Swimming With Sharks
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I was in a bad mood. I had been for the last few days, ever since my encounter with that woman at the bar and her friends. It wasn’t just because of what she’d done to me; it’s not like I hadn’t seen worse before. No, this time something else bothered me more than anything: the fact that I couldn’t get her out of my mind.
The way she looked when we were together—the look on her face as she came apart beneath me…it haunted me every day now. And even though I knew it would never happen again, I still wanted her so badly that sometimes I felt sick from it.
The problem was that there weren’t many women who could compare to her. She was beautiful, but also smart and funny. There was no one else quite like her in all the world. So whenever I saw another girl, whether they were pretty or plain, young or old, tall or short, I always compared them to her.
If they didn’t measure up, then I lost interest immediately. But if someone did manage to impress me enough, I might give them a chance. Sometimes things worked out well, other times not so much. Either way, however, I usually ended up disappointed by how little I cared about their looks after getting to know them better.
It made dating frustrating, especially considering how hard it is to meet people these days anyway. Most girls are either married or taken already, while others aren’t interested in meeting guys like me. Even those who do want to date often have such high standards that I can hardly believe anyone meets them.
They’re too picky, which means I’m left alone most nights. That’s why I’ve become an expert at finding ways around it. My favorite method involves going online and looking through profiles until I find someone interesting. Then I send messages to see where it goes. Usually, nothing comes of it, but occasionally I’ll strike gold.
That night, I decided to try something different. Instead of searching for someone new, I went back into my archives and started reading some of the emails I’d received over the years. Some of them were from long ago, when I first got online. Others dated only weeks earlier.
All told, there were hundreds of them, and I read each one carefully. Afterward, I picked out three promising prospects and sent them messages. One replied almost instantly, saying he was free tonight and willing to come over. He sounded nice, so I agreed to meet him.
As soon as I hung up the phone, I began preparing myself mentally. This guy seemed decent enough, but you never really know what kind of person you’re dealing with until you actually meet them in person. Still, I tried to remain optimistic. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
When the doorbell rang ten minutes later, I opened it without hesitation. Standing outside was a man in his mid-thirties wearing jeans and a button-down shirt. His hair was dark brown and cut close to the scalp, giving him a rugged appearance.
A pair of glasses sat perched on the bridge of his nose, making him appear intelligent yet nerdy at the same time. As usual, I took note of everything about him: his clothes, his body language, the way he held himself. Everything said “nice” except for one thing: the gun strapped to his hip.
He smiled when he saw me, revealing perfectly straight white teeth. “Hi,” he said.
I returned the smile. “Hello.”
We stood awkwardly for several seconds, neither of us sure what to say next. Finally, I broke the silence. “So, uh, what brings you here?”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “You don’t remember me, do you? We met once before, right after I moved to town.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Oh yeah! You bought a painting from me. What was your name again?”
“Drew.”
“Right, Drew. Of course. How could I forget?”
For a moment, I thought I detected a hint of disappointment in his expression, but it quickly vanished. “Well, it’s good to see you again, Mr. Cooper. Please call me Drew. Everyone does.”
“Okay, Drew. Thanks. Now, why exactly are you here?”
A grin spread across his lips. “To make you mine, of course!”
I laughed nervously. “Uh, okay. Well, I guess I should let you inside…”
After ushering him in, I closed the door behind him. For a minute, we both just stared at each other. Then, finally, I asked, “Are you gonna take off that gun now?”
He glanced down at it briefly. “No need. I’m not planning on doing anything crazy.”
I nodded slowly. “Good. Because I’m not comfortable having guns in my house.”
“Fair enough. I won’t bring it up again. Let’s get to know each other, shall we?”
With that, he walked past me toward the kitchen. I followed along, curious to learn more about him. When I reached the doorway, however, I stopped dead in my tracks. The sight that greeted me nearly knocked the wind out of me. It wasn’t because of what I saw; rather, it was the fact that I didn’t see anything.
There was no table, chairs, or any other furniture whatsoever. Just an empty space.
In disbelief, I turned to face Drew. “What happened to the rest of the room?”
He shrugged. “The last owner had some weird ideas about interior design. She wanted to turn this place into a museum, so she filled every inch of wall space with paintings. But then she died, and her family sold the house. I figured I might as well use the extra space to store my stuff.”
I looked around again. “But how did you even fit all those paintings in such a small area? They must’ve been huge!”
“They weren’t. Most of them were pretty tiny. And they came in all shapes and sizes too. Some of them were square, others rectangular, and still others circular. So, yeah, it was a little tricky fitting them all in here, but I managed somehow.”
