Walking into Trouble Pt. 01

Ethan

It was Monday morning. Ethan had a stack of orders on his workbench that he was working through. He was working in his workshop getting out as many chair orders that he could get through his workshop to lighter the workload as he could today.

The office had advised him that the quarterly international order was due to come through at any time. Ethan knew that when this order came in it would muck up his orders for at least a week or two till it was out of the door it took his attention away from his regular orders. That, and he would get behind on the other orders if he left them for too long.

This time around was no different from last time, as one of the staff from the office came downstairs with the news he was dreading getting. "Ethan, the international order has come in, and they have ordered 80 chairs to make up this time," she said as she put the order on his bench.

"I know, Amy, that you are aware it takes at least a week to get it ready with all the parts we need to order and get the seats to make up for it," Ethan said.

"Don't worry. I'll tell Bill that you need more parts for the order before you can start it Thanks, Ethan"

Amy goes back to the office from the warehouse, and not five minutes later she comes running back to the workshop.

"Ethan there is a lawyer here to see you, I don't know what it is about though he would like to speak to you alone," Amy says out of breath.

"A lawyer, to see me, what is it about?" Ethan asked.

"If I knew, I would tell you, All I know is the manager has allowed you to use the office to see him," Amy told Ethan as she was catching her breath.

He walked upstairs to the office with Amy to the room that the lawyer is waiting in. He sees a middle-aged man wearing glasses in a suit and tie sitting in the office waiting for him. He goes to the man and shakes his man's hand and introduces himself.

"Hello, my name is Ethan. I have been told you are here to see me," he said.

"Yes, my name is James Brown I am here to talk to you about an inheritance you have been named in, Mister Higgs," James said.

"Inheritance, the only person I know would be my father and he died two weeks ago," Ethan said.

"Yes, I know this may come as a shock to you though I have been told to speak to you about it. Your father had quite a bit of wealth he built up when he passed away," James explained.

"Wealth you say? Mister Brown in all honesty I think you have the wrong man" My father was a man of average means and there was no way he could have built up a lot of wealth," Ethan said.

James then took out some papers from one of the folders he was carrying and placed them in front of him on the table. "Is this your birth certificate, Mister Higgs?" He asked Ethan. Ethan examined the paperwork in front of him.

"Yes, this is my birth certificate you have here," Ethan replied.

"Then you should know this photograph then," James said. He slid another document out of the folder and placed it on the table in front of Ethan. It was a photo of his father holding him when he was a kid.

"Yes, that's my father. How did you get this picture?" Ethan asked James.

James moves on to the next document within his folder. And places another document on the table in front of him. This time it was a letter that was written by his father not three weeks ago.

"Ethan, if you are reading this letter, it means I am no longer around, and the cancer I was fighting for a long time got the better of me. Please don't give James a hard time. He has been a very loyal friend and lawyer to me for over 15 years. I know I didn't tell you about this, as I didn't know how you would react if you found out about my wealth. It is why I only told you that I was the owner of the warehouse that you are currently working in and nothing more.

The truth is the warehouse in which you make chairs is only a very small part of my wealth, and what you will come to see over the next few weeks will shock you. There is one other thing you should know. You have a younger half-sister who is six years younger than you, and her name is Stacey. I had her after your mother and I got divorced, and I never told your mother or you about it. You will learn a lot about me when you find out just how much wealth I had built up and why I choose to keep it from you."

Ethan finished reading the letter and was shocked by what he had just read. Not only did his father keep his wealth from him and his mother, but he also had a half-sister he never knew about on top of the newfound wealth.

"Mister Brown, Did you by chance have a photo of my sister to show me?" He asked James.

"I do, Mister Higgs," He took out another piece of paper from his folder and placed it on the table so Ethan could see it. It was a photograph of a young girl who had blonde hair and a pretty face smiling. Ethan looked at the picture on the table and was surprised to realise he had met her in the past at his previous job.

Five Years Earlier

Ethan was at a club playing and hosting card games with his friends like he did every Tuesday night. It was about 7 pm when a young lady came over to the table where the six people were playing cards together.

