Ch 3

New York

Present Day

Nate was on his way to work as the train zoomed through the subway tunnel, then stopped.

He walked out of the station and out into the city that never slept.

All the skyscrapers and lamp posts were lit up as cars honked their horns and people walked past him.

Nate eventually made it to the bar and he tried to rush upstairs but was still spotted by the always angsty Carlos.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the late, great, and formerly-employed Nate."

"Well, at least you got the great part right."

Carlos just shook his head as Nate continued upstairs and nodded to Goldie with her case.

"Hey Goldie, I brought your stuff up."

"Thank you."

"How was last night?"

"Great."

"Was he cute?"

"Very cute."

"Nice."

Yep, they were workers but they were also friends at the same time.

"Excuse me?" Nate turned and saw a blonde-haired girl.

"Sorry, what can I get you?"

"A Vodka-Tonic."

"Vodka-Tonic? Come on, that's my first drink of the night, test me a little."

Nate let his eyes twinkle a little.

"I don't know, a Negroni?"

"A Ne-what?"

She just stared at him.

"I'm kidding. The Negroni. Made by Count Camilo Negroni when he swapped the water in his usual drink, the Americano, for gin."

With a few slick flips and a spin around his head, the drink was uncapped and served.

"Haven't seen you in here before."

"It's not really my neighborhood."

"Not your neighborhood? Where're you from?"

"Greenwich."

"Greenwich. Sounds nice."

"Bartenders up there don't give history lessons."

"Well, bartenders in Greenwich don't make Negronis like this."

Then the girl went to chat with her friends and she left her wallet.

"You wanna leave it open or closed?" Nate asked but she didn't hear. "Open, probably. It's only daddy's money."

He smoothly nabbed a few dollars and put them in his pocket. He knew how to do this for a while now.

After the next round of customers, the bar was closing up and Nate went outside where he saw the girl again with a cigarette that wouldn't work.

"The cigarette." Nate said. "Invented by Alfonso Cigarette in 1462."

The girl gave a confused look.

"I'm kidding. I don't really know who invented the cigarette."

"You're kinda weird but kinda cute, too."

"Well then I'm kinda flattered and offended."

50/50. He thought. Nice.

"Here."

She held out the cigarette and he pulled out his lighter, flicked the wheel.

Nothing happened.

He flicked the wheel about a thousand times.

Nada.

"Come on."

"You know what? It's for the best. I have been trying to quit."

"Maybe it's a sign."

"Maybe. Or maybe you need to find one that works."

"This old thing? Oh, it works."

Just before the girl went away, Nate pulled in her bracelet as he pulled back his lighter, all without a hitch.

Before anyone got a chance to close up the place, a man in a fine suit appeared with slick black hair.

"That trust fund ingenue, she was the right mark." he remarked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nate replied.

Something about this guy seemed fishy.

"Sure you do." the man said with an irritating voice. "You're going slow, playing it soft. Not lifting too much at once. I mean, stop me if I'm wrong."

"Well, you're wrong. And we're also closed, so...Take off."

"Victor Sullivan. You can call me Sully."

"Thank you. I won't. But thank you."

"I got a job coming up. A big one. I need another set of hands on it."

"This is what you do? Stumble into bars, trying to pick up an accomplice?"

"I'm offering you a real ticket out of here. A chance to see places you only read about in books. What do you say?"

"You missed the read, Victor. I'm not a mark in some bar. And some of us here would really like to go home, so...Get out."

"Fair enough."

Then the guy finally left.

"Bye-bye, now."

After Nate had a beer to finish up, he was ready to go home when he noticed that his pocket felt different.

He pulled out a business card instead of a bracelet which said Victor Sullivan: Private Acquisitions.

Nate turned the card around and on big bold letters there was a message:

THOU SHALL NOT STEAL!

"Son of a bitch." Nate muttered in annoyance.

He didn't have a choice.

He just gonna have to do whatever crazy mission this guy had planned.