HOW WAS HE TO KNOW?
How was he to know that the holiday office party of 2007 was not going to be the benign gathering of past years? How was he to know that one single event would totally unravel his life? How was he to know that what seemed to be harmless punch was actually chemically enhanced? How was he to know she was the CEO’s underage daughter? How was he to know security cameras with sound were in place in the executive washroom? How was he to know he would be replacing ten years of trading on Wall Street for a return to Jump Street?
How was he to know that he would soon be exchanging his Armani suits for a Wendy’s t-shirt?
How was he to know he was destined to be the only person in the city with an MBA from Harvard for whom the words "Biggie Size" were part of his lexicon? How was he to know instead of the opening bell of the exchange, the clang of the drive-thru would now ring in his ears? How was he to know that subway tokens would fill his pocket instead of the keys of his recently repo’d BMW? How was he to know his Manhattan loft would be exchanged for a pest-infested efficiency in Brooklyn?
How was he to know that credit cards can be canceled so quickly? How was he to know that the answer to the question, "what's in your wallet", could be nothing? How was he to know how powerful the CEO of the second largest investment firm in the country actually was? As he took his seat on the subway that he now occupied daily instead of a seat on the exchange, the corners of his mouth curled up in a smile. The first genuine smile he had formed in memory. How was he to know he would be happier than he had been in years?
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