Once he made the decision to go ahead with the story, Adam's head began to spin. He wanted the relaunch of his blog to go over well. Once you get an audience, you do not want to lose them. He is not happy with the title, "Vast Void". Sounds so empty without any hope. He sat there and sat. Come on Adam, you don't want to stall this project because of the title. Just tell them the plain truth.
Of course… duh… that's a great title for the blog. He pulls up Photoshop and redesigns the logo using a newspaper print font. "The Plain Truth". Still having the energy inside of him, Adam goes to the crux of the entire article. Edward Wilcox.
Putting a fresh page on his Word doc, he nervously looks at the blank page. No heading back now. He closes his eyes. And just like automatic writing, the words fly from his fingers. He writes a teaser about how irresponsible Silicon Beach Realtors was about this project. In addition, the man heading this project front and center, Edward Wilcox. To tease the readers a bit, he tells about a recent land deals made on behalf of Silicon by Wilcox.
Adam does not pull any punches. He puts in the facts with confirmed affirmation that he properly cited. And those that he doesn't, he uses as a headline of things to come. Ashley looks over his shoulder, reads the article, and pushes her lower lip up as she nods her head in approval. "This is your best writing yet." She puts her arms around his shoulders and gives him a squeeze.
She takes a sip of her coffee. "Can you really deliver like you promised?"
"The info I have will blow the roof off of everything. I just have to do some more verifying of sources."
With her stamp of approval, he presses send on the completed blog. It doesn't take long for it to circulate. Throughout the day, The Plain Truth gets many clicks and followers. The response is tremendous. One in particular comes from an online news borough. Adam clicks on their site to read what they have posted in the past. Growing in the virtual paperless press, the page is very popular among the independent pundits. Adam opens it up to read it what they said about his article.
They show a desire to hire him, but on a story-by-story basis. They want the story Adam promised in the piece. The response makes Adam happy. And is flattered. However, he doesn't want the pressure of freelance work. With his blog, he is not tied down to deadlines. He can work at his own pace.
Part of this freedom comes from a rainy day fund he started when he worked at the paper. Flushed with cash back then from all of the money Adam earned, turned out to be a good thing. It forced him to be frugal and put it away. However, it just sat there doing nothing... not growing.
Being a good enough investigated reporter, he spotted trends and invested his money into certain stocks that he saw take a large dip. For instance, when he found out that the bankers were not going to be punished for the banking crisis, he took advantage of it. It paid off and his stocks rose.
These were safe stocks because they were from companies that would never go under. As long he kept track when they go up and down, he was able to make a large increase in his initial investments. Because he locked the funds with those stocks, Adam knew Ashley and he could not touch it. When the stocks evened out, he put it into a high yield money market fund. He titled that, the Nest Egg.
This left them enough money for him and Ashley to live for many years.
Reflecting on all of this, Adam is very confident indeed. He knows that he can enjoy life with his wife and write what he wants. As he looks over the follow up story, he needs to tighten it up a bit. He needs to affirm the piece. To do that, he has to present it to Wilcox to get his reaction. This will add much to the story no matter how he responds. If he denies everything, then they can still cite his reactions.
This time going to the beach offices of Silicon Realty, Adam is more confident and feels he has Edward Wilcox dead to rights. There is no way he can worm his way out of this one. As he sits in the lobby, Adam looks out towards the pier, enjoying the goings on around the boardwalk. The people just seem so happy, enjoying what Harbor Shores has to offer.
As Adam looks up at the clock, he notices that it's been a half hour. He can see Wilcox in his office, but he will not come out. They do not even offer Adam coffee this time. Not that he wants any, but the mood seems awfully different.
After wasting most of Adam's day, Wilcox finally comes out. He gives him a long hard stare. If he had a gun, Adam would be dead. It got really uncomfortable as Wilcox just let the moment build. Finally, he said, "Belfort… in my office."
A lump appears in Adam's throat. Come on, Dude calm down. You have the upper hand. He just wants to intimate you. The only spot for Adam to sit in is an uncomfortable chair set in front of Wilcox' large mahogany deck. Wilcox sits in his executive chair looking like Genghis Kahn, staring at Adam as if he was a Persian about to be conquered. .
As they play this staring game, there is an old saying, "Whoever talks first loses." Adam is not sure what it is that you are supposed to win, but this is getting nowhere. "I am doing a story on—"
"—I'm well aware of your story."
"That, um, is just the tip of the iceberg," Adam said. "I would like to get your reaction to the follow up that I am going to—"
"--What did I ever do to you Belfort?"
"Excuse me?"
"You sit on your computer all day finding ways to undermined me.
"From where I stand, you put all of this upon yourself," Adam replies.
