Rarely does a 25-year-old career woman dream of how life as she knows it will end. The ambition and early success have a way of blinding such ominous visons of doom. However, on this day, a typical Monday in march, Allison Adams was faced with just such a reality.
A typical jersey girl, Allison was raised in Newark to a loving working-class family. Her father, Dino Adamo, which his grandfather had changed upon arrival to the so-called melting pot, which grandpa Sal joked they melted the Italian right outa him, worked in the city as a construction worker, part of the Heavy Laborers Local 472 Union, more by necessity than choice. Her mother was a typical Italian housewife, cooked better than any chef in town, and fed you more than any stomach was meant to hold. In fact, Gina Adams would think you sick if you didn't have a little meat on your bones, often teasing Allison's boyfriends, asking "whats ammata you sick? Allison are you feeding him?" Allison had her mother's northern Italian fair features, light olive skin and aureate hair, but her father's Sicilian eyes, marble shaped and mahogany iris'. She had the work ethic that her father instilled upon her, which led to high marks and plenty of opportunity.
Though first judged by her stunning beauty, all that was needed was a chance and Allison often proved her instinct and intellect. This is what took her through Princeton with a finance degree and a job on Wall Street. At a very young age she was already making more money than her father had earned in a lifetime, and that was only the beginning. An eye for the stocks and a gamblers golden luck it wasn't long before she caught the attention of Benny Gonvese or Benny the Bull as he was affectionately called by his friends. This was a nickname because of his stock skills and ability to manipulate the Bull Market. Benny was a lanky man, he had a similar skin tone to that of Allison's dad, a thin nose that barely held up his thick glasses, and a crown shaped receding hairline, unfortunate ailment for a man so young, only 35, 24 when his hair first began to thin. Benny was a gentle man, yet by all accounts measured and calculated in his words and actions. He often touched his nose to his lips when he was thinking hard or was about to make a tough call on a stock. His firm, Gonvese Unlimited was one of the most successful up and coming firms in all of New York, so naturally, when asked to join, even though she had only been working with her current employer for 6 months, she jumped, nay leap at the opportunity.
In the early nineties the stock market and the Us economy in general was in a bit of a mini-recession. This is troublesome for most, but to a few savvy Sicilians it sewed only opportunity. You see for those with the capital to sustain spending, like the firm of Gonvese Unlimited, a recession was just another way to take advantage of everyone else. At first Allison thought nothing of the fact that there seemed to be a constant flow of money into the firm, and nobody knew precisely where it was coming from. She assumed, perhaps naively, that Benny was just a very wealthy man who had trust fund money he could always dip into. She also didn’t seem to question how Benny seemed to almost always make the right call on when to buy and when to sell. Playing the game of stocks is very similar to playing baseball. You can be an all-time great, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Dimaggio and you still strike out over half the time you go to bat. Not Benny, it was hard to even keep track of when he struck out because of all the money they were making. One doesn’t dig deep into where the money is coming from when you drive to work in a brand new hot pink Cadillac. The fortune had blinded Allison completely to the truth, or maybe deep down she knew what was going on. Perhaps she knew something nefarious was at play every time Benny went into his office, turned out the lights and closed the blinds. That was the only time he seemed nervous, every Friday, so he said, he had to make a phone call to his mother. Frequently though he could be heard shouting defensively, and unleashing profanity not typical for the respect an Italian gives his mother. Like clockwork however, Benny would exit the office, smoke following his egress, fix his glasses, slick back what hair he had left, smile, and get back to work.
One particular Friday, however, he seemed extra flustered. As he sat down by his central desk as he called it, he beckoned Allison over. This was a rare occasion indeed. Allison had not spoken to her boss since she was first offered the job. This was typically reserved for his number 1 broker Stan Speilman. A smarmy stereotypical New Yorker, perfectly pressed overpriced suite, designer sunglasses, Rolex watch on each arm, one set for New York time, the other set to London’s, and size 8 Louboutin shoes, which is of course what Allison noticed, making her smirk when she first met Stan. He of course tried to hit on her on her first day, to which she said “no thanks I don’t eat where I shit.” This amused Benny who overheard the conversation and chuckled to himself.
