Millionaire Man- Part Six-----------------------------------------------------------------------
“A Proposition huh?” I said in hesitation. The man smiled as he opened his book of appointments.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” He said. I stared blankly, shrugging my shoulders.
“Well I work tomorrow.”
The man laughed. “Nope, you’re coming to my office tomorrow and we are going to have a meeting about your future. I am going to change your life.” I looked at the man for a second in silence. I didn’t know what to think of the stranger. I wanted to act like his few words didn’t make me feel like he was a glimmer of hope for me, but in reality, anything someone said to me was relief. I wanted to believe him, but the way I saw it, nothing that has been good in my life has stayed, so why get worked up in frenzy for no reason.
“Whoa, Whoa, Whoa,” I said. “Look Mr., Last time I just let someone tell me what to do, I lost all control of my life. Hell they’re still at my apartment.”
“Trust me, come tomorrow, you won’t regret it.” The man smiled, “By the way I’m Sam.”
“I’m Cory.”
My shift was over, finally. After the encounter with Sam, I wanted to get home. My mind wasn’t anywhere it should be. I was thinking about killing myself again and leave this world. My mouth felt stale, and my heart was empty. The road to nowhere was beginning to fill itself, and I wanted to avoid it. I didn’t want to know my future. I was going to end my life, and that was that. Well, that was the dream at the moment. At least then I could see my mom again.
My insecurity for the situation lingered as I pulled up to my apartment. I sighed deeply as I kept my glazed eyes fixed on the outside of my car. The smell of a skunk flowed into my car, distracting my daze. I looked up at my apartment window, seeing it partially opened. A steam of smoke slowly seeped out the window, with a tempting movement. Jessie and Amanda were unfortunately still at my place. I cursed at the sky, since the man upstairs didn’t remove the infested visitors still in my home. “What do you want from me?” I said looking up.
As I unlocked the door, the dusty apartment smelled like pot and chocolate. Jessie was thumbing through one of my photo albums, while Amanda was making something in the kitchen. I shut the door quietly, hoping to avoid any unwanted attention. It didn’t take long for Amanda to notice me creeping passed her. She rolled her eyes and yelled over the boiling water, “Looks like depression came back.”
“Nice to see you too freeloader,” I hissed, “What are you making?”
“Brownies!” Amanda giggled. I grunted my way to my room, mumbling profanities under my breath. Amanda, charmed said: “Night Punk, See you soon.”
I laid in bed, closing my burning eyes and spinning head, and then fell asleep. My obsession with trying to get my mother back from the dead continued to stay with me, but only in my dreams. This time I was sitting in a car, speeding across the beach. The top was down while the sand spun between the tires. I kept driving, but my eyes were looking toward the ocean as the waves pushed and pulled the wind. Its power overwhelmed me. I could hear echoes draw me to the lighthouse at the far end of the beach. I slid to a halt in front of the lighthouse, when I noticed a shadow domesticating the top of the lighthouse. Could it be who I think it is? The echoes got louder. I got out of the car and opened the door to the lighthouse, climbing to the top with exertion and every breath I had in my system.
The voice kept saying, “you’re not ready,” like they already knew my plans of leaving this world. When I got to the top of the lighthouse, the shadow was gone. I looked outside and saw the shadow looking up at me. I continued to hear, “You’re not ready.”
“But why,” I cried, “I can’t do this anymore. I have no friends, no life and no family. Why do I need to be here?”
“Wake up honey,” She said, “There is love all around you.” I could recognize the voice. It was my mother and she was reaching out to me again. The shadow began to walk into the water, though she never lost my eye contact.
“Wake up, Wake up…” As she immersed herself into the water, I called out to her. I hit the glass of the lighthouse in desperation, calling her name, with no avail. My voice couldn’t reach her. It was as if the lighthouse was my prison and my unholy sanctuary.
“Wake up DAMN IT.” The voice was no longer, my mother, but Amanda, waking me up. I woke up, shaken from the intensity of my dream. I looked up at Amanda. I saw her hand was holding my wrist tight, while the other wrist she was trying to grab with gauze. Her hand was filled with wrapping and blood. I looked down, only to see my injured wrist reopened and cut. Blood and sweat covered my arm and body.
