“You may go in Mr. Connor.”

It started with a certified letter that the postman delivered to my home. After signing for the letter, I took it inside and opened it.

Mr. Jebidiah Connor:

The Last Will and Testament of the late Mr. Charles Connor has named Mr. Jebidiah Connor, the grandson of Mr. William Connor, as one of the beneficiaries of Mr. Charles Connor’s estate.

Please contact this office at (123) 555-6798 if you are Mr. Charles Connor’s great nephew and wish to claim the inheritance specified for you in Mr. Connor’s Will.

Respectfully yours,

Samuel Timmons

Barnes, Carrol, Lathrup, and Associates

Attorneys at Law

*****

My dad was upset with his family because of their objection to him marrying my mom. This letter was a complete surprise to me for I could not recall either of my parents ever mentioning dad’s father or his father’s brother.

I called the number in the letter for two reasons. First of all, while I was not poor, I also wasn’t rich. I will admit to a degree of avarice, which is why I felt that if he wanted me to have something, the least I could do was to find out what he had left me. The second and main reason was I was curious about my dad’s family.

I had met my grandfather and grandmother on my Mom’s side of the family. I knew that I had a few distant relations on her side of the family, but they didn’t keep in touch with Mom. I had never met them, and after Mom died, I had no contact information for them.

Since dad was estranged from his dad, no one ever mentioned dad’s family, so I assumed they were dead also. However, alive or dead, they were nothing but strangers to me, and although I was curious, I had no way to contact them.

“You have reached the Law Office of Barnes, Carrol, Lathrup, and Associates. Carol Hart speaking, how may I help you?”

“Good morning Carol, my name is Jebidiah Connor. I received a letter from your office regarding the estate of Mr. Charles Connor that instructed me to call this number.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Connor. Mr. Connor’s estate is being handled by one of our associates, a Mr. Samuel Timmons. If you will please hold, I will connect you to his extension.”

“Good morning this is Sam Timmons, how can I help you?”

“Good morning Mr. Timmons, my name is Jebidiah Connor.

“I received a letter from your office regarding the estate of a Mr. Charles Connor. I am the grandson of Mr. William Connor. My father, James Connor, has been estranged from his father, William Connor, since before my birth. It wasn’t until after my mom and dad’s deaths, that I learned my grandfather’s name from my dad’s birth certificate. Am I the person you are trying to locate?”

“It appears that you are indeed the individual that we are trying to contact. If you can forward a copy of your dad’s birth certificate and your birth certificate to my attention, I will be able to determine if you are the great nephew of Mr. Charles Connor.

“However, based on what you have told me, I believe that you are Mr. Connor’s great nephew. Once I receive the birth certificates, I can verify that belief and I can then officially inform you that you are indeed the beneficiary named in the Will.

“For our discussion today, let us assume that you are the beneficiary named in the Will. There are a few stipulations in the Will that you must meet in order to be eligible to claim your inheritance. The first stipulation is that you must be present at the reading of the Will, which will occur here in my office starting promptly at 9:00 AM on the 24th of this month; that is Friday of next week. The second stipulation is that you must provide proof that you are the person identified in the Will at the time the Will is to be read. Your driver’s license and the original birth certificates of your father and you, or a notarized copy of the certificates, will be adequate proof. The third stipulation is that you must be in my office before the time the Will is due to be read.”

“Thank you Mr. Timmons, I can email a scanned copy of the two birth certificates to you today. Will that be adequate?”

“Yes, a scanned copy is adequate for today. However, for the reading of the Will, you need to have your driver’s license or other legal proof of your identity and the original birth certificates that define you as the grandson of William Connor.

“I will forward a letter to you once I have verified that you are one of the beneficiaries providing you with the time, date, and address of the place where the reading of the Will is to occur and a written copy of the stipulations we discussed.”

“Mr. Timmons, I don’t want to seem mercenary about this, but I live in a city outside Seattle, Washington and I will need to take time off from work to attend the reading of the Will, and my boss will not be pleased if I do so. Is my share of the estate worth the cost, time, and effort for me to travel to Chicago, and to endure the displeasure of my boss, which will probably last for a couple of weeks?”

