Per 
None of his peers knew why Charley Lockland breakfasted at the same Denny's every morning. But then again, none of them ever bothered to ask him. If you asked him he would tell you that it was in an attempt to make himself appear more approachable. If the hopeful landowners heard that their real estate agent ate at a Denny's every morning they might feel more at ease around him. But this was a lie, as he walked in through the double doors Barbra greeted him and started to prepare the same, bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich with a medium coffee 2 cream, 2 sugar, that was prepared every day at the same time. "Morning Darlene," He quipped to the waitress "Hows Bobby did he get those grades back up…"
But aside from Charley's eating habits he still tended to carry an atmosphere of humble kingship, if not respect. This would explain why the booths next to his were always empty. Today however this aura seemed… diminished. Perhaps it was his suit being ever so slightly untucked or how his hair had less than perfect sheen to it. Darlene noticed, and when she asked what he wanted he retorted "What I always order, have I never been here before!?"
As the other patrons could clearly see, Charley wasn't all too happy. This was because the day before, at the very Denny's that he was brooding in now, to his great surprise, someone sat down next to him.
While this surprise was diminished slightly at the sight of the man, it was quickly replaced with fear. The fear of a shark suddenly caught in the shadow of a megalodon, of a king who has been usurped by a god.
"Good morning Mr. Lockland," this perfect being said, revealing a smile with perfect teeth that went along with his perfect suit, and his perfect hair, with every strand in place. "Its lovely weather we're having isn't it?"
Charley wouldn't say he was terrified, but he did get a shot of adrenaline which froze him solid. His synapses fired faster than he thought possible. His deal maker's mind analyzed the man's suit and body language noting that everything from his socks to his Rolex screamed money. But this wasn't a new thing to Charley, he had encountered powerful men before.
The part of his mind that dealt with manners promptly took over "Yes I suppose it has been quite dreary," he stated, quickly glancing outside to view the glass window was sheathed in water. He looked back to the man the deal maker again noting that the man didn't appear wet at all. How he had accomplished this was the least of his worries.
The small talk continued for about a half-hour before Charley couldn't take it anymore.
"I hope you don't mind me asking but, do I know you?" A grin spread across the man's face as he replied: "No you wouldn't know me, but I certainly know you, my name is Juda Portman and the organization I am employed by would be very interested in your services."
"Oh, you had me scared there if you wanted to talk business you could have just said so!" Charley visibly relaxed, much to the delight of Juda, who knew the fun was just beginning.
"So what kinda business are we talking about, I can do house deals, land leases, and most negotiations."
"That last one is probably what we're most interested in although not in any way you've done it before," Juda replied his grin growing into that of a shark.
Charley was growing more anxious by the minute. His sense of something familiar in the topic of real estate was flowing through his fingers like sand. He tried to keep control of the situation, this was his specialty after all. "W-well perhaps if you were to tell me your company's name I would be able t-to call them maybe we can set up some sort of um… deal?"
Juda moved his hand to his mouth to stifle a chuckle. "Oh you would have never heard of my employer, and if you had I might even take offense."
This shook Charley more than anything that had happened yet. Charley somehow shrunk even smaller into the bar stool as Juda's grin grew wider still. Charley had spent years in real estate and prided himself in his knowledge of companies and organizations, but he felt that challenging someone of this scope wouldn't be very wise. "Oh w-well still," Charley stuttered, getting more and more self-conscious about the wrinkles in his tux or how outdated his car was. "Maybe we can meet somewhere more… private to discuss these matters." His mouth irking its way on to his face in a way that poorly suggested a smile, his teeth clenched behind lips stretched tight, trying to match the perfect grin on Juda's face.
"Oh yes I heartily agree, this place is too… primitive, why don't you come to a gathering held the Gentleman's club I am a part of. My employers host it but if you want to get in you'll need this." Juda reached in his pocket and pulled out a black card with the gold-colored word Guest pressed in the middle. "A car will pick you up at your house around 8. Try to dress nice." Juda said glancing at Charley's clothes with disgust.
The car pulled up and Charley stepped out onto the sidewalk.
His head pulsed slightly and swam as he tried to remember the ride there. The twists and turns the car took blended, and as he tried to piece it together pain flared in his forehead slightly. He decided to drop it.
He walked up to the front door, solid oak, and when a doorman opened it at least 10 cm thick. He showed the doorman the card Juda gave him. He nodded, holding the door open for him.
