Lucid Waking

A Little Conversation

            She was giving him that look again and he wanted no part of the deal.
            “Jennifer,” he said pulling his hands away from hers. “Stop it. My answer is no and its not going to change.”
            “But you were so good at it,” she whined.
            “Well, I’ve obviously stopped doing that and moved on to a more honorable profession.”
            She huffed daintily out her nose to signal disdain and shifted her position so her hip was jutting sensually out. He sighed and pinched his nose bridge to signal that he knew what she was doing. She ignored him and eyed him teasingly.
            Thankfully, the hotel lobby was dark and lonely save for two figures: the receptionist and this girl. She looked like the type of traveler to stop at the ritziest hotel in the city: her red heels just barely peeking out of her skin tight red dress and long black pea coat. Her leather suitcase was sitting next to her back foot as she moved from her flirtatious position to one of annoyed dismay.
            “Look, we need this done. If I tell you any more and you refuse, I’ll kill you. If I don’t, they will, so either go with it or leave me now in the cold.”
            “Jen, I can’t do another thieving job. Just because I was the best one in the society doesn’t mean I didn’t have my morals. I hated thieving because it was wrong; even as a Robin Hood, stealing isn’t right. Society needs to fix those imbalances themselves.”
            “And so here you are, working at this ritzy hotel and you say that society needs to work at balance. You’re not getting a small salary.”
            “I help out at a soup kitchen every week and my wife is a teacher.”
            “I don’t really care about your life,” she said picking up the suitcase and turning to go.
            “That’s the most honest thing you’ve ever said.”
            She shot him a venom look and turned back towards the door. “I hope you’re sure, because I’m not coming back.”
            He smiled and continued his small amount of paper work. The desk phone rang, so he was preoccupied when she walked out the door and entered a white Porche parked in the front of the building.
            “He won’t take it,” she told the driver.
            “Perfect,” the driver replied back. “Let’s drive over to Scotland Yard and tell them to take him off their suspect list. If he won’t take that one, he won’t take a single job after that.”
            “And if he does? From another agent, I mean.”
            “Then he won’t be suspected and that’ll make the job easier for him. They won’t even think to be on his tail.”
            “If only he knew we were off the team, too. And how we just saved his life.”
            The driver laughed and slammed on the accelerator towards the edge of town.

“Not much between despair and ecstasy”

A Little Conversation