“Mr. Charles Connor was a multimillionaire, so I believe that your portion of the estate will more than compensate you for your attendance.

“I should also inform you that Mr. Connor made provisions for the cost of travel, lodging, and meals for the beneficiaries to attend the reading of the Will. We can discuss that once I have verified that you are a beneficiary.”

I sent off the scans of the birth certificates to Mr. Timmons, and two days later, he contacted me.

“Mr. Connor, this is Sam Timmons. I received your email and I have confirmed that you are Mr. Connor’s beneficiary. When we finish talking, I will have our secretary Mrs. Carol Hart take down the information necessary for her to make your flight reservations, and she will provide you with your lodging and the other information you will require.

“I feel that is only fair of me to inform you of certain information relating to our client Mr. Charles Connor, as the other beneficiaries are very familiar with him and his opinions. The other beneficiaries believe he was a crotchety, vindictive old man. They know that he abhorred people who were tardy for appointments. He frequently informed the other beneficiaries that they would one day wish that they had been on-time.”

“Thank you for that information Mr. Timmons. I will be certain to be in your office before 9:00 AM.”

I was right about my boss. He was not happy when I told him there had been a death in my family and I needed to be in Chicago early Friday morning. Thursday morning, I was on a flight to O’Hare Airport. By 3:00 PM, I was in my room at the Courtyard by Marriott Chicago Magnificent Mile. That is one long name for a hotel, but it was a very nice hotel in my opinion. I decided to take a walk and locate Mr. Timmons’ office, since he had informed me that I would be within walking distance of his office. His office was on St. Claire Street and he was right; it was just a short walk. Since I was there, I decided to go up to the office and introduce myself to Mr. Timmons.

“Good afternoon, I’m Jebidiah Connor. Would you be Carol?”

“Yes I am, and it is nice to meet you Mr. Connor. Was Mr. Timmons expecting you?”

“No he wasn’t. I just wanted to make sure that I knew how to get here, so I wouldn’t be late tomorrow morning. I also thought that I might introduce myself to Mr. Timmons, but that isn’t a necessity for I imagine he is busy.”

“That is not a problem Mr. Connor; I think Sam would be happy to meet you. Just a moment.

“Sam, Mr. Jebidiah Connor is in the reception area. He thought it might be a good idea to introduce himself before the meeting tomorrow.”

“Come with me, Mr. Connor.”

I followed Carol down the hall. She knocked on a door and ushered me into a very nice office.

“Ah, it is good to meet you, Mr. Connor. We like to be informal in the office, so I generally go by Sam.”

“It is nice to meet you Sam; most people call me Jeb. I don’t want to take up your time needlessly. As I told Carol, I was just making sure I could locate your office for tomorrow.”

“That’s no problem Jeb; please take a seat. In fact, it may be a good thing you came by today. Your great uncle was a stickler for punctuality. The third stipulation in the Will is that you must be in my office before the start of the reading of the Will. Mr. Connor indicated that that stipulation would be satisfied by any visit to my office within 24 hours of the reading of the Will. Do you happen to have the birth certificates with you today?”

“No, I left them in my suitcase.”

“Alright, just be sure to bring them with you tomorrow, and to be here before 9:00 AM. I might add that you may encounter the other beneficiaries at the Marriot, and it would be in your best interests to avoid them and not mention being a beneficiary.”

“Alright, but I am not sure why that is important.”

“It isn’t important, just a piece of advice. You will understand tomorrow when you meet them at the reading of the Will. I would appreciate it if you do not mention our conversations to the other beneficiaries if you do speak with them.”

“Alright Sam, I had best let you get back to work. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“See you then Jeb.”

Since I wasn’t familiar with Chicago or the local area, I decided to return to my hotel for the night. Coming into the lobby, I decided to stop at the lounge for a pre-dinner cocktail.

