Unexpected Events - 1. Chapter 1: Unwelcome Awakening

A blaring sound had jerked me out of sleep. It wasn't until after two in the morning that I came home from work the previous night. I reached for my alarm, pissed that I had forgotten to have turned it off last night after work. In my barely awake state, I focused my eyes on the alarm clock and realized it was not the cause of the noise. It was my cell phone, next to it, buzzing around on the nightstand. The ringtone told me that it was an unknown number and I was pissed off because of that. Sitting up in bed, I yanked the phone to me, the charger cord coming with it. I was ready to tear into the mother fucker that woke me up on my day off.

"Who the fuck is this?" I growled out. I heard a man cough and mumble something unintelligible on the other side of the line.

After a few silent seconds I was about to scream. This bastard woke me up just so I could to listen to nothing but silence on a phone. I was about yell at him and hang up, when he finally spoke.

"Hello, I am truly sorry for waking you up. This is Jonathan Camilletti of Camilletti and Klatt Law Office. Am I speaking to Alden McArthur?" the man in an apologetic tone asked me.

Being mollified, I had stowed away my rotten attitude. With a civil voice I said, "Yes, this is he. What is the reason for calling me, Mr. Camilletti?"

"This call is about Ida Clendening. According to my papers in front of me, it states you worked for Home Help Services. You assisted Mrs. Clendening in her home for approximately a year. This ended one year ago correct?" He questioned me.

"Yes it is." I stated. I had no idea why a lawyer was calling me and asking about my time working for Ida Clendening.

Mr. Camilletti asked, "May you please come to my office today at two o'clock to speak more about this? I will be happy to answer any questions here inside my office. This is very important Mr. McArthur.

I held in a groan knowing I was not going back to sleep. I really wanted to know what this was about. Rolling my eyes at my situation, I told him, "I will be there at two. Where is your office?"

He replied, "Excellent! I am downtown along Capital Street, inside the Patrick Building. My office will be on the top floor. I will see you in a while, Mr. McArthur."

I hung up the phone and let out my withheld groan. I looked at the clock, with it informing me that, after getting ready, I still had some time before having to go see the lawyer. I decided to go have lunch at the restaurant that I work at. I figured out that I could walk to the appointment from there.

With my game plan settled I got out of my bed and started to get ready. I lived in a small, slightly rundown, one-bedroom apartment on the western fringe of Charleston, West Virginia. It’s not as nice as the ones as you get closer to downtown but it had cheap rent and plenty of door bolts for security. Having gathered most of the furniture, from yard sales and the internet, the only stuff worth of value to me is the knickknacks I've collected over the years from family or in antique shops. They hold more emotional value to me than anything monetarily.

At five foot six inches tall, I am not as tall as most of the men my age. I was pretty proud that after years of weight problems that I looked the best I ever did in years. After all the running, biking and swimming, my body was where I wanted it. I was no athlete but my moderately hairy body was just right where I wanted it. I think my large brown eyes and thick dark-brown hair is more than enough to make up for any faults.

After my shower, I dressed in the best outfit I owned, a pair of khaki pants with a green wool sweater. When I was ready to go, I left to go to the restaurant at noon to give me some time to talk to my friend and co-worker Vince. I parked my twenty year old Buick in the same spot that I used when I going to work. With a small parking lot beside an alley, most people don't use it. I know I had nothing worth stealing.

I walked into the restaurant and saw Vince languishing in the empty restaurant. For a server, working the opening shift on a weekday is the worst. Most of the orders are either for delivery or pickup. Most are from the office workers in the city. The customers that did sit down to eat was so stingy that they would leave very little as a tip. If you get more than one day of that shift you won't be able to pay the bills.

Vince saw me, instantly perked up and rushed over as I took a seat at a booth near the door. We met not to long after I moved to Charleston. He saw me close to having a panic attack in one of the gay bars and quickly helped me get away from the pounding music and enclosed space. After a few cigarettes from him, I was feeling better and we just stayed outside chatting for the rest of the night. After that night, we never went longer than a couple days without seeing each other.

After giving me a quick hug he asked, "What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be having your day off. If Ray called you in I will bitch him out. Did he call you in?"

I laughed and told him, "That asshole told me last night I was not getting any more hours this week. He said that he didn't like how I cleaned the bathrooms. I know how to clean but cleaning bathrooms is not my job though. That is Jim's job. Ray made me stay late to do all his work; on top of all the work I do at closing time. I know Jim left early so he could fuck his whore of a girlfriend."

Vince rolled his eyes and said, "We both know he hates us. I’m tired of his shit. You should have told him to go fuck off."

I laughed and told him," True, but you know that I am not like you. I don't know how he hasn’t’ fired you yet with how you speak to him. You need to keep your temper in check. He is waiting for us to snap on him and give him a reason to fire us. You just need to keep calm around him."

"Yeah, right. He don't scare me. So, I'm assuming you're here to order food and not to just talk to me." stated Vince.

I gave him a look and told him, "Yea, just give me the usual. It’s going to be a light lunch. I have to go up the street to see a lawyer."

Before he turned around to take it to the cook in the back he smirked and said, "You’re going to tell me all about this when I come back with your food."

Vince came back soon after, with my water and before I could say thanks I hear, "Fratello!" I looked over at the door to the kitchen to see Ray starring daggers at Vince and myself. Vince rolled his eyes and shrugged as he went over to see what he wanted now. I really think he just assumes because we are both gay that we would do it right in the open.

