All the subjects combined but with one main persistent follower

Heath settled down into his comfortable couch, he had just paid a pretty penny for it. It’s not that he couldn’t easily afford it after he had just been paid by his boss, but it was the painful memories of how he never could have paid for it before he landed this most recent gig job of his that was currently plaguing his mind. However, waiting around for his newfound boss and supplier to show up at his house made Heath feel like something didn’t sit quite right with him about the day. He knew that it was getting close to his meeting he had planned that afternoon, and the clock on the wall that was ticking the time down until that almost seemed to be running slower than normal, and Heath knew that it was just the emotional baggage his brain was building up that made him feel like this clock was sending an echo of sound through the whole building – tick tick, only 15 minutes to go.

Suddenly Heath heard a crash and loud bang outside his front driveway, and after quickly peering through the blinds he realized it was a minor car crash in a fender bender type situation, with one car having rammed into the back of another. There was some small damage to the front cars rear bumper, and a dented hood on the car at the back. Sure enough, an argument ensued between the two car owners with an altercation being verbally heard throughout the street. This wasn’t a good time Heath thought, with his meeting almost ready he wanted everything to be peaceful and quiet so he wouldn’t miss anything – he really didn’t know what he was going to say to his soon to be arriving visitor, with dodgy sounding excuses suddenly being formed in Heaths brain as quick as lighting in a storm. Wait a second… didn’t Heath recognise this man in one of the cars, surely it couldn’t be… Heath took a second look at the man, dressed in a puffer jacket coat with a dark brown floppy sideways hat on, suddenly everything about the situation had sent Heath into a panic with his eyes widening in suspicion. Yes, this man that had just rammed the front vehicle in the accident, was indeed a local journalist reporter that Heath had run into trouble with before, it was the same man, who worked for one of the biggest newspapers in town. Quickly in a panic mode, reaching for his phone he had to quickly let the soon to be arriving man know about the situation. See it wasn’t a coincidence, it was obvious that the reporter was here to get some kind of scoop on the situation that was about to unfold at Heath’s apartment. Quickly dialing the numbers, waiting for the boss to answer the phone, Heath began to quickly pack a bag with his free hand – he was still going to have this meeting no matter what, he just had to come up with a backup plan to evade the heat he just attracted to himself.

“H… Hello…. This…. This is he yes, what’s the situation? … What do you mean we can’t meet at yours? You want me to meet you at the local motel instead? Heath… you really must realise, if this reporter man manages to make out that I’m having a meeting with you then all our business is going to be cancelled. Be careful what you wish for, because if you’re setting me up on this situation then the danger you put me through will be the least of your worries. See you at the motel, room 8, in 30 minutes…. Bye” …

*Click* the phone hung up, and health felt relieved that there was some kind of solution to this problem. With a bag now slung over his shoulder, packed full of goods, he was now ready to evade the situation quickly enough that the reporter won’t be able to follow him anymore. See Heath had his own health problems over the years, and addiction was one of the main mental blocks he had always fought with – weather it be the drugs, gambling, prostitutes or just general cigarettes, he really couldn’t shake any of it for good so to speak. His main issue for the day was to get these goods to the motel as quick as he could, because his personal and financial freedoms depended on everything going perfect and there could be no slip ups on this, especially not a news piece entangling this business with the likes of law enforcers. Heath quickly cracked open and skulled down a large can of cold Red Bull from his fridge, and cautiously headed towards his back door of his apartment to get to the back yard. All he had to do was quickly jump the back fence and run through two blocks of streets to get to the local spot without being detected. He would have to be so quick on his feet that even the local protecting guard dogs wouldn’t have time to bark.