Once seated, I placed my order and started to relax. The waitress brought my drink and I was really loosening up when a tall heavyset man and two short shrewish looking women entered the lounge. They appeared to be in their late 40’s or early 50’s, and they were engaged in a rather loud discussion. Well discussion is a polite term for the nature of their comments. Their conversation reminded me of one side of a long-running family argument.

I was trying to ignore them and failing miserably when the name Connor was mentioned. One of the women was berating Charles Connor calling him a horrible old skinflint. The second woman agreed with her saying that she wasn’t upset that he had passed on, but she had been horrified by him doing so between the legs of a woman young enough to be his granddaughter. The man was agreeing with them and saying that Charles had been a major asshole.

Hum, if these three are also beneficiaries to Charles Connor’s estate, I can understand why Sam suggested that I avoid them. Since they did not like Charles and from what little I could tell of their character, I think that he may have been the type of person that I would have enjoyed knowing. Besides, in my opinion any elderly man with an outlook on life that leads him to die between the legs of a young woman is a man that I would like to have known. It’s too bad I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet him while he was still alive.

Their talk had moved on to other family matters and members, but the general nature of their comments had not changed. They seemed to be the biggest complainers and whiners that I had ever encountered. I finished my drink and returned to my room for a bit of quiet. I just got settled in one of my room’s overstuffed chairs when I fell asleep.

I woke a little after 6:30 PM and cleaned up to go down to dinner. I was impressed by my room, but not with the hotel’s dining facilities and menu. I decided on a somewhat unusual entree that I thought I might like, and it turned out to be rather good. I increased my rating of the dining facilities by one star.

My only problem came when the three people from the lounge were seated a short distance from me. They were still going on about how disappointing their relatives were. It didn’t bother me that much for I was busy signing the check to charge my meal to my room. In just a minute, I wouldn’t have to listen to them. As I left the dining area, I was contemplating an after dinner drink in the lounge, but decided against it.

The idea of a night on the town didn’t appeal to me, so I ended up in my room working on a report that my boss would need early next week. He wouldn’t appreciate the dedication to my job that my working on it now represented, but it was better than the boob tube. I finished the report and started reading some of my favorite authors’ on-line stories. Yes, I do enjoy reading erotic fiction when I can’t engage in erotic activities.

Two hours later, I was sitting on the commode with Ma Palm and her four daughters wrapped around my cock, while I contemplated what I would like to be doing with my fantasy girlfriend Belinda. I actually had a crush on one of my coworkers, and for some strange reason that I shall not mention, Belinda was her identical twin.

I am definitely not attractive to most of the women I know; at least I am not aware of any that find me interesting. I have quite a few female friends, but to them I’m just one of the coworkers they happen to like on a personal level. Besides, most of them appear to be happily married and the others are engaged or have boyfriends.

After breakfast the next morning, I returned to my room and cleaned up to go to Sam’s office. It was a little chilly so I wasn’t casually strolling along the sidewalk; actually, I made very good time considering the amount of pedestrian traffic I had to deal with that morning.

I got to Sam’s office at 8:20 AM. Carol said to take a seat and Sam would let me know when it was time to begin. I had only been sitting there for 2 or 3 minutes when a very attractive young woman came into the office. I found her to be drop dead gorgeous with all the curves and other abundant assets in the proper places.

“Good morning Carol. My Uncle, Aunt, and mom seem to be running late as usual. I’ll wait for them here if you don’t mind.”

“That will be fine Alicia.”

Alicia was a very attractive woman in her early 20’s. She had more of everything than Belinda had, and she was a real, flesh and blood woman; a very nicely put together package of flesh and blood, I might add. This would be my only opportunity, so I did something that I normally don’t do with strangers, women in particular. I started a conversation with her.

“Good morning, miss. I know we haven’t met before, but I think I may have seen your Uncle, Aunt, and mom in the hotel lounge and dining room last night.”

I know, it wasn’t a great opening line, but it was better than ‘What’s your sign?’ With a small secretive smile on her face, she said in a friendly tone, “Oh, well, if you did meet them, then I don’t envy you your experience. I do my best to avoid them when the three of them get together.”

