I tapped my fingers against the table, my nails digging into the wood despite its tough strength.

“I told you I could do it. Have a little faith, will you?” I scooted onto the cracked, red booth and reclined back.

The figure pulled the strings and sealed the bag tightly, settling it close next to them. My eyes bore into the shadows beneath the hood. What was under there? A face so ugly they didn’t want to be seen?

They pulled the hood down further and I took my cue.

“So what’s my pay?”

“Pay?”

“That’s how these things work, right? I fetch you your little present and you pay up. Like the movies, right?” I rubbed my fingers together, staring proudly at the invisible green bills.

“This world is nothing like the movies.”

“Seems close enough. Birds fly. Blue sky. Humans die. Hey, that was kind of poetic.”

“You don’t know what your stepping into.”

“I’m stepping into money in my account, so can we speed this up?” I sat forward and held out my hand, hoping to channel the same sort of intensity my mother always gave me when she wanted something. It’s hard to explain. A look of patience yet control. I always folded.

I smirked as the figure sighed and placed a few bucks in my palm. Good old Mom. That’s once trick I can thank her for.

“If you don’t got anything new for me, I’m heading out,” I said, shoving my future in my pocket and sliding out of the booth.

“Just be careful.”

I raise my eyebrow, “You’re worried about me? That’s sweet.”

“Not worried. Just warning you.”

“Same deal.”

With a nod of my head I practically sprinted out the door, pulling the money out of my pocket with childish giddy.

The cafes sign glowed with neon pink lights, tinting the parking lot the same shade. I dashed across the street, flipping through the money.

A ten.

A twenty.

A five.

I was rich, I knew it.

I nearly crashed into my old pickup truck in my flurry of excitement. My hand danced around for the door handle, eventually finding it and shoving it open.

I settled onto the ripped leather seats, placing the bills in my cup-holder and fumbling through my pocket for the key.

The key.

Where was the key?

My eyebrows furrowed as I reached into my other pocket. Then my jacket pocket. Then my front pocket. Where was my key?

My heart started pounding, blocking out all noise as my brain started spiraling.

I needed that key. No key, no truck. No truck, no nothing. Everyone around here knew that.

I shoved the door open and dropped down to my knees, desperately searching the floorboard and then the pavement.

No shiny, silver key.

I bit my lip and ran across the parking lot, dodging through the maze of cars and almost getting hit by a Corvette before I finally reached the cafes door.

I stumbled inside, looking for the figure at the booth.

Gone.

No plates, no bag, no person, no key.

“I told you to be careful.”

I whipped around to see the hooded figure holding out the key along with the stack of bills. I thrashed my arm out, trying to snatch my belongings from their possession. They tucked them into their pocket.

“Your first mistake was leaving without checking what you had. Your second mistake was leaving the car door open with this lovely stack of cash.”

I felt like an bull staring at a raging red banner.

“Now I get to walk out of this cafe with a new truck, my money, and thoughts as clear as the blue sky.

“That’s not fair.”

“Now don’t go stomping your foot like a little kid, I warned you. ‘Same deal,” they mocked, “as if we are worried about the competition in this business. You give profit, I take, you go. Now if you don’t got anything new for me, I’m heading out.”

I swear I saw them wink under the dark folds as they stormed away.

(No clue how to end this lol <3 )