CHAPTER 156: UNEXPECTED BUSINESS

Marcus woke in the guest house scratching his head, full of anxiety and frustration.

Through his nightly vision he had lived every moment of Chen's disaster. The bank. The police. The fraud. The crushing realization that everything they had built was collapsing. He felt it all as if it happened to him. Because in a way it had.

Tom was already awake and doing exercises in the corner. Push-ups. Squats. His massive frame moving with surprising grace.

"This world has rusted me." Tom said between breaths. "Only thing happening is the Aguillon kids asking me to show my magic."

"What?" Marcus asked, still groggy.

"I am doing nothing. No one even asks me to lift their heavy stuff." Tom stood up and stretched. "I tried shepherding with Hasan but he is so boring. But today Baran asked me to come to his leather workshop."

Then he noticed Marcus's worried face. His expression shifted immediately.

"What is it Marcus? Something wrong?"

"We have plans to build the portal but no money left." Idiot Marcus lost it all, he thought. But of course it was him in every sense. No point blaming his counterpart.

He texted Marcus about spending the remaining two thousand dollars. The response came quickly.

"Of course brother. We will work this out. What choice do we have? Make you work in Turkey to earn for the materials?"

Despite everything Marcus smiled at that. His other self trying to joke through the pain.

Someone knocked on the door. Marcus remembered asking Beau to take him shopping for materials.

"Marcus are you ready?" Beau called from outside.

"I am, I am. Let's go." He turned to Tom. "See you cousin."

"I asked around and apparently Baran has a diesel generator he can lend us." Beau explained as they walked toward his car. "We should go get that from his workshop. According to that generator's capacity we will determine the magnitude of the portal."

"Baran's shop?" Tom asked with his limited English. "I go too."

Numan also joined the trio. Beau drove them to Urfa's industrial zone. It was small compared to American cities but Jean-Pierre's notes didn't include any modern pieces. Everything they needed was relatively easy to build with basic materials.

When they reached Baran's workshop the animal leather smell overwhelmed them.

The building was larger than Marcus expected. A long structure of corrugated metal with wide doors propped open to let in air. Inside, hides hung from wooden racks in various stages of processing. Raw skins near the entrance, progressively more refined toward the back. Workers sat at low tables, cutting and stitching with practiced hands. The tools of their trade surrounded them, knives and awls and needles, all well-worn from years of use.

Baran welcomed them and ordered his assistant to bring tea. Tea was everywhere in Turkey, Marcus had learned. Just like cats.

"You here to take the generator?" Baran asked. He pointed toward the back corner where a large machine sat covered in a tarp. "It is over there. Don't rush. Drink your tea. I ordered some kebabs."

"No no. We need to leave. Right Marcus?" Beau suggested, checking his watch.

"Nonsense. I won't let my guests leave with empty stomachs."

But Marcus was fixated on something else. The back cabinet held leather purses. Raw, uncolored, but looking very neat. The stitching was precise. The shapes elegant.

"You make these here?" Marcus asked.

Baran took one down from the shelf. "Yeah. With my hands."

"Is there anyone finished?"

"Why do you want one? Unfortunately we only do halfway like this."

"And the rest?" Marcus asked.

"We send it to Istanbul. Grand Bazaar." He handed the bag to Marcus to look closely. "You know Grand Bazaar?"

"I heard of it."

"It is an ancient mall basically. Tourists love it. And my wholesaler Durmuş buys everything I make and turns them into knockoffs of big brands."

Marcus nodded but ideas were flashing in his mind. He took photos of five distinct pieces of craftsmanship and sent them to Irene.

"What is it Marcus?" Beau asked.

"I have a custom jewelry business. And I think..." His phone buzzed with a text from Irene. "What are these?"

He immediately called her.

"Irene you saw the raw bags right? Are they good? What do you think?"

"What do you mean Marcus? These are raw. Are there any finished versions?"

Marcus asked Baran for the wholesaler's social media account and sent it to Irene showing the final results.

"I am looking. These are gorgeous... well, because they're knockoffs of well-known models."

Marcus heard another voice in the background. "Who is it?"

"It is Marcus."

"Why didn't he call me?"

"I don't know. Are you jealous?"

"Irene stop flirting. Focus and tell your boyfriend he will see all of it tomorrow. I need a woman's eyes now."

"You heard him, Chen. Now leave me alone with my boyfriend." Irene said in a tone clearly meant to provoke Marcus.

"Irene please."

"Okay okay. These are good but what is the plan?"

"If I took these and sent them to you, can you find a workshop that can turn them into final products?" Marcus asked, still examining the craftsmanship.

"Sure."

"Okay. I am gonna hang up now. The rest Marcus will explain to you once he gets my reasoning."

"Wait what?"

Marcus closed the phone. Perks of being two people in one. His counterpart would understand immediately when he saw this through his nightly vision.

"Baran how much are you charging for these to your wholesaler?"

"Thousand."

Marcus bit his lip. As a new company he couldn't justify buying a raw thousand dollar bag and adding final touches and Mr. Hudson's custom jewelry. It would shoot the price to ten thousand. An amazing product but he had no time to sell it to luxury stores and market on their website.

"Why do you ask? I can just gift you that one."

"No no. I wasn't thinking about using it personally. It was for selling."

"You want to take hundreds of bags to your world to sell?" Baran laughed.

"No it was for my business in Chicago. You know, for my counterpart."

"Ohh right." Baran hit his forehead. "You are a two-worlder. You have a clone in America. I forgot." He laughed again. "You can't experience such things every day. But it is not expensive Marcus. Thousand lira is basically twenty dollars."

"Twenty dollars?" Marcus asked, surprised.

"For wholesale." Baran raised his hand.

"Then I'll take a hundred of each of the five bases."

"Really?" Baran's eyes widened.

They agreed on the deal. While eating the kebabs they talked about specifics and shipment to Chicago. The meat was incredible as always. Tom devoured plate after plate.

"If your Earth deals are over?" Beau said when the food was finished. "We need to search for certain items and prices."

Baran nodded. "Numan knows a little Turkish but you still need a local for not getting ripped off. Take my apprentice and leave Tom okay?"

After they left the workshop Marcus was over the moon. Despite the giant hiccups and fraud, his business on Earth could now thrive. It was a long game but even after he left, his counterpart had a bright future. If he could manage to survive the huge debt first.

Hope was a strange thing. It showed up in the strangest places.

Like a leather workshop in southeastern Turkey.