Flutter (2 page)

******

Dennis Matthews was enrolled in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst three years ago when he first met Alan Jiang while applying to become an intern. Alan was asked by Dean Rogers of the School of Management to come in and give a presentation about developing, running and sustaining a Massachusetts–based finance institution. In attendance were representatives from MassMutual, Babson Capital and State Street Bank, all speaking about how they had started as finance majors and worked their way up to the corporate penthouse. Some were candid about their climb— the pitfalls, the money, the backstabbing, and the women. When Alan spoke, he spoke with poise and was captivating. He didn’t address students’ questions about women, money and fast cars, but he did express his commitment to long nights of study and research, the strain on personal relationships, and the joy of success that always seemed just beyond reach and which became harder to reach each day.

Alan was born in the United States and didn’t have an accent, which was surprising to the crowd. They expected him to have a Chinese twang to his voice. In fact, He spoke better English than a few of the professors. He spoke fluidly, with a commanding seriousness that made others listen without interruption. He wasn’t the most suave corporate mogul in the room, but he was the most successful and sometimes thought the other businessmen attending these sessions must have just wanted a day out of the office.

When Alan concluded his brief speech and presentation, Dennis was so impressed by Alan’s story that he approached Alan directly after the speech to pick his brain a bit more. They got to talking and quickly bonded over sports and investment chatter. Alan got to know Dennis and eventually thought of Dennis as his protégé. Dennis saw Alan as a mentor. Alan took Dennis under his wing and never looked back.
I’ll show this kid how to really run a business.
Alan was proud of Dennis. He was evolving into someone Alan had dreamed he would become.

Alan hadn’t been very trusting of Dennis at first. He didn’t want to expose his secrets to some random kid who had initially come off as annoying. Alan had always suspected that other corporations were capable of planting intellectual property spies anywhere they could, and he didn’t put Dennis above any of it. Dennis was sharp beyond his years.
He should have studied at Harvard
, Alan always thought to himself. He watched Dennis with a close eye. Alan had even hired a private investigator to research Dennis’ background to make sure he was legitimate and not harboring any secrets. Alan learned some horrifying details in Dennis’ past and was determined to help this young man succeed in the finance industry.

Dennis hadn’t told anyone about his upcoming fishing trip. He was too excited about going and didn’t think to call his mother who would probably worry about him being on the ocean in a small boat. On the roof of the truck was a gray storage bin full of hunting and fishing gear which Alan had purchased from various online sporting goods stores. His favorite store was Cabelas, but he often purchased items from Bass Pro shops and Dicks Sporting Goods. Alan had strapped the gear to the bars on the top of the truck before he left to pick up Dennis. Occasionally, the bin would shift although it was quite secure and was not going to fall off. The road was so bumpy at times that it made Alan question his strapping skills. He would hear the bin shift and look up to the roof of the truck.

The truck towed a galvanized trailer with a boat named “The Polaris,” a 20 foot Mako 204 with a center console and a pearl white, fiberglass V–hull with a horizontal red stripe for decoration. Alan’s wife had named the boat before their first ride out to sea. It carried a 200 horse power black Mercury Engine with a bright red logo and a sliver stripe. The Polaris was a $29,000 boat Alan won for a second place finish at the 2009 Master Angler Classics tournament in North Carolina. Alan was excited to bring Dennis bluefish and striped bass fishing. He wanted to teach Dennis how to balance work and play, with an emphasis on the work and play as the reward when the hard work was complete.

Alan followed the GPS faithfully and successfully reached Mackie’s Bar and Grille at Pier 6. The restaurant was a reddish brown shack that sat ocean side. It was a nice break from the drive. They found a parking space on the side of the road and pulled in. Parking in the parking lot was a bit difficult since they were towing a boat. Dennis and Jiang exited the car and stretched their legs. It wasn’t a long drive but it was long enough for the joints in their knees to get stiff. The two men walked into Mackie’s. It looked like an old boat house with wooden panel walls. There were family pictures on the wall and pictures of the owners with famous people who occasionally stopped in to have lunch or dinner. There was a picture of the original owner with a young Ted Kennedy at the beginning of his political career.

