Lenny was rather frazzled when he finally got back to the office. He knew the sun was up, but the sun had been up for well over fourteen hours and it was still morning. He didn\u2019t quite know which morning, but it was morning here in the U.S. The receptionist brought him in a fax as he sat at his desk. She closed the door to Lenny\u2019s office on the way in. Oh my,<\/i> thought Lenny This can\u2019t be good.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cLenny, I don\u2019t ask much about what is going on here, and I don\u2019t want to know any details. All I want to know is if I should start bringing my passport into work with me along with enough cash for a plane ticket out of the country. I know we do some shady things and I\u2019m starting to feel like it might be getting too big.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lenny had to laugh. \u201cJennifer,\u201d he chuckled, \u201cWe are opening a branch in Kyyiv specifically so it doesn\u2019t get too big here. I\u2019m trying to talk Jeremy into running it for a few years. That fax should have all of the information about the office location, company name, and places we will have bank accounts. Would you like to fly over with Jeremy to help set it up? We could muddle through for a couple of weeks with you over there helping get the place organized.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a dangerous offer,\u201d responded Jennifer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow so?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they do come after us someday, I will appear as something more than a secretary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could change your title to Office Manager if that is what this is about,\u201d grinned Lenny.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore words and the same money isn\u2019t what I came in to talk with you about. I\u2019m being serious here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo am I. You deserve a bump in your income given all you do for us, and a company paid trip might help you relax.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMight cost me my marriage. He\u2019s good looking and they like to drink a lot in Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now they both laughed. \u201cWhat you two do on your own time is your own business. Don\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell is my policy there,\u201d chuckled Lenny.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat hasn\u2019t worked so good for the military,\u201d quipped back Jennifer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d responded Lenny, \u201cWhen Jeremy gets in later today I will be hitting him up to do it. Since you will be the one calling our travel agent, simply let me know if you booked two flights or three.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI will have to send one of the IT guys along to get a network linkup with our data centers. We\u2019ll also need them to decide if we should give up our second site here and simply have it over there. I hadn\u2019t thought about that last part until just now. It would make sense to do that if the office has sufficient power and space. Might even cover the cost of the office space. Schedule a meeting with myself and the IT guys to discuss it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want the IT women there, too?\u201d chided Jennifer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a generic guy,\u201d responded Lenny.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s fine, we\u2019ll keep it between us girls,\u201d Jennifer quipped as she walked out of Lenny\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
Lenny liked her. She had the right attitude to work in a place like this. The only time she ever questioned things was when there was something to worry about. Indeed, there was something to worry about here, but Lenny couldn\u2019t bring himself to tell her. He did pick up the phone and call the service firm handling their payroll to change Jennifer\u2019s title to Office Manager and give her a $10K annual raise. Wait until she gets her next direct deposit stub,<\/i> thought Lenny.<\/p>\n
Just as Lenny finished, Jeremy walked in. The boy looked worn out. \u201cGlad you came in, Jeremy, it looks like you could use the rest,\u201d joked Lenny.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take it from your good mood you are still sleep-deprived from your flight back,\u201d responded Jeremy in kind.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will never understand why airlines let people with small children on board,\u201d said Lenny. \u201cI swear that brat cried all the way here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy laughed and said, \u201cWe should gather the others.\u201d \u201cGet them. I will be in the conference room shortly.\u201d A few minutes later they were all seated in the conference room. Jeremy began his verbal report. \u201cFirst Global has completed migrating all of the French banking operations to the new software from Pytho Corporation. We should be hearing an announcement about the product soon. I don\u2019t know how much longer it will take for First Global to come out with their announcement about being the first customer.\u201d Just then, Jeremy\u2019s cell phone rang. He looked at the number and saw it was Stacie. \u201cHello, I\u2019m in a meeting, can I call you back?\u201d \u201cNo. I just stepped out to call you. The last data center migration that was supposed to happen this weekend was a disaster. Kathryn is over there now with a few others. Sounds like they are looking for asses to bounce out the door. I don\u2019t have any more and probably won\u2019t until tonight or tomorrow. I knew you would want to know. Bye.\u201d Jeremy hung up then looked around the room. \u201cWell, I was going to tell you that First Global was migrating the last data center this weekend. That phone call just informed me the migration was a disaster and they are looking for people to fire over it. I thought we were set for the shred to start any time we wanted, but it looks like it may have to wait.\u201d Lenny thought for a moment and said, \u201cIt may happen before we can get involved. There is an outage time limit restriction for insurance purposes. If they don\u2019t get things running in time, federal investigators will be paying them a visit.\u201d \u201cI assume they had a fallback plan for this migration as they had with the others,\u201d said Jeremy. \u201cBut just to be sure …\u201d he picked up the conference room phone and called Jennifer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour bank is First Global or a division of it, isn\u2019t it?\u201d \u201cYes, why do you ask?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were wondering if we could get you to drive over there and try to cash a check. We hear they might be having some systems problems and would like some firsthand information. Just put the phones on overhead ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure. Anything else while I\u2019m out?\u201d \u201cOh, don\u2019t tempt me to ask for bagels,\u201d replied Jeremy.<\/p>\n