“Did you just call me a piece of shit honey?” Stan asked offended “Well if the size 8 shoe fits.” Allison quipped. “Big mistake sugar tits.” Stan replied walking away angrily. Allison’s desk was in the back corner of the office, where she could just barely see Benny’s central desk, where he had a large 3-fold chalkboard with his key stocks written on it and kept track of everyone's sales. As Allison made her way to Benny, the rest of the office gave looks of disdain and disapproval of her. She was not just the new girl at the firm but the only girl, which meant many a rejected sexual advance, hurting many a fragile male ego. Allison came prepared with all the stock knowledge she had, ready to give a pitch on herself, half expecting to be fired for some reason. She gulped in anticipation of having to say a lot but all she could muster was “Is there something I can help you with Mr. Gonvese?” Benny smiled and replied politely “well I wouldn’t have asked you over here if I didn’t need you.” Allison nodded nervously. Benny then continued in his soft yet raspy smoker’s voice “You’ve been with us about 2 months I think, and you have done a bang-up job, bang-up job, and I appreciate that very much. I suppose maybe you’re wondered why I poached you from your previous firm?” he asked. As Allison was about to respond Benny continued. “Well truthfully the main reason is you graduated top of your class, but the other is I needed some feminine energy in this office, it’s the 90’s after all, and I value a woman’s opinion very highly.”
Allison smiled and interjected “Oh so that’s why you talk to your mother every Friday isn’t it?” Benny cackled sardonically, touched his lip to his nose and said “that’s right my dear, now allow me to get to the business at hand. As you know, we are in the midst of a mini recession, a piccolo problema really, and there is a bastion of buying opportunities me and the rest of the firm are eager to take advantage of. Now you may be asking yourself where do I come into this?” Allison nodded affirmatively in agreement. “Well my sweet, you are probably the only person I can truly trust with the task I’m about to ask you for. You’re new to this wall street racket, so I take it you have never done what I like to refer to as oppositional research?” “Ah No, no I have not, that sounds like something people in business do, or the military” she replied. “Very good, you are not far off, but you see, we purchase stock in many businesses big or small, especially lately, due to the current economic situation. Now we have some stocks for businesses we are quite fond of, they perform well, we know what to expect, but it’s the risky business stocks, those we need to make quite sure we are making the right call. I have a pretty good track record of making good calls wouldn’t you say?” “Undoubtedly so sir” Allison replied. “Thank you, I’m glad you noticed, but you should know that a lot of that is because I am very calculated and rely on the best, most, shall we say interior intelligence I can get. So, this is where you come in. I need you to go work for the Bell Communications company and gather as much information about their business as you possibly can. Allison was suddenly a bit on edge, that didn’t sound all together legal.
Benny continued, being emphatic with his hands as he spoke. “Now I know what you are thinking, that sounds illegal, that sounds like oh I don’t know insider trading, and you are correct, it would be, if you still worked for me, which as of this moment you do not.” Allison could feel her heart drop into her stomach, which caused a quick feeling of nausea and a flushed face. The beginnings of a tear formed in her right eye but she willed it not to drop, refusing to let the men of the firm see her emotional. Luckily at that moment Benny continued “But don’t fret sweetheart, I will be hiring you back as soon as you gather the information, I need to make this big purchase. It’s certainly a loophole and you could argue it’s unethical, but these are the things people in the market are doing all the time, what can we do but do the same to stay ahead.” He said as he shrugged. Allison was still a bit uneasy, technically having just been fired, but she felt a little better, knowing it was all part of the plan.
“So, I know a guy, who can pull a few strings and get you a good job within the Bell company, you’ll start Monday, it shouldn’t take you more than a week or two to get the necessary intel, then I will hire you back here, with a nice promotion and we’ll get you out of that dank corner. I’ll give you Stan’s desk there right in front of mine, I tire of his bad smelling lavish cologne and cocky attitude, marone that guy is a prick. What do you say, do we have a deal? If not I’m sure you can find another broker job, although it won’t look good to be looking for a third firm in as little as 6 months?” Allison took a deep heart pounding breath and replied in a soft tone “Ok, that sounds like something I can do, thank you for trusting me with this assignment.” “Grazie mille my dear, you are officially fired” he said shaking her hand excitedly. “Now clean out that desk of yours, I’ll be hearing from you shortly.”
