Elite

by Joseph C. Anthony

  “Indeed,” Richfield said, having now turned his chair to face Daniel, holding his hands in front of his face and pressing his fingertips together. He knew that he now had Daniel’s attention.

  “But you, you Daniel, will be worth even more than that. If we achieve what I believe we can, and word spreads, the wealthiest people from around the globe will be groveling at my feet, begging for your protection. I believe many would pay upwards of twenty million for you. Maybe, given the right situation, a bidding war could drive someone to pay ten times that amount. The possibilities are endless. And if you really do prove yourself to be that valuable, I may be willing to offer you half of whatever you bring in.”

  Daniel swallowed again, this time for a different reason. He began to think about all of the things he could do with that kind of money.

  Then the wall of reality hit him square in the face. This was all beginning to seem like a fantasy. This couldn’t be real. Suddenly it all seemed so surreal – the office, the complex, Richfield and Blank – what was he doing here? What was this?

  Then, after a deep breath, he was able to regain his composure and think. Insane or not, this was an amazing opportunity and it wouldn’t hurt to move on to the next step. Until he signed some sort of contract, he could still back out whenever he wanted.

  He took one more deep breath. “So what do we do next?” He asked.

  Richfield smiled genuinely, evidently pleased that he had captured Daniels interest. “Well I can’t tell you any more until you sign a confidentiality agreement,” he said. “The nature of the experiment needs to remain top secret. What we are dealing with here is groundbreaking research, and if anyone else knew about it they’d be hounding me for it. Many would be willing to kill for this research, including the government. But I don’t want you signing anything and moving forward until you’ve had some more time to think it over. We’ve presented you with a lot of information here today, much of which is probably very difficult to even believe. Until you are absolutely dedicated to our cause, dedicated to your own cause of self-improvement, and until you are completely certain you can trust us, we cannot move forward.”

  Daniel nodded slowly. “I understand,” he said grimly, once again intimidated by the man sitting before him.

  “Ok,” Richfield said in acknowledgement. “I want you to take two weeks to think this over. Think on it long and hard. If after those two weeks you are in one-hundred percent, give Mister Blank here a call.”

  Daniel nodded, a thought suddenly occurring.

  “What if it doesn’t work?” He asked. “What if you do the experiment, and after a few months I’m not ready. I’ve just wasted several months of my life for nothing.”

  Richfield rubbed his chin. Apparently that thought hadn’t occurred to him either. “Fair point,” he conceded. “When you sign on, I’ll put in a guarantee for a hundred-thousand dollars. If things don’t pan out, you can walk away with a hundred grand, no questions asked.”

  Daniel nodded, “Sounds more than fair.”

  “Ok, good,” Richfield said as he stood up from his chair. Daniel followed suit. “Mister Blank will show you out. Thanks for coming in Daniel. I hope I see you soon.”

  “Thank you for considering me,” Daniel replied as he shook the mysterious man’s hand and turned for the door.

  Mr. Blank grabbed his hat off of the coat hanger and placed it back on his head before opening the door for Daniel.

  “Oh, one more thing,” Richfield called to Daniel.

  Daniel turned to face him.

  Richfield continued, still standing behind his desk, “If you agree to this, and we go through with the procedure, you must submit yourself to me entirely. You will live here at all times during your training, and you will adhere to my training regimen, until such time that I tell you otherwise. You will be locked away from the outside world for months, and it will be brutal. I don’t want you having any disillusions about that. I expect you to be the absolute best, head and shoulders above my best men, and I will not settle for anything less. Do you understand that?”

  Daniel thought for a minute, and gave a quick, silent shake of his head and walked out the door.

  Wow, he thought. That disclaimer may have just scared off any ideas he had of actually going through with it. And what did Richfield mean procedure? Up until that point he had called it an experiment, now it was a procedure?

  “So whaddya think, kid?” Blank asked him before he could think any further on the subject.

  “That was…this is…absolutely insane,” Daniel said candidly.

  “Yeah,” Blank agreed, his eyes pointed at the floor. “It’s pretty hard to believe somethin’ like this is even possible. Especially coming from where you come from. Hell, you didn’t even have the slightest inclination that an organization like this even had a place in the world. It’s a lot to take in kiddo, I know. Just do me a favor and take it seriously, would ya? This thing here is for real and we could really use you on this one. You may not see it, but I do. And I’m never wrong about these things.”

  Daniel looked over at Blank’s face as they walked across the catwalk toward the elevator. Blank kept his eyes on the floor of the catwalk in front of them. Daniel believed those were the most genuine words he’d ever heard the man utter. He was almost touched.

  “You bet, Mister,” Daniel said with a smirk. Without knowing his first name, he had no idea how to refer to him in this situation. The way it came out it sounded like Daniel was emulating Blank’s gangster slang, and not the kind rappers used.

  Before he knew it Daniel was back in the plain white lobby and headed out the door.

  “Talk to ya in two weeks Danny Boy!” Blank called to him as Daniel opened the door to the outside world.

  Daniel waved and got the heck out of there. What the hell just happened in there? He thought to himself, still not quite sure it was all real.

