The Price by Farshad Torkashvand

It was one of those days that everything seemed boring.

Going to work, coming back from work, and sleep.

The snow on the street and sidewalk was piling up. The crunching noise with each step was gratifying, yet all the same.

Even the sensation of cold weather on his face was muted by that melancholy routine of life.

He took a deep breath, held it in for a few seconds, then let it out.

His steamy breath gathered in front of him like a small cloud, and after a few seconds, that cloud was gone too.

His workplace was a few blocks away, and in a few minutes, he would arrive there. Yet, he was dragging his feet to get there.

The bustling of cars passed by; some people wore full winter clothes, and some, for the sake of being chic or eye-catching, wore much less.

Yet, they were all going somewhere.

He looked at the black ice on the intersection and wondered who would be its victim.

Maybe today was his turn, or maybe not.

He arrived at his work, the unending torture of the day.

He wondered if it was only him that felt that way. Maybe his coworkers loved the job they were doing.

He didn't even have enough time to scrape off the bottoms of his shoes on one of those boot scrapers when he was ambushed by two of his coworkers, Tatiana and Suffy.

These two were glued together. They would go everywhere with each other. They gossiped together, one telling, and the other laughing.

The glint and mischief in their eyes told the poor man that these two had cooked up something, and for some twisted reason, they wanted to include him as a chess piece to that end.

"Hi Suffy, Hi Tatiana."

"Hey Brad," Suffy said, and Tatiana nudged her for saying the same thing.

"Alright, shoot," Brad told them.

"What?" Suffy said, meanwhile, Tatiana furrowed her brows to show her feelings about that response.

"Just tell me what you want so I can get on with the rest of my day," Brad told them, then he gave them a pleading smile to stop any further arguing.

"We thought you were a lot more charming than this," Suffy said in a disappointed voice while Tatiana nodded to that statement unconsciously.

"Cold weather tends to do that to us humans; it's different for angels and fairies," he tried again to give them an assuring smile. "I said it that way because I'm almost late for work."

"You, with all that sarcasm," Suffy said in a pouting way.

Brad looked at them. His smile was gone. He then said, "Maybe I said it in a playful way; maybe that's the reason you don't believe me, but you should know, you are one of the reasons that I come back..." He looked around to see if anyone else was listening, "...to this place. Anyway, tell me what you wanted to tell me earlier."

Suffy, still pouting, said, "You know Suzzy's wedding is coming up, and she's throwing a bachelorette party in Vegas?" She said it in a way like a butcher soothing a lamb to its death. A matter-of-factly tone with a tinge of calmness, a way, or the best way, to lure a prey to a trap, she said to him.

"Of course not. She hates my guts. I don't know what I did to anger her, but she hates me like I'm her ex or something," Brad responded.

With a smile that never reached her eyes, Suffy continued her scheme, "What? No way." She brushed it off like she was talking to a skeptical child. "Who told you that she hates you?" She asked, knowing there was no way for Brad to prove his points. After all, it was a feeling and vibes he got from Suzzy, like knowing Suffy was planning something, but he couldn't prove it until she revealed it.

He started walking towards his office, and Suffy and Tatiana trailed behind him in their high-heeled shoes.

"Whatever, I'm just letting you know that I'm not invited to her wedding," Brad responded casually, and thought to himself, Wedding? If she doesn't kill me next time she sees me, I'll call that a win.

"Well, your thoughts are wrong," she judged. Then, she continued like a saleswoman, "She is too nice for that."

By that time, they arrived at his office, and like Navy Seal team work, Suffy proceeded to the desk and stayed behind the chair in front of the desk, while Tatiana went to close the door ever so calmly behind them.

Meanwhile, Brad was getting rid of his overcoat, scarf, and fedora hat to put them on the rack. After that, he adjusted his vest and tie and sat behind his well-organized desk and invited Suffy to take a seat as well, but she dismissed his suggestion nonchalantly and stayed where she was. Then Tatiana joined her and stayed close to her.

"Suzzy has a wedding and bachelorette party coming," he said and took a deep sigh. "Do you know what she likes? Or what she needs? I could offer her that as a gift through you. Of course, you'd say it's from you, but she doesn't need to know that." At the same time, his thoughts went to if that was all Suffy wanted to say.

He looked at her; the smile was still there.

Then, he looked at Tatiana. Even though she tried to hide that guilt feeling inside of her, it took one glance for Brad to see it and know Suffy wasn't done with him.

"You would do that for her?" Suffy said, a bit surprised.

Brad just shrugged.

"Is that all?" he responded.

"Hold on for a second. What's with all the rushing? It almost sounds like you don't want us here," she insisted.

"The meeting is going to start in a few minutes, and I need to get ready," Brad said and tried to look busy finding a file he knew where he left in the pile.

"Alright, alright. No need to worry," she said and decided to still continue with her scheme.

Brad knew and understood why she was going for it.

Boredom.

If the only escape from tedious things all the employees had to deal with all day long was to watch a man eaten alive by hyenas, then so be it.

Boredom, throughout history, caused many wars.

"I just need you to remember a room number at the hotel we are staying at. The Caesar Hotel, room 198, on January 24th. If Suzzy comes and asks you if you're taking a vacation, just tell her that you will be doing that January 20th to January 27th at the Caesar Hotel. And if she asks what room, just tell her room 198." She finished telling him her plan.

Brad knew that it was a prank she was trying to pull on poor Suzzy, and in a way, getting his suspicious feeling confirmed made him sadder.

That was why he smiled.

"Why do you want to prank her that way? If my guess is right, by now, she must be under a lot of pressure and uncertainty. Why do you want to add more burden on her?"

"It's actually because of that we want to do it. Imagine the relief she feels when she finds out that it was a prank," Suffy defended.

"And what's in it for me?" Brad said to dissuade her in another way.

"What?" Suffy said with one eyebrow raised.

"Well, you didn't expect me to go through with this, knowing she'll be mad at me for your prank."

"Does this mean you'll accept it?" Suffy said excitedly.

"At the right price," Brad said with a bit of sass.

"How about $10?" Suffy negotiated. When she saw the smirk on Brad's face, she continued, "How about $12?"

Brad simply shook his head side to side.

"$15, that's my final offer. Not everyone makes as much as you do." It was a plea. It was something that Brad was so happy to hear.

Suffy turned to Tatiana and hoped she would chip in, but she shook her head and looked at the floor.

Out of shame? Or being shy?

Brad couldn't decide.

He wanted to leave it at that. After all, he planned this on the spot.

He didn't care about the money. If Suffy offered him even $100 or $1000, almost one-third of her annual salary, he would still refuse her request.

The smile of that little triumph turned to ashes on his lips.

"Then what do you want?" Suffy asked and hoped beyond the universe that there was something that Brad wanted.

In Brad's perspective, that was a good question.

What did he want?

He was educated and made decent money in the company. He had a house and a car that were fully paid off.

What else was there that he lacked?

Finding a passion like painting or sculpting. He dismissed it. He didn't like the smell of fresh paint and that awful paint that sticks to skin forever.

Traveling?

He tried it, and he felt miserable through it all.

He looked at Suffy and saw thrill and excitement in them. Albeit for not a good reason, but it was there.

He then looked at Tatiana. Her dark brown eyes looked back at him at first, then shied away.

Then he felt it.

It was like a tug at his chest, and he knew who the culprit was.

He smiled and said, "How about this? How about Tatiana accepts my invitation for a date?"

To be continued....