The Old Man

“It’s so cold out today. I wish I had a better jacket,” Aspen whispers to herself. Every day she walked to work from her tiny apartment in a bad part of town. She had just undergone the worst divorce imaginable. Her ex-husband took everything, leaving her with only the clothes on her back. It wasn’t the greatest of times in her life, but she was just so happy to be away finally. She didn’t have children and owned very little. But she still had one thing she hadn’t in over 4 years. Happiness.

Walking the cold and wet streets of Huntsville, AL had her secretly wishing she could afford to better things, like an umbrella. She was a waitress at a local popular diner that mainly served the elderly in the morning for breakfast, and those that stumbled in drunk, because they were typically the only ones open at 3:00am in the morning. As Aspen finally makes it to work, she immediately walks to the back to hang up her jacket and check in with her boss.

“Hey Greg, was just letting you know I was going to clock in early, if that’s ok with you.”

“When are you scheduled to work?” Greg snarled in response without even looking up at her from his desk stacked with paperwork.

“I’m supposed to be here at 2, but I didn’t want to get caught in the bad storm that’s supposed to start in about 15 minutes.”

“And what time is it now?”

“It’s 12:46pm. I can even pick up some tables out of my section if that would help. I could really use the extra money.”

“You can, when it’s time for you to clock in.” he says pointing to the door behind her.

Aspen walks to the breakroom, and patiently waits for her shift. As 2:00 rolls around, she’s sat with three tables at once. Two of the tables she had were an older couple at one, and a scruffy looking man at the other. However, at her third table was an old man with his newspaper who kept ordering coffee.

Aspen rushes across the floor with an armful of plates of food, and hands them out. The old man now has his newspaper folded on the table with his arms crossed, staring at Aspen with a smirk on his face. Aspen’s face flushes as she smiles back quizzically. Maybe he’s ready to order now she thought quietly.

She walked up to her first table with the couple and smiled.

“How is everything over here?”

“Well, things were great until you interrupted me right before another bite.” the woman said rolling her eyes.

“I apologize ma’am. I was only making sure you both had all you needed while I tend to my other two tables, and—” she is cut off by the woman’s husband.

“Listen everything is great. Everything is fine. Could you please go away and stop talking to us, before you ask us a million more questions about our food. I’ll be pretty pissed if my food got cold just now paying attention to you.” The man snaps as he does a hand motion that tells her to leave.

Aspen forced a smile on her face, and replied “of course sir, please enjoy.” She took in a mild deep breath as she moved to her next table.

“Sir, can I get you anything?”

“It’s about time you got over here. I’ve been waiting ten minutes for you to make your way here.”

“Oh, my apologies sir. I make sure not to bother my customers when they have a mouth full of food.”

“You think that’s an excuse?”

“Again sir, my apologies. What can I get you?”

“Your manager. This is crap. My food that tastes like crap, and now you want to do something about it.”

“Right away sir.”

She was worn out working this job, but she knew in her heart this was a new beginning for her. And because of that, she kept her head high.

“Hey Greg, a customer wants you to come talk to him.”

“Jesus Aspen, what did you do now?” he shouted.

“I made sure to constantly check on my customers sir. And you know I try not to bother them as they’re eating but once or twice. I gave this guy his food, he had already eaten half of it by the time I made my rounds. And, when I went to check on him, he was furious that I didn’t come to him sooner.”

“Of course, he is. I don’t get why you still work here. You act like you don’t want this job.”

She focuses her worried tired eyes on Greg’s back as he exits the office. The chaos of the diner traffic has her lost in her own mind. I’ve been working hard here. But…why am I still here? Shaking her head, she snaps out of it, and plasters another smile onto her face, and walks back out to the diner to her older customer.

“Hi sir, is there anything you would like to get started with?”

The old man smiles as he removes his glasses from his face to the table on his neatly folded newspaper.

“Yes ma’am, I believe I am. I’ll take a coffee to go, and the check please.”

“Right away sir. Did you want any cream or sugar along with it?”

“I’ll take a couple of creams, sure. But that’d be just fine ma’am,” his warm southern accent replies.

Aspen falters back to the coffee pot, ensuring she remain focused on the simple task at hand. She grabs two packets of creamer and glances over the diner. Nothing but a bustling up roaring noise that fills the diner. People laughing. People talking quietly. People devouring their food. And finally, Greg talking with the customer who complained about her. She looks back to the old man, and notices he’s already left the diner. She walked over to his table where she found three separate items. A $20 bill for the three coffees he ordered, a stack of several $100 bills, and a small black book that accompanied the receipt.