Wilcox brow furrows. His deep-set eyes intensify even more. "I wouldn't be such a smug asshole right now if I was you Belfort!"
"Then you admit that you have cooked the books to support this upcoming project."
"I admit nothing. It is you that should tread lightly my friend. Many others smarter than you have not been so lucky."
"That sounds like a threat."
Wilcox puts his hands on his desk and stands up. "Call it what you will, but I would be careful printing any story with such weak evidence."
"Oh, I have the goods. It's just a matter of time until the thread from your tapestry of deceit will come undone."
"My lawyers will say otherwise. If you fail to dot one 'i'or cross one 't', your life will come crashing down and you will be financially ruined." Adam's mouth drops open. "Not so smug now are you? If you go ahead with that story, you better be sure that it's ironclad."
Adam knows that Wilcox is telling the truth. At the paper he worked at, they had their own set of lawyers to make sure a story was foolproof. With his little blog of his, Adam cannot protect himself from libel.
"Now go along and print about safe subjects," Wilcox said, "Like why the grass is not as green as its neighbors." With his right hand, he motions towards the door. "I do believe you know your way out."
As Adam walks out, he felt like he got punched in the stomach. He went against the world's champ and he didn't see flurries until it was too late. He did not even belong in the same weight class as Wilcox. It was a total spanking and Adam felt like he was sent to the corner without his supper.
With his tail between his legs, Adam saunters away. Is it worth it to go ahead with a story many will talk about one day and forget by the next? Why would he want the pressure of it all? He has his nest egg. He does not need any of this. All long as he prints up soft stories that will gain a mild interest, he can bring in enough for them to live off of.
****
With Adam gone, Ashley receives a call from their bank. The very bank that holds their nest egg. "I'm sorry, Mr. Belfort handles this account and he is not in at the moment," she tells them. She takes care of the balance from their regular account. But when it comes to this retirement fund, Adam is the one that knows the ins and outs of it.
She has a strange feeling in her stomach that something is not right. "I'm Mrs. Belfort. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"No, we can only speak to your husband. When do you expect him home?"
"I'm not certain. But, I will have him call you as soon as he does." She hangs up from the strange phone call from the bank, bewildered and mixed up. She slumps into their easy chair, and just sits there in a daze. This is not good she says to herself. With the digital world, they never actually get to talk to anyone anymore.
She looks at the clock. When is Adam going to be home? It's not like it is a very far trip from the boardwalk and back. Maybe he went to the library again for more research. It is now late in the afternoon. He should be back by now.
Finally, Adam gets home. First thing out of her mouth is, "What's going on with the Nest Egg?"
She notices the blank stare on his face. "Adam what is it?"
"Nothing, um… I'll tell you later. What's with the Nest Egg?"
"I thought you knew by the look on your face."
"No, I just walk in now."
"Well, some man from the bank called and—"
"—the bank? They never call."
"I know, that's what I was thinking."
What did he say?" Adam takes a deep breath in an effort to calm himself.
"He wouldn't talk to me."
"I'm sorry about that. I need to change that. Um, what's his number?"
"He didn't leave a number."
"That's okay, I'll call the number I have." Adam pulls out a business card and dials the number on it. However, it goes to the automated system. "Who is this?" Adam asks. "Skip? Oh, God, he is from India.
Skip tells him that his account is frozen. When Adam presses him, the call center person is unable to tell him anything. Adam slams the phone down. He turns to Ashley, "Is this the phone number he called from?"
"Yes," she said.
Pressing the main button on the phone, he checks the caller ID. Then he hits redial. He puts the call on speaker so Ashley can hear. "Hello, how are?"
"Great can I speak—"
"—sorry, but we are closed at this time."
"Ugh!" He checks his wrist forgetting that he does not wear a watch. "What time is it? he asks.
"It's only 3:15. They should still be open."
"Oh, damn," he said. "I forgot. They are on Arizona time."
"Now what?" she asks.
"Now? We wait… until tomorrow."
Ashley does not do well with waiting. She lost her appetite. For the entire night, she stresses out. "They took our money away, I just know it." She rises from the lounge chair.
"They cannot take our money away," Adam reassures her. "It's a retirement fund, they can't tough it."
This does nothing to relieve Ashely off the stress that their Nest Egg is gone. "We need that money to live Adam. What are we going to do?" She paces about.
"I'm sure it's something minor that they are calling about. Probably wanting to put you on the account. Yeah, I'm sure that's it."
"Now you are just making stuff up because you know I will go on and on about it." She plops into the lounge chair again.
It was long and sleepless night for Ashley. Every time Adam falls asleep, she makes sure to wake him up. He rolls over on his back and just stares at the ceiling. She says to him. "What's wrong? Can't sleep either?"
