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4 August 2019 (Sunday)

These few months had been rather absurd yet exhilarating to Chris. He could not make any plans for the future. The calendar, which was always central to his life, had taken an entirely new role. He is living day to day right now but perpetually looking back in time. Most days were just like what had happened before he took Paul’s invention and activated the program. Some days were different. Those were the days which Chris approved them methodically, with deliberate plans to change the process and the outcome. The ultimate goal is to alter his course of history.

It was a Sunday night and Chris looked at the wardrobe. The next day would be David’s birthday dinner.

5 years ago, Chris made the decision to relocate to Sicara for his career. Prior to that, he had been working for a year in his hometown for a year and a half. The opportunities were not aplenty there. Sicara, in contrast, is a financial hub. It has its own stock exchange. The city is vibrant and the pace of life is at a quicker place than home. He wanted to experience a new way of life. He is young and single. Sicara would offer more money and more babes for him, he reckoned. With his 6-month methodical planning, he decided to take the plunge. Although he had no job offers, he managed to get a few interviews before the trip to Sicara.

The night before the flight to Sicara, Chris rang up one of his best friends Elly.

“How’s it going, Chris?”

“Pretty good. The necessities are all prepared. Had dinner with Mum. Quite excited, to be honest.”

“Have you settled your lodging?”

“Not totally. I have booked a room at YMCA for a week while I go for the house viewing. I’d be looking at 5 apartments.”

“You are gonna rent an entire place by yourself?”

“Nah, all of them will be with either 1 or 2 housemates. I am looking at 2 bedders. I am more anxious about jobs though.”

“Ah...I guess that’s why you called me?”

“Yeah, a key reason. Friendship too.”

“I don’t have many contacts but my uncle is there. He’s my mum’s younger brother. David Chew. One of the top stockbrokers there. You can google him. He’s pretty well known there. I will give you his number. He might be able to get you some valuable network with the banks and stock brokerages over there. Remember to introduce yourself as Elly’s close friend in Uni.”

“Appreciate that. Hope to see you in Sicara soon.”

Chris did a search on David Chew. This guy is really influential in Sicara. He is known as a deal maker. He had a hand in a number of listings on the stock exchange. All the banks and brokerages would have done business with him.

During his first month in Sicara, Chris met up with David for lunch once. They did not talk much about work. Instead, most of their conversation was about David’s niece, Elly, and their hometown. David told Chris that he would introduce him to some of his friends in the big banks there. Nothing really happened from there. Instead, Chris sent out numerous resumes and secured some interviews along the way. He had finally gotten a job offer from the Bank of Sicara after a few months while doing some part-time working gigs.

David would have lunch with Chris infrequently when he was at the bank for some meetings. Chris would often seek his advice on the stock market. Despite knowing him for a few years, he does not really know what David does except that he is known as a power broker.

Chris looked at his wardrobe closely and decided on the outfit for the birthday dinner. There were only 2 suits, a black and a blue. He chose the latter. While he was ironing his pants, he found a name card.

David Chew. Partner. The Leap Ltd

“The Leap Ltd? That’s the company that led the funding round for Open Traders. Hmmm...He is the partner of Simon Chong. This must be a huge deal for him.”

“How did this card ended up in my pocket? It must have been David. He gave me this in the real world. What shall I say to him on his birthday? Let’s surprise him.”

3 August 2019 (Saturday) The Birthday Dinner

Today is David’s 50th birthday. He has never hosted a birthday in Sicara previously. This year is different. He reckoned that 50 is half a century and since his sister wanted to visit with her family, hosting one for the bigger group would be good.

The dinner venue is on the top floor of the Riverdale hotel. Overlooking the gorgeous river and the city landscape, the view at night is magnificent. There were about 30 people for the birthday dinner. Elly’s family, David’s family, a few business friends, and colleagues were invited. Chris was neither family nor a colleague. It was largely due to Elly that he was invited. He decided to be there earlier than the other guests because he wanted to speak with David.

“Chris, Wow, you are early. I thought you’d be coming with Elly and her family.”

“Oh, they can walk here. Their hotel is just down the corner of the street. ”

“Are you here for stock tips?” David winked at Chris.

“Open Traders?” Chris blurted it out.

David seemed surprised.

“They are not listed. Why would you think of that?”

“I have been checking the forums. Many are talking about them being the next big thing. Well, mostly good stuff. So, what do you think?”

“If they are listed, I will take a look. Tell me the good and bad about them.”

“Hmm...many were praising their trading platform. You know, the user-friendly. interface, zero commission.”

“No commission? That’s a threat to the traditional big boys. Interesting, what else?”

“There are some arguments. Some said Open Traders trades against their clients’ orders. They front-run their clients. A tricky issue is leveraging. While they were allowing leverage in accordance with the regulations, there were clients who chalked up massive losses on small accounts.”

“Well...front-running, you have to be able to prove that for SCS (Securities Commission of Sicara) to take notice. Forums are filled with losers. You can’t take their words. Sorry, talk to you later. Some guests are here.”

(Front running, also known as tailgating, is the prohibited practice of entering into an equity trade, option, futures contract, derivative, or security-based swap to capitalize on advance, nonpublic knowledge of a large pending transaction that will influence the price of the underlying security)

Chris was seated with Elly’s family. Right across them was the host’s table. David was with his wife, children, and 2 other rather distinguished-looking men in suits. Chris was quiet at the dinner. Besides a few simple conversations, he was looking at the other table, trying to figure out who were the 2 men in suits.

After dinner, Chris wanted to speak to David but the host was too busy with his guests. David saw Chris looking at him nervously and signaled him to come over.

“Chris, I am here.”

“David, thanks for the lovely dinner.”

“Chris, here’s my stock tip for you.” David slipped a business card to Chris.

Chris looked at the card. It says “David Chew. Partner (The Leap Ltd).” There was nothing written on the back of the business card. It was only that. He wanted to speak to David again but the host was already at the other corner of the room chatting with another person.

“As of now, right now, he wouldn’t have known that I knew about the news on 12 August. The most that he could have known is that the Bank of Sicara is investing in Open Traders. His stock tip is his business card? The Leap Ltd? If The Leap is pouring money into Open Traders, are they going to get them listed in the future? And that I should buy Open Traders?”

Chris was back at home, looking at the calendar and contemplating his next move.