Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio
"You are a dead man, Theo Frederick."
The racing dark clouds heralded a storm further deepening Theo's depression. His smartphone slipped from his hand and fell on the plush rug, the baritone voice of Dark Knight eerily resounding in his head.
He sat down smack on the sofa as if his limbs had turned to jelly. The pile of bills due for payments fell within his view, making him comb his fingers roughly through his hair.
This was it, he thought. The end had come. The memory of seeing the stocks he'd invested in plummet in an alarming freefall on his computer screen made him shudder. He yelled out his rage and confusion that night in his office, refreshing the screen over and over, thinking it was a bad dream. But it was real. His phone buzzed with notifications and calls from some of his clients. He froze in shocking silence as his empire crumbled before his eyes.
Eighty per cent of the money was Dark Knight's. Yes, indeed he was doomed. It would take a miracle for him to ever get out of this debt, not with the ensuing death threats.
He'd known Daryl Knight, a very wealthy man and moneylender, for some years. He was popularly known as Dark Knight and lent mostly to the disreputable in their city. Theo wasn't one of them and Dark Knight respected that. Their relationship had been purely about business and making profits. He always paid back his loans with interests that pleased Dark Knight until this woeful loss.
After many unfulfilled promises and lawsuits filed against him by some clients, Theo Frederick packed a bag, stopped by the pharmacy and travelled to one of his houses in the countryside. He wasn't running away or hiding as Dark Knight asserted on the phone but he needed some space to clear his head.
He rolled the bottle of pills in his hands as the rumble of thunder shook the skies. His dreadful circumstances weighed down on him. He'd heard stories of how Dark Knight dealt with those who couldn't pay back their loans. Some of them were never found while some became crippled. Yes, the pills would be better.
He placed the bottle on his bedside table and put on a muffler and his coat. He needed just one more taste of life's goodness before he succumbed to the inviting darkness.
He stepped out of his condo and watched as people hurried about as the winds blew, stirring up dust and dirt. He loved cake as a child but had not eaten the sweet delight in ages. He strolled like a man without a care in the world to the local bakery, bought a sizable, mouthwatering piece and a cup of latte in a takeout bag and wandered to the park.
The place was almost empty except for a mother trying desperately to get her three children—two boys and a girl—away from the slides into the car so they could leave before the downpour. One of the boys laughed when his mother slipped but caught herself on time.
As Theo savoured the creamy, sweet taste of the cake, he envied the children's innocence and lifestyle unspoiled by the burdens and responsibilities of adulthood. He wished he was a child again.
"Don't you just love their carefree lives," a voice murmured beside Theo. He turned and saw a middle-aged man and his dog sitting beside him on the park bench.
He smiled and swallowed. "Sure. They are lucky. Best to let them have all the fun now before they grow up to face the world."
The man stared at him for a moment. "Do you have kids?"
Theo shook his head and took another bite of his cake. "I don't. I'm glad I don't."
"Oh. You don't like kids?"
"I like them but there's no space in my life for them right now. Cute dog." The Labrador barked.
"Thanks. We've been cooped up inside the house for some days. Thought I'd bring him out before the rain begins. It may go on for days, who knows?" His dog barked again and took off, running around the park in circles.
The men gazed up at the sky in silence and watched as the heavy clouds dissipated. They glanced at each other and the man laughed.
"Well, that was disappointing," the man said.
"I know. I was sure there was going to be a storm," Theo replied sadly.
"Always look for the bright skies," the man said, his voice taking on a sage kind of tone. "The storm may rage but the dark clouds will give way to fine, bright skies." He whistled and his dog ran over. Theo watched in taut silence as the man and his dog walked away.
It was night-dark by the time he trudged into his condo. He emptied the bottle of pills into the toilet determined to confront Dark Knight with persuading plans of how to pay back his money.