CHAPTER 6

“I must be dreaming”

Jeremiah couldn’t believe what he was seeing and he started slapping his cheek multiple times.

“Wake up! Wake up! No way any of this is real” he said as he continued to slap himself, but instead of waking up like he expected, all he got was a hot and stinging cheek.

He changed tactics.

“Maybe, it’s a mistake from my bank”

Wanting to confirm, Jeremiah called the manager of the bank he uses and after a couple of seconds, the phone was answered.

[“Hello?”]

Jeremiah said hurriedly “Good evening, Mister Victor. This is Jeremiah Garrick, one of the customers of Polaris Bank and I got your number when I opened my account”

[“Okay and why are you calling at this time of the night? Don’t you know I was about to go to bed?”]

Jeremiah could hear the irritation in Victor’s voice but he understood where it was coming from.

After all, even he would be annoyed if someone called him at that time of the night, so not feeling insulted by it, he pushed on.

“I sincerely apologize about that, sir. It’s just that the issue is too serious to ignore until tomorrow”

[“The issue? What issues is that?”] Victor asked.

“As of a minute ago, I received a credit alert of fifty million dollars and I was calling to ask if there’s a glitch in the system or something?” Jeremiah said and instead of getting an immediate response, he started hearing nothing but silence on the other end of the line.

“Mister Victor—“

[“What did you say your name was again?”] Victor asked coldly.

“Jeremiah, Sir. My name is Jeremiah Garrick”

[“Jeremiah, are you mad?”]

“I’m sorry?” Jeremiah grimaced.

[“It’s a serious question and you should answer it. Are you an idiot? Let me guess, this is your stupid idea of some kind of prank”]

Jeremiah was taken aback and speechless.

[“How old are you? I thought I was talking to an adult but it turns out you were a child who thinks playing pranks on hard-working people at this time of night is fun”]

“Mister Victor, I wasn’t playing a prank on—“

[“Shut your stinking mouth, you filthy imbecile!”]

Jeremiah shut up.

[“I’ve worked as the manager of Polaris Bank for many years now and I know the names of all our VIP customers. Every single one of them, millionaires whose net worths are something a donkey like you will never make in a million years. How dare you think that your foolish trick would make me believing that you’re one of them?!”]

“But Mister Victor, I’m being serious. If you can just check my account information for recent credit alerts, you’ll see—“ Jeremiah said but Victor cut him off again.

[“I will check your account alright but I will be terminating it and banning you from ever creating an account with us ever again. Polaris Bank has no use for stupid customers like you who think that playing games and lying about getting such a huge credit alert is appropriate”] Victor said and then ended the call.

Jeremiah stood frozen for a moment.

What did he do or say that was so wrong it warranted the response Victor gave him?

There was no justification for it and Jeremiah began to get annoyed that he was just talked down to like that.

“How dare he speak to a customer like that? Someone like him should be taught a lesson—“ Jeremiah said and his phone started to ring.

He saw that it was the same number his late mother had given him and without a second’s hesitation, he answered.

[“Son, have you seen the money I sent you? It’s nothing much so just manage it for the rest of the week”]

It was a Thursday night, so fifty million dollars for the week was just crazy to even think of.

“Yes, I did, but are you sure there wasn’t a mistake during the transfer?” Jeremiah asked and his father groaned.

[“A mistake? Did you not get the complete ifty million dollars?”]

That did it. It was confirmed that the money he received was real and not a glitch from anywhere.

“I did” Jeremiah replied and his father was finally able to pick up the annoyance in his tone..

[“What’s the matter, son?”]

Jeremiah contemplated revealing the truth but he was just angry that he didn’t want to keep quiet about it.

“Umm, for a second, I had thought that the alert I received was a mistake, so I called the manager of my bank to ask his assistance in confirming it for me, but he insulted me instead”

[“He did what?! What brach is he the manager of?!”]

“The branch at Mayfair in Bakers View” Jeremiah replied and his father groaned.

[“The Polaris Bank in Mayfair, Bakers View? You mean Victor insulted my son?!”]

Jeremiah’s eyes widened.

“How did you know the name of the manager?” He asked.

[“Because I hired that idiot! You don’t know this but our family owns a ajority of the banks in the continent and beyond, as well as many other very lucrative businesses. I can’t believe that fool dared talk to my son like that! I should give him a stern warning!”]

Jeremiah couldn’t believe what his father just said. His family owned almost all the banks in the continent and beyond?

Just how rich were they? He wondered.

[“Give me a moment, son. Let me talk to that fool, Victor”]

“No problem,” Jeremiah said and his father ended the call.

Jeremiah still hadn’t gotten the chance to wrap his head around what was just revealed to him about his family when Victor started blasting his phone.

Jeremiah looked at the caller ID and frowned.

He refused to answer as payback for the insult he received then the call ended and Victor started calling again.

He looked at the caller ID again and chuckled.

“I thought I was a nobody so why are you calling back to back?” He said then rolled his eyes and answered the call.

[“Good evening, Mister Jeremiah. I just want to say how terribly sorry I am for my stupid behavior during our last call! I can’t believe I spoke to someone of your caliber in such an abhorrent manner. Please find it in your heart to forgive me!”]

“So now you feel sorry? You weren’t sorry when you said all those insulting words to me not so long ago but because you’ve realized who I am, you’re trying to do a three-sixty?” Jeremiah frowned.

He hated that Victor was trying to kiss his ass now that he knew who he was.

[“It was an innocent mistake, Sir. Please pardon this foolish employee and let’s move on from this unfortunate incident”] Victor begged.

“I refuse,” Jeremiah said coldly.

[“Sir?”]

“That’s right. I refuse to move on. You’re only fixing your attitude and asking for forgiveness because of my family’s status which means that if I was a common person, you would have continued to feel proud and confident about what you did. I cannot have someone with such disgusting behavior representing my family’s business any longer, so first thing tomorrow morning, go to your office and pack your things because you’re fired!” Jeremiah said and he could hear Victor’s jaw drop.

[“Sir, I’m what? Fired?”]

“That’s right. Your services as the manager of Polaris Bank are no longer needed so don’t bother clocking in to work tomorrow” Jeremiah said and heard Victor gulp.

[“Sir, I beg you to please reconsider your decision. I’ve given so many years of my life to working for your family’s bank. What am I going to do now if you fire me? I have a wife and kids. Please think about them”]

“You should have thought of them before you disrespected me. Goodbye Victor and don’t think of applying for work in another bank because I hear my family owns almost all of them and your name has been blacklisted”

[“Sir, please—“] Victor said desperately but Jeremiah ended the call.