record of anything other than what they claim is a good idea."

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes I did." His face went from ruddy to purple and a vein popped out on his forehead.

"Would, would you care to elaborate?"

"Look Joe, It's all in my report. The SEA-A prospectus was top class. They dotted every i and crossed every t. The management team from top to bottom consists of experts in the field with close to two hundred years of experience between them. Then, the project itself has a projected fifty year lifespan and the numbers were corroborated by Deloitte's and KPMG." I took in a breath. "The oceans have been fished dry and their aquaculture project is one of the most technologically sound anywhere on the globe and backed by real world know-how and capability."

"Then why is their stock price tanking.?' He shouted. "They listed at seventeen dollars a share and they're currently trading at nine, fifty five!" He punctuated the numbers with his finger on the table. "And what did you do? You went and bought more!"

"Yes, because there will be a rebound and if it hits twenty-five as my team and I project, we will be in half at seventeen and half at nine fifty-five. That's a potential profit of two hundred and sixty-seven million. That's almost a ninety per cent profit." He wasn't getting the whole picture. "Joe, we own twenty five percent of the total stock. We are the single biggest shareholder."

"Of a company that's tanking!" he shouted spit at me.

"That's because the Chinese and to a lesser degree, the Thai's and Vietnamese are short selling to either sink the company as it's in direct competition with their own fish industries and threatens their near monopolies in South East Asia... Or so they can buy it for a song and extend their hold on the international fish trade." I punctuated the table back at him. "We need the balls to ride it out."

"This is a fuck-up of note!" He shook his head. "This is not the crazy Eighties and Nineties. We need to trade on certainties and maintain a positive risk ratio."

"It's all in my report." I pointed out again.

"Your report is nothing more than fifty pages of wishful thinking!" He accused me. "Anyway, it's no longer my decision alone. The board has sanctioned my recommendation and you're out!"

And with that, it was Samuel's turn to give me the low-down. The offer was: Three month's salary and almost thirty days accrued leave, effectively giving me almost five months in salary. They would also cash in my share options and pay out the difference between the issuing price and the current price. All-in-all I would be walking away with close to eight hundred thousand dollars but with my reputation in tatters and zero prospects for future employment anywhere other than a McDonald's or KFC drive-through.

By two o'clock I had signed all the relevant forms, converted my seventeen year 401K into an IRA and surrendered all my company material including my lap-top and was escorted out. I stood on the pavement with an empty satchel over my shoulder and a strange sensation in my head like I was having a brain aneurism. I hurried to grab a cab to get back to the hotel with the vision of dying on the street while strangers pointed and stared, vivid in my imagination.

Once in my room I grabbed a whisky mini from the bar and mixed it with Seven-Up and topped it with ice. Sacrilege! I know.

I settled down to consider my options. I was forty two. Too young to retire, but was I too old to start anew. Upon review there was only one option left and it felt like a gamble but then again did I have the balls or not? I decided that if I didn't have the courage of my conviction then how could I expect others to and went shopping. Within the hour I was back with a brand new laptop with Windows 11 loaded and ready to play. I downloaded the programs I'd need to track my buying and selling and got busy. I plugged in a thumb drive with all my Singapore trades on it that I had carefully left in my hotel room and away from my employer I was ready to roll.

I checked up on our savings account it was sitting at fifty thousand dollars. My investment accounts were at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars but required twenty four hour notice. I did that, then I sold off some blue chip shares I owned and considered that with my salary and share option payout I should hopefully have over a million, two hundred thousand. It would clear within the next two days and I would transfer almost all of it to an off-shore trading account, called Blue Sky International.

By the time I was finished it was after nine. I ordered a burger and a beer from room service and pulled out my phone. It had been off for over thirty six hours. That was the longest ever. I considered powering it up but I was mentally exhausted and incapable of dealing with whatever was awaiting me so I dropped it and instead, lay on the bed watching the news. I channel hopped to see how the world markets were performing but there wasn't much about anything I wanted to know about.

Whiskey, beer, burger, whiskey - finally caught up with my jet-lag and I passed out. The next morning I went down to a very early breakfast as my internal clock was still off. I grabbed coffee and switched on my phone. It blew up with messages.

"Help dad, Mom's having a meltdown!" That was from Dean and Katie. It was longer than that but that was it in essence...

"What's going on with Jean?" From my father.

"Happy Birthday and why aren't you answering your Phone?" From Jeans parents.

"Happy Birthday dad" From Dean and Katie.

"Happy birthday and good luck, Adam." From the Singapore team.