She was stunned at what she saw. Suddenly, the shattering of a glass on the floor snaps her out of her shock, and she quickly grabs the stack of money and shoves it into her apron. She starts to clean up the table and picks up the receipt and was about to stuff it into her apron when she noticed there was writing on the back of it. The receipt reads:

I hope this message finds you well. I am an old man who has been enjoying and living his life carefree. I have no immediate family, and both of my parents have passed. I hope this little black book I left will bring you peace, and happiness. All I ask, is you take more chances on life.

Best wishes

The old man

The words echoed. Take more chances on life. She also wondered why she allowed herself to get to this position in her life. After cleaning the table off, she walked to the breakroom to her coat and stuffed the little black book into her jacket pocket. Greg is suddenly alone in the breakroom with her.

“Well, I ended up comping that man his meal because he said his food was served warm instead of hot and correcting the issue on an empty stomach didn’t get dealt with in time, no thanks to you. And I pushed your shift to 11pm. Dish pit.”

“But sir, I only wanted extra hours to earn extra money in tips. I don’t get paid by the company to work dish pit. It would be like I’m working for free.”

“If you don’t want the extra hours, why don’t you just stop wasting both of our time, and quit?”

Fueled by anger, purpose, and no longer being able to contain the emotions from the verbal abuse received, she loses it. “You know what? Fine! I quit! I don’t need this job. I don’t need an asshole for a boss. And the food sucks!.” Without waiting for a response, she turns on her heels to grab her belongings, and is out the door.

It’s pouring rain outside, as the wind rips through each rain drop. She zips up her coat and shoves her hands into her pockets. She feels the little black book she stored in her pocket and turns away from the wind to open it. The very first page only contained an address: 220 N Side Square, with a note underlined several times at the bottom. DO NOT READ AHEAD UNTIL YOU ARE AT THIS ADDRESS. Obeying, she heads towards the downtown area where the office is located. She turns to the next page: Speak with Douglass Mills, and tell him that you have the little black book. She begins to scour her soaked clothing and finds the office. With a light knock, she is greeted by a middle-aged man with an ear-to-ear smile.

“Can I help you ma’am?”

“Hi, I know this is going to sound really weird, but I received this little black book from this old man, and he—” she’s cut off.

“Wait, Albert gave you the book?” asking with eagerness. Aspen pulls out the book from her pocket and shows him. His face immediately rips into joy. “Yes! That’s the one, please come have a seat!”

She was hesitant at first, but then Aspen remembered the old man’s words again, and sat down.

“What’s all this about? I’m not really sure what to think about any of this.”

“Allow me to explain. My client, Albert Zirkowski, has lived a life of success and fortune. But that’s just it. He has no wife, because he was always focused on work. He has no siblings. And both of his parents passed away this year. Recently, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Leukemia, and it has been confirmed terminal. He doesn’t want his legacy to go to waste, and that’s where you come in.”

“Me?” Aspen squeaks.

“Yes, yes you. The old fart gave you the book. He has spent the last 27 years doing this craziness, but decided you’re the one! So, pay attention! According to his Living Will and Testament that has been recognized to be updated and valid as required by law and the Seal of the State of Alabama—you are hereby now the new owner of all listed companies below in its section, are now a partner of all listed companies below in its section, and are also a co-owner of all the listed companies listed in its section.” He hands you a stapled packet, then continues. “All of your earned stock market interests today were reported at $1.2 million in earnings, totaling your monetary assets and value placed at $432,569,402,110.78. Do you accept the submission of all rights from previous owner as your own? This is the part where you say I do out loud for audio documented purposes, then you will need initial each page, then sign and date the very last page. Oh, and don’t forget to turn to the next page in the little black book.”

Her jaw drops. Still stunned. With her breath now caught in her throat, she immediately flips open the book and turns the page:

I was hoping you’d say yes. The rest of these pages are your planned out agenda and guidance for the next 3 months of your Corporate America life, and location of your MAIN home to live in…but you now own 9, so take your pick.

Good luck

The Old Man

Aspen breaks down into tears and jumps over the desk wrapping the attorney in a hug. Shocked at first, but then the attorney welcomes her embrace. Finally. That’s all she can think. She smiles wiping her eyes, snatches the pen from his hand, and signed the very last page of that packet.