“Yes, I’ve never had any issue with this account before. I’m very disappointed I had to deal with the embarrassment of having the transaction declined,” I said firmly.
“Of course, sir; let me look at the account. Do you have the card with you?”
“Here it is.”
I handed over the card and tried to maintain my firm stance with the man. Unfortunately, he was so insistent on being friendly and helpful that it was hard for me to continue to stay angry. After watching him type into the computer for at least five minutes, I finally gave in and sat in one of the extremely plush and comfortable chairs across from his desk.
“Did you know that there is a Rose Baker still attached to this account as an authorized signer?” the bank manager said as he turned and looked at me from his computer.
“That’s my ex-wife. She shouldn’t be on the account anymore.”
“Actually, the account was opened by the both of you. If you’d like to remove her, I’ll just need to have her come in here and sign some paperwork.”
“That’s fine, but it still doesn’t tell me why the account was declined.”
“You’re right, sir. It looks like Rose had this credit card listed as a backup source for her PayPal account. Several charges went through in one day and triggered a fraud alert. Unfortunately, they did try to call you a couple of days ago and did not receive a return call regarding if the charges were yours or not. So, the account was put into fraud status for your protection.”
I had received two voicemails from the bank that I had forgotten to return. They didn’t say they were from a fraud department, though, only generic messages to call them back. I had totally blown them off.
“Let me call her and see if she can come down,” I said, ignoring the fact that I had messed up by not returning the banker’s calls about the account.
“Sure. I’ve got some business to do with another client. Feel free to step out and then just have one of the tellers grab me when you’re ready to have Rose sign the necessary paperwork.”
“Thank you,” I said.
I went out to the lobby and then out to the street so I could call Rose and see if she would come down to the bank. I really didn’t care all that much about the charges made on the account, I just didn’t want my card being flagged for fraud or the embarrassment of having it declined.
“Hey,” I said when Carlos answered Rose’s phone. “Is Rose around?”
“Yep.”
“Can I talk to her?”
“I don’t know, can you?”
“Carlos, I don’t have time for this crap. Get Rose.”
“Brandon, I hear you’re doing some day trading. You should be careful with that stuff,” Carlos said. “I hear a lot of crack downs are going on and people are getting arrested.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just trying to be helpful, bro. I’m sure Rose has told you I’m working with the government undercover. I hear things all the time. I would hate for you to get mixed up in something like that.”
“I swear to God, if I find out you’ve had anything to do with what’s going on with my bank account, I’m going to come over there and kick your ass.”
“Why, what’s going on with your bank account?” Carlos asked.
“Just get Rose,” I said loud enough that people on the street were now paying attention to me.
Carlos took his time going to get Rose and when she finally got on the phone, I felt like I was going to explode. My anger had been building up since my card was declined and I no longer wanted to explain anything over the phone.
“Can you come down to First Trust Bank? Your name is still on an account and we need to fix that.”
“Does it have to be today? I’m in the middle of something.”
“Yes, and after dealing with that ass of a fiancé you have, I think coming down here is the least you can do for me,” I said.
“What did he say now?”