Build Me Up + Blow Me Down

Man Asks Ever More Questions

Noah sipped his coffee, stealing another look at Jared across the table. The young man was dressed respectably but casually, in slacks and a solid pressed shirt. He was however, unlike Noah, not dressed in all black, although that was not required, given that today was not the funeral. He also appeared to be completely unaware of how observant and cautious Noah had been acting, although Noah considered that that could easily be a front he was putting on.

The cousins were sitting in a diner, although all they had ordered was a cup of coffee for each of them and some buttered toast for Jared. They had been discussing university life and managed to bond over their shared experiences as undergraduates although they studied very different subjects, Noah being a philosophy major and a design minor, and Jared being a double English major.

Noah sighed. They had been making small talk for quite some time now and although Noah had to admit that he was glad that he had a bit more information to base his judgment of his cousin off of now, he couldn’t help but feel as though they had been dancing around the issue.

Noah worked up the courage and decided to simply spring into the conversation.

“So, Jared. I never knew that you were my father’s godson, did you and he ever talk before he died?”

Jared smiled knowingly, almost as though he had been expecting that very question.

“Oh yeah, a lot, Uncle Jonathan was great, we talked all the time. Your father really imbued my current fanaticism with anything creative in me. I’m reading a very interesting book on art history right now that he recommended to me. You know, come to think of it, given that your father is my godfather, I guess that makes you and I godbrothers.”

Noah was taken aback, he hadn’t considered that himself either.

‘What an odd thing to consider. And an even more peculiar one to say.’ Noah raced to collect his thoughts. Something about the way his cousin so nonchalantly interacted with him drove Noah to feel as though he was in a struggle for power. He could not risk being sidetracked, he needed to get to his point.

“Hey, so did my dad tell you anything about his will or anything like that before he died? Like for example, did you know what he was going to leave you? Or do you know anything about that Botticelli Society? That really surprised me, never heard about that before.” He ended off with a more casual remark to try and avoid appearing too inquisitive, although he immediately realized that that likely would not be enough to convince Jared that he was not.

Despite that, Jared yet again gave no signs of being surprised or taken aback in the slightest, and responded unhesitatingly.

“Oh, no, your father never said anything to me about his will. I believe he did mention once that if I was so interested in his art collection, he might just leave it all to me, but that was a long time ago. Besides, I haven’t seen your father in eight months.”

Noah noted that down in his mind. Noah had seen his father numerous times in the last eight months, and talked to him over the phone or over a text conversation even more. It suddenly seemed unlikely that Jared knew anything more than he was letting on. Perhaps he was just a harmless, clueless young man who had just been trying to be nice to his grieving cousin this whole time, and that he hadn’t noticed all of Noah’s peculiarities. Noah reminded himself however that the most mysterious question still remained.

“So, I take it you know nothing about the Botticelli Society or why my father would be giving them gifts of land?”

“No. Never heard of those guys. Nor did I know that your family owned any land in Aosta Valley. I’m a bit surprised that you don’t either, I was kind of hoping that you could inform me what that was all about.”

Noah gave a dejected look.

“Well, for what it’s worth, although I’ve never heard of a Botticelli Society, I can tell you that Sandro Botticelli was an Italian artist during the Renaissance. If they’re connected to him, and they probably are given that he’s the only famous Botticelli I know of, they’re probably just some sort of Italian art club. You know how much your father loved the arts.”

To this, Noah gave his cousin a half-hearted smile. This did reassure him somewhat, but he still could not shake the feeling that something was off with the whole arrangement. What would an art club want with land and his father’s personal papers?

“Well, it’s been great catching up with you, Noah, I think I’ll get going now.”

“You’re not heading back to Uncle Gill’s house? Your sister’s still there.”

“No, I’ve got a lot of work to do, I think I’ll be getting home. My sister will be fine. Hey, I didn’t get your number, I’d love to keep in contact.”

“Sure.”

With that, the pair exchanged numbers, paid the bill, said their goodbyes to one another, and left the restaurant going their separate ways.

“So you’re sure you’ll be fine? You don’t need any of us to come over?”

“Thank you but don’t worry. The funeral is in a couple days and after that, I’ll be back in no time, ok? I’ll see you in about a week.”

“Mmm, alright, if you say so. Listen, call if you need anything at all.”

“Will do. See you. Bye.”

Noah hung up the phone and sat awake in his hotel bed, eyes turned upwards to the ever-turning ceiling fan and mind focused on the turning of his life.

He had called his uncle’s residence to tell him, his aunt, and Amy that he would be sleeping at a hotel that nigh,t and after updating his roomates, or at least the three of them which were present at their home, he was free to sulk and deliberate over the facts now present in his life.

He had wanted to be alone and so had decided against staying with his uncle, aunt, and sister, and for obvious reasons he had not even considered spending the night at his childhood home and so a hotel had been the best remaining option, especially now that he could more than afford one.

It occurred to Noah for the first time since he had received it, that he was now the possessor of over $1,000,000,000 in inheritance. As well, he, being an adult unlike his sister, at least in the eyes of the law, could immediately make use of the other major gift he had received in inheritance, ownership of almost a quarter of the Realico Urban Development Association. And while his sister was likely to hold on to the house she had inherited, Noah had no such intentions with his stock. He would hire a broker soon after the funeral and sell it all off. His father had long held some hope that Noah would show interest in business but he had never expected Noah to go into any line of work that he did not wish to, and if Noah inherited a passion from either of his parents, it was from his mother, and her hands-on talent for urban development. The more he thought about it however, the more unsure Noah was about what kind of job he wished to go into, but he could decide that at a later date.

‘$1.4 million, plus God only knows how much once I sell that stock. With all that, some might think I would have motive to kill my parents. But I didn’t, which begs the question of who did. Did they have any enemies? Not that I know of, but it seems as though I knew less about my parents then I thought. And with all my father’s personal papers going to that society in Italy, I might never find out what I want to know. The connection between the society and my father, perhaps even some motive for someone to kill him, they could all be there and I will never know.’

Noah paused and stood up, beginning to pace the room.

‘Unless I get to the papers before anyone else does. Don’t I deserve to know what’s been hidden?’

And with precious little time spent on justifying his intrusive actions, Noah decided on the course of actions and grabbing his coat and keys, dashed out his hotel room and into the midnight streets.