Allison slyly smiled as she walked past Stan, and the rest of her “former collogues”, this was her chance, she thought to herself. She had achieved plenty of success, academically, romantically, for a time anyway, though she always placed education and career first, she was a lady with desirers at the end of the day, however respect was something she could yet not claim. Despite having a higher iq, a better work ethic, and far better instincts than nearly everyone else, Allison felt she was always placed lower in society simply because of what was between her legs. Stan was paid twice her salary, even though he performed worse on almost a daily basis. Her high school friends had all married and had kids, accepting the subservience of motherhood. Though she did not doubt the feminine virtues of childbearing, Allison refused to let men reap all the benefits of society, and most of all, she saw what life her mother had accepted, and refused to let that be her story. Misgivings about the nature of this seemingly illegal task notwithstanding Allison knew that if she pulled this off, the ends would justify the means and respect would finally be hers. A front desk at the firm, a promotion, the trust of Benny, and who knows maybe even partner one day. “Get ahold of yourself” she thought. Clean up your desk, get out of here, and get ready to work for Bell.
With that Allison took her framed picture of Jon Bon Jovi, her rosaries from her middle desk drawer and her trusty notebook binder, which she kept meticulous notes of her daily business, and head for the exit to the high-rise office. Her head held confidently in the air, striding easily with her thin legs and high heels, her hourglass figure clung to her green professional dress, the office men crooked their heads as she walked by, admiring her round yet tight buttocks. Always aware of the stares, Allison took some pride in her physique, she certainly did enough of the Jane Fonda workouts to attain it, so she didn’t mind the looks, provided that wasn’t all people thought she was. As she reached the elevator, she pirouetted and gave a cute mocking wave to Stan as she walked backwards out the door.
A day and a half later Allison was visiting her parents for her weekly Sunday diner. Not living far enough away to not visit, Allison had to allow herself to be fed by her mother once a week. Of course, she adored her parents but her hometown reminded her of less fortunate times so she carried a tinge of guilt every time she pulled up to her father’s house, with a car worth more than his house. Despite the modest neighborhood, at least her father’s house was presentable. His neighbor, Tony, had his door hanging on one hinge, and overgrown hedges befitting a hermit, but Dino Adams, no, no, no, he always wanted his yard clean, fence white, and door in working order, especially in that neck of the woods. On the 16th street of Newark, up Clinton Hill, there was a level of crime that kept the property values down and school districts unfinanced. However, that was no excuse for an untidy yard or a poor paint job. A self-made man, Dino was as handy as one could possibly be, working construction most his life. His bear like hands were rough as tree bark, callused and most days sore from labor. His house had a baby blue pristinely painted exterior, with white shudders and one octagonal window on the second floor. Dino used to hold Allison up to that window pretending to be a Christopher Columbus, as if it were a porthole. As Allison pulled up, she glared up at that window nostalgically, remembering how she was always treated like a princess by her dad. Then she got a little excited about her mother’s pasta fagioli, even though it was a bowl full of carbs.
As Allison entered, stepping past the Italian flag welcome mat, the savory smell of olive oil, tomatoes, freshly cut of course, and parmesan wafted into her nostrils invitingly. “Ally baby!” her parents exclaimed in unison. Before she could respond Gina and Dino were squeezing as if something was going to pop out of her. “So skinny, baby, you gota eat across the river, I have some fresh baked bread, sit, eat.” Gina instructed pointing at the dining room table, a rustic veneer with a nutmeg finish, Gina’s pride possession really. Gina was of average height for a woman, but a very healthy weight, European beauty as Dino called it, due to always keeping herself and Dino well fed. It wasn’t in their cultural upbringing to be overly concerned with weight or appearances, which is perhaps why they always come across so natural, and endearing. Allison crunched into the warm, hearty Italian bread and gave an audible groan of contentment as she tasted the olive oil and salt. “Thanks ma, I really needed that, it’s been a pretty stressful week, but I feel much better now.” Hearing his typically stoic daughter admit such a thing peaked Dino’s interest, compelling him to inquire. “What’s wrong Ally, things getting crazy at work? Big Apple getin to ya?” As she looked up at him as he had his hand on her shoulder, Allison realized she had said more than she meant to. “Oh it’s nothing dad, foget-about-it.” she replied, hoping slipping into her Italian colloquialism would distract him. Alas, Dino Adams knew his daughter all too well. “Is that what your Princeton education paid for, a poor excuse for an accent, if so I want a refund. Come on sweetheart what ammata?” Bracing herself for a big over reaction, Allison tried to give the news as tactfully as possible. “I got fired Friday” she blurted out. Dam that did not go as planned. “What!” Gina screamed “Oooo my ears Gina, marone.” Dino said as he covered his ears and ducked his head painfully. “Sorry let me explain.” Allison interjected hopefully. “You see, my boss, Benny, ah, that is Mr. Gonvese, he is getting me another job with the Bell Communications company.” “What, why would your boss get you a job with a different company in an entirely different field?” Gino asked perplexed. “Well it’s part of the business these days dad, you have to get knowledge of all sorts of businesses in order to do a better job in yours, it’s called oppositional research.” She explained as she stood up to take her bread plate to the sink.