Carter's War - 4. Chapter 4

Bruce Weippert hung up the phone with a tense smile as he adjusted his tie, and just like that his acquisition of Rena Allison's stock was completed. It had been a simple negotiation, financial shuffling. He had used the company's accounts to co-sign his purchase.

Gavin Jefferies, Avery-Woods' financial officer, was sitting nervously watching him. "I don't like this, Bruce," he said, licking his lips.

Weippert sighed as he rested his hands on the arms of his chair, "It's too late for second thoughts, Gavin, the stock has been purchased; now all we do is wait until the takeover is announced and watch the stock price climb."

"It's illegal, Bruce." Gavin squirmed in his chair, "I could lose my licence for this."

"Yes, you could," Bruce agreed coldly, a threat evident in his tone of voice, "but since it's your name on the stock and not mine only you will go to jail for it." He examined his nails, as he watched the accountant sweat.

"But you..." Gavin swore, "you son of a bitch..."

Weippert nodded, "Ahh, I see you are finally on the same page as I am, excellent. Now then, you are going to sit tight, keep your mouth shut and sell that stock only when I tell you to, do I make myself clear?"

Gavin closed his eyes, sighing, "All right... but this is the last time I get involved in something like this; after those shares sell, I'm out, it's done."

Bruce shook his head, "Trust me, money will make you change your mind."

* * *

"Hey Buddy!" the voice startled Will awake as he sat up and blearily looked at his friend standing over him.

"What?" he asked through the haze as he struggled back to consciousness. He had an awful headache he would have said was a hangover from drinking the night before at the club if he had been drinking, but then he hardly drank. Bits and pieces of memories were surfacing for him, but it would still take time until he was feeling... himself again.

"Get up!" Jared flopped onto the couch and folded his hands behind his head. "You realize it's noon, right?"

"Noon?" Will rolled himself upright and realized he had fallen asleep still wearing his jacket; he took it off and tossed it on the chair with the pile of his other clothes.

"You know...middle of the day, twelve o'clock..." Jared looked over at his dishevelled roommate and shook his head;"You're a mess, bud, how much did you have to drink while you were out last night?"

Will shook his head, "Nothing, I was driving and you were with me. I just didn't feel well when I got up this morning," He shifted on the couch, careful not to disturb the cat, "I can remember the club and I remember this morning but not much else."

Jared chuckled, "Last I saw you were hitting on some guy, and since you didn't bring him home with you I guess you didn't get any."

Will winced. Guy? The flood of memories rushed through his mind and he closed his head against the nausea and disorientation as he felt like he was spiralling back to unconsciousness, "Nah, I don't think so; I mean, I didn't even get his number."

"Well, I got one," Jared sighed happily. "Her name's Becky and she's a student over in the co-ed dorm; I think she likes me, she gave me her number and wants to go out tonight. She had this hot little," he made a heart shape with his hands. "You don't know what you're missing..."

You have no idea, Will thought dryly as he rested his head against the wall. He hated being sick; it was always an unpleasant sensation for him. And as his head swam he tried to get a grasp on exactly who he was.

"You look sick, dude," Jared said as he rolled up onto his elbows. "You want me to get you a coffee or something?"

Will grimaced as he stood up shakily, "I can get it, it's okay."

Jared watched him shuffle to the door, and hopped to his feet taking a couple of steps to catch Will as he stumbled, "Well, let me at least make sure you get to the dining room."

Will smiled, "Thanks."

The pair entered the kitchen Will balanced heavily as Jared helped him. It was more that he just felt dizzy than anything else; he would feel better once it wore off. The coffee pot was already brewing something dark and noxious and Will felt his stomach heave. He controlled the urge to vomit as he watched Jared pour him a cup.

Jared had been a friend to Will since high school in Ottawa. They were a dynamic duo who had battled homework assignments, ex-lovers and the occasional bout of homesickness together; they were triumphant warriors who had carried each other home after a frosh week pub-crawl. They were as close to opposites as nature would allow; Jared was a used-car salesman turned financial advisor, neat and tidy, tall and dark-haired, and most importantly unwaveringly straight. There was little they didn't know about each other.

There was a board meeting today and Will needed to think and react quickly, not something he could do when all he could think about was how the room spun above him, and the fact that the coffee reminded him of engine oil.

He sat down at one of the battered tables and wrapped his hands around the mug, looking into it with trepidation. "I'm thinking I'm coming down with the flu or something."

"You look it, did you call in to work?" Jared asked, tossing him a couple of creamers. "The board meeting?"

"I don't think so," Will shrugged. "I should really call them, but I must have missed the meeting already." He sighed, "I might have to go in later today."

Jared inverted a chair and sat down, looking at his friend, "Nope, you're staying put; I'll call in for you, explain you're not well and they can deal with it." He tugged out his cell phone and placed a quick call to Will's assistant, Alicia.

After a few moments he handed the phone across to Will. "Hello?" he asked after a moment.

"Hey boss," Alicia said sounding tense. "You're safe, they put off the meeting till tomorrow, something about a problem with the Tri-Tech acquisition."

Will's mind swam trying to make sense of the names. "Um, okay." he said after a pause, "I should be there in the morning..." He swallowed trying to clear his head, "Thanks, Alicia."

"Anytime, boss," she said as he hung up the phone.

"Tri-Tech?" he murmured as he stared into the mug and he steeled himself to drink it, "My firm's buying out a small software company, which means I am going to have a ton of work to do when I get back."

Jared blew out a sigh, "But you got today off, right?"

"Today," Will replied sadly. "I am going to have to go in tomorrow to figure out what is going on and what I need to do."

Jared stood, "Alright; well, do you want some lunch?"

"No thanks," Will said as he felt his stomach rise up in protest at the thought of food.

Jared shrugged as he began to dig in the fridge, assembling the elements of a bologna sandwich. "You remember that Brody's rolling in this afternoon, right?"

Will scratched his head and fought for some clarity when his whole head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool. "What?"

"Brody," Jared stated taking a big bite of the unappetizing sandwich. "He asked last week if he could stay." Jared rolled his eyes, "You really are sick."

Will groaned a little and rubbed his temples, "Well, it'll be good to see him, I haven't seen him since the move."

Jared shrugged, "You know Brody, I think he was just disappointed you upped and left like that."

Will sighed, he hated having this conversation with his friends, they all did it. Trying to understand why he made the choices he made. "It was a good job offer, and it was either Toronto or England." Will swallowed another mouthful of coffee, "How come you didn't get any grief when you decided to up and move to Toronto?"

Jared shrugged, "They knew I didn't have much choice. Bay Street's in Toronto, the money's here." He shrugged, "Plus after I broke up with Kerry there wasn't much keeping me in Ottawa." He seemed uncomfortable, "It was different with you and Andrew."

"Yeah," Will took a long sigh setting his mug down reluctantly. "You know, I see Lisa every other week at work, she's looking..." Will smiled as he made a pregnant gesture.

"No!" Jared said with a broad grin, "How's Jeff about being a daddy?"

Will shook his head, "They still live in Ottawa, Lisa's Mister Avery's personal assistant now so she's doing a lot of travelling with him." He sniffed, feeling his nose beginning to run--typically he always felt miserable when he had the flu, "She keeps trying to get me to... well, you know."

Jared gave him a sympathetic look, "She's just trying to look out for you that's all. Have you talked to him recently?"

Will shook his head. "Life moves on, you know? Anyway," he stood up and wavered a little, "I think I'm going to heavily medicate myself if Brody's on his way."