“Yes, I think I understand what you mean. I steered clear of them as much as possible.”

With a much larger smile on her face, she said, “I’m Alicia Creswell, and you are?”

“I’m Jebidiah Connor, Alicia. However, I prefer Jeb.”

“Well it is nice to meet you, Jeb. I assume from the name Connor that you are one of the people granddad named in his Will. But, I don’t recall seeing you at any of our family get togethers.”

“Actually, I am on your grandfather’s brother’s side of the family. My dad and grandfather did not see eye-to-eye with each other, so I didn’t find out about the rest of the Connor family until after their deaths. In fact, I didn’t know that I had a Great Uncle until I was notified of his death two weeks ago.”

With a definite blush on my face, I said, “I still don’t know very much about your side of the family, but at least one member of my great uncle’s family is a nice person.”

Alicia’s face turned even redder than mine was. She said, “Thank you, Jeb, you seem to be a nice person also. Don’t judge the entire side of my family by the three you met last night. Most of us are much nicer.”

“I didn’t actually meet them Alicia. They were seated near me, and I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. When they mentioned Charles Connor, I assumed that they were named in the Will also. I will certainly reserve judgement of the other family members, until I have a chance to meet them.

“What about you? Do you live here in Chicago?”

“No, Mom and I live together in Seattle. My dad died about four years ago, so it is just the two of us for my Aunt and Uncle live in New York City.”

“Oh, I live in Bellevue. We will have to exchange addresses and telephone numbers. Perhaps we can have dinner one evening once the estate is settled.”

“I would like that, Jeb. However, you need to be aware that my mom can be a bit much to take. She thinks that every man I meet is out for my money. We actually don’t have that much, but she seems to think that Granddad will leave her a substantial inheritance.”

“You keep calling him Granddad. I assume that your mother is his daughter since your last name isn’t Connor?”

“Yes, my mom Phyllis, Aunt Heather, and Uncle Eric are all his children.”

“That seems odd to me. The way they were talking about their father seems wrong. Kids may not like their parents, but I was raised to at least be respectful.”

“I know. Something happened between them and granddad when they were in their early 20’s, and they never really forgave him. You see Granddad made a fortune investing in the stock market. The analysts said that he had the uncanny ability to find companies and invest money in them just before the value of their stock would make a major increase. They also said he would sell his stock just before the price would take a major fall. Granddad wouldn’t tell anyone how he did it, and I think that is what made the three of them so upset with him.”

While she had been talking, Alicia had written her name, address, and phone number on a piece of paper, and then she gave it to me. I tucked it away in my wallet, so I would be sure that I would not lose it. It would be stupid of me to lose the contact information of a woman who was even more perfect for me than my dream girl. I think I would have been happy just sitting there looking into her eyes.

I was about to restart our conversation when Carol interrupted. “Mr. Connor, Sam will be ready to start the reading of the Will in just a couple of minutes. It’s time to go back to his office now.

“Thank you Carol. Alicia, if you are still at the hotel tonight, would you like to have dinner with me, so we can continue our conversation.”

“Yes, we are staying the night and I would like that; mom and I are in Room 1486.”

Carol gave me a note pad and pen to write down Alicia’s room number, so I wouldn’t forget it. The look Carol gave Alicia and me when I thanked her was one of approval.

When I got back to Sam’s office, he was seated behind his desk and a second young lady was seated next to his desk. Glancing at his watch, he said, “Have a seat Jeb, the others still have three minutes to get here before they are late.

“This is Arial and she is here as a witness to assist me with a few details regarding the reading of the Will.”

“Alright Sam, but what is the deal about starting at exactly 9:00 AM?”

“As I mentioned earlier, tardiness was one of the things that Charles Connor could not stand. He believed that if you were due to meet someone at a specific time, you should be there on time or preferable a few minutes early. His son and daughters did not agree with him, and they were habitually late for all of the meetings they had with him. It made him very angry.

