Waiting For Intel

Jeremy was anxious. He waited in his apartment in Chelsea, waiting for a phone call. His job was on the line. Middleburg Industries, the company he worked for, waited for a decision to be made regarding a contract that would save the company. If Middleburg were awarded the contract, Jeremy would move to Bavaria; not a move he was excited about, but to keep his job, it would be worth it.

Six weeks of negotiations had come down to this night. Middleburg was to manufacture materials for new Intel chipsets. Intel had agreed to use Middleburg because of their existing facilities in Bavaria. However, there was an issue. Intel wanted these new chips to be manufactured using clean energy, which the nuclear power being supplied wouldn’t be classified. If Intel chose anywhere else, Middleburg wouldn’t be part of the deal and the company would go bankrupt.

Bavaria was already shifting to cleaner energy, so Middleburg’s CEO, Lance Newson, made a deal with the Bavarian Prime Minister to help build Bavaria’s more sustainable infrastructure if the Intel deal was successful. It was a genius deal that Lance hoped would be enough. After this night, Jeremy would either have a job for the next three years in Bavaria, or have two weeks left to wrap up things for the company locally and then try to find work somewhere else.

Lance stood atop the brick building where the Middleburg offices were housed. He often went to the rooftop to look out over the city when he needed to rest his nerves. He also kept a bottle of Crown Royal hidden up there in case the city air didn’t help keep him calm. This night was a Crown Royal night.

Waiting on the rooftop for over an hour, Lance had calmed his nerves. He sat in a lounge chair which he had “borrowed” from his friend Jack earlier in the summer. Jack never expected it back, but missed it when his family went to the beach a few weeks after. Lance thought about calling Jeremy to see how he was doing, but he knew Jeremy would expect an answer, which he didn’t yet have.

At the same time that Lance and Jeremy were impatiently awaiting his call, Saul Jacobs was sitting in his office, waiting for the final word as well. Saul would either be calling Lance with great news or devastating news. Saul did not relish having to tell Lance his company would go under. Being a religious man, he prayed while he sat there, hoping for good news. He held the rosary beads he had since he was a young boy in school. He remembered the simple days when all he had to be concerned with was homework and if a girl liked him back.

Rain started falling on Lance as he relaxed in the chair. He watched the drops falling from the sky. He couldn’t see stars because of the clouds, but the drops reflected enough light as they fell to look like the entire sky was falling on him one star at a time. Lance thought it was beautiful. It made him feel hopeful. As a dropping star fell on his nose, Lance’s phone rang.

Jeremy looked over the city, through his window, hoping he would soon be leaving the beautiful view soon. Rain was just starting to sprinkle on the windows. He looked at the watch on his wrist. Just as the second hand hit the hour marker where the three would be, the phone rang.

It was almost 2am for Saul. He had fallen asleep at his desk. The rosary beads had buried themselves into his forehead. He was dreaming about being on a cruise. He had always dreamed of going to Alaska and promised himself if this deal went through, he would plan a trip for him and his wife. Just as they were sitting down to a lobster dinner on the cruise ship, he was startled awake as the phone rang.

Lance sat up in the lounge chair and answered the phone. The rain still coming down on his face mix with tears. The conversation was brief, lasting only 4 minutes and 27 seconds according to the phone log.

Five minutes and forty-eight seconds after Saul hung up the phone while talking to Lance, Jeremy answered his phone. The rain falling down Jeremy’s window mimicked the tears flowing down his face. After two minutes and twenty-two seconds, Jeremy ended the call and tossed his phone onto the nearby bed.

Despite the protests in Bavaria, the reluctance of the Intel board to partner with an unknown company, and the incentives offered by Luxembourg and Brussels, Middleburg was awarded the contract. Jeremy would pack. Lance would open a celebratory bottle of Crown. Saul got to sleep peacefully.