The Turn: Chapter Fifteen

The Turn

Chapter Fifteen

~Mission Impossible – Part One~

Two Years before the Turn

An expensive restaurant in New York City was open with all its glitz and glamor. Politicians and people with generally too much money drove up in their black limos to the current Presidents fundraising dinner. News camera’s gathered around a type of red carpet of political who’s who.

The venue was just getting started and a van pulled around into the back alley. Out walked the waiters who would be serving the politicians that evening. A girl with her hair in a ponytail walked out rubbing her eyes helplessly. Apparently her contacts weren’t exactly being friendly to her at the moment. A boy with long black hair also walked out of the back of the van with some others. His hair was also in a ponytail. He grabbed a bag from the van and followed the other waiters into the building. The girl followed slowly, rubbing her eyes.

They walked into a side entrance where they were met with on duty police officers. There were four tables with a police officer at each. An officer with African American decent motioned the boy with the bag over. He opened the bag and looked inside. The officer was noticeably young but looked like he could hold his own. When he finished looking inside, he handed the bag back. After giving the boy a quick pat down, he allowed the boy to proceed.

The boy walked into a small changing room to get into his uniform. He placed the bag into a locker and walked out into the kitchen for the ‘motivational’ instructions from the restaurant owner.

In the front, a limo drove up. Instantly the cameras were on flash. An aggressive photographer pushed her way forward. She wasn’t afraid to elbow the nearest camera man. She managed to get in front of everyone and started her camera on stream. A boy in a standard suit stepped out of the limo and helped out a woman in a beautiful black sparkling form fitting dressed. Even as no one seemed to know who they were they were very photogenic together so on the flashes went. It was assumed that they were the children of some ambassador or congressman who was invited.

When the two went into the building the aggressive photographer was pushed back as a congressman pulled up. She ended up at the back of the school of piranhas. She didn’t seem to mind though. She walked around into an alley and fiddled with her camera as if it wasn’t working properly. As if to test if it was working, she aimed the camera into the sky. Something shot out of the lens at attached itself to the wall near the flat roof.

She unconnected her cameras lens and attached it to her belt. She pulled on the string and rose easily up the wall. She climbed over onto the roof. There was a police officer on the far end. She got to her feet and ran behind him. She swung her leg at his feet. He fell to the ground and she hit him in the neck, knocking him out. She tied his hands behind his back and stood, detaching a pair of binoculars from her belt and using them to look around.

The couple inside stood in line as they were seated. The girl fiddled anxiously with her purse.

“Chaud,” she said, her lips not moving apart from a smile.

“What?” again, his lips didn’t move.

“Are you sure you thought of everything?”

“I told you,” he sighed, “You plan, I make things happen. I went through this whole thing backwards and forwards. We’ll be fine.”

“What are our reservation names?” Zara asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Chaud muttered.

The seating attendant looked up at them, “Next!”

The two walked forward.

“Names?” she asked.

“We’re part of the Holtinger party,” Chaud stated.

“The senator?” the girl asked.

“Of course the senator! What are you? Stupid?”

“No, sir,” she muttered, “are you Cale, sir?”

“Yes, I am,” he looked to Zara, “I mean I’ve only been in Russia for two months and they’ve already almost forgotten about me!”

Zara rolled her eyes, “Da, darling. Porheps vi should go somevere else vere vi are more appreciated,” she said in a thick Russian accent.

They turned to leave when the girl tired her best to change the situation, “Please! Pardon my rudeness! I can get you seated right away!”

Chaud shrugged, “Well I guess we can stay.”

The girl led them to their table.

“Oh, and don’t tell my father we’re here,” Chaud said as she was about to leave, “He doesn’t know I’m back stateside yet. This will be a surprise…if you can keep your mouth shut.”

“Yes, sir,” she said as she walked away.

“That was mean,” Zara muttered, dropping the accent.

Chaud shrugged, “How else do you expect spoiled little senator sons to act?”

“Mean I guess,” Zara answered.

“Hello,” a waiter walked up, “My name is Nelson and I’ll be your waiter this evening. Can I get you anything to drink?”

Chaud looked up at the waiter. The waiter’s hair was down now from the ponytail before. He held a large round tray in front of his body. Chaud looked at his Asian appearance.

“Nelson…right…we’ll just have water,” Chaud stated.

