It was a particularly cold day in London. The streets were bustling due to the holiday season. The streets and sidewalks were filled with busy commuters rushing to their location.

In the neighborhood, the homes were packed tightly together and high. One house, in particular, looked neglected. The lawn had high grass and dead flowers. The exterior showed signs of decay and was a darker shade than all the other buildings.

“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Blake asked as he looked at his phone. The GPS said they were at the right address, yet it didn’t look like a livable house.

“I mean the house number says 318,” I said. As my eyes surveyed the building, I couldn’t help but frown. A morose feeling passed through me. What drove him to live like this?

“Oi! Are you two in the right place?” A neighbor to the right had yelled out. His door was opened and he was walking to his lawn.

“Does Marco live here?” I asked.

“Pfft, in every sense of the word,” the neighbor replied with a chuckle. “Are you two of his long lost children or something?”

“He’s a family friend,” my voice didn’t reflect his playful one.

“With an American? Man, I'd like to know how that happened.”

“Hey,” I began as I pointed into the distance. “Is that a reason to leave this conversation?”

As he turned his head, I opened the gate to the lawn and sped-walk to the front door. When he looked back, he made a nasty face before returning back to his house.

“Really?” Blake asked. “That’s how you got out of that?”

“He was mean first!” I defended myself.

“There were so many other ways to end that conversation.”

“Really? Enlighten me.”

Blake looked into the distance for seconds without speaking. “Touche.”

I laughed and stuck my tongue out, only to receive a punch to my arm. I rang the doorbell while rubbing it.

“Coming!” A voice yelled out. I heard loud steps descending towards us before the door lock clicked back. When the door opened to reveal the two of us, the man’s jovial face had dropped into a confused one.

“Hi Marco,” I said nervously as I slowly waved my hand.

“Pardon me, do I know you two?” he asked.

“You really don’t recognize us?” I asked bitterly. He blinked while trying to figure out our identities.

“Zack and Blake.” I said. In that moment, his eyes lit up as his mind finally placed us.

“Zack,” he drawled slowly. I saw a tear quickly form in his eye before he blinked it out. “C-Come in.”

He motioned for us as he turned his back and led us. We looked at each other in confusion as we followed.

“You two sure have grown,” he said with a small laugh. When we entered, the house was a dump. Empty bags and containers littered the floor and tables. There was a strong smell of grease in the air coming from several boxes of pizza.

“Sorry about the mess. If I’d known you two were coming I would’ve cleaned up.” We saw him disappear into the kitchen. “Do you two want anything?”

“Uh, I think we’re good.” I replied. I looked over to Blake as we looked for a place where we could sit. The most appealing option was the couch, only having two questionable yellow food stains. I moved all the boxes off and sat down.

“Are you going to ask?” Blake whispered to me.

“Why do I have to do it?”

“Because this is your idea!”

“You brought it up!”

“So that you would do it!”

“Fine,” I whispered back as I took a deep breath. “Marco, what happened to you?”

“What do you mean by that?” Marco asked from the kitchen. I heard the refrigerator open and something was taken out. When he walked back to the living room, he had a container of noodles.

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“You’re living in a trash can,” I said as I gestured to everything around us.

“Trash can?” he repeated. He smiled, however it didn’t give off any warmth. It seemed … hollow. “No, I just need to clean this up a bit.”

“How long have you been living like this?” Blake asked.

He stuffed a fork-full of the noodles into his mouth. We didn’t stop staring, wanting a sincere answer.

“Five years,” he admitted in a quiet voice.

“Why didn’t you ask for help?” I asked. He stayed silent. While his smile remained, the tears in his eyes expressed more than any smile could’ve.

“What happened to Jessica?”

“She … left.”

A silence set in. How did he live life like this? Alone. Recluse. Isolated.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. He didn’t answer. “Are you still feeling the pain?”

“Are you two?” he asked back. We both looked at each other and nodded.

“I suppose it’s my fault really,” he said as he leaned back into the couch. “I should’ve given her more attention. But after I heard the news, I didn’t know how to move on.”

