November 7th, 202X
2:48pm
Oh great. Just what I needed. Another setback. Right when my anti-depressants are wearing off. The council has setback another one of my infrastructure funds. Good God, the pain is coming back. I'm standing at my desk, rummaging through the drawers in desperation. For the hope of finding my medication. Although I can operate without them, it becomes a challenge to not pass out or end up with severe damage from my anger and sadness. I luckily find a bottle in my side cabinet. My assistant walks over me and sets her hands on my desk and looks at me, "Are you okay, John? You look like you're having a panic attack." I struggle to open the bottle before she takes it from me. My mind, in blind confusion and fear, I reach for it. She luckily backs away and opens it for me. She hands the bottle back to me, as I drops some pills into my hand and gulp them down.
I inhale and exhale as my heart and brain regulate. Everything turns from a darkened red back to it's original colors. "Are you okay, John?" My assistant asks again. I don't respond for a bit as I recover, "Yes. I'm fine. I just needed my anti-depressants." As I say that, her face shifts from concern to disgust then back to concern. "Thank you, Alice. That will be all for now. Unless you have something to report." I say before she shakes her head and exits my office. My head hurts now. I need to go home and rest. My doctor said to not become dependant on my pills but, I couldn't help it. They keep my mind from insanity. It's like falling into insanity is heavy metal rock, while the pills offer some relaxing jazz.
I sort my mail, most of it being girls that have seen my social media posts. I usually post me after a workout or when I'm boxing. One of them catches my eye. It's from Niko. I'm not used to getting mail from him. He usually just drops by. So a piece of mail from him is beyond unusual. I open the neatly packaged letter's casing, to a normal looking folded letter. I half gasp at the interior of the letter. It's done in calligraphy. Again, catching me by complete surprise, because I know that Niko doesn't use or, to my knowledge, know how to use a calligraphy pen. I read through the letter, "Dear John. I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to personally invite you to a party this evening. Arrive at precisely 7:30. Drinks will be served on behalf of me. I am indeed sorry for being absent from the council for prolonged amounts of time. I do want to thank you for not letting them fire me. Regardless, thank you for your attention and time. Your friend, Niko Yates."
Interesting. Niko wants me to go to a party. I'm not sure about going or not. I could just return to my house and do nothing, or go to a party with booze and get blasted. Before I can come to a unanimous decision, my assistant walks in again. I pop my neck as she talks, which makes most of what she's saying unimportant to me. As far as I know, she's talking about the dying tech business, NetCo. I unfortunately get distracted by both her outfit and her breasts. Her uniform is practically squeezing her melons. I expect one of them to just plop out.
Suddenly, she says something with a higher pitch at the end. Damnit, she asked me a question. I have to be honest. Hope that works, "I'm sorry, Alice, I was distracted, could you please repeat the question?" She rolls her eyes. "Okay. I was asking if we should help NetCo's chairman and boss." Good God, if we help a dying company, we run a severe risk of losing ours too. "No." I respond bluntly. She flashes me a look like I've just murdered someone. I wish she'd "flash" me, but that would be inappropriate and I don't need to get a hard-on at the office. Although I'm one of the few bosses who doesn't have a wife or girlfriend, I refuse to let that small fact stand between me and my job.
I leave the offices late, much later than I intended. I chuck my bottle of anti-depressants into my passenger seat as I get in my ruby-red convertible, yawning and checking my clock. By God, a quarter till 7? I must get home. Although I could go in my work suit, I'd prefer my grey suit. I drive out of the parking lot, my car's rumbles have a small contest with the thunder. I was aware it was going to rain, but I guess I didn't notice it closing in. Most rain in this city lasts for days on end. Luckily, we have fantastic drainage systems, so we have nothing to fear.
I pull out into traffic as I get caught by the red light. No one is turning and there is hardly anyone on the streets tonight. Other than a few night owls making grocery trips or people going in for their night shifts. The light eventually turns green as I drive forward. I get caught at another light. And another after that and another after that. Then I drive for about a few miles before hitting a few more lights. By the time I'm less than five minutes from home. It's 7:25. I check the letter as I take a swig of water. I spray it outside my driverside window when I realize I have to rush over to Niko's house or I'll be late. I forcibly do a u-turn as I punch it. My car soaring along the road like the muscle car it is.
By the time I reach Niko's house and, before stepping out of my car I grab my anti-depressants. I notice someone else is also just arriving. I probably look questionable to whomever this is. Regardless, the mystery person gets out of their car and asks, "John?" I instantly detect his voice as William. My long-time friend since college. I ask, "Hello William. It's so nice to see you again. How are you, how's life treating you?" We chit chat for a short bit before someone else arrives in a black car behind William. The man exits the car with false confidence and walks up to both me and William. He introduces himself as Issac. Before long, we're all inside listening to what Niko is saying about tonight. He doesn't look well. He has massive dark circles under his eyes. Before long, we're all playing poker and taking shots. I black out before I could question anything.