"Happy Birthday Son." From Dad.

"Happy Birthday little brother." My sister Georgia.

This was followed by more calls from Dean saying mom was sad and crying but had calmed down.

There were no calls from Jean. No birthday wishes, no explanation as to why everyone thought she was acting strange. It was like I didn't exist.

I caught the 08:30 flight into Springfield, Ubered home and walked into a hot mess. The kids had left their games, soda pop cans and plates all over the living room. The floors looked like our vacuum cleaner was broken. The kitchen was even worse with the sink filled with unwashed plates. The dishwasher was full. The dustbin was overflowing.

I took my washing down to our laundry room where there was what looked like a couple of weeks of unwashed clothes. I separated whites and lights from darks and started the process.

Back up and I began the clean-up from the living room, to the kitchen. The formal lounge had two empty wine bottles and stemmed wine glasses. Both had signs of lipstick in different colours.

Our bedroom looked like it hadn't had a change in some time. I put on clean sheets, changed the duvet cover and aired the room. The kids rooms were actually cleaner. Messy but cleaner. As I was in clean-up mode I picked-up, packed away and did all the rest. I vacuumed floors the emptied dustbins. It took almost three hours before it looked like I had a handle on things and went to my study to power up my laptop. First thing I did was check out the South East Asia - Aquaculture (SEA-A). It had slipped to nine dollars thirty seven. That was almost two points down in a day. We'd see what kind of balls I had soon as my money cleared and I could get into the market.

I called my dad. My mom had died five years earlier from breast cancer. We discussed Jean. He said that she had looked sad and depressed for the last two weeks. He said that she looked heart-broken but without any obvious reason why.

Strange...

I checked on our banking transactions and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Stranger and stranger.

I checked messages on our home phone but nothing unexpected there either.

I tumble-dried and folded clothes for a while and then decided to go see what was available for supper. Short answer not much. I went to the garage and reconnected the battery to my A6 Audi. I pressed the start button and it fired up first time. I hit the local supermarket and I loaded up on basics and also came back with the makings of a Thai Green Curry and Jasmine rice.

I cooked the rice in water and coconut milk with a piece of ginger to give it an added flavour kick. I sautéed chicken strips with babby zucchini, baby Asian eggplant, crushed lemon grass, fresh minced garlic, heaps of Asian basil and fresh coriander leaves with fresh green chillies. I threw in a can and a half of coconut milk and two tablespoons of green curry paste and the zest and juice of two limes. A tablespoon of fish sauce and finally a teaspoon of sugar to balance the sour and let simmer.

I chopped four spring onions, fresh coriander and basil leaves to garnish on top after plating, Set the table and poured myself a beer. I was halfway through when Jean's car pulled up outside and the kids came charging in with cries of dad's home having noticed my car in the driveway. I hugged them both simultaneously and kissed them over and over. I told them how much I had missed them regardless of how much we skyped. I had tears in my eyes and Katie was sobbing in my arms holding me tight her whole body shaking. Dean was a little more in control as befitted his 'almost a man' status.

We stayed like that for a long while. When I looked up I saw Jean looking at us. At me. She had a strange almost wistful look In her eyes and a couple of tears rolled down her cheek. She waited for me to stand up with our children still holding onto me and she moved in and kissed me gently on the lips.

"Welcome home Adam." There wasn't much enthusiasm and her words and her body language denoted a certain sadness or discomfort. Her eyes didn't hold mine for very long. "Mmm, that smells nice." She sniffed. "What is it?"

It's a Thai Green Curry." I exclaimed. Dean and Katie looked at me unknowingly.

"I don't know what that is Dad but it sure smell good!" Dean smiled and hugged me again to nods and more kisses from Katie who was holding me around the neck her feet dangling off the ground.

"You two go clean up and get ready for supper." Directed Jean. "Hurry up now, You can have lots of time with your dad after."

She came in and gave me a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You look wiped out Adam." She ran a visual assessment of me. "How come you're back so soon. I thought you were there for another eight weeks?"

"Turns out my bosses didn't like some of the initiatives I took." I confessed. "I've just been fired!" She blanched. Then her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

"Well, well, that's..." She searched for a word. "Unfortunate." She managed to splutter.

"We'll see."

"How?"

"Something will come up. But what about you?" I looked at this near stranger in front of me. Married for fifteen years and she was acting more like an acquaintance than my wife. "Are you ok?" I thought I saw her eyes go murky but she blinked and straightened her shoulders.