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Allison leaned her head over the stock pot and directed the steam into her face to smell the flavors she would soon be imbibing in, and continued with her explanation. “It’s all part of Benny’s plan. He’s going to give me a promotion and raise in 2 weeks, and Im even getting a desk right in front. This is good news guys trust me.” She said reassuringly, almost convincing herself in this statement. Allison retook her position at the table and sat back down, in preparation of dinner, and likely a lecture from her father, as her gave her the maliocch. “Ally, che cozz? Didn’t I teach you better than that? Sounds like you are taking all the risk for this stunad. That can’t be legal, this Benny Gonvese, he sounds like bad news. I think you better not do this.” He instructed. Gina quickly added her two cents to the conversation “Dino, come on, don’t be too harsh, she told us it’s good news, a promotion honey, I’m proud of you.” She said as she kissed her daughter on the cheek. Gina always seemed to have a bright-eyed optimism, even if this sounded like a fishy deal to her, she wanted to think the best of people. Gina walked back to her delectable dish, as she got ready to serve her two loves. “Dad, listen, I’ve never done wrong so far, gotten straight A’s from Princeton for goodness sakes, I know what I’m doing, you don’t have to worry about it.” Allison said as respectfully as possible. “Thump!” Dino sat down passive aggressively at the head of the table and shook his head saying, “Ally, one day you gona realize that there is a whole lot of knowin in this world that don’t come from a college textbook, but until then asalud, let’s just enjoy this beautiful meal you moda made for us.” Allison smiled at her father and just said “I love you daddy.” which of course was the easiest was to diffuse his anger, those three words from his little girl was like melted butter.
Gina served them both a healthy portion of pasta fagioli and sat opposite Dino. As Dino folded his hand in preparation for saying grace, he glanced up at the portrait sized photo of his father, which was positioned in the doorway of the kitchen. As he was bowing his head, he wiped up the small well of tears that had built up in his eyes. “Sorry, I was just thinking how proud pop would have been of you Allison, moving to the big city, getting a fancy Wall Street job, but still holds true to her family values. I'm just so happy with what a wonderful lady you’ve become.” Gina and Allison had the same audible response in unison, “Aww.” Allison continued, “Dad you are such a softy, I love you, but let's get on with grace so we can eat this soup, I’m starvin.” Gina smiled and reached over to pinch what little fat resided on Allison belly. With that Dino grinned with admiration at his family and said one of the sincerest graces of his life.
Allison Adams was bestowed with many gifts in this world, unfortunately hindsight was not one of them. If it were, she would have listened to her father’s sage advice and not gotten involved in criminal insider trading for the Gonvese crime family. Benedetto Gonvese, his true name, was the little brother of Don Alessandro Gonvese, otherwise known as the Godfather of New Jersey. Alessandro was a man of average physical stature, shorter in fact than his little brother, however his presence towered above his sibling’s. He commanded any room he walked into, immediately drawing the eyes of all onlookers, mainly out of fear from reputation, but also because of his dominant and aggressive demeanor. He stood like he was about to be inspired toward violence or action, constantly with is right fist clenched and head held back high as if to signified he had no fear. His dark sunglasses hid his dark copper eyes, and rest upon his wide prominent nose. Below were bowed lips often arched in a wiry sinister smile. In the world of the Cosa Nostra, there was no room for weakness or sentimentality, two traits Don Gonvese severely lacked, which is likely why he became one of the most successful and ruthless crime bosses in the history of New Jersey, and now, unbeknownst to her, Allison had become part of their criminal organization.
As is often the case with the mob, the goal of the Gonvese crime family was to achieve some level of legitimacy, at least in appearances of the law. That is where Benny and his brains come into the picture. He founded Gonvese Unlimited as a front to their criminal activities, being narcotics, coerced protection fees, robberies and basically any business they could get their hands into. Benny could fairly easily launder the money through his Wall Street firm, manipulating the investments using phony names and stolen social security numbers. He was always more of a thinker than a man of action. This worked well for Alessandro, because he could keep himself separate from the monetary transactions and professional world and focus on his true gift, the criminal underground. In this world, the only thing that mattered was respect, well that and the Sicilian ways of omerta. This was their own code. A code which protected the organizations from outside influences. It was very much an inherited vow of silence and above all never take anyone with you on the way out, which explains why often made men have to prove themselves by not snitching at a young age. It also established the 100% rule, which meant only those of 100% traceable Sicilian blood could become made men. If you weren’t then you had to always watch your back, and work hard to prove your worth, because an unmade man was expendable and whackable.