The young lady asks of the table of players, "Hey guys, what are you playing, and is there room for one more"

Ethan was the one to speak up.

"We are playing a game of poker, and you need to be 18 or older to join us".

"Well, if they let me in the club does that not mean I am 18 or older then?" Stacey teases.

"I'm the one who organised these games, so I need to check your ID to be sure that I can let you play," he said.

"Well, if you insist then," She then hands over her ID to show Ethan, and he examines it. He sees that it says she is 19 years old and her name is Stacey Baths.

"Yeah, everything's fine here I see Stacey was it," and hands her ID back to her.

"If you want to join us, it costs you $12 to join us. The winner takes all except the $2 rake that each person pays to cover my costs, if you lose all your chips you can buy back in for $10 extra," Ethan explains.

"Cool, then I join you guys then," Stacey pays her entry fee and sits down at the table to join the game. There were six other people at the table. Two of them were middle-aged men in casual clothes, one of them was a young lady who was in a red dress and glasses, there was a married couple there who could not keep their hands to themselves and an older lady there who was in an outfit straight out of work from a government department.

The older lady asks Stacey, "Have you played poker before dear?"

"No, I haven't though I am quick at picking up on things," Stacey replied.

"That's good to hear, Ethan here is a good teacher of the game and we are here a few nights a week," the lady told Stacey.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Stacy said.

"Colleen, you give me too much credit. Have you not been playing here before I started working on this game?" Ethan injected.

The older lady smiles and says, "Yes, that may be true though you are the best person that I have seen run the game here. The guy before you was a jerk, and no one stayed more than three months before someone else came in and took over the game," Colleen said to Ethan.

It was true that Ethan had been running these games at this venue for over two years now and he was proud of that. He also had a reputation as a nice guy who was quick to help others and was also well-known to the club staff. So if he had any problems he could go and seek their help.

"So Colleen, where is Ron tonight is he well," Ethan asks.

"Me and him need time apart tonight, so I'm here on my own," Colleen replied.

One of the others pips in, "are you two fighting again," One of the other ladies asks Colleen.

Colleen gave a dirty look at the lady in the red then replied. "I don't think that he makes any difference to the game, if he is here or not does it Trish," Colleen asks her.

"Well having him here means more people so more money in the pool to fight over, I mean look Colleen tonight's game is the quieter it has been here in some time," Trish said.

Trish had made a good point as the game normally had 20 or more people over 3 or 4 tables, yet tonight they were all on one table and even Ethan playing as well was out of character as he avoided playing whenever he could to avoid conflict with the players.

"Trish I think it obvious that me playing tonight means I forgo my pay so there is at least $80 in the pot to play for. Why do you think I am allowing rebuy tonight when I normally don't, to help with the prize pool," Ethan said.

"Well in any case it is good to play against the boss once in a while" one of the men said.

"True, though I don't like to play against people when I am working as you guys may get the wrong idea, and think I am cheating," Ethan said with a smile on his face.

"So Ethan, are you single then?" Stacey asked, smiling at him.

"I have a girlfriend though she does not like poker she is at home tonight," Ethan replied.

One of the married couples spoke up then, "You should get her involved with poker, Ethan so she is not so lonely at home".

"Lella, I have tried to bring her in the past though she does not like going out on a work night, As she normally is tired after work and just wants to have early nights," Ethan explained.

"I understand that, maybe try and get her to come to your Saturday games then," Lella questioned Ethan.

"Yeah, maybe you are right I'll try talking to her when I get home tonight," Ethan said.

His phone rings in his pocket while he is dealing the cards out to the players at the table, he checks the name on the phone and sees it is his boss.

Ethan places the cards on the table and gets up from the table with his phone in his hand. "Sorry guys, I have to take this if I am not back in time just fold my cards for me".

There is a rule in poker that people can't be on the phone during a live hand. You also have to be at the table before the last card is dealt to be in the current hand.

So Ethan steps away from the table and walks a short distance to make sure that the people at the table can't overhear him.

