Chapter 5 Pissing Off The Big Shot

• It was nine in the evening—the hour when Summerbank's night scene came alive.
• The proprietor of Brilliant Media Company, Sparkee Zahorsky, was in the midst of dining with his friends at The Little Riviera.
• “Hey, Sparkee. About that Eleanor Cabot from your company. Did you manage to snag her?”
• “Not yet.” Sparkee waved a hand. “F*ck, don't any of you underestimate this woman! She may be a little mental, but she got one heck of a character. Not even an offer of two hundred thousand from me could get through to her! But rest assured, though, that I know everything about her situation. Her family is really poor, so sooner or later, I'll have her come begging.”
• “Hahaha. Don't forget about the rest of us boys after you have succeeded, yeah?”
• “Yeah. Though this Eleanor's already got a kid, her figure's still like va-va-voom. My word, that's one fine-looking woman.”
• Sparkee guffawed. “No worries. I'll definitely pass her around for the rest of you to enjoy once I'm through with her. Come, let's raise our glasses. Cheers!”
• When they heard those words, the eyes of those men lit up, and the licentiousness upon their faces became ever more palpable than before.
• At that moment, the doors swung open to reveal the stoic-looking Emmanuel. He strode into the private room with the hem of his black trench coat trailing behind him.
• His arrival immediately caught the attention of everyone present, who stared at him in equal bafflement.
• None of them had any idea as to who that stranger intruding upon their private room was.
• “Hey, man. Are you lost?” Placing down the glass in his hand, Sparkee gave Emmanuel a once-over as he asked him.
• Emmanuel's gaze, though, was wholly transfixed on Sparkee. “Sparkee Zahorsky?”
• Sparkee lifted his chin slightly. “Who's asking?”
• There was wariness in Sparkee's eyes while he scrutinized Emmanuel.
• Since he's calling me out by name, he's obviously gunning for me.
• “I'm here to demand Eleanor's wages from you.” Emmanuel was explicit with his intentions.
• At present, anything concerning Eleanor seemed to excite that bunch of men.
• That was especially the case with Sparkee, who crossed his legs and asked gleefully, “What's your relationship with Eleanor, eh? Why are you here demanding her wages on her behalf?”
• “You'd better call Eleanor in tomorrow and hand her her money if you don't want to see your company go bankrupt. You have been warned, so try and make the best of this opportunity that you are given. The rest is up to you.”
• Unsmiling and impassive, the aloof Emmanuel left him with that and turned around to exit the room.
• Those seated at the table were bamboozled, unable to make any sense of what they heard.
• Who's this nut job?
• “You! Stop right there.” Sparkee slammed his palms on the table, incensed. “Who the f*ck do you think you are, trying to tell me what to do? I'm sure as h*ll not going to pay her, so what are you going to do about that? You got to at least show up with some f*cking manners if you want to talk to me about money. What makes you think you're in any position to start calling the shots here?”
• Pausing in his tracks, Emmanuel then turned around to regard Sparkee. “Did you just say that you're not going to pay her?”
• There was an element of frivolity about Sparkee's demeanor. “That's right. You know, if you would get down on your knees and beg really sincerely, I just might reconsider my position.”
• “Am I right to assume that you have decided to let your company go bust?” asked Emmanuel with a stern look of displeasure.
• “Haha. Hahaha!”
• The group that was gathered there reared their heads back and burst out laughing when they heard that from Emmanuel. That scornful tone of theirs was scathingly reflective of their disdain for him.
• All of them, without exception, took Emmanuel's words for a joke.
• As a group, they were also dismissive of Emmanuel, who they deemed to be the biggest blowhard they had ever met.
• Why would he need to come here to demand Eleanor's meager wages personally if he had the capability to ruin Sparkee's company on a whim?
• Sparkee, in particular, laughed so hard that it almost left him wheezing. Going over to Emmanuel, he slapped the latter hard on the shoulder before smirking at him in derision. “Oh, man. It's one thing for you to brag but to bankrupt my company? I'm actually quite curious, though. Who exactly do you think you are?”
• Evoking a look of disgust, Emmanuel reached to pat off the handprint left on his trench coat before he pulled out his phone.
• Some three minutes later, Sparkee received an unexpected call from a long-time collaborator.
• “Hey, Sparkee. We're going to have to cease our collaboration going forward, so don't look me up at my office anymore.”
• “Wait, what? Mr. Wainscott? Hello?”
• Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
• Only a beeping sound answered him. The caller had hung up so fast that it was as though he was trying to steer well clear of him.
• Scott Wainscott was one of Sparkee's biggest clients, with their business dealings contributing to more than forty percent of his company's annual revenue.
• Following the termination of that professional relationship, Sparkee immediately looked up at Emmanuel with cold sweat beading from his forehead.
• Before the entire situation really sunk in for him, his phone blared again. That time, it was Trevor Xenakis, another of his primary clients.
• “Hey, Mr. Xenakis. Don't tell me you're calling to terminate your contract with me?”
• “You f*cking piece of sh*t.” His counterpart was immediately heard cussing when he spoke up. “I only turned down their request because I was trying to cover for you, but now, my own company has come under investigation. They're all over the tax evasion stuff, and worse still, they even found out that I have a mistress outside. Right now, my wife is demanding a divorce. My goodness, who the heck did you piss off? I swear that I'll kill you if anything happens to my company.”
• Aside from those two that were his biggest clients, a segment of his smaller clients also called in to terminate their contracts with him, one after the other.
• Even some of the clients that he was close to reaching agreements with had also phoned in directly to convey that they would be withdrawing their interest.
• Within that matter of minutes, Sparkee had literally lost everything.
• “Anyone knows who that Mercedes-Benz with plate number SBH995TS belongs to? It has just been crushed by a truck, and the driver has already fled.” A server was heard shouting outside the private room.
• Sparkee knew all too well that that was his car, but he did not dash out immediately to check on it. Instead, he simply sat slumped upon the chair. The color had drained from his face, and he was in an absolute state of panic.
• His companions had witnessed firsthand the calls Sparkee received from all those companies that wished to sever their professional ties with him all at once.
• They figured that the incidents could not have been coincidental, and it immediately occurred to them what was going on as their eyes darted toward Emmanuel.
• Am I right to assume that you have decided to let your company go bust?
• Initially, they thought it hilarious when Emmanuel first proposed that, but with a single call from Emmanuel, Brilliant Media Company had lost all of their clients asudden. Without a clientele to work with, it would only be a matter of time before the company went under.
• Although Sparkee's company was not a major firm in itself, it had enjoyed decent working relationships with its client base that constituted companies of considerable scale and reputation.
• To think that a single call would bring about such devastating effects. What a frightening influence he has.
• “Hey, come on now, man. C-Could we not do this? Is it too late for me to pay out her salary?”
• Completely mortified, Sparkee promptly retrieved the wallet from his pocket. He pulled out a collection of notes and held them out to Emmanuel. “This is for Eleanor's wages. Three thousand in all.”
• “Hand them to her yourself tomorrow.” Emmanuel then turned to exit the private room and swiftly disappeared from view.
• Bam. Sparkee landed on the chair on his bottom. His countenance was lifeless, as though he had just contracted a terrible illness.
• He then cast a crumpled smile in the direction of his shell-shocked friends.
• “I think I might have pissed off some big shot. If he's the one who is looking out for Eleanor, we should probably leave her well alone.”