Vince and I, in reality, could never think of each other sexually. He's like the brother I never had. He's the only person I get along with at work. Other than our friend Katie, Vince is the closest person in my life. It i’s strange that we get along so well. I'm normally the quiet and reserved one where as he is brave, loud and don't care if he ruffles any feathers. He's always is dragging me to some LGBT cause.

I think a lot of his personality comes from his Italian father. Vince though, takes after his mother in looks with his dark blonde hair, green eyes and slim body. The only thing he inherited physically from his dad is his slightly tanned skin. It makes him look like he lives in California or Florida and not a place like West Virginia. He brought out my food along with two slices of apple pie and two glasses of milk.

I gave him a look as he sat down at the booth with me and told him, "I hope you did not just take that? Ray will really lay into if so."

He rolled his eyes again and said, "I'm using my money for this but I don't give a shit what he would say otherwise. If he says one more thing I'm quitting."

I sighed at his constant threat of quitting while I started in onto my food. He says it at least three times a week since Ray was hired here a couple of months ago.

Vince snapped his fingers, to get my attention and asked, "So, why does a lawyer want to see you on your day off? Is he a secret man you been seeing? Going to give him a blow job under his desk?"

I gave him a glare while I started to dig into my pie. After a bite I said, "No, he called this morning and asked for me to meet him at two o'clock. It has something to do with Mrs. Clendening.

"She was the woman you cared for in your last job, right?" he asked. I nodded my head and said, "Yeah, I don't know why this lawyer wants to see me. The only thing I know is that one day I went to her house for work and was told by her son that she had been transferred into a nursing home. According to him, she slipped going into her bathroom over the weekend."

"Yeah, you told me all about that. You got a call from your job saying that they were letting you go. Of course, the incredible me, was able to get you to this job here and put that culinary degree of yours to work," Vince said with a slightly smug look on his face.

He likes to tease but I really am grateful that he was able to get me this job. Before we continued our conversation, Ray appeared and yelled, "McArthur!" He came stomping over to us, glared at me and yelled, "What the fuck are you doing here? Are you so retarded to forget that I told you that you do not work for the rest of the week?"

This was clearly an attempt to get a reaction and he knew I came in to eat. He'd been digging at me the past few weeks. At that moment my patience broke and I decided to be more like Vince. After giving Vince a twenty for my lunch, I stood and looked Ray straight into his eyes.

I saw disbelief in those eyes when I told Ray, "I am sorry, but I have a more important engagement. Even if I did not, I would not stand here and be yelled at like I am a piece of shit. You can do that when I am on the clock but if you ever yell at me again like this I will put you to the ground you fat, son of a bitch."

While Ray stood there in shock I gave Vince a hug and walked out of the restaurant.

After a walk down the street I arrived at the Patrick Building. History and architecture are a great love of mine. I paused to admire the perfectly maintained structure, the eighteen ninety-eight corner stone meant it had to be one of the oldest buildings still standing in this section of Charleston. Upon walking into the lobby, I saw the directory on the wall beside the elevator. Mr. Camilletti was indeed on the top floor. As I got off the elevator, the door to the right had a plaque that read Jonathan Camilletti and Michael Klatt Law Offices. I walked into a small and lightly decorated room with a secretary at her desk working on the computer. There was two doors, obviously the offices of Camilletti and Klatt.

The secretary looked up from her work and asked, "Are you Mr. McArthur?"

I smiled and replied, "Yes, I am."

She said, "Wonderful. I am glad you came. I will call Mr. Camilletti and tell him you're here."

She used the phone on the desk and after getting a confirmation from him, she told me to enter the door to the right. The office was filled with dark stained wood bookcases and file cabinets. It reminded me of the old black and white detective movies the way it looked. Other than the computer and modern phone at the desk it could be exactly like those movies in this room.

Sitting at the desk was Jonathan Camilletti. He looked to be in his early thirties, just a few years older than me. He had dark, black hair perfectly in place, and twinkling green eyes. As he stood up in his professionally tailored suit and sparkling smile there was no doubt he was a lawyer. I knew under that smile he could be just as cunning as the rest of them in the city.

As we shared a firm handshake, he said to me, I am glad you came Mr. McArthur. Seems you found my office easily enough."

"Yes, Mr. Camilletti," I started to say when he cut me off and told me,

"Call me Jon. I may be a lawyer but I like to be on a first name basis with the people who see me in my office."

Knowing that he seemed to not to be as rigid as I thought, I laughed and said, "Alright Jon. That is fine with me."

He smiled and said, "Excellent, let's get down to why you are here today."

As we both sat down, he told me, "You wondered why I called you. It starts back when Ida was put into the nursing home. Ida has known my parents for many years and been a close friend of the family. She contacted me and asked if I could have a new will drew up. Since being in the nursing home her health was failing fast and needed it done. I was told she passed away two days ago."

I felt terrible hearing that Ida had passed away. She was such a strong woman. It was hard to comprehend that death took her so easily. Although I worked for her and helped around her home, she became like another grandmother to me. Ida was always a fun person to be around. Why was I here though?

"Jon, I am upset that Ida passed away but that does not explain why I am here," I told him.

Jon replied, "Alden, the new will that I drew up for Ida has you as the only beneficiary." I sat in the chair, stunned.

I could not believe she would give anything to a normal guy like me. I had no idea on how much she left me. Although part of me didn’t want to know.

Once I was calm enough to be able to speak again, I asked Jon, "What did she leave me?"

With a neutral face, Jon looked into my eyes and told me," Her entire estate totals to just over twenty-five million dollars."