Brinkhurst.com

I’m short of breath as I clench my hand to my chest. I feel my life escaping. I see the phone, still dangling off the hook. Is Jessica still on the phone? Has she heard everything that was said? My eyes gaze away from the fallen goose, towards the windows near the office door. Jessica has heard everything; she is still on the phone, gazing through the office window.

“Jessica, I . . .”

I speak but it’s not even audible. Deyja’s hand shakes, and she drops the gun. I can barely breathe. I yell, the loudest I can.

“Jessica, I l . . .”

I start coughing and sputtering. Jessica is at the door, screaming, crying, scratching, and pounding. I can hear her through the phone and through the door.

“Matt, Matt, no. Let me in. Matt, Matt, Matt.”

Jessica makes a screeching noise that sounds like a cat being tortured. Every lesson that I could possibly learn in life has been learned. I know that there is always a second chance, until you die.

Deyja drops down to her knees and buries her face in her hands. She misused her second chance, and she is guilty. Jeff smugly looks at me. He won’t be charged with this murder either, but if he had never killed his partner, I would still be alive, and he is guilt. Jessica is still screaming and pounding to get in, but if she had never defended Jeff, I would still be alive, and she is guilty.

I’m losing my vision as the room begins to look so bright that I can’t see anything at all. I can’t breath anymore.

Darkness, Deyja, then the White Goose.

“I have a civil suit against Jeff, and you show up at my restaurant asking about a white goose. Now, I see you here, with Jeff. Jeff sent a ton of people over to convince me to call off the lawsuit, but you’re the first guy who was ever successful,” Deyja says to me.

“I just met Jeff yesterday for the first time. He called me back for a second interview today. I was at your restaurant, but that was just a coincidence.” I say.

“If it was just a coincidence, how did you know the name of the robber?” Deyja asks.

“Look Jet, last night I . . .”

Kayla was coming back in with two cups of tea. Deyja sees her and kicks the door shut on her, locking it behind her.

“Jet, that was just mean. Kayla is a very sweet . . .”

“Shut up. I’m tired of your lies, and I’m tired of hearing you talk,” Deyja says.

Deyja points her gun towards Jeff. Her finger begins to tense up on the trigger, so I quickly move in between her and Jeff.

“I won’t let you kill Jeff. This isn’t your second chance. Jet, Jet,” I say.

Deyja looks distant, as though she is looking through me.

“Deyja,” I say.

Saying her actual name grabbed her attention, and she focuses in on me.

“If I’m wrong, there’s always a second chance,” Deyja says as she shoots me, putting a bullet through my chest.

I fall to the ground, looking the goose in the eyes.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you Jeff, why would you kill a business partner and a lover?” I ask.

“Lover? They weren’t lovers; my brother wasn’t gay,” Deyja says.

“Not gay? Are you serious? Your brother was the gayest guy in the city. Where have you been living?” Jeff asks.

“I’ve been living on the other side of the country, up until I launched the civil suite against you, on behalf of the family,” Deyja says.

“So, that was your mistake?” I ask.

“Of course. I dropped the suit. Jeff’s money isn’t going to bring my brother back. Dead is dead, and I don’t want to benefit from his death,” Deyja says.

Deyja’s eyes scan the room. She stares off at the white goose, and I start in with some meaningless conversation to try to cut a bit of the tension.

“Kayla hasn’t come back with that tea I asked for. It’s been quite a while, in fact,” I say.

Deyja starts anxiously pointing her gun at the goose.

“So, Sam, what does a white goose with a dollar bill around it’s neck mean?”

“I was told that it’s a symbol of . . .”

I was interrupted by the sounds of Deyja’s gun going off. I see the goose go flying off his pedestal, as he quickly falls to the floor.

“Jet, this is a weird coincidence,” I say.

She’s holding a gun by her side as her angry, angry eyes scan the room.

“Who the hell are you?” Jeff asks.

“Deyja,” she says.

“Deyja?” Jeff asks.

“What are you doing here Sam?” Deyja asks me.

“I have an interview with Jeff. What are you doing here Jet?”

“I think you know why I’m here,” Deyja says.

“Why are you calling each other Jet and Sam? Aren’t your names Matt and Deyja, and who the hell is on the phone?” Jeff asks.

“I’m guessing it has something to do with Jim Sunderson.”

“Who is Jim Sunderson?” Deyja asks.

“He’s the guy that robbed the restaurant.”

“I see,” Deyja says.