“Right,” ‘Nelson’ said as he walked back into the kitchen.

Zara looked over at Chaud, “Nelson?”

“He was the only one I could food poison in time with my limited planning time. I had two days of surveillance and one day to get everything put together. Nelson just happened to eat at a hot dog stand where may not have cooked it quite right…”

“You’re evil.”

“All in three days' work,” Chaud smiled, “besides its food poisoning, he’ll be fine!”

Nelson, otherwise known as Naru, returned with their drinks, “May I take your order?”

“What do you have?” Chaud asked, not even bothering to look at the menu.

“We have a three course meal—”

“Three courses? Didn’t realize the President was a cheapskate…” Chaud muttered.

“Da, vat a shame,” Zara stated.

“For the appetizer we have either a soup or salad—”

“That soups?” Chaud asked.

“Chicken or tomato—”

“Do you have, Olivier Salad, traditional to my homeland Russia?”

“No—”

“What is this chicken soup?” Chaud complained, “Is there someone sick here? Do we look sick to you?”

“Vat salads do you have zen?”

“I don’t really want the tomato soup, either.”

“Vi should have gone someplace else. Porheps somevere that serves Olivier Salad.”

“The President wants out money with this crappy food?”

“I—”

Naru interrupted, “I think I’ll let you look at the menu. I’ll be back.”

There was silence at the table after Naru left. Zara saw Victoria, known as Jane here, as she waited a table few tables down. The people at the table seemed to be treating her fairly nicely.

Zara leaned into Chaud and whispered, “That was kind of fun. Mean, but fun.”

“It comes kind of naturally when you're rich,” Chaud nodded.

“You don’t act that way,” Zara observed.

“Because you’d hit me in the head several times a day,” he said as he grabbed the menu off the table.

“Don’t I already do that?”

“I’m trying to keep it at less than 30 times a day.”

Zara raised her eyebrow, “That’s not several?”

“I have the feeling that you’re just getting started.”

Four more people came to their table including Mr. and Mrs. Holtinger. Because they were not told who they were, Chaud and Zara became Greg and Olga Wilson. Zara kept herself from hitting Chaud for introducing her as an Olga. Apparently they were stepbrother and sister, Olga being their father’s wife’s daughter from Russia. It also seemed apparent that Chaud could spout bull crap whenever he needed to. Nelson returned and introduced himself again and asked for orders. Fortunately, the Wilson siblings got their orders straightened out.

The officer finished at his post and continued back stage to prepare the area for the President’s speech.

“Hey, Johnson, you think you’re ready for this?” another officer asked.

Johnson, AKA Deontay, smiled that good hearted smile, “I was born ready, sir!”

“We’re not expecting anything but you can’t be too careful these days,” the officer said.

“Too true,” Johnsons said in a manner that seemed to indicate the other officer was speaking a little too close to the truth.

The other officer shrugged it off, “Let’s begin the inspection.”

Hina on the roof looked down at the coming people. A limo drove up and a man with blond hair stepped out. He didn’t seem too much of a threat, other than his excessive happy-go-luckiness.

Zara was eating her Cesar Salad as she looked carefully around. She saw the man come in and was seated.

“Dragon to panther, come in panther,” Hina’s voice rang in Hina’s ear.

“Greg, vat do you call dis in America?” she pointed at one of the hard bread pieces.

“Croutons,” Chaud answered casually.

“Da, croutons,” Zara stated.

“Is that a yes, you read me?” Hina asked.

“Da, they are very good.”

“I’m gonna tell you what I noticed anyway, okay?” Hina stated, still unsure what exactly was going on, “We’ll I haven’t seen any one with guns blazing in through the front door.”

“Good, very good,” Zara answered.

“And I have seen anything out of the ordinary; they may already be on the inside.”

“But it seems the leafy greens are a little bitter.”

Hina sighed, “I’ll take that as a ‘keep looking’. Over and out.”

“It’s what you get for eating a Cesar Salad in the middle of winter in New York,” Chaud mumbled.

Zara started looking at people more closely. There was a round of applause as the President walked in. People stood to their feet as the music played. When they sat down their entrees were served and the President started his speech. Zara continued to look around. The person with the most access it seemed were the waiters who could go around as they pleased. The audience started laughing at one of the Presidents efforts at a joke. Zara laughed half-heartedly as she looked around at the waiters. While most of the waiters, including Nelson and Jane, had the fakest of smiles on their faces as they served their ‘greater than thou’ guests there were some who seemed to be concentrating on something else. One seemed to be looking at his watch frequently.

