𝗜𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀 | 𝐁𝗼𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐲/𝗥𝗙𝗞

XXXVIII: "Mona Lisa"

[Banque de France, 1935]

Maurice Bellamy surreptitiously loosens his tie as his boss goes through a file. They are sitting at the most powerful desk in the entire office. His anxious eyes shift at the same speed as pages turn. The air is thick and stagnant, often adumbrating an imminent disaster. Once in a while, though, Jean Tannery would give Maurice a smile, and it erases any discomfort he might be feeling. However, when the file is set aside, Maurice quickly realizes it isn't the one he turned in just earlier — so why did the boss just make him sit through the whole thing?

His perpetual questions are about to be answered after the old man heaves a sigh and utters, "Bellamy, you're fired." His words hit thirty-two-year-old Maurice like a truck, or a train — anything that resonates with the world crumbling around him. He had spent over a decade working for the monocled bastard, and now he's being let go over a preposterous reason. "You can't do this to me," Maurice weakly utters. The man behind the desk merely sips his warm tea; already expecting an alcoholic rambling from Maurice. "Do you know how much I've given to this place?!" The table shakes seismically as the worker springs out of his seat.

"You're one of our biggest investors, of course I know, Bellamy. But the complaints regarding your inebriated behaviors at the office are piling up," says the President of the Bank, without the decency of setting his teacup aside. "Please, Jean... I just lost a daughter. Won't you sympathize with me?" Maurice intertwines his ten fingers together, begging without an ounce of shame — Delphine Bellamy did not perish for her father to use her death as an excuse for his wrongdoing. "We will consider rehiring you once you get your act together, Bellamy. And that's Mr. Tannery for you." The balding man turns a deaf ear to the unprofessional words of his former employee, he finally sets aside the teacup to apathetically light a cigarette.

Maurice falls back into the chair he's familiarized with over the years, head hanging low. "Tens of millions of francs I've given... could've gone to..." He murmurs inaudibly to himself. Eventually, Jean Tannery loses his patience and proceeds to threaten Maurice with security guards if he does not retreat — you see, he has set a meeting with the chairman of the newly established Securities and Exchange Commission. "I'm leaving, Mr. Tannery." Maurice stands on his feet with the kind of composure an average alcoholic wouldn't have. "But I will be back." Those final words evoke a harrowing feeling in the monopoly man's soul; he knows he's made the huge mistake of assuming Maurice Bellamy to be yellow like the rest of his minions. "You will not, Bellamy..." The petrified man springs out of his seat to face the suddenly high-functioning alcoholic, but no words are being exchanged between them. A smirk spreads across Maurice's face as he leans forward and plucks the cigarette out of Tannery's mouth. "Adieu," he says, exiting the office with stolen Gauloises between his lips.

Just as Maurice rushes down the hallway, being somewhat distracted by an object in his coat pocket, a man dismissively bumps into his shoulder. Maurice turns his head to shout, "Watch it!" And continues pacing. The other man, however, halts and goes after him. "Excuse me," he says with a hand on Maurice's shoulder. The Frenchman grits his teeth and balls his hand into a fist — ready for a fight that's undoubtedly about to happen when he turns. "Monsieur Bellamy, correct?" Instead of a grimace, it is a smile that awaits Maurice. "Yes... and you are?" He hesitantly shakes the stranger's lent hand. "You don't remember me? Joseph Kennedy, I invested in the Bourse through you." The excitement in the man's voice arouses suspicions in Maurice — it's either paranoia from alcohol or Joseph Kennedy has something up his sleeve. "Fancy seeing you here," Maurice wittily replies in a feigned British accent, knowing formality is no longer necessary.

After a chuckle, Kennedy responds, "Well, I am on my way to meet with your boss, Monsieur Tannery. Now, tell me... is he in a good or bad mood?" He even nudges Maurice on the ribs like a couple of old friends — which confuses Maurice furthermore. "How would I know? He's not my boss, after all." Maurice's cheerful tone starkly juxtaposed his answer, which warrants an expression of perplexity from the other man. "You resigned, Maurice? But why?" He presumptuously asks. "Why don't you ask him?" Maurice squints his eyes and smiles, creating a flippant look on his face. "Adieu!" He abruptly bids his farewell. Joseph Kennedy, the inaugural chairman of the SEC, is left open-mouthed in his spot — he's only able to leave his spot when Maurice is no longer in his sight. As he continues to walk the crowded hallway, his mind introduces a brilliant idea to expand his wealth and power through the unlucky Frenchman — yes, the one who was fired not only because he's a drunkard, but by dint of the SEC chairman's urging.