Deyja isn’t moving. She looks very angry. How does she not know who Jim is? I assumed that her and Jim planned on robbing the restaurant together. It makes sense. She kept talking about a mistake that she made. Within the same moment she was saying it was too late to fix things, the restaurant got robbed. She must be here because of Jim, but it really, genuinely seems that she doesn’t know who Jim is.

“Why are you here,” I ask Deyja.

“I’m here for Jeff. He killed my brother,” Deyja says.

“Matt, I’ve heard the recommendations, and I know your credentials. I gotta say too, you make one hell of an argument,” Jeff says to me.

He’s slowly pulling his hand out of his pocket, as if to build some suspense before he grabs my hand and shakes it, but the phone rings right at that moment, and of course, he answers it.

“Jeff here . . . Matt? Ah, yeah Matt’s here, but . . . ah, k.”

Jeff hands the phone to me.

“It’s for you,” he says.

“Hey, Ren, not really the best time man,” I say.

“It’s not Ren. It’s me.”

“Jessica?”

“Yes, it’s me,” Jessica says.

“How did you get the number?”

“I was Jeff’s trial lawyer. I have his number,” Jessica says.

“Right, what’s up?”

“I love you. Please leave there now. Don’t take the job. It’s a mistake. Take your clothes off or do whatever you have to. I don’t care if you come out of there completely naked, I’ll be right here waiting for you,” Jessica says.

“All right.”

“Really?” Jessica asks.

“Really.”

“See you soon?” Jessica asks.

“Very soo . . .”

I drop the phone. I can hardly believe my eyes. After the crazy sleepless 24 hours that I have spent. I go through this extreme whirlwind and now this.

“Matt, please have a . . .”

I sit down before Jeff can finish his sentence.

“Jeff, my understanding is that you have a need, and I’m the guy to fill it. If you’re looking for a social media expert, I’m the guy. The guy.”

“Well, I want to make sure that we hire the best candidate for the job, someone who fits well into our team, has dedication to the job, and can make clients happy. We pride ourselves on being the leading agency in North America, and we’re a global leader in what we do. The people who work for us aren’t just working 9 to 5; they’re living, breathing, eating, and sleeping the work we do. That is the Quest; that is what this job is really all about,” Jeff says.

“That’s not what I’m all about. I’m a complex human being, and work is not my life. I’m not going to be the guy who pulls all nighters on projects and works the weekends too. I’m good at what I do. If you need to find someone who can be the job rather than do the job, I understand that. What you’ll find is that nobody is better than I am. If being the best matters to your agency, you’ll hire me.”

“I’m not certain that you’ll be the right fit for us. This industry changes so fast, and if you don’t keep up to date, you’re nothing,” Jeff fires back at me.

“I’m more up to date than anyone else. I’m the leader in what I do. If you don’t want me, or you think I won’t be a good fit, that’s fine. Don’t hire me. You can explain to your clients, while trying to justify your rates, why you went down your list and chose the second best guy for the job. I’ll leave here today and drop my resume off with your big three competitors.”

“Matt, good to see you again,” Jeff says with a toothy white smile and smug arrogance.

I feel annoyed and agitated, almost angry. I’m not usually like this, unless I miss a meal.

“Jeff,” I nodded my head without the exchange of an untrue pleasantry.

Why am I feeling that I need to run out of here? What’s causing every last bit of me to screech and scream ‘leave, leave, leave, leave, damn it, leave’? Why is it that only I can hear those words? Why am I not standing on Jeff’s desk with that stupid goose’s neck clutched between my fingers, yelling at the top of my lungs, ‘no. I won’t be a part of this.’?

“Sorry to interrupt,” Kayla says, while walking into Jeff’s office.

Jeff looks at her with an angry grin, as if he can alert Kayla that he wants her out without alarming me.

“It’s no trouble at all,” Jeff says, pretending that he is an actual gentleman.

“Can I get either of you anything?” Kayla inquires.

“Do you have tea?” I ask.

“Yes,” Kayla responds.

“I would just love a cup,” I say.

Jeff lets out a bit of a girlish giggle.

“Mr. Miller, anything for you?” Jessica asks.

“Thank you, no,” Jeff says, in a shoo go away sort of voice.

Kayla leaves without saying another word, and she closes the door so quietly behind her, you would think she is trying not to wake the sleeping baby.

Kayla Martin, Executive Assistant, there she was again. I felt like I was in a bad movie where my day had started over again.

“Hello, you’re here to see Mr. Miller?” Kayla asks.

“Yes, but I’m sure I have some time to wait,” I say, rather annoyed.

Kayla is making herself look busy. I suppose she might feel awkward just sitting there staring at me.

“Do you have a moment to chat?”