“Excuse me,” Zara said as she stood up and walked to the bathroom. When inside, she entered a stall, lowered the toilet seat cover and sat down, “Alright can everyone hear me? I think the assassins came in the same route that we did, as waiters. So that means they must have a cop in their band or they wouldn’t be able to sneak anything in. Keep an eye out.”

She heard someone coming into the bathroom. Zara stood and flushed the toilet and lifted the seat cover. She walked out and washed her hands. A woman walked in to touch up her makeup, Zara decided that wouldn’t be such a bad thing to do as well. She reached into her purse for a tube of lipstick and began applying.

Their mission, assigned by the Tower, was to prevent an assassination by making it an assassination attempt. Assassinations were generally prevented by the Tower for several common sense reasons but this one seemed more important somehow. Over the past year, Zara and her team had had several missions that seemed quite out of the blue. But there was something nagging at her that they might be connected. She assumed that the Tower was trying to connect the dots as well. That was why on this specific mission, they were to bring back one of the assassins. Zara smacked her lips together before walking out of the bathroom.

The President was nearing the end of his speech. She knew that if the assassins were going to act it would be soon. It was time to get everyone in position. She sat at her table and ate some of her food. Just about then, Naru came by.

“Vaiter? Could you take zis back to your kitchen? Ze pasta isn’t, how you say, cooked very vell,” Zara raised her plate.

Naru took the plate and bowed apologetically, “I’m sorry, Ms. I’ll have the chef make you a new plate.”

“Don’t bother,” Zara waved her hand as if she was insulted, “I’ll vait for ze desert.”

Naru went back into the kitchen. He dumped the plate, food and all, into the nearest garbage can. After that, he made his way casually to his locker. He grabbed the bag and started out again. He walked casually as he kept to the back of the room. After Zara’s warning, his eyes scanned the floor for anything unusual.

“Um, waiter?” an old man asked at a table.

Naru stopped and plaster a smile in his face, “May I help you?”

“Our waiter,” the old mad stated, “He hasn’t been serving us very well tonight. We asked for refills on out water, but we haven’t got it yet. It’s been a long while, too. Would you mind getting us some?”

Naru thought a moment. The old man seemed nice enough but he had work to do, “I would but this isn’t my table. I’d get in a lot of trouble if anyone found out. I’m sure your waiter will be around shortly.”

“Hmm!” the younger woman beside the old man crossed her arms, “I doubt he’ll be down those steps anytime soon!”

“He went upstairs?” Naru asked.

The old man seemed apologetic, “Yes, he went up those stairs and hasn’t come back down.”

Naru smiled, “I’ll go see if I can find him.”

“Thank you so much, young man,” the old man nodded.

Naru continued on his way. He walked up the stairs to the first balcony. He walked past the second floor diner to more stairs that were secretly behind a red curtain. The stairs led up to a third floor used mostly for changing the lighting and such.

“I think I found one of the waiters,” Naru sighed into his ear piece.

“Make sure you keep him alive, bro, unlike the guy in Rio!” Hina shouted.

Naru rolled his eyes, “Why won’t anyone believe when I say he fell off the building. I didn’t kill him. He tripped over his feet. Honestly, the clumsiest person I’ve ever met.”

Naru made his way up the stairs. He was light in his feet, even the floor boards didn’t make much of a sound. On the third floor, he walked to a balcony. At the angle he was sanding, the stage was at a horrible angle. He looked around carefully then saw what he was looking for. There was a man with a sniper rifle propped on the railing. After setting down his back, he made his way quietly to the man.

Naru was nearly behind him when he turned around suddenly. The man tried to turn the gun on him but was unsuccessful. Naru grabbed the gun and took it away easily. He used the butt of the gun to crush the man’s left foot. The man opened his mouth to shout in pain but Naru released his grip on the weapon and placed one hand firmly on his mouth and his other arm around his neck. Naru waited as the man struggled for about five more seconds until the man was out cold. Slowly, Naru released the man’s neck as he slumped over. He stood up and picked up the riffle. He propped the weapon on the railing after detaching the scope and tossing it to the side. Naru never used a scope and his accuracy was the best in the Tower.

