Abel Morales

Living… the American Dream in early ‘80s New York. Abel immigrated to the United States from Colombia many years ago. Now he drives a Mercedes and lives in a lavish modernist house in Westchester with his beautiful wife Anna, their three kids, and their dog.

Profession… owner of Standard Oil, an independent fuel supplier that he purchased from Anna’s father 20 years ago. Standard Oil is Abel’s baby – he has nurtured it and seen it grow into a model of success, and he will do anything to defend it. He is not done growing yet; he is just getting started.

Interests… camel-hair suits. Classic never goes out of style. Abel is not one to be caught wearing anything less than the most dapper outfits – unless it is the crack of dawn and he is out on his daily jog through suburbia.

Relationship Status… married. Abel and Anna are more than husband and wife – they are business partners. Anna manages the books for Standard Oil. It is an arrangement that simultaneously buttresses and undermines their relationship.

Challenge… sticking to his morals. Standard Oil trucks keep getting held up, presumably by Abel’s competitors. Anna wants to fight fire with fire, but Abel doesn’t want to become a gangster. He’s spent his entire career trying not to become a gangster. Meanwhile, Abel has 30 days to put together $1.5 million to buy – not lease – a choice piece of waterfront property, and the Feds are trying to hit Abel with a 14-count indictment on everything from fraud to tax evasion. Situated at the eye of a hellstorm, Abel maintains his innocence: “I run a fair and clean business and I will fight until my last breath to prove that. I have always taken the path that is most right.”

Personality… ambitious, optimistic, and honest. Abel is the dictionary definition of a straight shooter. He is a man of great integrity, of unwavering moral rectitude. He is almost disturbingly even-keeled, as he manages to keep his temper under control in even the most stressful and anger-inducing of situations. His biggest fear is failure; there is no way but forward. In his words, “When it feels scary to jump, that is exactly when you jump. Otherwise you end up standing in the same place your whole life, and that I can’t do.”