“It is now 9:00 AM by my watch and I set it to the telephone company’s time this morning. Eric, Phyllis, and Heather are the other beneficiaries, and they are now late for this meeting.”

Sam stood up, walked to the door, closed it, and then locked the door. Returning to his desk, Sam opened the folder that had been sitting in front of him when I arrived. He asked to see my driver’s license and the two birth certificates. He removed four sheets of paper from the folder, and after he copied information from my driver’s license to one of the sheets, he handed the sheet to Arial.

“Arial, please sign this confirmation statement stating that the information provided by Mr. Connor proves that he is Charles Connor’s great nephew and that he was in my office prior to 9:00 AM.”

Arial signed and dated the sheet and returned it to Sam, who then used a time-date stamp machine to print the current time and date on the paper. It seemed odd to me that we had to do this. It was even odder when Sam checked some boxes on the other three sheets, and handed them to Arial requesting her to sign the sheets, as a witness, to confirm that the other beneficiaries had failed to appear at 9 AM. Sam time-date stamped those sheets also.

Putting the papers aside, Sam requested Arial wait for a few minutes and he then started reading Charles Connor’s Will. After reading for ten minutes, Sam’s phone rang.

Sam smiled and said, “Excuse me for a moment, Jeb, while I take care of this call.”

Picking up the receiver, he listened for a moment and then said, “Yes, Carol, please tell them to have a seat and I will be right out.”

With a large smile on his face, Sam looked at me and said, “Charles was my friend, Jeb, and I agree with his opinion of his three children. He told me what he wanted me to tell them, and I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Please excuse me for a few minutes, and then we can continue.”

Sam went to the door and unlocked it. As he left, it appeared to me that he deliberately left the door ajar. A few moments later, I could hear his voice.

“Good morning, Eric, Phyllis, Heather, what can I do for you today?”

I could hear the irritation in a male voice when Eric said, “Don’t be obtuse, Sam. We are here for the reading of our dad’s Will; you know that.”

“Yes that is what I thought. Eric, your dad specified that the reading of his Will was to begin at exactly 9:00 AM. I began the reading of the Will at exactly 9:00 AM as he specified. According to the instructions that I provided you and your sisters, there were three stipulations that you had to comply with to collect your full inheritance. One of those stipulations was that you had to be in my office before I started reading the Will. The three of you were not there.

“He instructed me to tell you that he did not appreciate your habit of being what you call fashionably late. He also wanted me to remind the three of you that he frequently said that one of these days you would regret that habit and he said to make sure you understood that today is that day.

“Your dad stated in his will that for the beneficiaries to receive their full share of the inheritance, which he specified for them in the Will, they had to be in my office when I started reading the Will. He also specified an alternative inheritance for any beneficiary that wasn’t there at that time. So since the three of you were late, you will receive the alternative amount.

“Now if you will excuse me, I need to return to my office and finish reading the Will.”

“Wait a minute, Sam. You can’t do this to us.”

“Heather, I am doing nothing to the three of you. Your dad told me that he had discussed the habit the three of you have with being tardy on multiple occasions and that he warned you that you would regret it one of these days. That is almost a direct quote of what he told me.

“Carol did you call and get the time that these three came into the office as I requested?”

“Yes Sam, they came in the door at 9:16.”

“Thank you, Carol.”

“As I was saying before Heather interrupted me, I need to get back so I can finish reading the Will. I should be back from lunch by 1:30, so if the three of you wish to return at that time, I will explain the ‘Late Arrival’ provisions that your father made for you in the Will.”

A few moments later Sam returned to the office. After closing and locking the door, we continued. I could sense that Sam was very pleased with how his meeting with Charles’ children had gone. He made a notation on three of the sheets he had set aside, and had Arial initial the places he had entered their arrival time. Sam time-date stamped the sheets a second time, set the sheets aside. After Arial left the office, he closed the door and continued reading the Will.