As Heath’s whole body manoeuvred cautiously through the first few strides of his steps towards the motel, all Heath could do was mentally remind himself to be thankful he was alive and well, as he had indeed been in much worse situations before. One time many years ago, Heath had been in a relationship with a woman who seemed to have completely done more damage to Heath psychologically than anything else that Heath could have possibly done to himself. There were several situations where she would abuse Heath physically and verbally, with threats to put him in jail or kicked out of the house on a day-by-day basis with no end to the arguments in sight. Heath had come to realise that there’s somethings in this world that are designed to cause damage, and the result of him having to leave that woman was the realisation that things could only be positive without anything to do with her. It used to be so bad for Heath that he would fall out of bed each night, with an emotional feeling of rejection embedded so deep from her narcissistic attitude that he would prefer to sleep on the carpet on the floor than be near the warmth of her body. Anyway, it’s these emotions which propelled Heath forward with every inch of his body – kind of like a well oiled and fuelled machine, running with a warmth inside of him that made him feel determined to get the job done. Running as fast as he could, with his muscles pumping faster and faster more oxygen was filling his veins and he felt like he was young again – nobody could tell him what to do after he got this work done today, as the money involved would be something unheard of to him 10 years prior to this. Just one street away now, better text the boss to let him know I’ll be there in a minute or two. Heath had cleared one street, several houses and fences and had only a few minor scratches on his arms and legs to say he at least was making the best effort he can, if the job gets done then why not get hurt a little bit along the way. After sending the text from his phone, Heath quickly scoured his horizon for the reporter. Still no sign of him, however this wasn’t over yet. He had been thinking all day about what to do or say in this meeting, and his flow of spoken words might affect the outcome in terms of if there is any negotiation to be had. Room 8, that’s the room he had to be in, just 10 minutes now and he would be safe. 

Upon approaching the motel, he double checked his pockets to see if he still had everything he needed – his phone, keys to his house, wallet, and a written note of what to say that he had carefully written out earlier, kind of like a piece of cardboard with notes that key speakers use at speeches, this cardboard might give him to courage to be at least accurate when the transaction takes place.

He had time before entering the room to have a cigarette, so at a safe distance from Room 8 Heath quickly pulled out his box of smokes and lit one up with haste in the hope that he could feel refreshed before doing his business. Clutching the bag he held for dear life, shaking from semi-exhaustion, he was close to his success point – no problem so far, as he noticed the black shiny SUV arriving in the car park, he had to maintain his composure to make sure things didn’t fall apart. 

A tall slender man exited the car, and he opened the back side door for another man to come out – a shorter stout man, who had gold teeth and oily slicked back hair. Quickly throwing his cigarette on the floor and stomping it out, it was only a matter of time before money and goods were exchanged and everybody in this situation would be happy for everybody gets what they wanted right? Well, nothing in this life is perfect, and so the business begun with the visitors unlocking the front door of Room 8 and gesturing for Heath to step inside, waving a hustle kind of like how crew members wave their customers onto a ship that’s boarding. The room smelt heavy of chemicals, like it had just been cleaned by a carpet cleaning mob and all the benches, mirrors and appliances had been wiped down with spray cleaner. Cheap lights hung above the beds, with a 90’s style telephone sitting on the side of the bedside table. This place looked a little dated, and perhaps wasn’t ideal, but there were better things to think about in this current situation – and so the transaction begun, with the men now all sitting around the kitchen table, holding some documents in their hands.

The tall, slender man clicked a pen he pulled from his top pocket and gestured towards Heath to read the documents. There outlaid on the papers, was an agreement form with an optional clause at the bottom. The first main agreement was to not talk about the exchange of goods and money in the form of a non-disclosure clause, and the last optional box was one that tickled Heath’s interests a little… there outlaid on the form, was an option labelled “50% reduction for outsourced job”. Heath had to check that his eye’s weren’t misreading the form, and so he asked the boss man to explain why there was this option. Simply put, the man stated, if you wished to forego half of thew money we owe you, in exchange say for, a job which we can undertake on your behalf – then the details for that job are outlaid in that form, please read it to save us explaining it further. Heath continued reading the form, and it detailed something that Heath had previously been intrigued about. The option was for his ex-girlfriend, the narcissistic lady he shared 7 and ½ years of his life with, to be deported from the country through a clever process of bribing customs and law officials to effectively label her as a criminal, with fake evidence planted and a seal of guarantee by the groups involved that he would never have to deal with her again. Heath knew what options there were on the table, as he carefully tried to balance a decision based on what was right and wrong, versus what would be easy and quick for his liking. It wasn’t easy for Heath to be able to explain this to the men, but this ex of his had become somewhat of a problem for him most recently. She had almost gotten him busted for the first job that he did for these men, as her and her friend had witnessed Health acquiring and then selling small amounts of the same goods before. However instead of being loyal somewhat to him, she had obviously gone and told certain people about the whole ordeal – with the details obviously being leaked to the media, hence the earlier car crash in the street. He knew how much he was addicted to these substances though, and how taking care of his ex in this specific criminal way would be the wrong thing to do for him and his conscience. Heath snatched the pen out of the slender man’s hands and proceeded to sign the agreement – minus the second part of it, he wanted nothing worse to happen to his ex, as pain-free as it might be without her in his life.