“I’m in position,” Naru stated casually.

The crowd clapped enthusiastically as the President neared the end of his speech.

“Good, good,” Zara said as she clapped. It was a dual meaning as she talked to Naru.

“zzz…Nathan, what are you doing?...zzz…Nathan?...zzz…”

Naru heard a short distance radio go off. He looked around the room below, unable to find the person on the other end. He thought of who would naturally have a radio.

“In conclusion,” the President began wrapping up his speech.

“It’s almost finished?” Zara leaned into Chaud as she asked. Chaud nodded in response.

“Johnson!” the officer came up behind Deontay. Deontay turned around and smiled.

“Yeah?”

“You go around the other side. I got this one,” he smiled and sent Deontay on his way.

Vicky was in the middle of serving her table.

“…zzz…move to plan B…zzz…”

“Their changing plans,” Naru reported.

The Turn: Chapter Fourteen

The Turn

Chapter Fourteen

~And So It Begins~

Three Years before the Turn

Sirius walked into work nearly a week after the assessments. He walked into the glass building casually, his son Kaiba not too far behind. Lori, the front desk secretary, handed him his daily cup of coffee. She gave him a smile while he nodded his thanks in return. Kaiba was always more of a tea personality and was very specific with what type of tea so he would just get his own.

The interior of the Tower was glamorous to the first timer. For Sirius, it was just another busy day at work. He walked over to the elevator, greeting people as he passed them by. He made an effort to learn as many names as possible as to have a more personal relationship with his employees.

In the elevator, Sirius pulled a card from his pocket, scanned it in a scanner, and typed a pass key on a nearby screen. Only after that did the elevator move to the uppermost floor. When it opened, there was a single hallway. Two large desks lay in its own inlet on either side of the hallway. One belonged to Kaiba, the other to a woman.

She looked up at Sirius and Kaiba. Her hair was short and black. She had purple eyes that had the slight slant of Asian descent. She wore a sleeveless kimono top colored purple with black hems tied at the waist with a black cloth. Her black pants were form fitting and her heels were the same color purple as her shirt. Her face was emotionless as she waited for Sirius to say something.

“Hello, Kiri,” Sirius smiled.

She looked down at her computer and typed away at the key board, “Voice sample confirmed. Hello, Sirius.”

“Hello, Kiri,” Kaiba said as he settled into the desk across from Kiri.

Sirius looked back at Kaiba, “It still astounds me that you were able to create her. She looks so real for a robot.”

“Humanoid, father, she’s supposed to look human,” he said as he turned on his system.

“I am right here,” Kiri said, still typing away at the computer.

Sirius dipped his head in an apology, “Where are my manners? I’m sorry about that, Kiri.”

“Apology accepted,” Kiri nodded.

Sirius looked over at Kaiba, “You know, he’s practically a genius but he can’t get a girl friend.”

Kiri smiled at the comment. It looked like her cheeks had reddened a little.

Kaiba sighed, “I don’t have time for a girl friend.”

Sirius shook his head as he walked to his office at the end of the hallway, he swiped another card different from the first one and the electronic sliding door opened, “If I had said that when I was your age, I wouldn’t have meet your mother.”

The door closed before Sirius could hear his son’s response. The room was large with a small lounging room to one side next to his desk area. The whole room was the shape of half a circle. Widows lined the outer wall except a small section to the left where the private bathroom lay. The floor was covered in white carpet.

Sirius walked to his desk. Already there were papers stacked on it. He sat in his chair and readied himself before diving into the paperwork.

“A lot happens in a week,” he muttered to himself.

He looked though the first stack of papers. Apparently there was a robbery in a U.S. plant where all that was taken was a type of metal. He skimmed though the file quickly but other that it was a rare metal that was taken, it didn’t require much action. He pressed a button on his desk phone.

“Kaiba,” he said.

“Yes,” came the response.

“Put a watch on kirilium sales on the black market, please.”

“Sure thing.”

Kirilium was a special metal made from titanium. It was only used for the new spacecraft’s that could now be used for flying people places and was only used in space programs. It was a strong metal and dealt with heat very well. Most importantly it was light but unfortunately, it had to be created scientifically so there wasn’t a lot of it. The only reason that someone would want to steel kirilium was to sell it to someone else. It depended on whom that someone else was and what they would use it for that bothered Sirius.