“Well, I am kinda busy,” she says.

She smiles with her mouth, but her eyes don’t move. She’s given me the fake smile, which tells me that she’s not at all busy. She doesn’t want to talk to me.

“I’ve noticed that you’re less vanilla than everyone else around here.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kayla asks defensively.

“You just have a style about you. I mean, you still look corporate, but the you behind that pant suit isn’t drowned out.”

Kayla doesn’t blush, not even a little bit, even though I can tell she has taken that as a compliment.

“You don’t think it’s too much, my sense of style?” Kayla asks.

“Oh, no, no, no. You’re very sexy. It must be difficult for you to try to keep that in check from Monday to Friday.”

“Well, it’s much different than where I used to work,” Kayla says.

“Where’s that?”

“Oh, well. I used to . . . um . . . dance,” Kayla says the word ‘dance’ almost so I couldn’t hear.

“I’m not going to judge you for that. As long as you’re happy with what you’re doing and nobody’s getting hurt, I say go for it.”

“I was happy, but Jeff wanted me to come work for him,” Kayla says.

Kayla had a look of concern on her face. She’s worried she told me too much.

“Jeff saw you at the club, dancing, and asked you to come work for him, so are you and Jeff?”

“Together? No. Do you think Jeff likes women?” Kayla asks, quietly.

“I would assume so. He hired you right out of a club.”

“Jeff never tried anything on me, and I haven’t been here that long, but I’ve never seen him with a woman, and then the two of you yesterday,” Kayla says.

“The two of us? Oh, you mean me naked in his office?”

“Kinda,” Kayla says.

“I was naked, but Jeff and I . . .”

I was interrupted by the sound of Kayla’s phone. It made an odd beeping noise, instead of a ring.

“Hello . . . yes sir . . . right away,” Kayla says into the phone.

Kayla stands up, as if to escort me.

“Mr. Miller will see you now,” Kayla says.

“How do you know that the Janitor didn’t kill Jeff’s partner?” I ask Ren.

“It wasn’t him. Jessica misdirected the jury with that information, and she was able to get the video excluded because of a police processing error. Jessica was a great lawyer, but she wasn’t anywhere near that place.” Ren says.

“But how can you be sure the janitor didn’t do it?” I ask.

“Look, the cameras are only in the hallway, so there is no 100% way to say for sure, but Jeff came out into the hallway with a knife around the estimated time of death, and the janitor, was cleaning on a completely different floor. He’s the one who called it in, hours after the estimated time of death,” Ren says.

“Thanks man,” I say, hanging up the phone.

Jessica looks at me; she looks very deeply at me, scared, nervous, ashamed.

“Jess. What happened to the Janitor? Is he in prison?” I ask.

“The janitor, no. The cops knew it wasn’t him. He lost his job though, not long after I left,” Jessica says.

“Where can I find him?” I ask.

“He’s the homeless man,” Jessica says, breaking out in tears.

Jessica’s phone rings, and she tries to compose herself, but really isn’t able to.

“Yes, hello,” she says, almost completely short of breath, gasping and crying.

“I have to go,” I say.

“I’ll tell him,” Jessica says.

“Goodbye Jessica,” I say.

“That was Ren. He said you have to go now, or you’ll be late for your interview,” Jessica says.

I laugh, sort of a half laugh, and I couldn’t quite look in Jessica’s eyes. I know she didn’t kill him, but knowing a lesser evil truth is almost worse than knowing a more evil possibility.

“See ya later,” Natus says.

“Goodbye,” I say.

“That was you Sam? You saved that restaurant from being robbed? That was some night you had. How many more people did you save? I’m going to make it up to you, even if it takes a life time. I’m here for you Sam. Forever,” Natus says.

That’s a disturbing sentiment. I’ve been trying to get rid of this guy ever since the beach, and now he’s in my life forever. I should have put that bloody bullet through his brain when I had the chance. Uh, cops. Nate’s phone rings with a bad to the bone ring tone.

“Yeah? Who? Sam. Yeah, Sam’s here. Wait how did you get the number? What did you call me? You’re lucky you’re one of Sam’s friends, or I would track you down, put you behind bars, and throw away the key.”

Nate hands the phone to me.

“Ren, my man. What’s up?” I ask.

“How did he get my number?” Natus asks Jessica.

“I don’t know, but I’m wondering how he knew we were here,” Jessica replies.

“Jessica is clean. She wasn’t involved in any part of the murder. It’s all on Jeff Miller. I did some more digging, and I was able to get video from the hallway the night of the murder. Aside from the janitor, Jeff was the only one there that night,” Ren says to me.