The Darkness - Jason Pinter [26]
Morgan didn't blink. Never show weakness, never
show admiration. He was never rude, but on a job interview you wanted to appear confident, not too eager. Like
they would be lucky to have you work for them.
"And you are...Chester?" Morgan said.
The man smiled and took off his sunglasses, folding
them and tucking the pair into his breast pocket. He held
out his hand. "Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming on
such short notice."
"No biggie," Morgan said. "Just had to reschedule a
few things, that's all."
"Really? Such as what?"
Morgan stammered, "I, uh, meetings, you know.
Banks. A bank."
"Oh, well I hope the bank understood," Chester said
with complete sincerity. If this guy realized Morgan was
full of shit, he wasn't letting on. "Let's walk."
Morgan followed Chester as he strolled down Fifth
Avenue. He matched the man step for step, tried to keep
his stride the same length but damn, the man had long
legs. Instead Morgan shortened his paces and walked
faster. It was two blocks before Chester spoke again.
"How's the job hunt going?" he said.
"It is what it is. There's always room for good workers,
I figure I'll take a little time, weigh my options and see
what the best fit is for me."
"Really," Chester said, his voice either distant or disbelieving. "Any good leads? Anything coming down the
pike?"
"Always something coming down," Morgan replied.
"Just a matter of who makes me the most attractive offer."
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Jason Pinter
"I understand that," Chester said. "Hold on a second."
Chester stopped at a vending cart and ordered a hot
dog. He paid, then slathered ketchup, mustard and relish
on it. He wolfed the dog down in three bites, still standing
at the cart, then wiped his lips with a napkin and continued walking.
"Sorry, did you want one?"
"S'okay," Morgan said. "I just had breakfast an hour
ago."
"Really," Chester said softly.
Morgan silently cursed himself. It was nearly twelvethirty. The fact that he had a late breakfast gave away
that Morgan had woken up late. If he'd woken up late,
he had nothing better to do. No job, no interview.
Morgan could feel himself falling behind, and hoped
Chester would let it slide.
"Your friend Ken spoke highly of you," Chester said.
"It really is a shame. Always the young, talented ones
who go before their time."
"I know what you mean," Morgan said. The truth was,
Ken was only a half-decent worker. A man with some bad
habits and with maybe a quarter of the brainpower
Morgan possessed. He didn't say any of this to Chester,
of course, but if this guy spoke so highly of Ken Tsang
he'd be simply blown away by Morgan Isaacs.
If it took this little to impress Chester, Morgan could
probably have his job in less than five years.
"I know I mentioned this to you before," Chester continued, "but Kenneth did some work for our firm. He was
a good man, a good soldier, and recommended you as
someone who could do the same kind of work if, well, if
you ever decided to pursue other opportunities."
"What kind of work did Ken do for you?" Morgan
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said. "Whatever it was, modesty aside, sir, I guarantee
Ken didn't know the half of what I'm capable of."
"Is that right?" Chester said, eyebrow raised.
"Yes, sir."
Chester nodded. He seemed pleased.
"I don't know what kind of money you were making
at your last job," Chester said, "but I hope you'll find that
if you do decide to work for us, the pay will be commensurate with what you'd expect."
Morgan was slightly surprised, considering this guy
was bringing up salary before even discussing the job. It
must be either crap work or a crappy salary, and Chester
probably figured he wouldn't waste any time, that if
Morgan didn't like the payoff, he'd walk away.
"What kind of figures are we talking about?" Morgan said.
"Well, we would have to start you out at the bottom of
the ladder. I'm sure you understand. So many people
competing for so few jobs these days. If you're not comfortable with that, I can move on. Ken did give me a few
other names."
Morgan felt his neck grow hot