“Should I put a notice on private sales too?” Kaiba asked.

“That would be great,” Sirius placed the stack of papers to one side, “You named our dear humanoid after a metal? Have you no taste?”

“Try being an intruder some time,” he muttered, “You’ll get a taste of her metal.”

IOIOIOIOI

Zara had made sure that her best outfit had been laid out the night before but somehow there were wrinkles in it that were not there before. She wore it now but that odd wrinkle seemed to ruin the whole outfit: a sleeveless black shirt, black pants and high heels with minimal but noticeable heel. With a sigh, she packed a gym bag with her weapons inside. She grabbed her keys and left.

Zara walked out of her complex to a surprise. Puppetmaster stood there leaned against a black convertible. He stood there in his coat, hatless, and barefoot. The smile on his face was inviting.

“What’s that?” Zara asked.

Puppetmaster shrugged, “A car.”

“I know it’s a car, but what are you doing with one?” she asked, “I haven’t seen you in anything other than those sandals you wear.”

Puppetmaster nodded in agreement, “That’s true. It’s how I stay fit, you know. You on the other hand, are commuting. How many commuters ride bikes all the way down town?”

Zara’s mouth dropped open, “That’s not—”

Puppetmaster tilted his head slightly, “It’s yours. I figured black would be a nice color. Did I guess wrong?”

She ran up to Puppetmaster and threw her arms around him. He laughed joyfully as she thanked him repeatedly for the unexpected gift. His arms wrapped around her lovingly. Zara was the one who broke the embrace, remembering that she was now a professional and had to maintain appearance. She whipped the tears from her eyes.

“Where did you get the money for this? I doubt thousands of people ran to your store in the past week.”

Puppetmaster opened the passenger door and motioned her to get in, “Let’s just say I ran into some easy money.”

“Easy money?” Zara smiled, “You mean gambling. I didn’t take you for the type.”

He closed the door and walked around the car to the driver’s side, “I only partake when I know I can win.”

“How often do you win?”

“All the time.”

Zara looked skeptical, “Really?”

“I don’t gamble all that much; only when I need the money,” he started the car, “For some strange reason, luck favors me. I feel bad for the gentlemen I win from. That’s why I don’t partake often. I made sure that the fellows I played against to get the money were well to do.”

“You cheat,” Zara laughed.

Puppetmaster looked at her from the corner of his eye, “It isn’t cheating if you don’t get caught.”

Zara scowled a moment as the car left the curb, “Your dolls wouldn’t have anything to do with your ‘luck’ now, would they?”

“My innocent little dolls? I’m appalled by what you’re suggesting!” he tried not to but that signature smile spread across his face, “They can hide it rather obvious places, now that you mention it.”

“You’re terrible,” Zara rested her arms on the edge window and laid her head down.

Puppetmaster raised a finger, “Insane. There is a difference.”

IOIOIOIOI

Puppetmaster dropped her off in front of the large building. Zara suddenly felt weak-kneed. She had come so far from where she had started in her aunt’s home. Nervously, she leaned forward and backward on her feet. But then she felt that familiar feeling that she was being watched.

“Chaud, stop sneaking up on me,” she said.

“I wasn’t,” Chaud walked up alongside her.

“Oh, so you just happen to be everywhere I am?”

Chaud nodded, “Coincidences happen.”

“They seem to be happening a lot more often than coincidences should,” Zara eyed him from the corner of her eye.

“Hey, y'all,” Deontay walked up from crossing the street.

“Hey, Deontay,” they said in unison.

Deontay looked up at the tall building and whistled, “Seems a whole lot taller today.”

“Actually, it’s true. During the summer things expand slightly,” Chaud stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

Both Zara and Deontay looked at him. Sometimes Chaud could be a real nuance. Zara raised a hand and hit him in the back of the head.

Chaud flinched and sighed. The three other members in their group walked up just then. Vicky looked as nervous as ever while Hina wore a smile on her face.

“I would have loved to known what that was all about,” she stated.

“He probably said something stupid…or smart…either way the result is the same,” Naru put in his view.

“Thanks, Naru, for the vote of confidence...” Chaud’s voice was thick with sarcasm.

“Anytime,” Naru responded.