As Charley stepped inside he was struck by the pure size of the space. The ceiling must have been at least three stories high, and as a servant took his coat he saw that the walls stretched 15 meters on each side.
The same servant led him through the maze that made up this gallant house and as they approached their destination the smell of turkey gravy and mashed potatoes replaced that of cigars and old wood. As they rounded the last corner Charley saw between massive double doors what appeared to be a dining hall almost too massive to comprehend. He was struck by the prominent thanksgiving decoration. A stage on one end of the room sported performers and acrobats dressed as turkeys and pilgrims dancing and swinging from bars seemingly suspended by threads so thin he could hardly see them. Walking into the room Charley saw Juda waving him down.
He started making his way over to the table Juda was at and the deal maker took over. He analyzed the crowd around Juda starting with the woman across from him. She wore a lime green dress with the tail feathers of a turkey coming out of the shoulders. He looked at the other party-goers around Juda and decided that she was the only threat. The rest of them looked like typical movie stars or business exects. Nothing he couldn't handle. But this woman seemed different. She wasn't watching the performers or eating the food. She seemed uninterested. like this was her everyday life. She just sat there tapping away on her phone, not even glancing up as Charley sat down.
"Charley!! How good to see you," Cried Juda, "I told you to wear something nice you know." The surrounding guests giggled, all except for the woman of course. Charley blushed, quickly regaining control of himself, chuckling weakly with them. He had taken the rest of that day off from work and had his best suit cleaned and pressed profusely, but he could still see how outclassed he was here.
"Come sit, we have so much to discuss." Charley sat and Juda poured him some champagne from a bottle off the table. "This," He said gesturing to the mysterious woman "is the most important person you will ever have the fortuity of working with." She rolled her eyes and glowered at Juda's ever-smiling face.
She put down her phone with an exasperated sigh and turned to Charley. "Hi, my names Iris, and you are?" Charley stuttered, not expecting her to even notice him. "S-so sorry I must have forgotten my manners my names Charley Lockland, I'm a real estate agent and I was told you would be interested in my negotiation skills."
"Ah yes I remember you now, I'm sorry if Juda gave you a scare, he can be quite pugnacious." She shot Juda another dirty look but he was already talking to the woman next to him. "You probably have a lot of questions, I'll be… happy to answer any you have."
"Oh, well I do, yea, so you say you're interested in my negotiation skills, how do you plan to use them, and what about my other job?"
"Well you will stay at your old job but you will report to us on certain… assignments. We will contact you with an assignment, the assignment will require you to acquire an object. assignments will be given to you based on your skills or ties to others. You cannot turn down an assignment. Each assignment is different and may or may not have a time constraint. You will be given currency for each assignment and will be expected to return any currency not used."
"OK that sounds good, what do I get in return though?"
"Well you will be able to continue coming to parties such as this," She looked around at the performers who seemed to be tossing their turkey dressed partner's head between two of them while he ran trying to get it from them. Charley snapped back to her tearing his eyes from the gruesome performance still wondering how it was possible. "if you want to" she rolled her eyes, Charley could tell that she had been to many of these gatherings and the elegance wore off long ago. "you may also find certain problems in your life… disappear. People may come to you on a good word, or you may find yourself in a higher position in your company."
"Hmm, that is a quite attractive offer…"
Charley's head was crushed then reformed then crushed again as the blood gushed through his anguished veins. He sat up in his bed grabbing his head and squeezing his eyes shut to try and escape from the pain, only succeeding in making it worse. After a cold glass of water and several Aspirin, he could think beyond the need to bash his head in with the nearest blunt object. He thought back to the night before and could only grasp as a feeling that he had agreed to something far more dreadful than he could have imagined, a deep sense of ominous foreboding starting to envelop him.
He shook it off feeling it must be the tremendous amount of alcohol he consumed. He shouldn't have let himself go that bad in front of that many important people. Hmm… importan- OH SHIT! He stared at his watch until the numbers stopped dancing and saw what he had dreaded. 10:17. A single phrase came to his mind from last night. "If we think you have a place here then you can expect a pickup at 10, that's when initiations start."
He ran to the window and stared outside scanning his driveway over and over and to his dismay, no car appeared in his driveway. He put his back to the wall and slowly slid down the wall, the tears already starting to fall. He had failed. The opportunity of a lifetime passed up and gone forever.
"Well you're late," the waitress said to him as he walked into the door of the Dennys he had until now loved coming to. But now all it is is a reminder of the failure he was and the opportunity thrown out the window. He sat down at his stool. As the waitress took his order, he broke.
