A Figment of Competition
By Chris Garson
()
About this ebook
When Karl Milton accepted the job offer from the restaurant, he had no idea that Caldwell Van Buren worked there also. Karl hadn't seen Caldwell since grade school and to tell the truth, hadn't missed him one bit. If he'd known how Caldwell had it in for him, he'd have missed him even less. That first day in the restaurant began a bitter, albeit one-sided rivalry between the two, a rivalry spanning years and employers.
Chris Garson
Officially, I was laid off and have a severance package to prove it, but really, it was an early retirement. Very early, I was just shy of fifty. When the time came to make the cut, I gladly volunteered. I’d had enough. Now, after three years of writing, rewriting and rewriting, I’m dipping my toe in commercial waters. I haven’t sold a word, not yet, but then again, I haven’t tried until now. Don't worry, I’m no starving artist. I provided twenty-five years of leadership as an IT executive with a Fortune 200 company. That’s a quarter century of corporate moments, some of which have already found homes in short stories. I was nationally known, in insurance technology circles, which is to say entirely unknown, led an organization commanding a nine figure budget not counting pennies, and spoke to thousands at industry events.THE CURSE OF ARVYL’S FOLLY is my first full length work seeking an audience since my fourth grade classmates were subjected to “Augusta the Dragon” forty-two years ago. After leaving Mrs. Hamilton’s classroom, I attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where I devoured fantasy and science fiction classics and became an avid gamer on my way to graduating with degrees in psychology and sociology and a minor in King Arthur. Now, I live in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and my seven year old son Neil lives on the east coast. I named my cats, China and Rider, from a Grateful Dead set list, and I still like dragons. My collection is large, Neil ran out of fingers and toes just counting the winged ornaments dangling from my mantel, and very cheesy.
Read more from Chris Garson
What, So What, Now What Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Duty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJob Challenges: People, Processes and Products Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Curse of Arvyl's Folly Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSection 6: a memoir of family, football and fandom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDiagnostics vs. Key Measures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSnake Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMasks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIt Takes Two ... Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMadness Ascendant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPerk Noir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStripes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to A Figment of Competition
Related ebooks
Larry Kent: Mourning Glory (Book #656) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Table By the Window Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rescued Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRescued: The Great Escapee Series, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDivine Inspiration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blowin' in the Wind: Black Ocean: Mirth & Mayhem, #11 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDiscretion: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Beloved Son: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roll on Sugaree Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Highland Games Murder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHush Money Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Coat of Arms Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Good Time Party Girl: The Notorious Life of Dirty Helen Cromwell 1886-1969 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTen Rules for a Call Girl: An eShort Story Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5"O Russet Witch!" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShadows in the Dark: A Charlie MacCready Mystery, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRanson's Folly And Others Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClanton's Woman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClear The Tracks! The Story of an Old-Time Locomotive Engineer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hat Trick Murders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLove in the Air Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Song of the Lark Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No More Parades Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMiranda's War: A Novel of the UpZone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Case of Royal Blackmail Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Song of the Lark (Annotated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTime 2 Die Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Maxwell Street Blues Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRebel Spurs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5O Russet Witch! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Performing Arts For You
Yes Please Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sisters Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Macbeth (new classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wuthering Heights Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Robin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hamlet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsheltered: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diamond Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Romeo and Juliet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dolls House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Town: A Play in Three Acts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slave Play Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Count Of Monte Cristo (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey through the Art and Craft of Humor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCoreyography: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Comedy Bible: From Stand-up to Sitcom--The Comedy Writer's Ultimate "How To" Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Life in Parts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Figment of Competition
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
A Figment of Competition - Chris Garson
A Figment of Competition
By Chris Garson
Copyright 2007 Chris Garson
Smashwords Edition
Dedicated to lbk,
Who gave wings to my muse,
Inspiring my flight into the sun of my imagination.
Karl straightened his clip-on black bow tie, the worst part of the restaurant’s absurd uniform, and walked beneath the wind torn green awning with Wilshire’s emblazoned in antiquated script across the front, not so eagerly anticipating his first day on the job. Neil Diamond’s Love on the Rocks
, a favorite among the elderly matrons in baggy flower-printed sundresses who frequented the patio, blared from tinny speakers in the high corners of the two-story wall between the patio and the restaurant proper. Windows ten feet tall stretched from one end of the white painted brick wall to the other, affording a peek inside where the echo of nineteenth century elegance lingered in the dining room’s crystal chandeliers, sunken parquet dance floor and stylized molding. Across the square from the patio, an orange and white RTA train clattered westward towards downtown Cleveland.
Karl had recently graduated from an eastern college and moved back to Cleveland. He’d taken an apartment close to Wilshire’s, location had been an important consideration because the Fiesta didn’t drive so well since the stick had broken off near the floorboard. Dick the mechanic, a Hell’s Angel with a skeleton riding a chrome-piped hog tattooed on his right shoulder had tried to fix it, but now reverse was to the right of third, not left of first, and first could be to the right or left of third, depending on whether you were coming from second or fourth. The right door didn’t fit the frame, so the car made a sucking sound whenever he drove over thirty, and the gas gauge always said full.
He was doing the circuit, interviewing with banks, investment houses, and brokerage firms, trying to convince them that though his liberal arts degree had trained him for absolutely nothing, he had an unlimited capacity to learn. He’d written and rewritten his resume dozens of times, trying to make landscaping (commercial foliage maintenance engineer), interviewing strangers in shopping malls (market research analyst) and warehouse gopher (inventory control manager) sound impressive.
After two months of schmoozing with blue-suited power moguls, the so-called movers and shakers in Cleveland’s tight knit community, nothing had popped and Karl had taken the job at Wilshire’s to tide him over. He’d bought two pair of black polyester cuffed trousers and five white Oxford shirts to go with the bow tie. He held his breath and walked through the open double doors onto a green-carpeted hallway lined with white lattice walls and plants that Karl had installed during his stint as a commercial foliage maintenance engineer. Fifteen feet away, to the left of the hostess stand waited Shannon McNabb, the manager who’d hired Karl, and a familiar looking man about his age.
Shannon McNabb, Irish in name only, was a short, uptight woman who wore her