"Hello Mel, how have you been today," Ethan asked.

"I'm good Ethan, just ringing up to get tonight's numbers for the game," Mel said.

"We have only 7 players tonight Mel, and I jump in as well to at least make it a full table tonight," Ethan replied.

There was silence on the line for a moment then came the reply he was dreading to hear. "That's not good enough Ethan", Mel yells. "Though I understand why you joined the game," she said.

Stacey

Stacey had seen Ethan walk away from the table to take a call and could see he was depressed on the phone "Guys any ideas, who is he on the phone to, they must be upsetting him?" Stacey asked the table.

Lella looked to where Ethan was talking on the phone and signed, "It must be his boss, Mel if he is like that on the phone. She can be quite hard on him at times, I can see why his girlfriend stays away from poker"

She asks, "How come his boss keeps his girlfriend away?"

Lella laughed at that comment, "His girlfriend Amy hates her, that's why if she comes in and his boss is here at the same time, which is very rare these days. There would be fireworks and I don't think Ethan wants to deal with that".

"Would she fire him over his girlfriend being hot-tempered?" Stacey asks.

"Nope, it's because Mel can be a bitch and Amy would blast her to defend Ethan," Lella laughed.

"Mel can't afford to lose Ethan, she has no one that would work here other than him, and her other workers are not exactly clean-cut" Colleen explains to Stacey.

Stacey injects "Clean-cut, what do mean by that?"

"They have a habit of turning a blind eye to cheating and often take money from the prize pool. Ethan is giving up his pay today so we can have a little extra tonight to play for, I very much doubt the other workers would do that for their players" Colleen explained to Stacey.

"What do you mean, he is giving up his pay tonight and did he not pay to join us?" Stacey asked.

"It means the rake of $2 per person is being used for his entry tonight, he only does this if we get 7 or fewer players," Colleen explained to Stacey.

"I have been to games where Mel or one of her other workers are running the games, and I have to say Ethan's games are the best by far even if the prize pools are on the small side," Lella said.

"I agree with you there Lella, I do feel for him at times, he is a nice guy that just gets shit on a lot," Colleen says. "He needs to stand his ground more with her so she doesn't push him around".

Stacey took all this in and was in deep thought when someone at the table bump her on the arm. "It's your turn dear, what action are you going to take?" Trish said.

Stacey looked at her hand and saw she had 2 red tens in her hand and there were four of hearts, King of Spades and ten of clubs on the table.

"I raise, what is the minimum amount I can raise it to?" Stacey asks.

One of the men at the table said, "300 is the minimum, anything over that is fine".

"Ok, I'll make it 500 then," Stacey said.

"I call," the other guy said.

"I call," Trish said.

"I'm out, I fold," Lella said.

"Fold," Lella's husband Joe said.

The players took their actions then Colleen turned the next card over three diamonds.

"Check."

"Check."

"Pass."

Then it was Stacey's turn "500 again," She put her chips in the middle of the table.

"Call."

"Call."

"Call."

So there was Trish, Stacey, and another guy still in the hand. "Last card, the river guys", Colleen says as she deals out the card on the table.

It was the ten of spades, so Stacey now had four of a kind and probably the best hand in this game.

"Pass."

"Pass."

"500 to see my cards," Trish says.

Stacey smiles and said, "I call your 500," The other two fold their cards.

Trish shows her cards first "I have a full house, king over tens," and shows the table her cards.

Stacey said, "Well I only got 4 tens " and flips over her cards on the table to show everyone.

At that moment Ethan comes back over to the table after his phone call to his boss and sees the cards on the table. "Nice hand Stacey, you win this pot, tho you will need a lot more chips if you want to make the money tonight Stacey," Ethan said.

So Stacey rakes the chip in the middle of the table towards the pile in front of her.

"This is a fun game," Stacey says with a grin on her face.

Colleen pips in then "That only one hand, Ethan right it be a while before we find a winner tonight. Beginner's luck with that last hand Stacey, it is your turn to deal the cards, Joe"

"I know it is Colleen" as Joe takes the cards and shuffles them for the next hand.

