6 Capitalize

Saturday, May 17, approximately ten in the morning. Simon who was laying wretchedly on the study floor opened his eyes as the morning rays from the window hit him. He rolled to his side and went back to sleep. However, a few seconds later, he jumped up from the floor and looked around in a daze.

He distinctly remembered the dreamlike experience of going back and forth from the past and the present or was it the present and the future. However, he wasn't sure if that was a dream, a drunken vision, or reality.

He immediately sat slowly on the office chair before pulling out his cellphone and staring quietly at the date. He sighed slightly, before leaning back on the chair and closing his eyes. The moment he closed his eyes, he attempted to replicate that feeling of falling he remembered from last night.

He found that it wasn't easy to replicate feelings, but the fact that he 'fell' for more than an hour without feeling anything else caused the feeling of fall to be imprinted in his mind. A few seconds later, Simon immediately found incorporeal self in front of the two blurry windows showing two of him at two different locations with their eyes closed.

Simon couldn't help but feel an explainable sense of giddiness flood through his mind. This incredible phenomenon was nothing short of a godsend for him as he couldn't help but imagine all the possibilities. However, he also felt a sense of caution and mistrust since his mind couldn't make any logical sense of what was happening.

But for now, he decided that he would relish in his abilities and hope that nothing untoward happens. He immediately focused on the future him who was sitting in front of a loaded gun in a dark office.

As soon as he saw his surrounding change to that of the office, Simon took his phone out and looked at the time. It was 7pm, December 14, 2017. This was about three hours after he downed his whiskey and attempted to pull the trigger.

It seemed that the two realities were not completely static when he was in the other but seemed to move at a much slower rate. Simon immediately stood up and exited the office after securing his gun.

This office of his was in fact in a storage facility near the highway where the sound of cars flying by could be heard constantly. Simon shook his head in resignation at the extent of his downfall after spending a day in the past. But he wasn't too disheartened.

He immediately walked back into the office and sat on the sofa before turning on the computer and pulling up a random financial website as well as Wikipedia page. He looked at numerous sites and conducted numerous searches before smiling contently and closing the laptop.

He then closed his eyes and willed himself to fall before changing realities to the past. Seeing that he was now sitting in a well-lit office, he couldn't help but marvel still at the disparity between the two realities, but he no time to dwell on his feelings as he took a dark leather journal from his desk drawer and writing multiple things on it.

Thirty minutes later, he stopped writing and stood from his chair with a sense of excitement and exuberance. He really felt that life was not as bleak as he once thought, in fact, he would have been happy just getting a redo at life, but now, he not only got his second chance, but it also came with a major advantage.

He knew he could make a lot happen with the knowledge he already had of the future, but the ability to go back and forth between the present and the future, gave much more options. In fact, he now felt that he could achieve more than he ever thought was possible.

While continuing his musings about the future, he walked out of the study while carrying the small journal and went upstairs to take a shower and change from his cloth that still reeked of whiskey and cigarettes. He was really excited to test his theories about the two realities.

..................

A short while later, Simon was sitting in a taxi heading to downtown Brandermill to meet with Charles and Silver. He was slightly late, but he wasn't too worried about it since they are probably in the middle of the assets audit.

However, that was not on Simon's mind as he was fiddling with his smart phone while sitting in the backseat of the taxi. A few minutes later, Simon called a number he found on a website which was promptly answered by a clearly female voice:

"Hello. Thank you for calling William Hill PLC. Would you like to place a bet today."

"Ah, Yes please." Came Simon's reply.

"Do you have an account with us?"

"Yes. I just made one online. Simon Emerson."

"Pease verify your address."

Simon gave her his address and waited for a few seconds as the sound of typing came through the speaker. The lady then spoke:

"Welcome Mr. Emerson. What bets would you lie to place today?"

Simon immediately pulled out his black, leather journal and spoke:

"I would like to place a bet on the Champions League final two days from now. Put down a 4-3 penalties win for Chelsea, with a 1-1 draw at fulltime after extra time. Also put down 83rd minute goal by Muller for Bayern and an equalizer at 88 minutes by Drogba."

The lady was quiet for a few moments as she inputted his bet before responding:

"Sir, the odds of the general outcome of the match are listed at 87/24 for Bayern Munich. With your specific predictions decreasing the odds to 90/15 for Bayern Munich. Is this acceptable to you."

Simon smiled as he recalled that no one in their right mind expected the Blues to beat the German giants at their home, so these abysmal odds were not surprising, however, this was to be one of the biggest upsets in UEFA history. He immediately replied:

"That's fine."

"Great. How much would you like to place sir."