They chose the table near the window overlooking the ocean.
What a view.
Alan ordered grilled shrimp and a lobster roll with a gin and tonic. Dennis ordered crab cakes, clam chowder and pasta salad with a soda. The smell of the fresh ocean water was in the air. Dennis had never been able to relax and enjoy the beauty of the sea. He was excited just to be able to finally smell the ocean breeze without inhaling pollutants. During dinner, they spent the majority of their time talking about the earlier meeting, women and sports. Dennis was intrigued by anything Alan said. He knew Alan had the magic bullet of success and he would do just about anything to learn how Alan ticked.

Jiang asked, “How did you find this place? The food is pretty good.”

“A friend of mine, Garrett, he told me about it. I spoke to him on Facebook yesterday and he said, ‘if you ever get a chance, check out Mackie’s’ so here we are. His parents have a timeshare out here. They come once a year in August, so he’s pretty familiar with the area.”

Jiang was always a skeptic. He didn’t like people knowing where he was. He knew Dennis wasn’t familiar with much of anything outside of Boston so he wondered if someone had put him up to coming to this place. He loved Dennis like a little brother, but didn’t put anything past anyone.
Everyone is an opportunist given the right persuasion and opportunity
. He wondered if Dennis had become buddy–buddy with another executive at the firm. Alan often had to stop his mind from wandering. He figured, “If I can imagine it, then someone has already done it or is going to do it. So act first.”

“Garrett… from where?” Alan questioned.

“Oh from B school. We chat once in a while.” Dennis had picked up on Alan’s natural instinct to question motives. He smiled. “Don’t worry. It’s no one you know or who knows you. He gave up business and became an art student. He has no interest in the world of finance and I didn’t tell him exactly when I was coming this way. You are paranoid about the smallest things, man. Chillax!”

Alan smirked, but he didn’t find it funny.

It was mid–afternoon when two men finally got on the water. They were off the coast of Portland, Maine blue and striper fishing on Alan’s boat. Alan knew it was a little early in the season, but he was more excited about just being on the water. Alan showed Dennis how to set the proper knot for the eight ounce diamond jig. He explained how to use the fishing pole and what to do if he caught a fish. Alan had herring and chicken breast that he would attach to the hooks if they decided to go with bait instead of a jig. Alan loaned Dennis an older pole with a Penn reel on it. It’s the pole he had used up until two years ago.
That pole has done some great fishing.

“The sea is a little rough today. I’m surprised you’re not sea sick,” Alan joked as he dropped his line to the ocean floor. “No no. Let the jig hit the bottom,
then
crank it up about 20 times before you drop it again.”

“I did!” Dennis scrunched his face. His arms were fatiguing.

“No, you didn’t. I watched you, and I counted.”

“Well, maybe you lost count. You’re getting a little old, you know.” Dennis smiled a wide smile while squinting his eyes.

“Your ass is right behind me, fucker!” Alan smiled back.

They laughed.

Dennis had something on his mind. “What do you think about Moore?”

“You mean Erin? Erin Moore?” Alan was no longer thinking about the fishing. “I must admit she is brilliant. I just don’t like the fact that I can’t read her. I don’t know whose side she is on or if she is even listening. She nods and scrunches her eyes while taking notes at every meeting. She makes really good decisions and tough ones too. She takes her time and doesn’t care if anyone tries to rush her.”

Dennis agreed. “She is very smart. It’s almost scary how wise and creative she is. The board loves her. If they ever decided to jerk you, she’s next in line.”

“Yes I know. I see it,” Alan responded.

“Do you think the board is gonna jerk you?”

“Dennis, everyone gets jerked at some point. One minute, you’re their star player, the next minute you’re riding the bench hoping you will be substituted in. Then, the owners are wondering why they are paying you so much and they’re not using your services anymore. I see them whispering behind closed doors. I don’t care whose business they put on the table. Each one gets the same scrutiny as the next.”

