Matru is hiding behind a pillar, eyes shut tight. It’s a normal pillar in so far as pillars go. Except it’s riddled with bullet holes. If Matru’s heart wasn’t beating as fast as it is, they would have assumed they were playing a video game.
But they’re not.
They’re in a life-or-death race because they stole a diamond necklace. They know the story is cliche but that’s the first scenario their brain picked up from the endless video games they have played when Ramshackle closed the door behind them.
Matru, in their previous life, the life before meeting Ramshackle, was a car salesperson. They were good at their job. And they got a lot of tips. They weren’t in it for the soul so they managed to reach the highest echelon of what a car salesperson could reach: running a dealership.
A chance encounter with Camille, however, changes everything.
Matru is bored. It’s the fifth day and no one has walked into the dealership. They’re not worried, not yet, because they’re running on excess. But even that will run out in a fortnight and Matru has never been in such dire straits.
As soon as they’re done negotiating with God to send in a few customers in exchange for a discount when God is in need of a pair of wheels, a girl in a black coat, a black dress that ends on her thighs and boots that lace all the way up to her knees walks in. Her face is clear of makeup except for a slash of red lipstick, the only pop of colour in her ensemble. She doesn’t seem to be in any form of trouble. Had this been a video game, she could have been the mob boss’ squeeze.
She is a customer, as it turns out, here to pick up her car. Matru does not remember her; those long legs are hard to forget. So, they acquaint themself with her as they walk towards a silver sedan. The colour oddly suits Camille’s personality.
As she walks around the car, she says, “This is a gift to me. I have never bought something so expensive in my life!”
Matru smiles indulgently. They find it hilarious how twenty-somethings are convinced their life is nearly over just because they’re closing in on twenty-five.
Camille takes another round of the car, reaching out with a thumb to wipe away an oily fingerprint. “She’s a beaut. Too bad I’ll have her only for a day.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll be dead the day after,” she says nonchalantly.
“Oh,” says Matru and before they can scold themself for their curiosity, they add, “are you alright?”
Her entire body lights up as she says, “I’m quite well, thank you. I…shouldn’t say.”
And though Matru’s alarm bells are ringing and every instinct in their body tells them not to engage, they ask, “Since you’ll be dead soon, you can tell me.”
Before Camille drives away, she tells them about Ramshackle and the contract. When Matru does not react badly, she hands over Ramshackle’s visiting card. She herself had gotten it from a stranger at a bus stop. The card has an address on one side and Matru’s name on the other.
Though their ears are ringing with gunfire, when they open their eyes, they are greeted not by a sea of pillars but blankness, a three-dimensional space that is waiting for them to make up their mind before loading the software.
It hits them then with the force of a dog tackling them to the ground and slobbering all over them that there is no need to perform. They are in control, as Ramshackle has told them repeatedly.
The relief of that knowledge means Matru can wipe away the jewellery heist scene they had originally chosen and go with their real desire.
They’re twenty years old, fresh out of college. A gaming company that is now out of business but at the time was rolling in coins, wants to recruit them to test their games. The coins are crap, the job is hard but it is a step closer to their dream job. The only reason they don’t pick it up is fear. But here, in this white, blank, three-dimensional space, there is no need for fear.
The software loads. They see themself in front of a mirror. Matru’s not sure if the space is real, imagined, or if they have actually travelled back in time and are twenty years old again. It doesn’t matter much. They’re late for the first day of their job. So, they don their jeans and the comfiest sea-green sweater and get to work.
9 of 26 of an ongoing series The Dream Maker. You can read all posts here. Written as part of #BlogchatterA2Z.
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