"One million please."

"Am Sorry?" The lady's unsure voice drifted through the phone causing to Simon to smile brighter.

"I said 1 million, if you don't mind."

There was no reply for a while, before the lady spoke in an odd tone:

"How would you like to pay sir."

"Charge to my listed account please."

"Understood. Thank you for playing. Please expect a confirmation SMS after the funds are withdrawn."

"Thank you."

Simon immediately hung up the phone before looking out the window with a satisfied smile on his face. He immediately received a phone call from a concerned manager from his bank asking if he made a huge payment which he confirmed. A few minutes later, Simon received a confirmation text showing that his bet was placed as well as his potential wining.

He couldn't help but sigh as he hoped that he would make more money from this bet, but that was the extent of all his liquid funds with everything else tied up in stocks and property. However, he wasn't disheartened as he was still making six times return which will be more than enough for him to accomplish a lot.

A short while later, Simon arrived at Charles' office. After paying his fare, he went into the building. Walking into Charles' office, he found his two friends sitting around the desk with a mound of paper work scattered all over the place.

"How is it going guys."

Simon's words pulled the two from their work as they stared at him before Silver was spoke with a tired voice:

"We're almost done. Although to be fair, Charles' company is really struggling."

Charles' face was also filled with bitterness as he spoke in a similarly tired tone:

"It really has been a tough year so far. My investments are not doing well, but they are also not doing bad. There is simply no money to be made, and I neither have the capital nor heart to get into speculative investing."

Simon knew well about the struggles of this friend of his since he also tried to get into investing in the past only to fail miserably. However, things were different now since he had an almost unfair advantage.

He proceeded to flash a reassuring smile to his two friends as he spoke in a confident tone:

"That's fine. I am confident we won't be in dire straits for much longer. Anyway, how was the audit."

Both Charles and Silver had no idea where Simon was getting his confidence from, however, the couldn't help but be infected by it causing their worries to lessen. Silver was the one to respond as he handed Simon his laptop that had a spreadsheet open while speaking:

"We tallied the annual earnings from stocks and shares that Preacher Holdings owns came up to approximately 100 thousand pounds. Other assets such as this building bring the total worth of the company to 350 thousand."

Simon remained quiet for a while as he looked through the spreadsheet thoroughly before setting the computer down and speaking:

"Alright. So, I pay about 178 thousand for a 51 percent stake in your company. What do you think Charles?"

Charles looked intently at Simon as if trying to figure out what he was thinking before speaking with a resigned tone:

"That's fine. I really hope you know what you're doing Simon because I can't see anyway this company could make any more money than it already is. In fact, I believe, it won't even make as much in the coming years."

Simon shook his head as he sat down next to Silver and spoke:

"Don't worry Charles. I know what am doing and …..."

However, before Simon could finish his words, Silver who was quietly sitting next to them spoke up:

"Hey Charles, I also want to buy in. I have 30 thousand that I was planning to use as a down payment before… Anyway, I want in."

Now it was Simon's turn to be surprised as he stared curiously at Silver. Charles was also taken back but not as much as he spoke immediately:

"That's not a good idea Silver. Simon can afford to waste money, but you're just an accountant, you can't risk it with my already failing business."

However, this was not enough to dissuade Silver who spoke in a determined voice:

"I know Charles. But I have a feeling that this might be worth the risk. Don't ask me how or why I feel it, but I just do. Anyway, are you willing to let me buy in."

Seeing that he couldn't do much to dissuade him, Charles turned to Simon for a second before looking back at Silver and speaking:

"Alright bud. Let's do it."

"Haha. Great. Now I can quit my shitty accounting firm and enjoy the money roll in."

Simon and Charles were taken back again as they couldn't believe that that was his entire motivation for buying in, but they didn't have the heart to tell him that he would simply end up doing the same job here.

Turning away from Silver who he thought looked dumber than usual, Simon spoke to Charles:

"Alright. 51% for me, 32% for you, and 17% for this dumbass. What do you guys think about EPD Holdings for Emerson, Preacher and Dunn."

"That's fine. Let's head downtown to get the paperwork filed and then we can talk specifics."

Was Charles' reply while Silver simply nodded his head. Simon immediately stood up and spoke as he walked towards the exit:

"Nice. Now that we have that out of the way, let's go get downtown now and get lunch after all the paperwork. We'll come back here later and plan our next course of action."

Silver also proceeded to stand up as well, but he did not care much about what Simon was saying as he spoke to Charles:

"I am taking one of the empty offices. I really am tired about that shanty of a cubicle at the firm."

Both Charles and Simon chuckled without responding as they continued heading out.

..................