At the bottom of the form, now it was all signed and done and dusted for, was a phone number with the text that read “After signing, call this number for your money Heath…”. Heath handed the form to the men, and then stated he would like to use the motel room phone to call while the men checked the surety of the bag of goods.

Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring, five rings in total… that was the number of the phone speaker was sounding after Heath had hurriedly dialled the number on the form. A gentlemen banker answered the phone and asked for the caller’s name. “Heath Benjamin West, sir, the transaction is almost done I need my money now” …… three seconds later, a croaky sounding banker answered “Mr. West, this large sum of money might be too much temptation to spend all at once, what will you do if you don’t have a financial adviser who will advise on what to do with it?” ….. Heath took a few seconds to respond, while taking a careful glance back over his shoulder at the men in the room to make sure everything was still all ok. 

“My account and my spending activities will be fine sir, my details are… one moment” Heath reached into his pocket to pull out the piece of cardboard he had written on earlier and proceeded to read it out his account information to the banker. “While you’re on the phone with me, would you mind answering a simple question?” Heath asked while his hand shaking holding the cardboard, with sweat visibly gathering on his palms and on his neck – hopefully the men behind him don’t rip him a new one for this. “If you had the choice between right and wrong, with wrong being the easy path but right being the hard path – which would you follow, and why should I believe you when you say you’re depositing my money when really I’ll have to take your word for it here – see in my eyes, I am doing the right choice here but it is hard for me because I’ll just have to believe that you will indeed deposit the money. Do tell me Mr. Banker, in choosing between the right or wrong path here, are you really going to pay me my money?”.

The banker sharply replied “Of course, I’m in the system now and it’s only one moment away from your account. However you should know one important thing… your ex-girlfriend see, she has told me all about you, and the only reason as to why I’m honest and you’ll receive your money is because I’m actually afraid of her, I’m actually in a relationship with her right now and if she finds out I screwed you over by not paying you then it’ll be my head on the chopping block, not yours”.

Heath having realised that the woman who used to love him wasn’t totally evil after all, suddenly changed heath’s mind a little. Heath quickly and wittingly replied on the phone to the banker “Mr. Banker, thanks for the effort, the money I get from this will set me up for life, it’s not like it’s chump change for me, this is going to make a real difference in my world”, moments passed and the banker replied with a touch of sadness in his voice “Tell you what buddy, maybe go write a story about it one day and I might get the chance to read it all one day, and hey, in today’s world it’s really hard to win at anything in life, at least that’s how sometimes people feel about everything that’s going on around us – keep doing what you’re doing. Money is in your account now Mr. West, Good day”.

The phone click sounded, and the call ended, with a gulp of a lump forming in Heath’s throat. Now the hard part, to talk out of here like it’s all positive. Heath looked behind him at the table of where the men were sitting, and there was nobody there anymore, they had left and the sound of a car leaving the car park in the distance had re-assured Heath that everything was fine again. 

Looking across the room one last time, he spied something laying on the table. It was some empty sheets of paper, and the clicky pen the slender man had left behind. Heath thought for a moment, what he should do with his remaining time that day, and so he decided it was best to pick the pen up and write a story. In the story he wanted people to feel love, compassion, fire, fury, details on how much he needed to feel normal in the world, and generally any kind of positivity possible that the public might relate to. Words couldn’t roll out of his mind and onto paper quick enough, with the pen heating up and then drying out of ink. Slowly realizing his day was ending, Heath walked out the front door only to be greeted by the reporter from earlier. “Did you know my brother’s the banker?” he asked and smiled while taking Heath’s photo.