"It's work." She tried a smile but it didn't quite work. "Market's down." That's not what I'd heard. "There's changes at MRE. Everybody's under huge pressure." She waved her hands outwards to indicate how huge. Just then the kids washed up, came flying down the stairs and threw themselves at me once more.

"We'll talk later." She turned to the kitchen.

We gathered for the meal. I served and garnished each plate than poured a cool California white for Jean and I. Dean insisted on a can of Mountain Dew while Katie asked for water. We sat down and had supper like a family for the first time in four months. I regaled the kids with stories about Singapore. The lifestyle and some of the activities I had participated in. They were almost exclusively part of team-building exercises and included: Dragon Boat races, indoor Golf, Ninja Tag, Combat Archery. It had all been good fun.

Plates empty, Dean and Katie disappeared together and came back smiling holding out a wrapped present. "Happy Birthday Dad". Jean's hands flew to her mouth.

I kissed my kids to the sounds of "Oh my God!" from Jean. "I'm so sorry Adam. I completely forgot." I was going to lash out and remind her that I got her gold and diamond earrings on her birthday but concentrated on the Kids instead.

I opened my present, It was a box set of 'Band of Brothers'. I loved that show and always said I wanted to own the DvD collection. I kissed them again. Their broad smiles matched mine at the pleasure of the giving and receiving.

"I'll get you your present tomorrow Adam." Jean was embarrassed and contrite. I waved it away.

"No need." I said magnanimously. "Being home with my family is all the present I need!" Dean and Katie threw themselves back into my arms with cries of 'love you Dad'.

We sat around the table talking for an hour or more but eventually they had to head off to do their homework while Jean and I cleaned up the kitchen.

"What's going on with you Jean? You're not the person I know." She jerked her hand in a cutting motion as if to stop me from going further then her shoulders slumped.

"I, I don't know Adam. I'm depressed I guess. You've always travelled so much and for weeks at a time. This last time was just too long." She looked up into my eyes. "You're not here. We hardly share a life." Tears trickled down her cheeks. "I feel lost."

I reached over and pulled her into a bear hug. She resisted for a moment then relented and let me hold her. I searched for her lips but she turned her head and held it against my chest, circling my waist with her arms and she sobbed softly. We stayed like that for a while, me wanting more, wanting to fix the problem, wanting to kiss and caress her. But she wasn't giving me the vibe that she wanted anything other than to be held.

She had a point though. In the last six years since I had been promoted to management, I had found myself in the unenviable role of trouble shooter for young inexperienced teams. We had discussed it and had agreed that we would make the sacrifice with the end goal of both retiring when I turned fifty and enjoying a life of leisure and travel.

She disengaged, gently and suggested I go spend some time with the kids. I started with Katie, looked over her home-work then did the same with Dean. I put Katie to bed and kissed her goodnight then went through to Dean.

"Mom's not alright Dad." He said with concern. "she's been crying and hardly doing anything around the house. She even forgot your birthday" He looked to the door making sure we weren't overheard. "I think she's having a nervous breakdown." There were tears in his eyes. "Please fix it Dad." I nodded even though I had no idea what was going on or what to do about it.

As I went downstairs I could hear her talking softly on the phone. She heard me or saw me and she switched off.

"Who was that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"One of the girls from the office." She brought the conversation to a close.

We looked at each other, she wasn't giving an inch. Whatever was bugging her, she wasn't about to discuss but she looked like she was angry. Angry with me and trying to hide it. I decided that this was a far bigger problem but was already feeling the jetlag kicking in again and I still had so much to do.

It was nine thirty when I went to my study and checked the Singapore Stock Exchange. They were thirteen hours ahead and had been trading for two hours already. SEA-A was trading at nine dollars ninety. It had rallied somewhat.

I went upstairs and waited for Jean to finish in the bathroom. She washed her face brushed her teeth and hair and came into the bedroom wearing an outsize t-shirt as she often did when she bothered to wear anything. I cleaned up, brushed teeth, rinsed and climbed into bed. I reached for her and for a moment she stiffened then curled into me. "Please just hold me." She whispered in a small voice.

I held her for a long time. This was not the woman I knew. Something was fundamentally wrong, but what? Had I been away too long. The separation too much to bear? But she had never said anything, not once. Had she fallen out of love with me? Fallen in love with someone else? Having an affair? Then, I had a terrible though. What if she was sick? What if it was a dreaded disease and she didn't know how to tell me? All these thoughts kept going round and round without resolution but eventually the jetlag and all the high emotion of the last two days kicked-in and I fell into a fitful sleep. I had dreams where I was chasing a nameless and unknown shadow without catching it.