“Wow… That sounds like an awful lot of work.”
“It was. Believe me, I’d much prefer to have a normal living room back there. Unfortunately, though, I can’t afford to buy another house right now. Not unless I want to move away from the city entirely.”
I frowned. “Why would you ever leave New York City?”
“Because I hate it here. Seriously, it sucks. All these people think they’re better than everyone else, which is ridiculous considering most of ’em aren’t even half as smart as they believe themselves to be. Plus, the traffic is terrible, and the crime rate has gone through the roof. It’s gotten so bad lately, I’m seriously thinking about moving somewhere safer—like maybe Canada.”
I shook my head. “That doesn’t sound very safe either. Besides, I heard Toronto’s cold.”
“Yeah, it is. Which makes sense since it’s located north of the border.” He paused for a second before adding, “And speaking of borders, I hear Quebec is nice this time of year.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. Why don’t you just stay where you are if you don’t like it here?”
“I tried that already. Trust me, I really did. But I couldn’t stand being surrounded by idiots day in and day out. Eventually, I realized I needed to find a new home. One that was far, far away from the likes of you.”
I glared at him. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll never tell anyone who you are. In fact, I plan on keeping our relationship strictly professional from now on. After all, I wouldn’t want to risk losing my job over something stupid like this.”
“Like what?”
He smirked. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe getting caught trying to murder someone? Or stealing their identity? Yeah, I bet that’d definitely cause problems for me.”
I scoffed. “You’re full of shit.”
“Am not,” he replied confidently. “Now, come on. We haven’t got all night. You said you wanted to talk business, remember?”
I sighed. “Fine. What do you wanna discuss?”
Drew smiled. “How about your first assignment?”
***
We spent the next hour discussing everything from the details of the case to the payment schedule. By the end of it, I felt like I knew him quite well. At least, as much as one could know a stranger after only spending two hours together.
As we finished up, I noticed he hadn’t taken off his gun yet. Instead, he kept it tucked under his arm while he sat across from me. I wondered why until I remembered the conversation we’d had earlier. Apparently, he planned to keep it nearby at all times.
After taking a few seconds to compose myself, I cleared my throat. “So, uh, I guess that means you’re going to be staying here tonight, huh?”
He nodded. “Yep. I figure I should probably stick around in case you decide to try anything funny.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Try what?”
“Well, let’s see…” He leaned forward slightly. “Maybe you thought you could sneak past me without paying me for the painting? Or perhaps you were hoping to get rid of me by pretending to faint or something? Either way, I’m sure you were planning to run away once you made it outside. The only problem is, I won’t allow it. If you attempt to escape, I’ll shoot you dead on the spot.”
My jaw dropped open. “Are you serious?!”
“Deadly, actually.”
I stared at him incredulously. “What kind of person are you?! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to threaten someone with a loaded weapon when they’re alone inside a building?”
His lips curled into a smirk. “Believe me, I do. And trust me, I fully intend to use it. Now, are we done talking about this nonsense? Because I have other things to take care of.”
I narrowed my eyes. “No, we’re not. First of all, you can’t possibly expect me to pay you for a painting that isn’t mine! Secondly, you need to put that thing down!”
He chuckled. “Oh, I assure you, I will. As soon as you hand over the money.”
“The hell I will.”
“Then you’ll die.”
I froze. “You’re bluffing.”
“Not at all. I’ve been carrying this gun for years. Trust me, I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“But—”
“Look, I’m sorry, but I don’t feel comfortable leaving you unsupervised right now. So, unless you want to go back to jail, you’ll give me the cash.”
I gritted my teeth. “Fine. Give me five minutes to gather some money, then meet me at the front door.”
“Done and done.” He stood up. “See ya later, sweetheart.” Then he walked toward the exit.
I watched him leave, feeling completely helpless. There was nothing I could do to stop him. Not even if I wanted to. All I could hope for was that he would change his mind and forget about killing me. Unfortunately, I doubted that would happen.
Once he left, I took a deep breath. Then I grabbed my phone. It didn’t matter whether Drew followed through with his threat or not; I still needed to call the police. The sooner, the better.
Unfortunately, my attempts failed miserably. When I dialed 911, the line went straight to voicemail. I tried again several more times, but each time, the same result occurred. Eventually, I gave up.
It wasn’t long before I heard footsteps approaching. I quickly turned around just in time to see Drew walk out of the room. His face remained expressionless as he approached me.
“Here’s the deal,” he said. “If you really want to avoid being killed, you’ll follow my instructions. Otherwise, I promise you, there’s no way you’re walking away alive.”