\u201cFunny. Is Lenny there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell him the IT meeting is at 2:00 PM.\u201d \u201cOK, thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLenny, the IT meeting is at 2:00 PM.\u201d \u201cGood. We might as well jump into the next topic then. Gentlemen, we have just begun the process of opening a branch in Kyyiv.\u201d The other two analysts looked stunned. They knew Lenny was out for a few days on short notice, but had no idea he was somewhere in Russia opening a new branch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just received the bulk of the information on the new office and company name this morning. I\u2019m trying to guilt Jeremy into running it for a while, so you need to help me on that or I will have to guilt one of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t look at me,\u201d said one of the analysts,. \u201cI\u2019ve got a family.\u201d The second analyst looked at Jeremy and said, \u201cCongratulations, Jeremy! You really deserve the promotion! It\u2019s a great career move!\u201d Lenny roared as Jeremy hung his head. He had hoped to talk with Lenny about this before he turned a full-court press on him. \u201cThe company will have to set me up with a furnished two-bedroom apartment and I will need to fly back here to close on the sale of my townhome. I also will have to have time to get my stuff into storage and other stuff packed for shipping,\u201d Jeremy said in an almost defeated tone.<\/p>\n
Both analysts said in unison, \u201cIf Lenny gives us some time off work we can help you pack.\u201d At this moment neither of them envied Jeremy\u2019s cozy relationship with Lenny. The price tag had just been revealed and it was too steep for either of them to pay.<\/p>\n
Jeremy had thought about it last night when he got back. He had even sent an email to the Realtor who had helped him find this place and asked her to call him some time today. The housing market had been going up steadily since he bought that townhome so he stood to net a tidy profit on it \u2013 ossibly enough to more than cover two years of storage on his stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no idea how you go about getting a two-year work visa in Russia when you are a U.S. Citizen. That is completely up to you, Lenny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lenny nodded. He would fax Vladimir and ask him if it should be handled from his end or if the law firm Lenny kept on retainer should deal with it here. Lenny fumbled through the fax and said, \u201cWe will have to get some new business cards printed up for you with the new branch name. One side in English and the other side in Russian. Your new title will be Branch Manager.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy meeting later today with the IT staff is to get one of them to go over there for a few weeks with you and survey the office we have acquired. They will need to set up network communications between here and there at a minimum. I\u2019m also going to run the possibility of moving our second data center there. We at least need to look into the option. I may or may not have to offer some people from the second data center jobs over there if they will go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy sat there looking rather shell-shocked, then finally muttered, \u201cI can\u2019t believe I just agreed to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe heard you!\u201d said the other two analysts.<\/p>\n
Lenny laughed again. He wasn\u2019t even going to ask about the second bedroom. He would simply include the requirements in his next fax to Vladimir.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry, Jeremy, it will only be temporary. My cousin has expressed some interest in running the place when he gets out of his current occupation. Even if he doesn\u2019t you should have found and trained someone inside of two years. You could probably hang onto the townhome so you had some place to come back to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. If I\u2019m going to do this I want to sell the townhome while the market is still going up. We both know the housing bubble is going to burst at some point. By the time I get back it should have happened. I will be able to get a nicer place for less money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep finding plays like this, Jeremy, and money won\u2019t be one of your concerns,\u201d said Lenny.<\/p>\n
Money wasn\u2019t a major concern of Jeremy\u2019s as it was. He was young, single, and didn\u2019t party a lot. While he had started here at a measly $40K per year and had climbed to $50K only recently, he had been putting as much as he could in his personal trading account. Every good play Lenny let him know about he had also played in his own personal account. What started out as a pathetic $3K had bought him his townhome and his current car, and there was still over $100K in that account. Jeremy had already bought a big position in First Global Bank anticipating a bump from the software announcement. After the news he had just received, though, he was hoping they could get their next quarterlies out before there was some form of public investigation. That would give the stock a little to medium bump on its own. Jeremy might have to make the safe play and get out then. Making eight dollars per share on 3,200 shares in just a couple of months was still an incredible rate of return for the average Joe.<\/p>\n
Jeremy had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn\u2019t realized the others had left the conference room. He got up and went back to his desk trying to get focused on work again. Looking through his email he saw a note from Lenny.<\/p>\n
Jeremy,<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know if you heard me, but Jennifer might come with you for the first two weeks to help set the place up.<\/p>\n
The other two have identified Granite National Bank as a potential market for Pytho software. They have several locations and seem to be in a bit of a bind with the FDIC.<\/p>\n
Lenny<\/p>\n
This is getting to be quite a little menagerie,<\/i> thought Jeremy. Me, Jennifer, someone from IT. Who knows who else Lenny will think to send with me?<\/i><\/p>\n
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You are reading a special promotional version of \u201cInfinite Exposure\u201d containing only the first 18 chapters. This is the first book of the “Earth That Was” trilogy. You can obtain the entire trilogy in EPUB form from here:<\/p>\n