An Unexpected Gift

7:00 am.

The alarm rang.

Do you know, for that one brief second after waking up, you don’t remember anything? The pains of the world don’t exist, and you feel at peace with the world? That second is quite fleeting, as reality soon sets back in.

My name is Matt. I live in a modest one bedroom apartment on the south side of town. I had been scraping by on two part-time jobs at some local fast food restaurants, counting every penny to pay the rent and bills, until disaster struck. The rent went up, whereas my hours and salary did not. My rent was now two months past due, and my landlord issued an ultimatum: pay what I owe or get out. He gave me one month to pay, and that was three weeks to go. One week to come up with three months rent. That was my reality now. Regardless, I had to keep pushing, for you never know what will happen.

I woke up, made some coffee, had some cereal, and then mentally prepared for the day. This preparation started with prayer. Prayer was my greatest weapon against despair, as it gave me the strength to continue, and that God would not abandon me. After prayer, I would shower, don my work uniform, always clean and pressed. Always necessary to present a professional image at all times, my mom used to say. Next, I would pet my beloved cat Blackie, making sure he has proper food and water, than I’d head out the door, ready to face a new day.

As I said, I have limited means, therefore owning a car was out of the question. Luckily, I lived in the city, so my job was only a mile down the street. Thus, I would walk to work. It took only a half an hour, plus it gave me time to fantasize about a better life, while providing exercise for the body. I’ve once heard that you never know what will happen when you walk out your door, but I never really believed that it would apply to me, even today. I would soon be proven wrong.

I approached the bank on the street corner, just a block away from my job. Nothing unusual at first. I waved to a few people, took a glance at the building, then continued on. However, something caught the corner of my eye as I faced forward again: a black object lying near the staircase of the bank. I walked up and saw what it was: a small black notebook. There was nobody around it. It looked like somebody left it behind in haste. I waited several minutes for somebody to claim it, but nobody came. So I walked up and grabbed it. I opened it up and found a business card with a Mr. Ron Mitchell on it with personal contact information. I found the first couple of leafs of the notebook written on with names and numbers. The other pages contained reams of notes that I couldn’t understand. It looked like a list of contacts and account information, as well as some kind of presentaion. Something very important.

At this point I was feeling astounded, rushed, and tempted. Who would leave something like this lying around in the open? What do I do? My shift starts in 20 minutes. I know where he lives, but I didn’t have the time to visit him. Then there was the issue of temptation. Here was information allowing me access to multiple bank accounts that could pay all my bills. Oh man. What to do?

Ultimately, I decided to keep the notebook for safekeeping, then return it to him before my second job. Accessing the accounts would ultimately be useless, as the money could be tracked back to me eventually. Also, I couldn’t go against my beliefs and hurt another person like that. I could have called him, but he may have taken it as a prank call, or worse, a possible criminal confession. This was a dicey situation, and it had to be handled with tact.

1:00 pm.

My first job completed. It was a long, busy day, as I couldn’t get the little black notebook out of my head. As I was heading out, my manager stopped me.

“Do you want to work an extra hour? I know you’ve been hurting for extra hours.”

“Thanks” I said. “But no thanks this time. I have some errands to run.”

“Come on. I really need you for an extra hour.”

“I’m sorry. It’s really important.”

“Fine.” She said. “Know, however, that there will not be any extra hours available beyond today.”

I winced. It was tough to pass up extra work and money, but I had to do this. I headed over to the bus stop and waited. I then looked over the address again: 12688 Thoroughbred Lane. I knew where that road was: a gated community outside of town. This guy had some money, and probably some powerful connections. These revelations and possible scenarios continued to play out in my head as I boarded the bus and rode to the neighborhood.

1:30 pm.

Cedar Oaks Estates.

This was a very upscale neighborhood, probably the wealthiest neighborhood in town. It had security gates at all entrances. Behind them stood hundreds of brand new modern three thousand square foot mansions, each with two or three car garages housing various high end vehicles ranging from BMW sedans to Ferraris and Mclearens. The American dream achieved, and then some. I gazed in awe mixed with a tinge of jealousy at the opulence of this neighborhood, wondering what this guy did for a living.

I approached the security booth. Nobody there. Figures. I had to use the callbox to try to reach him. I looked up his number in the directory and hit “Call”. He picked up after two rings.

“Hello.”

“Hi. Is this Ron Mitchell?”

“Yes. Who is this?”

His voice was stern and questioning. I was getting nervous.

“This is Matt. I found something that belongs to you. Are you missing a little black notebook?”

A pause.

“Be right there. Don’t move.”

I stood there. Oh crap. What’s going to happen now? Would he be angry? Would he be happy? It felt like a roll-of-the-dice situation. I was terrified, and yet intrigued. Something big might be happening, and whatever happens, life as I knew it could be coming to an end, for better or for worse.

Fifteen minutes passed by. Finally, a black BMW sedan pulled up. At the same time, a uniformed security guard walked up to me. A well-dressed man with perfectly styled hair got out. He looked at me and walked over, followed by the security officer.

“Are you Matt?”

“Yes”, I said.

“You got something for me?”

“I do,” I said, somewhat shakily. I produced the notebook.

He walked up, took the notebook, then reached out and shook my hand.

“Thank you Matt! You saved me a lot of trouble with my accounts. I’ve been looking for this all day and had to rearrange some meetings to deal with this.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, relieved and wondrous at what was happening.

“I appreciate your honesty. As a token of my appreciation, I want to give you a little gift.”

He reached into his pocket for his checkbook. After scribbling in it, he tore out a check and handed it to me.

“OH MAN!”, I exclaimed. “$20,000?!”

“Yes.” Ron Mitchell said. “I am the owner and CEO of Peak Technologies, Inc., and I needed that notebook for a major meeting with my partners and shareholders. You saved me potentially millions of dollars. It is the least I can do.”

“Oh man. Thank you!”, I exclaimed.

“If you need my help with anything, please don’t hesitate to ask”, he said.

“Well, I could use a ride to my job”, I said.

“Not a Problem”, Mr. Mitchell said.

10 years later...

7:00 am.

The alarm rang.

That one second of oblivious peace came and went. Then reality set in, but it wasn’t the same reality as before. I sat up in the plush bedroom of the Ritz Carlton and reflected on how I got here. I remembered the $20,000 gift from Ron Mitchell. I remembered how I used it to secure a nice apartment and enrolled in a community college to pursue a major in biology. The money covered all living expenses and tuition for two years, allowing me to excel in my studies and get a full scholarship to university. That led me to find my mentor Professor Lindley, a medical researcher who helped me obtain my Masters Degree and subsequent Ph.D. My doctoral thesis on rapid viral detection of various viruses was poised to turn the medical community upside down, and my professor and I partnered up to launch a new research lab. I reflected on the major presentation we were about to make to our potential investors in the convention center. Such a change of circumstances born from one act of kindness. I was excited about where life was taking me. A 10 am presentation that could make us millions and change the medical community.

9:45 am.

My professor and I were standing together behind the curtains of the convention hall. We were discussing some last minute notes, then gave each other some reassurances. We were about to kill it.

“Are you ready?”, he asked.

“Yep”, I said confidently.

It’s showtime.