Slowly the sky turned dark and large dark gray clouds move in overhead. There was a crack of lightning that shook the men in their boots. Dennis grabbed his chest in horror. He tried to laugh it off, but then another thunderous boom followed. Alan didn’t want to take any chances.

“Well, this was unexpected. Reel up!” Alan shouted nervously.

Dennis and Alan reeled up their lines vigorously just as the rain began to pour. Alan drove the boat. He was extremely nervous thinking about how he didn’t pay enough attention to the weather reports. He turned back and headed to the Falmouth shore. They were about 20 minutes out, and the sea got rougher. Alan was sure he could make it back so he stayed on the course.
I have been on rougher seas than this.
But Dennis had not. They shouted inaudibly. Alan tried to signal Dennis to put on a life jacket, but Dennis didn’t understand. He was too afraid to walk over to Alan and Alan was too afraid to stop driving the boat. Lightning cracked again as the rain flooded out Alan’s warnings to Dennis. The sky turned blacker than ever as they sped off over the rough sea.

Saturday morning, London Bradley was a young woman on a mission to do some fishing off the Portland coast for stripers. She arrived in her army green 2001 Jeep Wrangler at about 10:00 in the morning and pulled out her equipment. She put on her neoprene Cabelas suit so that she could wade in the shallow ocean water as she fished. She slipped her legs in one by one and pulled the straps up over her shoulders, then slipped her feet into the waterproof boots she had purchased a few weeks earlier. She gathered her long black hair into a ponytail and slipped on a cap. London grabbed her bait from the floor behind her seat, took out her tackle from the trunk, put her phone in the chest pocket of her jacket and headed across the rocky path that lead to the beach. It was a short walk from where she had parked to the little cove.

 Her uncle, Benjamin Simms, was supposed to meet her there within the hour. He had to run a few errands for her grandmother before he could reach the beach where London had asked him to meet her. She argued with him repeatedly that the season was a little early, but his friend at work had told him blues and stripers were biting since a week before due to the warm winter that year. All winter, London and her uncle had friendly arguments about who would catch the most fish or the largest fish this season, so she made sure she was there early, hoping to catch the first saltwater fish of the season. Last year their fishing buddy, Oscar Youngblood, won the title for saltwater fishing. Benjamin took the overall freshwater fishing title; and London, who called herself the “BASS MASTER,” earned the bass fishing title in their friendly competition.

As she got closer to the water, the rocky path slowly turned into a small, sandy beach. She had been there many times and was familiar with the depth of the water. There were fissures in the sand from the previous night’s storm where rain had washed over the beach. London was careful to walk around them for fear she would trip and twist her ankle. She received a text from her uncle. “BE THERE IN 15.”

She knew she’d better hurry and at least get a few casts in to increase her odds of catching the first fish. She was so competitive with her uncle and other fishing partners; she prepped all her tackle at home the night before and hoped she would get right to it. She dropped her tackle box and bait bucket on the shore and placed herring on the hook. She turned on her iPod, plugged in the ears, and then went directly into the water until it was about waist high. The neoprene suit kept her warm as she released her first cast into the water.

Ten minutes of casting and London hadn’t caught a thing. She didn’t even get a nibble. Her bait was beaten up from repeatedly smashing against the rocks, so she decided to change the bait. As she changed the bait, she looked toward the path and noticed a familiar figure coming toward her. Although she wanted to beat him to the punch, her uncle Benjamin had reached the beach sooner than she had expected. He, too, was dressed in a neoprene suit. She was happy to see him.

“Any luck?” He shouted as he walked closer.

“None yet.” She rushed to get her bait secured on the line.

“You’re supposed to be the Bass Master– or does that only apply to freshwater bass? Are you having trouble with sea bass?” He laughed loudly, almost snickering.

“HA HA HA! You wait old man! The Bass Master will prevail.”

He smiled, noticing that she was anxious to get back into the water, and said, “No worries. The professional is here.” He put his tackle box on the beach and opened the bait bucket. In the bucket he had eels. “You aren’t using the right bait. Use these.” He smiled.

“Well why didn’t you tell me to pick up eels instead of letting me buy all these herring?”