It Was Only A Job

Browsing through the news he could still not believe what he was seeing. Restrictions over restrictions. Wearing a mask surely made things easier. Together with a hat and the right bulky clothing, he would not be easily spotted by cameras of any sort. He could hide his tools easily under a jacket and most people would not think twice about seeing him, nor recognize him. 

Yet he realized that his target would not be so easily reached. All he did was go to the supermarket, and at irregular times, no certain day, and mostly in broad daylight and with other people around. He wasn't out at night, he didn't have a pet. The only way people were allowed out after a certain time at night was if they had a pet to walk. So once the sun had set, the target was gone into his apartment. He did not come out at all after that. He was actually restricting who he saw, he was taking care to not meet many people! 

The target was a wealthy businessman by the name of Yuri Zuzil. One of his competitors had paid him handsomely to take him out. He was a middle-aged man with no family, and prior to the pandemic had a vivid social life meeting many people. Now, most of that was restricted to the virtual realm. He sighed again as he leaned on his arm and looked into one of the three screens in front of him that observed his apartment. He had gone into such detail with Yuri, making sure he would get everything covered. He had infiltrated the apartments camera feeds, he knew exactly when he would be in or out. He looked at his notepad and the times and they were all so random, there did not seem to be a pattern. 

"Fuck. This man is so indecisive!" He said to himself as he prepared another tea and setup Netflix to pass the time. As he watched another documentary on World War 2 he considered if he should just shoot him once he went to the grocery store. The client wanted it to look like an accident, a heart attack or similar. The tools for such an execution were prepared. He would simply knock him out and induce a heart attack by injecting air in his blood with a syringe. Simple as that, his heart would give out. Yet Yuri, handsome 46 year old and fit, was never out at night. Our assassin was well built as well, have no doubt. He would be ready to take Yuri down one way or another, but no opportunities were arising.

Yuri never slipped up. He was diligent in washing his hands too, as the cameras that he had installed in Yuri's apartment revealed as well. Yuri was up 16 hours of the day, from 8am he would wake up then workout and have breakfast. Afterward from nine to five he did his work, sent emails, had calls, many of them video calls, and worked diligently. Lunch breaks were usually skipped for more calls. At exactly 5pm he would shut things down and begin his evening routine. Calling friends, family, chatting with them. It had become a show of it's own that he would watch as he had Netflix on another monitor. The grocery shopping was usually done in between work calls, and only once a week. He did not like deliveries, since he liked to help the local supermarket workers, as it was one of the few supermarkets that did not have self-checkout. Yuri wanted to support the cashiers and the people that worked there. They never accepted any tips he tried to push their way.

The assassin-to-be observed him again today as he ate his ramen that he always had brought in via delivery. He already had all eyes he needed on Yuri, so there was no necessity to go to the grocer's. He noticed Yuri was in a work call, it was lunch time and he was eating as he discussed a recent acquisition attempt of theirs. 

"Classic Yuri, always with the bait and switch," he muttered to himself as he followed the novella that was Yuri's life unfold before him. He had been stalking him for 7 months now. The job was only supposed to take a month, with preparation time. The pandemic artificially extended that time frame and there was no end in sight. The client had insisted he was in no rush and in the meantime he had actually terminated two other contracts. 

One was a woman who had been sleeping with another man and her husband was irate. He was rich and did not want to settle things with a divorce, as they had not set any prenuptial agreement. She was not aware he knew and contrary to Yuri, she ignored the restrictions of the pandemic. She was out partying, went to restaurants that defied the regulations and met in the foyers of hotels. Many places willingly accommodated her as she had the money to pay for any extra services. Her lover was a taxi driver that she had met during the pandemic. On one of her trips from a restaurant he had picked her up and drove her to a remote place and had her buried alive, as were the instructions of the husband. He found it grim, but the reward was twice the initial pay so he agreed.

The second target he had terminated was a drug dealer, it was supposed to be a message so he shot the dealer in the street after he had been out after lockdown hours and was leaving a bar around two in the morning. The streets were empty and no one heard his silenced pistol pierce the silence of the night as the bullets rained into his nearly obese body. It was easy money and once the bitcoins arrived, he dove under.

Yuri however, he was not even trying to be elusive or avoid any attempt at an assassination. As far as he could tell, Yuri was oblivious that anyone had anything against him. His competitor simply wanted Yuri gone as a target. He did not know who contracted him, but they had paid half in advance, so they were serious. Yet here he sat, watching Yuri night after night, day after day, adhering to the restrictions imposed upon the government and distancing himself from others physically. He was definitely not emotionally distant, as he would often speak with people in heartfelt discussions. He followed the discussions closely as he ate his various meals. At times he would chuckle as Yuri chuckled, or smile if there was a heartfelt moment. As the cases decreased locally and places were opening up, he realized his chance to terminate the target was approaching. 

Yuri was going out more often and one day he got close enough to Yuri to execute his plan. He had everything ready. The syringe was in his hand, cap still on it and nestled gently in his coat pocket. His gait was quick enough to pursue Yuri and the timing was right. It was the eve of dusk and the sun was setting gently. The beams of light gently danced away as he followed Yuri into a park that he frequented on some weekends. It was not observed by any cameras and was free of any disturbances. The bridge where he would kill him was coming closer and the semi-darkness of the twilight was the perfect setting. 

He closed the distance on Yuri and prepared his hands to knock him out with the chloroform until Yuri suddenly turned around. Their eyes met and he could not help but notice a smile on his face, through the mask. The wrinkled eyes and the glistening of the eyes, it was warm and inviting and a sight that he had gotten used to seeing from Yuri. Yuri stepped aside and mumbled "Oh, pardon me." as he was quite close already.

"Sorry," he mumbled back as he brisked past Yuri and headed past the bridge and sought to leave the park. He had never observed someone for so long, or known them so well, as he had gotten to know Yuri. This had complicated things. He was sweating as he leaned against a tree, lowered his mask and grasped for air. Distressed and disheveled he considered what to do now as he repeatedly muttered "Fuck..." under his breath.