  In a daze he led himself back to the train stop. His brain felt numb. It didn’t seem to be thinking about much of anything, let alone absorbing his conversation with Richfield back at the warehouse. When the train arrived he trudged his way on and found an open seat. He pushed his palms into his eyelids and rubbed his eyes. He had a lot to think about.

  Chapter 5

  Needless to say, over the next two weeks Daniel found himself completely distracted as he constantly mulled over the decision of whether or not to join Charles Richfield and his band of super people. He had gone back and forth on the decision at least four thousand times in the twelve days since his “interview,” and sleep was something that had proven extremely difficult to come by with only two days left before he needed to make his final decision.

  Trying to get any work done seemed a ridiculous concept. He found himself taking entire days to complete tasks that would have normally only taken him a few hours. All he could think about was getting out of that office for good and never having to file another invoice again. In the process he would also become the perfect physical specimen and a millionaire. Every minute at work made Richfield’s offer seem that much more tempting.

  Elite Personal Security wasn’t the only thing distracting Daniel either. Jordan would be moving to Chicago in just a few weeks, and that was the biggest reason he kept changing his mind about accepting the job from Richfield.

  It wasn’t the sketchiness of the details Richfield had given him of the “procedure” he would be going through, or even the threat of going up against the world’s deadliest assassins. The detail that stuck in Daniel’s mind was what Richfield had said about being locked away from the outside world during his training. All he had ever wanted was to be near Jordan and to have the opportunity at a real relationship with her. Now that his dream was becoming a reality, how could he possibly do anything that would keep him away from her for another several months? It was an agonizing thought.

  The incident with Jordan and Gordon Demérs at the school two weeks prior had created a wound that absolutely refused to heal. He and Jor
dan had been speaking as often as they ever had as her move-in day slowly approached, but she had never spoken a word about her classroom hookup with Demérs to Daniel. She had no idea that Daniel knew what had happened between her and Demérs that day, let alone witnessed the incident first-hand. The most distressing part was how she talked about the relationship between her and Daniel once she moved. She acted as though she were set on dating Daniel, and even excited about it. Daniel knew though that as long as Gordon Demérs was a factor, he would never feel fully comfortable with their relationship, and there in-lied the catch-22 of Richfield’s offer. If he wanted to be able to compete with Demérs he needed to accept, but that would result in him being locked away for months, effectively giving Demérs the opportunity to convince Jordan to continue her involvement with him. If history had taught Daniel anything, she was not all that difficult for Demérs to convince.

  He supposed he couldn’t be too upset with Jordan for not mentioning her after-school special with Demérs, as he himself hadn’t uttered a word to her about his recent job offer and the life-altering decision that loomed before him.

  He knew she would tell him not to do it – that the details were too sketchy and that it wasn’t worth risking his life over. From her perspective, she could never understand what he was going through trying to compete with Demérs, as she herself didn’t fully understand her unavoidable attraction to the man.

  Mentioning the money aspect of the offer would be enough to make her think twice, but in the end he felt she would never go for it. She wouldn’t bat an eyelash at the time apart if she felt it were a worthwhile opportunity for him, he knew, but the situation surrounding the entire proposal would be enough to turn her off to it.

  And he could never tell her that she was the reason he wanted so badly to accept. She would HATE that.

  But what would Jordan really think about him should he go through with it and become the man that Richfield had suggested he could? She found Demérs irresistible, yes, but she said that she loved Daniel.

  That wasn’t enough in this case. She would always have eyes of some kind for Demérs. He couldn’t live like that. He was no longer satisfied with who he was. He deserved more. He craved more. He needed more.

  But would Jordan still love him? He couldn’t see why not. Money and impressive physical attributes both seemed like positives. But he would be putting his life on the line day-in and day-out, not to mention the fact that he would be required to spend an incredible amount of time away from her. This job would take him all over the world, potentially for months at a time. The entire reason he and Jordan had never dated up until that point was because they were incapable of being happy in a long-distance relationship. Even with a small fortune at his disposal, it was doubtful they could overcome that much time apart. He would essentially be passing up the opportunity to actually be with her, something they had both longed for for so long.

  He had a burning desire to surpass Gordon Demérs in every aspect of life – physically, mentally, and financially. That drew Daniel to Richfield like a moth to a flame. What he wanted even more than that however, was to be with Jordan. Accepting Richfield’s offer to make him a super human may improve his self-image a hundred fold, but it would make a relationship with Jordan impossible. Because of that thought, Daniel knew that he would have to decline the job at Elite.

  Daniel stopped typing the sales proposal he had been working on and took a minute to rub his eyes. He was mentally exhausted, and staring at a computer screen all day long only worsened the strain on his brain. He looked down at his phone sitting on his desk to the left of his keyboard and pushed the button on the side in order to illuminate the screen. The clock on the screen read 4:25, which meant that Jordan would be done with class and texting him at any minute.

  He welcomed the distraction. Between his work and the endless parade of thought stomping its way between his ears, a textual conversation with Jordan would be a nice way to ease his mind, if only for a short while.

