Chapter 30: Empire First Step
"No matter how many times you request it I can’t recommend you to the new staff supervisor," the manager said. "He is very rude. He doesn’t respect anyone. If I had another opportunity I would have quit this job long ago."
Adam had not said anything. But the manager was already complaining to him. The manager was actually Adam’s friend. He worked with him at the same hotel. He was older than Adam but they had become friends over their shared misery.
Adam listened to his friend’s rant. Then he spoke. "Okay," he said his voice calm and steady. "So I’ll give you an opportunity. Will you quit your job?"
The manager went silent on the other end of the line. For a moment there was only the sound of his breathing. Then he spoke again.
His voice was full of disbelief. "Have you been drinking this early in the morning?" he asked. "And after that you found me to call?" He thought Adam was joking.
He thought his friend was making fun of his misery. He did not know that this single phone call was about to change his life forever. And not just his life. The lives of many others.
The world was about to change. And it all started with this one simple offer. An opportunity. A chance to escape. A chance to build something new. A chance to become something more.
The manager did not know any of this. He just thought his friend was drunk.
He was wrong. Very wrong. Adam was more sober and more clear-headed than he had ever been in his entire life. He had a plan. And his friend the manager was a crucial part of it. The first piece of his new shadow empire.
Adam did not mind his friend’s words at all. He just smiled a little. "I’m not joking," he said. "And I haven’t been drinking this morning."