It got quiet as they looked up at their future. They stood there on the sidewalk for several minutes. Vicky was brave enough to say something.

“Won’t we be late?” she said quietly.

At that, Zara took the first step up the stairs. She felt the others following her lead. The handles to the door felt cold under her touch. A rush of cold air hissed out as Zara pushed the door open. On the inside, people were rushing to and fro, always having a place to be. In the center of the lobby, a secretary sat answering calls. Zara approached.

“Hello, this is the Tower, hold please; hello, this is the Tower, hold please; hello, this is the Tower, hold please; hello…” the secretary chimed in rhythm. She was surrounded by phones that were ringing off the hook. Piles of folders were stacked up on her circular desk. Computers also were spaced evenly apart. Some looked like they were being used.

“Hello, there!” she said as Zara stood awkwardly in front of her, “One moment. Hello, this is the Tower, hold please. Now how may I help you!?”

“We’re—”

“Oh, you the new recruits aren’t you! One moment!” she picked up a nearby phone and pressed a button. She kept her smile on her face as she waited patiently, “Hello! Sorry to bother you sir, but the recruits are here. Where shall I send them? Uh huh, uh huh, yeah, oh I know where that is! Yeah, yep, mhmm, I see. Totally. Yeah, alright, bye. Wait here,” she told Zara and the others before getting straight to work again.

“Shouldn’t you have some help?” Hina asked the girl.

“Oh, I know! But they all got in trouble when they used the computers to update their social status,” she smiled widely.

“When was that?” Zara asked.

The girl shrugged uncertainly, “Well, I think Sirius fired them about an hour ago. Hello, this is the Tower, hold please.”

“Wow…” Deontay muttered.

“We’re leading a global operation over here. If you’re distracted a lot tends to happen,” the secretary nodded, “One of the girls was even texting. Can you believe that? I mean can’t you wait at home? Hello, this is the Tower, hold please. Hello, this is the Tower, hold please…”

The door opened behind then and a group of girls walked in. They were awestruck by the building’s interior. As a group they walked up to the secretary’s desk. The secretary clicked something on her computer.

“Oh, you’re the replacements! Have you each read and signed the contract?”

The girls nodded.

“Then get to work ladies! The Tower doesn’t stop for anyone! There are hundreds of people who would love to take your place! Chop, chop! Hello, this is the Tower, hold please. You! Take calls 1-36. You! Take 37-49. 50-78 belong to you! Do I have to tell you all everything!? Get it done! We have almost 600 calls to answer! Hello, this is the Tower, hold please.”

Zara quickly looked around. There were people walking toward the exits with a box of their things in their arms and a sad look on their faces but at the very same time, there were people with new suits and shoes walking in with the biggest smiles on their faces. If you were too slow or hindered the well-oiled machine of the Tower in any way, you were replaced. There was no funny business in the Tower.

“Are you the six we’re expecting?” a woman with black hair and purple eyes said. Zara nodded, “Then please follow me.”

They walked through a labyrinth of hallways and doors. Eventually they made their way to a type of medical wing. The woman sat them down in a room and waited with them. A small boy in a science lab coat; no older than 15 years of age, walked into the room with a tray of tiny chips. He set the tray down then pushed up his glasses.

Not too far behind him was the doctor that had seen to Naru. Dr. Jekyll walked in to the room. His clothing was similar to what he had worn almost a week ago. When he came in, Naru seemed to fade into the wall. He walked over to the tray and pulled out a long cylinder device. He inserted one of the chips into the device and walked over to where Zara sat.

A sharp pain shot up her arm as he set one end of the device on her shoulder and pressed a button.

“Ouch!” Zara glared at him, “What was that?”

Jekyll didn’t answer. Instead he pulled out another device. It was the size of a small camera. It beeped approvingly when he hovered it over the painful area.

“ZU3492 activated,” he muttered loud enough for the woman to hear.

She nodded.

After that, he went down the line; loading the chips into the cylinder device, giving the kids a nasty surprise somewhere on their bodies, activating the chips and then moving on to the next. When he was done, he simply walked out with the boy close behind him. By the speed he was going, it was safe to guess that he had somewhere else to be.

The woman stood up and walked in front of them.

“My name is Kiri. Welcome to the Tower. If you will follow me, we have a contract to sign upstairs.”