The Bullshit Investor's Club, Rednecks and Crypto, What Could Go Wrong? Chapter Two

  “That your truck, Billy?” Charlotte draped herself over the table in front of the poor boy, with her elbow up on the window frame, her chest almost hanging over his laptop screen.
 

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If you missed the first chapter, get it here!
 

“Uh, yeah,” Billy glanced up, made eye contact with Charlotte, then ducked, focusing back on the laptop screen. It was obvious to everyone but Charlotte that he wasn’t interested.
 

“Dayum, Billy Boy, either you got one hell of a side gig, or boss man is paying you waay too much. Which is it Alex?” Charlotte drawled, turning her attention to Alex, one finger tracing the corner of her mouth. Charlotte was pretty enough, in a rough, awkward sort of way, but to say she was past her prime would be kind. She was just shy of thirty, but she’d lived every minute of her short life hard and it showed.
 

Alex sighed, he hated coming to the breakroom, because he always got dragged into some stupid conversation, but they were painting his tiny excuse for an office, so he was stuck. It was either here, or in the pit, their name for the front office, surrounded by the gossip of the company’s four executive assistants and one receptionist. His wife had packed his lunch, with a picture of the beach house vacation they were saving for, to remind him of why he was skipping lunches out for a couple of months. “Look, Charlotte, I know you’re just having fun, but I can’t comment on what Billy makes, but it’s pretty much in line with everyone else.”
 

“Crypto,” Billy said, pausing in a fusillade of keystrokes, but not making the mistake of looking up. Charlotte noticed and was disappointed, she rolled her hips off the table and stood up, pouting her way to the microwave where she inserted her Lean Cuisine.
 

Sid grunted, “Hell’s that? That them new digital play money things?” he said, not looking up from the political section of the paper. Sid considered himself well informed, and he did read a lot for someone of his background, although his comprehension skills were iffy at best.
 

“No, it’s digital currency. It’s very real, I assure you. I paid cash.” Billy did not look up, but kept typing.
 

Sid sat up, and pushed his red “Make America Great Again” cap back on his head and whistled, “What did that set you back? Must have been about $40k.” Now Sid moved to the window, sipping cold coffee from a styrofoam cup, squinting to see the truck clearly in the glare of the midday sun.
 

“About that, yes.”
 

Sid turned to Billy, “And this is all legal, above board? No hanky panky?”
 

“No, it’s a commodity, similar to a penny stock,” Billy said.
 

“ ‘Cept there’s no company backing it up. Brother lost his shirt in that shit six months back.” Harold, from accounting, said.
 

Billy sniffed and sneered, “Pardon me for saying so, Harold, but your brother must be an idiot.”
 

Harold closed his lunch bag and stood up slowly, smoothing down his shirt front, “Welp, got me there. He’s not too bright. Pretty impulsive. Not saying it’s a scam, mind you, just that it’s volatile. One minute up, up, up and the next minute beeeeppp,” here he moved his hand, palm down, in a flat line away from himself, “You’re flatlining. Great ride if you can catch it at the right time.”
“Pretty much sums it up,” Billy said. “Sorry about the idiot crack, it could happen to anyone, really. I’ve had some losses.”
 

“Really? You want to come over tonight, tell me about your losses?” Charlotte purred, returning from the microwave, she trailed a finger along Billy’s bare forearm. He shuddered, involuntarily.
 

“No thanks, I don’t pay…”
 

“Uh, Billy,” Alex said quietly, “I’m just one of the guys here today, but if I was here as your supervisor, I’d have to remind you about that sexual harassment training last month.”
 

“Right. As I was saying, I don’t pay much attention to my losses, so it would be a short conversation,” Billy closed the laptop and slid it into a chunky leather briefcase with rugged looking buckles, walked to the end of the room, stored it in his locker and replaced the heavy-duty combination lock on the door. He moved toward the exit leading back to the packing floor.
 

Sid rolled a toothpick to one corner of his mouth, without taking his eyes off the brand-new Tundra outside the window, “Hey, Billy!” Billy stopped and turned toward him. “Suppose I wanted to invest a little in somethin’ like ‘at, how much would it cost to get started?”
 

“How much you got in your pocket?” Billy asked.
 

Sid dug out a wadded five-dollar bill, “Five spot, but I got money.”
 

“That five-dollar bill, invested in Bitcoin at the first of this year, would be over $1500.00 today,” Billy said, turning back to the door.
 

“Teach me how to do that?” Sid said, turning away from the truck with a look of longing that seemed out of place on this hard man.  
 

Alex’s phone danced on the table, “Hello?”
 

“That thing’s been moved up. Call a meeting, two PM.” The line went dead before he could respond.
 

He tossed his coffee cup into the trash, gathered up his leftovers and left the breakroom before he heard something he’d have to put a stop to. This investment thing probably shouldn’t be happening on company time, but he wasn’t sure he cared anymore. After two o’clock, no one else might either.
 

“Hey boss, where’s the fire?” Tito paused just inside the door as Alex rushed by.
“Fire, that’s a good word for it, Tito. Two o’clock, tell everybody to meet here.” Alex entered the narrow hall leading to the “executive suite” this day wasn’t going to get any better. Billy’s crypto was sounding better by the minute.