So, in many ways, Gonvese Unlimited, was it’s own entity, in that Benny made all the decisions on stocks and personnel. Generally, he was encouraged to hire only Italian Americans by his brother, but he knew it best to include people of other cultural backgrounds, not just as to not raise suspicion and lawsuits of discrimination, but Benny was a man who appreciated a different view on things. Hiring Allison was an easy decision for him, because for one, she was drop dead gorgeous, but for two she was drop dead gorgeous. However, this didn’t much matter, because he was specifically instructed by his older brother to hire an attractive woman of Sicilian blood. Kind of narrowed things down a bit, not that Sicilian women were not attractive, nor smart, but it wasn’t exactly a popular field during the 90’s for women.
The rub was this, Alessandro wanted to get into the phone and telecommunications industry, to help expand his influence, and therefor power. At the same time, Benny had informed Alessandro that he had heard certain things about Bell Communications. First that they were likely to be bought out by AT & T, meaning buying their stocks now would turn a massive profit for the company. However, making such a large purchase was not going to be done without the proper research, which is where Allison comes in. The 2nd thing that Benny had learned, was that the CEO of Bell was a renowned misogynist and that typically he hired only attractive females as new hires. The man in question, of disgusting reputation and character, was none other than William Ills.
To say William Ills was born of privilege would be a gross understatement. Let's just say he didn’t eat with a silver spoon but platinum. Ryan Ills, William’s father, made his fortune in oil, early on, becoming a millionaire by the age of 40. He was a man of great ambition and instinct, not unlike Alessandro, but he was a man who understood the value of a hard day's work, something he was not able to pass onto his son. William or Billy, to his father, was a foolish, impulsive and lazy man, who never had to work for or earn his wealth. His mother coddled him and his father made little time for him. By the time he made it through college Billy had learned just enough to be able to run a business, which his father entirely paid for. To give him his start, William was given 500 million dollars, which he used to start Bell Communications. Now William was in a business that really couldn’t fail as long as he didn’t mess up, which is how he skated by for nearly two decades. In this time as a CEO, William discovered two things, money allowed him to treat people how he saw fit, and women would be submissive to him because of his influence and power. Often, he dangled sexual favors for the promise of advancement within the company, which sometime he would keep. He even had a button on his desk that would control the blinds for privacy. Truly in almost every conceivable way, William Ills was a scumbag, but even that would be an insult to scum.
So how did Mr. Ills fuck up his business so bad that it needed to be bought out by AT & T? Well having no business savvy or instincts of any kind for trends, he invested nothing into the internet web boom that was occurring. By the time he finally realized he needed to get into it, his company was far too behind. His father long being deceased he had nobody to bail him out this time, so he would have to sell his company, and merge, at least just to still keep the power and prestige he had grown accustomed to. This last bit, was what was holding up the merger. You see AT & T would much rather just buy his company outright and have nothing to do with him, but this was something he would not budge on. This stipulation created a small window of opportunity to gain reconnaissance, to get ahead of other investors, which the Gonvese brothers were not going to let slip by.
Knowing Billy boy’s penchant for sexual predatory actions and hiring practices, Alessandro knew they needed to find someone he could not resist hiring, even in this time of uncertainty for his company. His instructions were as clear as they were vulgar. “Benny, you find me a girl, that even you couldn’t resist fucking.” This was an old jab at Benny’s lack of success with women, in fact, it was long rumored he was a virgin. It was not that Benny was not attracted to women, and he did have girlfriends in the past, he just seemed to be uninterested in having the opposite sex be a part of his life. He was always pulled more to money and numbers than he was ever pulled to pussy. Given this intentionally instructive directive from his brother, Benedetto knew precisely what his brother meant.