I glared at him. “You’re insane.”
“Nope. Just very determined. Now, where did you say you hid the money?”
I pointed behind me. “In the closet.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
I hesitated. “Wait. Are you seriously gonna kill me?”
“Of course I am. That’s the whole point of this little game. But I’m willing to make you a small exception. In exchange for handing over the money, I’ll let you live.”
I shook my head. “That doesn’t sound like much of an incentive.”
Drew smirked. “Don’t worry. You’ll find it worth your while.”
We reached the bedroom. I opened the closet door, revealing a large stack of cash sitting neatly atop one of the shelves. I pulled it down and handed it to him.
“There you go. Now, let’s get out of here.”
He took the money, then closed the door. After locking it, he led me to the living room. Once we got there, he sat down on the sofa. “Now, tell me everything.”
I sighed. “All right. Here goes… I met this guy online. We started chatting, and eventually, we decided to meet up. I told him I had a new painting for sale, so he came to my place today to check it out. Well, after seeing it, he offered me ten thousand dollars for it. I accepted, and he paid me in cash.”
Drew nodded slowly. “And that’s when things went wrong.”
“Yeah. Apparently, he thought I stole the painting from him.”
“Why would he think that?”
“Because I never mentioned anything about selling it to anyone else. Plus, I only sold two paintings last year. This one is definitely the third.”
“So, why didn’t you mention that to him?”
“Well, because I knew he’d be suspicious. I mean, who sells their artwork for such a high price without telling anybody? And besides, I didn’t have any proof that I actually painted the picture myself. I figured he wouldn’t believe me anyway, so I kept quiet.”
“Smart move. Too bad it didn’t work out.”
I shrugged. “Anyway, once he realized I was lying, he threatened to shoot me. At first, I panicked. Then I remembered how you taught me to defend myself against guns. So, I used the technique you showed me. I guess it worked since he dropped the gun and ran off.”
Drew chuckled. “Nice job. I’m glad you were able to use those skills to protect yourself. However…”
His voice trailed off. I looked up at him. “What?”
“The thing is, I can’t help you anymore. I promised I would take care of this problem for you, but I made a mistake by bringing you along. If I hadn’t, none of this would’ve happened. I should’ve known better than to trust someone I barely know.”
My heart sank. “But what are you going to do now? What happens next?”
“Nothing. As far as I’m concerned, all I need to do is wait until the cops come. They’ll arrest the guy, and everything will be fine. No harm, no foul.”
“No harm…? Wait, don’t you realize what you’re saying?”
“Sure I do. I just meant that I won’t feel guilty about leaving you to die. Besides, I already warned you: if you try to run away, I’ll shoot you dead.”
I stared at him with wide eyes. “You’re not serious!”
“Oh yes, I am. Don’t forget, I’m a professional killer. My life depends on my ability to stay calm under pressure. It’s something I’ve been trained to do ever since I joined the army. Trust me; I’m perfectly capable of killing you without feeling even the slightest bit remorseful.”
I swallowed hard. “Then, why aren’t you doing it?”
“Because I still owe you one. Remember? When we first met, you saved my life. I couldn’t possibly repay you by letting you die. Not after you risked your own safety to save mine.”
I frowned. “You could’ve left me alone back in the car. Why did you bring me into this mess?”
“It wasn’t a big deal. I wanted to see how well you handled yourself. Turns out, you’re pretty good at fighting. The fact that you managed to hold your ground despite being outnumbered shows real potential. I might consider hiring you someday.”
“Hire me? Are you kidding me?”
He laughed. “Not really. You seem like a decent person. I want to hire people like you.”
“Are you insane?! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to work for a criminal organization?!”
“Yes, I do. Which is exactly why I chose to join the military instead.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Besides, I’m sure you’ll agree that working for me isn’t such a bad option. Think about it: you get to keep most of the money you earn, plus you’ll receive an excellent salary every month. How many other jobs offer that kind of compensation?”
“None! That’s why I quit my old job and became a full-time artist. I love art, and I hate dealing with customers. I much prefer making my own stuff.”
“That’s great. But let me ask you something: do you enjoy getting shot at or stabbed?”
“Of course not. Nobody likes that sort of thing.”
“Exactly. In order to survive, you need to learn how to handle these kinds of situations. Otherwise, you’re doomed to fail. Now, I know you probably think I’m crazy, but I promise you, I’m not. All I want to do is make enough money to buy some land and build a house where I can live peacefully. Once I accomplish that goal, I’ll disappear forever.
The End