Short stories

Plan of the century

She sighed, closing her eyes. Did he really ask her to come only for that? She just couldn’t believe it. She finally got up and shook her head.

“I don’t want to, Luis.”

“You absolutely have to help us! We need you, please. We can’t rob the bank just the two of us! Claudia, you must help us!”

The woman crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. She slowly shook her head again, refusing to help them. According to her, there was no chance that their plan will work: they based their plan on something they saw in a movie! Daphne told her their plan was great. Claudia was a grunt, smiling weakly.

“This is a stupid movie, of course! If you find another model, I get into your story. There, it’s out of the question.”

“You’re talking about a masterpiece,” Daphne said.

“A very bad idea, yes.”

“Don’t criticize the plan. We can do exactly the same thing they did.”

“We may be caught!”

“Not at all!” Luis cried. “To make it, we’ll wear masks and nobody can find us. I swear!”

“You made me come here to tell me about your stupid plan?”

“We ask you to help us,” Daphne said. “That’s it.”

“I will not stay here any longer. You are crazy, both.”

Daphne gazed at Claudia without answering a word. Obviously she wanted to change her mind, leaving some thoughts about what they had said. But it didn’t seem to work. Claudia hurriedly put on her jacket and left the room quickly. Luis ran behind her. He called her out, but the young woman pretended not to hear him. He eventually catches up and grabbed her arm to force her to turn to him. She pulled away with a sudden gesture.

“Leave me alone!”

“Why don’t you want to help us? You need money as much as we do.”

“Your plan will not work.”

“But if…”

“Are you sleeping with her too?”

He frowned, wondering how she could know. Then he realized that she was unaware of his affair with Daphne and she was only speaking in a simple state of jealousy. He took her by the shoulders and forced her to look him in the eyes.

“You know you’re the only one that matter to me.”

Claudia smiled weakly.

“I thought…”

“I only want to be with you. It is for this reason I want you to help us. And it’ll be fine. Please…”

She hesitated a moment before saying:

“If you put it that way…”

* * * * *

Daphne suddenly opened the door before turning to her accomplices.

“Let’s get out!” she cried.

Claudia went out of the bank in a rush, following Daphne who was already running. The alarm became deafening, warning that the police could arrive quickly. The flashing lights shining in the street outside the bank while the two women fled into an alley where Luis was waiting. They carried all three a bag containing the money they had stolen. The rest of the plan was very simple: they had to go their separate ways and not talk to each other for a very long time. Claudia didn’t agree on this point, but she returned to her apartment without saying a single word. She couldn’t bring herself not seeing Luis. After splitting up the money – Claudia’s part was a bit more than the other two – they took different paths.