This search didn’t take a man of Benny’s resources very long. In fact, it was quite easy. Everyone who becomes a broker in New York is added to the registry, so all that was required was looking through the female names, and recent additions. Now the one hurdle was of course that Allison had a very medigan last name. Initially, Benny went looking for a Ms. Isabella Caruso. Unfortunately, or fortunately in this case, Isabella didn’t quite match the physical requirements for this job. However, when Benny arrived, he immediately was drawn to Allison. His eyes could simply not look away, like the suns glare, he kept her constantly in his plane of view. After speaking with Ms. Caruso, which he did only out of respect for the strings that were pulled to allow a rival broker into their building, he approached Allison. This was no easy task for a man, who for the most part was quite awkward around women, but Benny was driven by his more important desires, greed, and of course fear of repercussions from his brother. He walked right up to Allison’s cubicle, crossed his arms and waited for her to turn around, which she did once she felt the presence of someone hovering over you.
“Ummm can I help you?” Alison said in her usual confident manner, with no regard or knowledge of who this man truly was. Benny quickly replied “I think perhaps you can, judging by your olive skin, appealing symmetrical facial structure, and what appears to be a very good body.” More confused than offended as she usually would be, and honestly, she had almost gotten numb to men coming on to her while at work, Allison humored the odd man.
“Well yes I believe that you can, judging by your complexion, appealing symmetrical facial structure, and ideal physique” Benny answered almost scientifically. “Well that is just about the worst put on I have ever heard Mr.” As she was about to continue Benny cut in “Gonvese, Mr Gonvese, and I’m here representing Gonvese Unlimited.” Benny stuck out his long arm in a polite manner, as to invite a hand shake. Allison tilted her head in intrigue and shook the boney hand presented before her. “Pleasure to meet you Mr. Gonvese, so what is it I can do for the head of one of the biggest firms in the city?” Benny smiled at the recognition of his company. He was genuinely proud of his financial and reputable success. He felt a certain attraction to Allison he rarely felt in a woman, so something in him knew this was the girl his brother meant. Of course, his guess of her Sicilian blood would have to prove correct first.
“Let me ask you something Ms. Adams, if that is alright with you.” Benny asked or instructed; Allison could not tell for certain. “Go ahead” she replied. Are you familiar with the historical entomology of your last name?” Allison gave a quizzical look and simply shrugged. “Well, let me educate you then, as it is one of my passions. You see Adams, that is a Hebrew name, which is strange because, you don’t look Jewish, that is your features aren’t the typical Ashkenazi type. Anyway, Adams meaning, or entomology, is man of the red earth, referring to Adam, of Adam and Eve. It’s a fine name for certain.” Benny said as he shook his head in approval
“Yeah so you like my last name, would you please explain what my last name has to do with your little visit”? Allison said feistily standing up and putting her hands on her hips. Benny stood, unabashed by this typically disrespectful gesture and answered her inquiry. “Well you see, I suspect, and maybe you are unaware of this, but I suspect that Adams is the Americanized version, your grandfather probably chose when he got off the boat.” Allison shook her head in disbelief and puzzlement at both the ridiculousness of the situation she found herself presently in and the gall of the weird man standing before her. “Now, there is nothing wrong with this.” Benny continued. “Many great Sicilians came to this country looking for a better life, and to avoid being discriminated against, they assimilated. The government workers of Ellis Island, they encourage this kind of bloodline betrayal, so I do not fully blame your dear grand dad.”
Beginning to let the anger boil in her blood Allison erupted “Enough! I’m not going to be insulted by the likes of you, as impressive of a businessman your reputation may have you be, your politeness surely does not match. You come in here, unannounced, insult my grandpa and my heritage, calling me a Jew, me? Have you met my mother?” Allison let out a scoff of disbelief. “Whatever the reason you came here today, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Benny threw up his hands in temperance and took a step back. “Alright Ms. Adams, but you haven’t heard my job offer yet.” he said smiling suspiciously. “Mr. That is just about the strangest way I have ever been offered a job in my life.” Allison said in sarcastic shock. “Listen, I apologize if my demeanor put you off, I had to see if my hunch was correct about you, and the way you reacted, almost entirely proved it correct, so I’m comfortable in offering you a much higher paying job at my firm.” Benny said as he put his hand on his heart. Allison stared and blinked multiple times before she could speak. This had to be some kind of dream or joke. “I’ve only been a broker for 6 months, and you are offering me a job with the top firm in the city? I’d be a fool to turn that down, despite the rudeness shown.” Benny looked her up and down, touched his lip to his nose and said “You start Monday, and do yourself a favor, ask your dad about that last name of yours.” with that Benny walked out of the office confidently, knowing he had succeeded.