“I have to rewrap this punk, stop moving.” Amanda’s calm but stern hand took my wrist and wiped it down with a wash cloth, cleaning it the best that should could. I looked up to her calmly. I was grateful for once of her help. Her hand was warm, and it felt good to be touched. I took her hand, and kissed her arm.
“Thank you,” I said with deep sincerity in my eyes. Amanda stopped for a moment to gage my true meaning to my statement, and smiled, “Your welcome.”
I fell into a very calm sleep, on the floor with Jessie and Amanda that night.
The next morning, I woke up and looked at Amanda and Jessie. They both slept in calm soothing breaths and peaceful. As I got ready to meet Sam, I could tell my opinion of them was changing. As I drove to Sam’s office, I looked at my bandaged wrist and smiled. Maybe my dream meant more then chasing my mothers fading memory. Maybe people do care about if I am going to be living or not. I left my emotions in the car and walked up to the exuberant receptionist at the front desk of Sam’s office. The receptionist was way too excited to be a secretary.
“Good Morning!” She happily sang.
“Hi, I’m looking for Sam,” I mumbled.
“You must be Cory?” the receptionist said.
“Yea,” I hummed.
“Oh good, he is expecting you.” The receptionist looked down at her watch as she got up, “Oh and your early, that’s great, Sam loves that. Why don’t you follow me to his office?”
We walked down a long, narrow hallway that led to a black door titled: “Sam Sullivan.”
“Mr. Sullivan, someone is here to see you, Cory.” The Receptionist respectfully announced while slowly peering into Sam’s office.
“Excellent, thank you Stacy.” He replied. I walked in, and waved shyly. “Cory, its good to see you, come sit down. Close the door behind you.” I shut the door and sat down in front of the man who believed he could save my life and future. I was completely engaged before Sam said anything.
“So, I’m sure you are wondering why I called you.” He smiled, “Well, one of the reasons is that you are a hard worker and smart individual. I feel like I can really benefit from your talents. They are wasted at a local pizza shop.” Sam paused for a moment, and then sighed before continuing, “Can I be frank with you Cory?”
I looked down for a moment then back at Sam, “Sure.”
Sam stood up, and looked at me, “I have been watching you for the past couple weeks and frankly you seem miserable. Not just miserable though, you seem like you’re done with life in general and well I can’t let you do anything stupid. I am going to make your life better.”
“How could you make it any better?” I sarcastically taunted.
“I am going to prove it to you. Ill do it right now. Name your dream car right now.”
I looked back discombobulated. “What? Why?”
“Just Trust me Cory.” He said in a confident condescending tone. I rolled my eyes, but closed my eyes, trying to think of my favorite car. I’ve always wanted an Audi A4, I thought to myself. I loved the way the car glimmered in the sunlight in the pictures. Its tantalizing appeal made my eyes glow.
“A4, Audi.” I mumbled.
“Done, I can get it to you in two days,” Sam said, “Anything Else?”
“What do you mean anything else?” I said in shocked. I felt like I just won the lottery, and he wanted to know if I wanted something else? My excitement was hard to control.
“You name it; I can give it to you. You want a vacation? I can give it to you. Do you want a house? I’ll have one for you by the end of the week. When I mean you can have anything, you can have anything. All I ask is that you work for me.”
I sat back in frozen silence. As my mind left my frozen body, I began to daydream. I saw fortune of plenty surrounding my life, like waves of money carrying me to my dream home in
“So, what is expected from me?” I said in anticipation of the minimal work. I didn’t want to work hard since working hard produced little or no results. So why work for it, Fuck Life.
“Well you would be working around my office for a while until we got better acquainted. After a couple weeks, I am going to give you some more responsibility, and ill pay you more by then as well. I’ll give you a car then as well. What do you think? Ready to leave the crappy life you’ve lived and join the land of the living?”
I looked down in silence.
“I have to think about it.”
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