  Just then his phone began to vibrate and Jordan’s name appeared on his phone’s screen. It wasn’t just a text message alert, Jordan was calling him.

  He stood up from his desk, grabbed his phone, and began walking at a brisk pace toward the door that led out into the courtyard where he could have his conversation in private. He answered the phone a few steps before he got to the door to prevent the call from being sent to voicemail.

  “Hey,” he said into the phone, using a tone that would let Jordan know that he was happy to be talking to her.

  He stepped out into the courtyard. Thankfully it was a warm and sunny spring day, so he was comfortable without a jacket. In fact, the sun felt amazing beating down on his still wintery pale skin.

  “Hi,” Jordan responded, also sounding happy to hear his voice.

  “So you decided to call instead of text today. I like it.” Daniel said, trying to figure out why she had decided to take the time to make an actual phone call today without sounding unappreciative.

  “Oh yeah?” She asked in a playful manner which made Daniel grin.

  “Definitely.” He replied. “Can’t wait ‘til we actually get to have these conversations in person.”

  She chuckled. “Yeah, that’ll be nice.”

  “So what’s up?” he asked, still searching for the answer to why he was receiving this unexpected call. He supposed she could have actually just wanted to talk to him, in which case he would feel guilty for being suspicious of her intentions.

  “Oh, nothing. The kids have all just left and I’m sitting in my classroom getting ready to finish things up for the day before I go home.” She answered.

  “Ahh,” Daniel replied with interest. Maybe she did just want to talk. Either way, he was willing to make small talk until she decided to get to the punch line. “Just a few days left, then you’ll be done and ready to move here. I can’t believe it,” he said, adding a little excitement to his voice.

  “I know!” She replied with equal excitement. “Hard to believe.”

  “Yep. So you figured out where you are going to live yet?”

  It was a topic Daniel had become very anxious about over the past few weeks. Since she refused to move in with him before they had been dating a few months, he had hoped she would at least stay somewhere near him, or even near his work. In the end he would be willing to travel anywhere in the city to get to her, he just hoped it wasn’t anywhere to close to Demérs.

  “Yeah…actually…I wanted to talk to you about that.” She answered with slight hesitation.

  Daniel took an extended breath. So this had been the reason she called. From the tone of her voice it sounded as though he wasn’t going to be all that pleased with what she had to tell him.

  He decided to remain silent on his end of the line, waiting for her to elaborate.

  After a few long seconds of silence, she decided to continue.

  “I was talking with Gordon,” atrocious start, “and I guess one of the executives for the Bulls just got a job with another team and is selling his condo. I guess it’s this huge, beautiful condo that Gordon has wanted to buy for a long time, so he’s planning on buying it from him when he moves in a month or so.”

  Daniel’s heart stopped for a moment. He prayed that she was not about to say what he thought she was.

  “Anyway, the thing is that he still has another year on his lease for his apartment right now, and I guess his landlord is being an asshole and won’t let him out of it. So he said he is going to buy the Bulls guy’s condo regardless because he really wants it and if he lets it go now who knows the next time it will be available. So he said since he would be paying the rent on his current apartment anyway, he would let me live in it rent free until the lease expires.”

  Daniel let out an enormous sigh of relief. He hated the idea of her owing Demérs even more gratitude than she already did, but it was far better than the idea of her living with him in his new ritzy condo.

  “Well that’s kinda cool,”
he answered, trying to sound unaffected and sincere.

  “I know!” She exclaimed. “I get to live in a fancy penthouse apartment for a year, rent free!” She let out a small shriek of excitement.

  Daniel winced. He was happy for her – he really was – but he hated the thought of Demérs once again flexing his monetary muscle and providing Jordan with something that Daniel could not. Then again, it might be satisfying to have sex with Jordan in every corner of an apartment that Demérs was paying for.

  “Well I’m happy for you. I was worried for a second there that you were going to say that you were moving into the condo with him,” Daniel said, forcing a laugh out along with it.

  “Well actually, that’s the thing,” Jordan retorted.

  Daniels heart froze in his chest again. What did she mean “that’s the thing?” What thing? There’s a thing? Why is there a thing?

  “Okay…” Daniel said, sounding uneasy.

  Jordan let out what sounded like a small, exasperated breath before continuing, “The Bulls guy isn’t moving out for another month or so, and then Gordon wants to have some renovations done before moving in which is going to take another few months, so he won’t actually be able to move out before I need to move in.”

  Daniel’s heart sank like a rock, right down to the bottom of his stomach. He couldn’t breathe. This was his worst nightmare come to life.

  Jordan continued, “And since I can’t really sign just a one or two-month lease anywhere, I’m going to move into his second bedroom until he can move into his new condo. It’ll just be for a couple months though.”

  Daniel knew she had thrown in that last part as hope for some sort of reassurance, but it wouldn’t do any good. He couldn’t fucking believe it.

  “So…us…then?” He could barely manage the words.

  “Well we can still hang out and be close!” Jordan pleaded, trying to convince him that this was all going to somehow be okay. “I just think it might be awkward for us to date while I’m still living with Gordon though. Once he moves out maybe we can think about it.”