Short Stories and Ideas

The Figure in the Long, Black Coat

It had seemed like a sensible offer. Sure, the email he had received was a bit vague and seemed like it had been written by someone who really did not know how to write them, but the pay was good for, in his employer's words, "organising and filing the paperwork". What paperwork that exactly was, the employer had not specified.

As he rethought it, Adam realised that the job offer was really sketchy. Oh well, too late now, he was already there and – he glanced at his wristwatch – his employer was three minutes late. Tardy, Adam noted (that never was a good sign, his last late employer ended up being an Italian mafia don).

"Are you Adam?"

Adam startled. A figure in a long, black coat had turned to him and pronounced his name as though it had never heard of someone with the same one before. Their pronunciation made it sound more like 'Adaim', for whatever reason. Who had not met an Adam before? He should have known this offer was dodgy. What would this one be, an investment broker? The pay was so good, though, and the employer had offered free health insurance for life.

"I am Tod, I believe I sent you a job offer."

"Todd, you mean?"

"No, Tod, like 'death' in German."

Oh.

'Tod' had not elaborated. They had started walking down the pavement along the river, a rather scenic view, if you'd ask Adam. The setting sun had spread a shower of gold sparks across the rippling surface of the water and had let the line of trees glow in a seemingly holy light. Leaves rustled gently in the slight breeze that had picked up in the first vestiges of the evening.

Tod sunk further into their coat, but now that Adam had paid more attention, he noticed it was actually an inky cloak, with a hood so big it completely shadowed Tod's face. Honestly, Adam had probably had so many sketchy employers he'd gotten used to the rather unusual attire they liked to wear. But it must have been the huge, almost ghostly scythe Tod had propped on their right shoulder that had tipped him off.

"It seems you have misread the advice on our dress code, Mr Adam."

Tod had not turned to him but continued to glance at the river with an air of eerie disinterest, and maybe even some disgust. Tod muttered something under their breath, sounding a lot like "stupid sun looking like stupid heaven".

"Is that so? It seems I lacked the information about the dress code."

Even through the shadow of their hood, Tod seemed sheepish. "Emails aren't really my best suit. I'll send it to you and you can wear it on your first day to work. You're hired, by the way."

Well, that's fortunate. The offer was not that sketchy, after all. 

I wrote this a long while back for school, but I figured it'd be a nice addition. I'll dedicate this one to AraBrae, who's always supported me, even after I took a really long hiatus (I'll definitely write another story for you, that'll just take a bit of time).