Rags to Stardom

Chapter 4

"Yes, sure. I'm starving myself.” Ethan's remark reminded him that he had not eaten anything since he left jail.

He couldn't help laughing at what Loretta had just said. Loretta noticed it and asked, “What's making my hero laugh?” She asked sweetly. 

Ethan felt a bit flattered at her statement, “It's amazing that I did all the fighting and yet you are the one talking about hunger.”

She bursted out in laughter. “I never knew you had such a great sense of humor, Ethan Banks.”

Something in him enjoyed hearing her call his name and he joined in her laughter.

As they entered the restaurant, a waitress hurriedly attended to them. Within minutes, she returned with their order. After she left, a well dressed man suddenly approached their table, “If it isn't Ethan Banks. What is a poor peasant like you doing in a place like this?” His tone was both condescending and insulting.

It was none other than Raphael Thornton and like his name he had been a thorn in Ethan's flesh in highschool.

Before Ethan could respond, Raphael took notice of Loretta and turned to her. 

He was dazzled by her beauty and wished in his heart that he could get her for himself. He secretly envied Ethan for being in the company of such a sophisticated looking lady.

“And what's a beautiful lady like you doing with such a poor fellow. You should be with someone like me. Please, allow me to introduce myself, I'm Raphael Thornton, and I'm the next big thing to hit the stock market.” He enjoyed bragging simply because he made a few hundred thousand dollars a while back in the stock market.

Though he was from a wealthy home, his family couldn't still be compared to the Lopez family.

Loretta just ignored him and didn't even bother shaking his hands.

Seeing that she was indifferent to him, Raphael continued with his bragging, “I recently invested over 10 million dollars in Robacom's stocks and in a little while from now, I'd be worth over 700 million dollars. That's something a poor man like Ethan can never achieve in his entire lifetime.”

Just then, the waitress came with their bill.

Raphael was pissed that niether Ethan nor Loretta had even rendered a single response to him. Determined to get under Ethan's skin, he resumed.

“I wonder what man would comfortably let a woman pay his bills.” 

“Quit yapping already, can't you see no one is interested in anything you have to say, “Ethan responded angrily. He had wanted to ignore Raphael but his remarks were becoming more annoying.

“If I were you, I would focus on my shitty stocks that are about becoming worthless.” Ethan added impatiently.

Raphael laughed arrogantly. Even the waitress who had a poor impression about Ethan because of his clothing, laughed at Ethan as well. 

The waitress and several other customers in the restaurant had overhead Raphael's comment about Robacom and had quickly invested in the stocks, so ordinarily, they were shocked at Ethan's statement.

Even Loretta thought Robacom stocks was a good investment, although she never said it out loud.

Ethan suddenly began counting…..”nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Now check your trashy stock again.”

Raphael laughed heartily. He found Ethan's remark very amusing. He had so much confidence in his analytical abilities, afterall it wasn't common to find anyone that could make the kind of money he had made from the stock market. So there was no fear in him. It was his witty confidence that made him invest virtually all the Thornton's idle funds in Robacom stocks.

Suddenly, a customer screamed, “Oh my God! He is right, Robacom stocks just plunged downwards.”

Raphael was stunned, “That's impossible, I even know the CEO, and he assured me that they were doing okay.”

He checked his phone as he spoke and the expression on his face confirmed it all.

“How the hell did you do that. How did you know?” He turned to Ethan and asked.

The customers in the restaurant were furious. They had suffered huge losses because of Raphael. If only they had listened to Ethan and liquidated their positions before Ethan had finished counting down.

“Turn on the TV,” Ethan said to the waitress.

Obviously shaken by the loss she had just encountered, she did as he said without saying a word.

As the TV came on, everyone found out the reason why Robacom stocks plunged so rapidly. Robacom, a security company, had just suffered a cyber attack, costing their numerous clients a lot of money. As a result, their stocks rapidly lost value in the market, causing their stock prices to plummet.

Raphael's phone suddenly began to ring. As he picked up, the voice at the other end of the phone sounded really upset, “Raphael, you assured me this would never happen. You just lost all our money. It would take our family ages to recover from this. I don't want to see you anytime soon or else I'd strangle you with my bare hands.” His father dropped the call without giving him the chance to say anything.

Ethan picked up the bill as he brought out wads of cash that surpassed what was on the slip. “Get him something cold, he will need it.”

As Loretta and Ethan drove out of the restaurant's parking lot, she turned to him and asked admiringly, “How did you do that in there? “How did you know the exact moment the stocks were going to plummet?”

Ethan smiled as he had anticipated the question from her.

“I am an exceptional business analyst, I have my ways.” He responded smartly.

He hadn't meant to be that precise in revealing Robacom's stock crash but Raphael had really pushed him.

Loretta grinned at him. “You are indeed exceptional.”

Ethan was fascinated by Loretta's personality. He appreciated the fact that she allowed him handle Raphael all by himself. While Raphael and the entire restaurant was in a commotion as a result of Raphael’s stock tip, she had slipped him the wad of cash from underneath the table that he had used to clear their bill.

"I didn't get to thank you for what you did back there.”