For the next two hours after that, they played and they chatted to keep the table going. In the end, only two players were left with chips in front of them to fight for the money, Lella and Colleen. The two ladies were left after a series of knockouts from other players including Ethan. He had been knocked out by Lella when he got caught trying to trick her into thinking he had a strong hand when he didn't.

"You can't bluff me, Ethan, I have been playing far too long to see when people are trying to bluff me!" Lella said.

Ethan laughs "I know I should have seen that coming though, silly me I didn't think"

At the end of the game, Lella and Colleen agree to share the money. Even though it was only $40 each, they both walked away happy from the game and both of them thanked him for running it.

Ethan

After the game ended Ethan was packing up the chips into the cases and putting the tables away in the cupboard that the club designed for the poker equipment.

Stacey came up to Ethan during the time Ethan was packing up.

"I had a good time tonight, Ethan thanks for letting me play tonight".

"It's nothing, Stacey, just doing my job if you had a good time. The main thing is I will be here on Tuesday and Saturday nights if you wish to come back again," Ethan smiles at Stacey.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind, do you have some time to talk if you are free now?" Stacey asks Ethan.

"I have to get home, as my girlfriend is waiting for me to come home, she doesn't like to be at home alone for too long," Ethan said.

"What if I could drive you at least part way home, and you have time to talk to me at the same time?" Stacey asks Ethan.

"True I could let you though, I live a fair distance from here and even by car it takes about 2 hours to get home at times."

"Well, where do you live Ethan? I will put it in my GPS so I can take you home and then I can go to my place afterwards".

"I appreciate the offer, I do though I only just met you tonight and we don't know each other. That and I know the others have told you about my girlfriend right?" He smiled when he said that, knowing that the ladies from earlier loved to gossip about everything.

"Ok then I understand, you may regret one day not taking this chance I am offering," she said as she turned to walk away from him, disappointed with his answer.

Ethan asks, "What do you mean by chance? Are you offering me a chance to go out with you? If so, then it flat-output no!" Ethan says, annoyed at this point.

Stacey laughed, "If that's what you think this is about you are sorely mistaken!" As she walked away from Ethan he was more puzzled than before she came up to him.

Five years later

Ethan looked at the picture on the table in front of him and was surprised to realise he had met her in the past. Now he understood what she had meant back then when she gave him a chance. She knew about him, though he didn't know anything about her.

He asks the lawyer "What are you doing after you see me today?"

"I will be going to see your sister Stacey after this and tell her the same thing I just told you now. Then all three of us will meet up tonight at the airport," James told Ethan.

James passed over some bank cards and an envelope full of cash. "That is for you to go shopping today, The cash is if you don't use the cards. There is a car outside of the car park waiting for you. You have a plane to catch at 10.30 pm tonight that is taking us to the States. Then another one to take us close to your father's property, you get more details when we meet up at the airport tonight," James told Ethan. "So go home and pack your bags and don't forget your passport as you will need it. Here is a list of places that one of our fashion people named Jane has set up for you to go shopping".

He looked at the list that James had given him. It was a list of high-end clothing shops he would normally never step into. Ethan asks the question that was on his mind, "Can I take my fiance with me, or do I have to go alone?"

Ethan looked outside of the clear office window to see his fiance typing on her computer processing orders for the day, then he turned back to James.

James

James knew Ethan was watching Amy working, He had done some digging before this meeting. Todd had warned him before he passed about Amy as he had tabs on her. He knew she was a hard-working office assistant, though he also knew that she is very protective of Ethan from the records he had read on her. James was reminded of Todd's instructions about her.

"If Ethan asks to bring her along, they better have someone lined up to replace her the minute she goes, as she is very valuable as an asset in her current position. She could take over as warehouse manager within a year or two".

He knew in that instant what had to happen. He spoke to Ethan, "Ethan I know you want Amy to come with you today. However, Todd had different plans for her in mind, which you will find out when the will is read. After that, you can choose what happens and I am sure Amy would understand".