Hard Work

Ben

“Not yet,” David said. “I’m working on it.”

“Work harder,” I said. “I want to take care of this.”

David assured me that he was doing what he could before we ended the call. I took a deep breath before heading back to the table where Mila waited for me. I was suddenly panicked about my safety. They had killed two people over this, already. But I didn’t want Mila to know that something was wrong. I forced my face to be neutral, and when I returned to the table and sat down, I smiled at Mila.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Just a business call,” I said.

“Is everything okay?”

I nodded. “Nothing serious.” I sounded a lot more relaxed about it than I felt, and I had managed that lie without difficulty. Point for me. Or was it, if I was lying to her? I was doing that a lot, lately to the people in my life. But I wasn’t going to tell her what it was about. She didn’t need to know the danger I was in, and I didn’t want her to be in any danger, at all. I didn’t want her involved.

This was my