To summarize 40 minutes of legalese, Charles had made 6 bequests of personal property. The recipients did not have to appear for the reading of the Will to receive their respective bequests, and one of the bequests was for me. He had also made several donations to the various charities that he supported. Since they failed to arrive on time, each of his children would only receive five hundred thousand dollars, and if they protested the Will and lost, they would get one dollar. I was to receive a quarter of his estate, but since I was the only beneficiary to appear before nine o’clock, I would receive the balance of his estate less donations, late arrival provisions, taxes and legal fees.

Yes, the more I learned of Charles, the sorrier I was that I had never met him. He must have been one hell of a man. I couldn’t help but remember him dying while having sex with a young vibrant woman. I wouldn’t mind going out that way myself when my time came.

“Jeb, I have to finish processing Charles’ Will through probate and when that is finished, I will be able to distribute the estate.

“I will be out of town tomorrow, so I will leave a few papers with Carol for you to read and sign tomorrow. One of the papers will be a request for an advance of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars against the estate; I suspect that life will be easier for you with those funds.”

“Do you have any idea of the amount that I will receive from the estate?”

“Yes, however I am not at liberty to give you an exact number until the estate taxes have been paid and probate is finalized. Knowing Charles’ children, there is a possibility that they will protest the Will. If that happens and they win, the will may be set aside by the courts, and the courts would determine who should receive the estate’s proceeds.

All of Charles’ personal property other than what he wanted given to others as a bequest has been disposed of, sold, or given away. If the current Will is not challenged or put aside by the court, the amount you should receive from the estate could easily amount to hundreds of millions of dollars after the inheritance taxes and probate fees have been paid.

Getting up from his desk and walking over to a shelf, he picked up a small box that was slightly smaller than a shoebox. It was wrapped in brown paper and sealed with packing tape. My name was written on the box in black marker pen.

“Charles once told me that his children did not deserve the secret of his success. When he learned that your father had a son, he decided to pass on his secret to you. If I am not mistaken, that secret is in this box. I hope you use it as wisely as he did, and that it brings you more happiness than it did Charles.

“During my dealings with the probate court, I requested permission to distribute the six bequests that he defined in the Will. The probate judge granted my request, but directed me to wait until after the Will had been read to make the distribution. The only restriction he placed on that was that I only proceed with the distribution if none of the beneficiaries objected to my doing so. Do you have any objections, Jeb?”

“No, if that is what Charles wanted you to do, then go ahead and do it.”

Sam handed the box to me and before I left his office, I signed a statement that I had received one box wrapped in brown paper from the estate of Charles Connor; estimated value one dollar.

As I was leaving his office, Sam extended his hand and said, “It was nice meeting you, Jeb. If there is anything our firm can do for you in the future, please keep us in mind.”

I shook Sam’s hand, and as I started to leave his reception area, Carol motioned me over to her desk.

“Jeb, Alicia is a very nice person. She is far nicer than her Uncle, Aunt, and mom. Be nice to her for I think she likes you and she deserves to have a nice someone in her life.”

“I will Carol. She seemed like a very nice person to me. Who knows, perhaps we may become a couple one of these days.”

I didn’t say it, but if I had my way, the two of us would become a couple just as soon as I could arrange it. Today would be fine with me for at some level of my consciousness I knew I wanted her as my woman.

As I entered the hotel lobby, I saw Eric, Heather, and Phyllis going into the dining room for lunch. When I got to my room, I called Alicia’s room. After three rings, she answered the phone.

“Hello, Alicia, this is Jeb. I saw your mom going into the dining room, and since we are both by ourselves, I thought that you might like to have lunch with me at a restaurant outside of the hotel.”

“That sounds good to me, Jeb; I’ll meet you in front of the hotel in ten minutes.”

While going through the lobby, I stopped long enough to ask the lady at the front desk for a recommendation as to where to eat that was within walking distance. I was outside in six minutes and Alicia didn’t keep me waiting for more than two additional minutes. As she came up to me, I took her hand and started leading her down the street.

“The lady at the front desk said there is a great deli about two blocks down the street. She recommended their Reuben with fries. Are you interested or shall we go elsewhere to eat.”