Tandem

Nick Taylor-Gilbert

The young man clasped the crumpled cheque in his pocket tighter. He could feel the ink burning into his hand as he wrapped his fingers around it. His other hand rested on the cool metal of the gun in his back pocket.

"Afternoon Nick. How are you?"

Nick turned around sharply. "You're going to do me a favour and give me the land Don," he said. He crossed the room so that he stood mere inches from Don's face.

"You know it's usually polite to repeat the question back."

"I don't have time for polite formalities."

"Well, the key to being a successful businessman is being polite. If you aren't likeable, nobody is going to want to shake your hand and seal the deal." Don threw the end of his burning cigarette to the floor.

"Something you clearly know nothing about, or you wouldn't be here right now."

"Quite the opposite. I was simply too ambitious for my own good, that was the problem."

"So, you felt there was no other option than to fake your death and skulk about in the shadows."

"If you want to call it that then yes. Life is so much easier now. I'd do it all over again if I had to."

"What a waste."

"You should be thanking me. This plan of mine will make you one of the wealthiest men in the world." Don rubbed his fingers together.

"I'll thank you when this is all over. Just tell me what we need to do."

"I have with me my suicide note. It details everything; why I have given up on the project and that I leave the land to you in good faith. You are my last hope for this Nick." Don withdrew a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.

"Why couldn't you have asked for the sponsorships yourself, being the perfect businessman that you are?"

"There are people in this industry that have opposed everything I've tried to do. Our paths have crossed in the past and have unfortunately not ended on good terms but Nick, the very same people that have failed me may well go above and beyond to make your plan a reality. That is what we are hoping for at least. I desperately tried to secure those funds but--" Don shook his head.

"But you couldn't," Nick interrupted.

"Just like you couldn't say no to the prospect of money."

Nick felt his hand shake a little and moved it out of Don's line of sight. He couldn't have this man knowing how nervous he really was.

"I want you to give me your word Nick. I want to know that we have a deal." Don held out his hand.

"You know we do. Just give me the letter." Nick reached forward, attempting to grab the piece of paper from Don's hand.

"And you're going to give me fifty percent of the profits once the resort is opened." Nick's eyes wandered over the writing on the piece of paper, searching for the signature that would confirm his new acquisition.

"You know I can't do that."

"No actually, I think you can."

"We never agreed to that."

"Exactly. As far as I'm concerned it's open for discussion and I want half." Don pulled his hand back and with it the letter too.

"I'm not going to say it again."

"You know, I really want to work with you on this Nick, but the truth is if you bail now, I could find someone else in a heartbeat. Do you know how many dashing, wannabe entrepreneurs there are in this world?"

"Tons I'm sure. None of them are like me though Don and you'd find that out soon enough."

"If you think I'm walking away with anything less than fifty, you've got another thing coming kid. I need to cover what I paid for the land in the first place, and I want to be able to live off the rest. My face will be everywhere so there's no way I could get another job."

"You don't think people are going to ask me where half of the profits have gone? That's a shit ton of money to just disappear."

"Make something up. I know, say you have a gambling problem. You see that all the time with ambitious young men like you. Too much money and too little responsibility, that's the issue. It'll be big news at first but then it'll quickly disappear amongst all the other crap they churn out on the news."

"No. I'm not going to protect someone like you by damaging the reputation I've worked so hard to build for myself."

"The reputation that's founded on lies you mean."

"What?"

"People like you, Nick, because they see a successful, motivated young man with a lovely wife and a baby to provide for. They like you because you let them see the wholesome young businessman just trying to make his way in the world. They like you because they don't know about the other woman in your life."

"How do you--"

"It doesn't matter how I know Nick, just that I do." "Don't bring anyone else into this."

"She's very pretty."

"You've seen her?"

"I have multiple times. She's a pretty young thing isn't she? What I want to know is how the world would feel about you if they found out about her." Don smirked. Nick noticed how chipped and stained his teeth were. Months of living in hiding had not been kind to this man. Every time he clasped his hands together, the rough skin on his hands rubbed together and sounded like sandpaper.

"You should shut your mouth. She has nothing to do with this."

"Oh, but she does. One mention of her and you will fall to the ground just as I did. You'd be nothing without your little façade."

"Shut your goddamn mouth." Nick seethed.

"Your life would crumble quicker than the Berlin Wall. What a way to treat a nice young lady. Clearly the men of today don't have quite the same standards as I did when I was young."

"I told you to shut up you piece of shit," Nick pulled out the gun and shot Don in the abdomen. Don stood for a moment in disbelief before collapsing to the ground, his hand pressed firmly against the wound.

"This would've been so much easier if you weren't such a greedy bastard," Nick growled, standing over Don.

"And if you weren't such a fool. You only have yourself to blame now for what comes next." Don choked.

"Shut up."

"Unfortunately, it looks like I won't be here to witness the aftermath. What a damn shame that is."

"You'll be rotting in hell." Nick could not tear his eyes away from the blood oozing from Don's stomach. It drew his gaze like a moth to a flame. It oozed out from the bullet hole and pooled next to him on the floor.

"Well, I'll be sure to save you a place down there. I came here knowing what you would do Nick because you're just like me. The damage has already been done, I made sure of it in the event you'd do exactly what you just did." Don's bloodied hand fell from the wound.

"I'm nothing like you."

"Pointing that gun a moment ago, you were just a scared man Nick but the moment you pulled that trigger, it was like I was looking into a mirror."

"Except only one of us is walking out of this alive."

"You'll wish you weren't," Don mumbled. His eyes slowly closed, and his chest fell. Nick snatched the letter from Don's lifeless hand. His heart dropped when he noticed the traces of bloody fingertips along the edges. He'd have to dispose of the body later, there wasn't enough time before he was expected back at the apartment. Nobody but Don and himself had access to the land so he should be alright for some time. He slipped the suicide note alongside the cheque, the weight of both like a concrete block in his jacket pocket. He wiped the sweat from his brow, ready to return to his family.