Dancing little men! Those were what John Finnegan could see as he stared at the figures rising and falling on his screen. He rubbed at his temples, took out some tablets of aspirin, and threw them down his throat, then gulped an entire bottle of water and held his head in the cradle of his palms which he had laced together behind him.
Source
He had been carefully observing Fizzcorp and its market prospects but as of that morning, his investment had nothing to show for it.
He wondered if he should withdraw everything he had put in to avoid coming to a complete loss or if he should hang on and give it more time. And he was pressed for both time and cash.
His mind went back to the call he received early that morning just after Julie broke the news that he would be a daddy in eight months to him.
"John Finnegan?"
He didn't know why the voice was oddly familiar.
"Yes. John Finnegan speaking"
"Alright. I am William Kent, the property manager for Westside Properties. You remember me right?"
How could he forget the slow, annoying drawl of the red-haired man who had the size of three large people and waddled like a duck instead of walking smartly like most men John knew?
"Yeah. I do"
"Good. Your rent is due this month. Landlord says you pack a week after it's due or you pay a week before it's due."
John Finnegan was not on speaking terms with his landlord so he couldn't call to ask why he had set such a rule, and the old man was probably doing it to punish him so he rubbed at his eyes and tossed the annoying polka-dotted tie Julie had brought out for him to wear back at him then released a deep sigh.
"I'll do something about it William"
"Good, good. You've got 13 days."
Then just like that, the line went dead. His salary was not due until 13 days after his rent was due. Since Julie was having a baby, he had extra expenses. He wasn't ready for all that. He couldn't even afford it if he was ready.
He sighed. If the regulatory investigation had not been carried out that morning, maybe the shares of Fizzcorp wouldn't have plummeted the way they did, causing him to hold his heart in his hand the entire time.
He bent his head and muttered a short prayer like his mom taught him to every time he was in a difficult situation.
After a couple of minutes, he heard his alarm chime for 2:30 p.m. informing him of the meeting he had set with his mom. That was another stressful financial journey he was about to embark on.
He proceeded to check the market again then raised his brows in shock when he saw the prices had gone up within minutes. He picked up his phone.
"Mom? Can I come home a little late? I have an emergency here at work".
When she responded with "It's okay, take your time son", John punched his fist in the air and hurried to check what was going on. Prices were still going up. He weighed his options for about 5 minutes before deciding to sell.
Even if he didn't get as much as he was expecting, he wouldn't be losing completely. John called his broker to ask for advice before making a rash decision out of desperation.
"I was going to call you John. I think the market is experiencing a dead cat bounce right now but it won't be for long"
"Then put out the shares. We'll have them sold out immediately. I can't lose on both sides".
Thirty minutes later, John had whooping extra thousand dollars seated in his account.
Hurrying over to his mom's after making the sale, he made a mental note to get a bottle of wine for Julie on his way home, he remembered how silent he had been when she had told him excitedly about the baby.
"John? You're not saying anything" Julie's hand was on her belly, rubbing affectionately.
"You don't know what to say? We're having a baby and you don't know what to say?" Her large blue eyes were moist now threatening to break open its gates and release a flood of tears.
"Listen, Julie, now isn't the right time okay?"
She had left the room sobbing, driving away to probably her mom's place after a few minutes.
Then he would send the rent to William Kent later that evening, he wished he could write a note saying "In your faces!" Along with a check but he wasn't troublesome.
As he eased his Ford Mustang into his mom's driveway, he knew that this wasn't just luck smiling on him, it was God answering the short prayer he had made earlier that day. Like his mom would say, miracles happened every day, you just needed to have the right heart to receive them.
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