"I was doing fine until you woke me up… again."
"Aren't you worried?" she says with a dry mouth.
"Of course, but not sleeping will change the fact that we will not know what they wanted until the bank opens."
She looks at him and he seems troubled. They never did talk about anything since he got home. She never did find out how it went with Wilcox. And Adam doesn't seem to be forthcoming with it.
"Oh, God!" she gets up from the bed and to the bathroom.
"What is it?" Adam asks.
"I have heartburn."
This is going to be a long night.
****
Finally, Ashley fell asleep. Adam thought she never would wind down. Now he can get some shuteye. Except, he has the threat from Wilcox on his mind. Adam is not certain if he was threating financial ruin or body harm. With Wilcox, it could be both.
When the alarm goes off, Ashley would not even let Adam have breakfast. She made him call the bank as soon as possible. He knew he would not be able to eat anyway, because Ashley is a grinder and will not let it go. I'm sure it's just a mistake he says to himself. But, he still wants to make certain so he has enough time to fix it.
As Adam is on the phone with the bank, Ashley has that "hurry up" look on her face. She bounces up and down as if she has to pee.
"Okay, uh huh. That's what I thought too. Then why did your rep tell me otherwise. Uh huh…"
"You mentioned that already," Ashley says.
"Okay, thank you so much. My wife would be relieved to her that. Good bye."
"What did he say? Are we broke? Did they take our money away?"
Adam looks dumbfounded. "The bank manager says that he doesn't know what the call center was saying. The account is still open."
"Yeah, but I didn't talk to a call center. I talked to someone from the main branch," Ashley said.
Adam puts his hand over the receiver, "That was the main branch. They said that we still have the account open."
They are relieved. "So, Phil said we are okay then?"
"Phil?" Adam said. "I talked to Mark. He is the branch manager."
"Well, I wondered what Phil wanted then?" Ashley said.
"I don't know… I'll ask when he gets--, yes Mark? My wife said that she talked to a Phil. There is no Phil. Are you sure. I do have two accounts with you. One of them is a savings account, the other is an IRA account. Uh huh." He looks over at Ashley, "He said I have to talk to the guy in charge of IRA accounts." He lets out a bit of air from his pierced lips. "And what is his name? Phil… okay this is getting odd."
Mark tells Adam that to come in person to talk to Phil. "I'm sure it's just a mix up," Mark says.
"I was thinking the same thing, the problem is that I am not in Arizona anymore. Can I just speak to Phil over the phone?"
"He is busy right now, but I can have him call you back."
"When?" says a perturbed Adam.
"Well, he is booked up until noon. He always takes a late lunch to accommodate his clients."
Adam puts his hands into his face and sighs. Ashley has that "What" look on her face. Adam nods his head, "Okay, that will have to do I guess." He hangs up the phone in disgust.
Now it is Adam's turn to die a thousand deaths. And to make matters worse, Ashley assumes the worst and bugs him throughout breakfast. They sit and stare at each other like statues. Normally they talk about how much they love their harbor view, the people around the neighborhood walking their dogs, or the out of towners in their canoes going down the harbor. But, instead, they are frozen in time waiting for the phone to ring.
Ashley breaks the silence, "I did want to go to the ocean today. The weather is perfect."
"Then what's stopping you?" Adam snaps.
She gives him a long hard stare. "Do you think I can lay there knowing that our funds for the future is wiped out?"
"The Nest Egg is not wiped out."
"How do you know that? Are you psychic now?"
"Because they can't—" the phone rings.
They both look at each other.
"Answer it why don't you?" Ashley says.
Adam check the caller ID. It's the bank. After exchanging pleasantries, the bank manager Phil gets right to the point. "Your IRA account took a turn for the worst. To put it bluntly… the Nest Egg is cracked."
Adam is just befuddle, "How can this be? No, that should never happen, it was a retirement fund. It should never be touched." Adam's mouth is wide open. "Why would the government want with my funds anyway?"
After going back and forth for a while, Adam hangs up the phone. Ashley cannot wait to find out what is going on.
Adam sighs, "Apparently the government has frozen our accounts. We are broke."
Now Adam is in a sink and swim position. He needs money fast. "I guess I have to take that offer from that online news borough."
"You gotta do something Adam," Ashley says with a treble in her voice.
"The problem is that it's a spec piece which takes a while to pay."
Ashely replies, "It's better than nothing."
Survival of the fittest just kicked for the Belfort's. Now they will experience what it is like for animals in the wild when it's kill or be killed. It's not only a matter of survival, it's imperative that something changes or they lose all that they saved up for. Now that they have settled into this wonderful community, they do not want to give it up.