Ed felt woefully unprepared for meeting someone from the middle city. If he had known, he would’ve prepared a gift, or anything that could’ve given him a chance to ingratiate himself. He was all nervous and sweaty now, but for an entirely different reason than a few minutes ago.

Where before he felt like he was going to die, now he felt that this was his only chance to make it big. He blessed the stars that he was lucky enough to stumble upon this opportunity, and he wanted to do everything in his power to please this man.

Remember. Shake hands, hand over the briefcase. This guy looks businessy, maybe he’ll appreciate my work ethic. Ed threw on an ingratiating smile and reached out to shake the man’s hand, only for him to pull away in disgust.

“Don’t touch me. I don’t want to catch whatever foul diseases you have. I can’t believe they would send someone so disgusting to meet me. Is this some kind of joke? I knew this place had nothing good going for it.” The man felt insulted, and wanted nothing more than to leave and cancel the deal right then and there.

Ed looked down at himself, and realised that he was a bit dirty. Stupid! Why did I try and touch him? There goes my chances. Maybe I can redeem myself? Taking a quick whiff, he distanced himself from the man so as not to ‘contaminate’ him. “I’m sorry sir.”

“At least you know your place.” He said smugly. “Let’s just get this over and done with so I can leave this filthy place.” The man made his contempt known, not caring about Ed’s feelings at all.

Ed felt angry, but pushed it down. Now was not the time to get fired up. He needed to keep his cool so that he could get out of here in one piece. “Of course sir. I’ve got the briefcase.” He lifted it up to show the man.

“I can see that you dimwit.” He snarled. “Does it have everything in it? Or are you trying to scam me with some filthy lower city credits?”

Scam him? Why would he think that? We’re not that bad, are we? “I don’t know sir. I mean, of course they wouldn’t try and scam you. It’s definitely in there.” Ed stumbled over his words, then looked up at the man with a nervous smile, only for his face to pale considerably.

The man was seething. His disgust giving way to a furious and fiery rage. “Do you take me for a fool, you rat? What do you mean you don’t know?”

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Ed trembled in fear, failing to get the words out. He used the briefcase to shield himself from the man. “No sir, that’s not what I meant at all. I’m just a street urchin they hired to do this job. They didn’t let me see what was inside in case I tried to steal it.”

“Ugh, you’re even more disgusting than I thought.” He said, before turning his anger to Keith. “Do they have no respect for me? Do they not know who I am? How dare they send such a filthy dog.” He muttered.

Ed felt his heart sting, as his already lacking self-esteem crumbled into pieces at being called a dog. He bit back his anger, cause he knew his life depended on it.

“I should just leave right now. Tell them this deal is over.” He turned around and began to walk away.

“Please sir. They’ll kill me if I can’t do this.” Ed begged, trying desperately to hold onto his narrow chance at life. The man gave him a glimmer of hope when he stopped at the edge of the light.

“Leave the briefcase here. If they want to make this deal, they need to show some sincerity. Now get out of my sight” He said without turning his back.

What do I do? What do I do? Ed struggled for a moment, knowing that leaving here without either briefcase was even worse than going back with the one he had. They would put his head on a spike, if they didn’t immediately pop a bullet in his brain the second he stepped outside, that is.

But would he even be able to leave if he didn’t do what the man said? Looking at the man’s back, there was a split second where he wanted to strike while his back was turned. He looks so vulnerable. I can just grab both briefcases and get out of here before they know it.

He shook his head, knowing better than to assume the guy couldn’t defend himself. He was far too wealthy to not have any means of defence. Ed probably wouldn’t be able to make it past the table before something happened to him.

With slumped shoulders, Ed walked over and placed the briefcase on the table, and slowly backed away. Making sure to be as loud as possible with every action that he took, just so that the man could tell what he was doing.

Before the man could even turn around, Ed walked back into the darkness and towards the exit. With each step he took away from the briefcase, he wanted to turn back and see what the man was doing, but thought better of it. Instead, he continued to walk towards the door without turning back.

With each shelf he passed, he felt his heart beating out of his chest. It was too late to go back now, but the moment he stepped through the door was possibly the last moment he would be alive. And that was scary.

What am I gonna tell them? “Sorry, I just handed over your briefcase without getting what you wanted.” No, they’ll definitely kill me... He did say that he wanted them to come in and negotiate, maybe I could do something with that.

His heart began to calm down as a plan slowly formed in his head. He scanned his surroundings to make sure no one was watching, and slipped his hand into his inner pocket.