“You left your teaching job?”

He nodded. “I couldn’t look at them without resenting their happiness. They still had everything, but I had nothing.” His voice began to break as the gentle stream of tears erupted from the painful memories.

“How did you two deal with it?”

“It wasn’t easy at first,” I admitted. “But I found solace in an obsession.”

“What obsession?” he asked. “I can’t count the number of times I’ve tried.”

I debated whether I should tell him or not. I was sure he wouldn’t rat me out, but would it just make things worse?

“Have you watched the news recently?” I questioned.

“From time to time.”

“Have you heard of The Joker, Robin Hood, the Fool, whatever they’re calling the jewel thief?”

He nodded his head.

“Well, you’re looking at him,” I said. He sat up straight and began to look at me. “That’s your new obsession?”

“Part of it,” I replied. “Just practice leading up to the main event.”

“Main event?” he questioned. “Is that why you’re in London?”

“Did you ever see the footage of the car accident?” I asked. “There were unmarked cars driving away from the scene. Those cars then later arrived at MI6 headquarters.”

“How could you know that?” he asked as he narrowed his eyes. “You finished Project Archer.”

“I did,” I said. “It’s how I’ve been able to stay ahead of law enforcement.”

The realization of my words set in. “If what you said is true, then he didn’t die from a car accident.”

“And that leads to the main event. I plan to rob the Crown Jewels.”

“You want to break into one of the most guarded places in the country,” he said, completely flabbergasted. One look at my face however, showed that I was completely serious. “There’s no way you're escaping.”

“Have a little more faith,” I replied. “I have it all planned out. And even if it does go sideways, even if I get captured, then I tell the press about my dad, with video proof. That will then pressure the government to provide answers. If they don’t, I publicly release all their security flaws and embarrass them even more.”

“That makes it sound like it was never about the Jewels’ worth,” he said. “You’re just doing it for the attention. To make them look bad.”

“You got it,” I said whilst clapping.

“We need your help,” Blake said, breaking his silence. “A driver to get us to the port where we escape.”

“The port?”

“The port is typically one of the last places to close for emergency, much less a cruise ship,” Blake explained. “And if the vessel gets searched, it’s relatively easy to hide things there.”

“No offense, your other thefts are good, but you're talking about a place protected by the military,” he said. “This is an entirely different game.”

“We’ve planned this down to the smallest detail together,” Blake said. “It’ll work. And if you help us, you’ll be compensated.”

He looked reluctant as he sat there. His arms were on his legs, supporting his head, as he was deep in thought.

“Think of the thrill,” I said. “But regardless if you accept or not, we’ll give you three four carat diamonds valued at $500,000 USD. Completely clean, and you can sell them in the country of your choosing.”

He remained silent as he was still in thought. “Are you two going to do this even if I don’t agree?”

“We’d rather have you on board as well,” Blake said. “But we would probably still proceed.”

A minute of silence passed as he continued to contemplate his choices. “I’ll be your getaway driver.”

The two of us breathed a collective sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“But one more thing,” I added quickly. “You have to ask Jessica out on a date.”

“What?” he asked in shock.

“Listen man, you need someone to guide you through this process. You two had good chemistry with each other. But that’s besides the point, you drove her away, so you should be the one to pick her back up.”

“She wouldn’t want to talk to me.”

“Have you asked?”

“No,” he admitted as he shook his head in shame. “I’m too afraid too.”

“Just text,” I affirmed. “And you’ll get your payment.”

He hesitantly took out his phone. His hands shook as he entered his password. I watched him click on the message app, the last one being received a year ago. He searched up Jessica’s name and slowly typed out the message.

Can we meet?

His finger hovered over the send button before he suddenly dropped it and immediately turned off his phone. “Getting advice from teenagers.”

I reached into my pocket and set the jewels on the table. “We have a few days before it starts. I think it’s only fair for us to help you clean up.”

“Thank you,” he gratefully said. “Truly, thank you.”

I grinned. “No problem. Anything for a friend.”