Leonard composed himself well, his mind was filled up, but he made sure it didn't show on his face and body posture. Throughout that time he sat on his desk working, not once did he stop thinking about his quest. He kept on thinking to himself,
'Don't disappoint me, thugs, don't disappoint me. I hope to find you guys at the fence, please'.
If he finds them there today, he wouldn't waste time telling them what he needs them for, and he wouldn't waste time to give them the money they needed for the job. It got to lunch hour, and Leonard was still composing himself well, even Felix that was close to him hadn't noticed anything. All the employees went to the lunchroom, ate lunch, and went back to their desks.
Just like yesterday, all Leonard was wishing for was for it to get to closing hour quickly so he could go home, he's got an important task to handle. But once again, he doesn't have the power to manipulate time, so he'll have to wait. He tried taking his mind off everything and focusing on work, but it wasn't just possible, he kept on thinking about his quest. But he made sure it didn't show on his facial expression and body posture, Felix mustn't notice, if he does...there'll be a lot of questions.
It got to closing hour, and Leonard wasted no time as he stood up from his desk...it's time to go home. But this time, Felix wouldn't let him leave this company alone, he had stood up from his desk too...he wasn't handling anything. Just like yesterday, he noticed that Leonard was in a hurry again, and he couldn't help but say to him,
"Man, you're in a hurry again?".
"Yeah, I've got something important to handle at home". Leonard uttered.
"Well, at least, you aren't leaving this company without me today, we gonna leave together though we are going separate paths".
Leonard said nothing, he just smiled, then Felix sauntered over to where he was standing as the both of them departed from the first floor together. As usual, the moment they got out of the company and walked some meters away from it, they went their separate ways. Leonard wasted no time as he boarded a taxi that would drive him straight to his house while walking along the Crimson Alley.
He'll make sure to call John once he gets home...with immediate effect. Or should he just act on his own? Maybe go to the so-called meeting spot of the thugs and see if he'll find them. No, he wouldn't do that, he wouldn't act without, John. If we check things out, John was the one that showed him the meeting spot of the thugs. So he'll still stick to the plan of phone calling John once he gets home.
The taxi man arrived in front of Leonard's apartment, and Leonard came out of the car, paid the cabman, and strolled straight into his apartment. The moment he reached the parlor, he brought out his phone, searched for John's mobile number, found it, and put the phone call through. John picked up almost immediately,
"Hello, Leonard".
"Hello, John, I'm back from work already. Remember, we're to go back to the meeting place of those thugs, I don't want to go there without you. Are you back from work?".
"No, Leonard, ain't back from work yet, but I'll be back soon. Just like yesterday, once I get home, I'll call you to start coming right away. I just have the feeling that we'll be lucky today, we'll most likely meet those thugs today".
"I hope so, don't forget to call me once you reach home, I'll be expecting your call".
And with that, the phone conversation ended.
********
Leonard just kept on staring at his phone waiting for the call to come through, John hadn't called yet. Yeah, he had refreshed, and he had dressed up, but he hadn't eaten dinner. He'll most likely eat it once he gets back home, he was too anxious to eat dinner. Staring at his phone for some minutes more, John's call came through. He answered it with immediate effect.
"Xup, John, you home already?".
"Yeah, start heading to my house right now, let's do this". John uttered.
"I'm on my way".
And with that, the phone conversation ended. Leonard was already dressed up in fashionable clothes, so he just took a bundle of his salary, stuffed it into his pocket. Stuffed his phone into one of his pockets also and departed from his apartment. He didn't board a cab, he trekked to John's apartment, and he still arrived there within a short time...trekking was his thing anyway.
He strolled to John's door and knocked on it, and John didn't waste time opening it.
"Come in". The first utterance that came out of John's mouth the moment he opened the door.
Leonard stepped into his apartment, but he didn't sit down, he wasn't in the mood to, he was too anxious. John had already noticed Leonard's anxiousness, and he understood the reason why. He didn't sit down also, he just inquired of Leonard,
"So, we'll start heading to the meeting place of those thugs, right?".
"Yeah, with immediate effect. I'm really anxious right now, what if we don't find them there again". Leonard expressed.
"We'll most likely find them there, I have a good feeling about it. But if we don't find them there, I'll come up with another plan".
"I hope we find them there, there's no time to even be coming up with another plan".
"Let me go change".
After making that utterance, John sauntered into his room, he wanted to change the casual outfits he was wearing to more fashionable ones. Done changing, he came out of his room and said to Leonard,
"Let's go".
The both of them departed from the apartment, and as they sauntered on the streets, Leonard kept on muttering to himself,
"I hope luck is on my side, thugs, I hope to find you guys at your meeting place".
They sauntered and sauntered until they arrived at the abandoned building, and thank goodness! The thugs were sitting on the fence of the edifice discussing. They were three in number, and they sure do look like thugs, but like decent ones. Two were fair in complexion, while one was brown-skinned. The brown-skinned one had a cigarette in his mouth.
The moment they noticed Leonard and John, they came down from the fence, then one of them inquired,
"Who are you guys? What do you want?".
Leonard was about to speak, but John halted him, he wanted to do the speaking,
"Umm, we need you guys' help".
The three of them glanced at themselves, then the brown-skinned one inquired,
"What do you need our help for? We're just thugs?".
John began explaining everything to them, every single detail of what they needed them to do. But the explanation was limited though, he wouldn't want them to find out about the quest. After he was done explaining, one of the thugs uttered,
"Wow! you want us to do that? Isn't that dangerous?".
"If you guys play your part well, everything would go smoothly even if it's dangerous". John said.
The brown-skinned thug focused his gaze on, Leonard, and asked, "Is this the guy that would beat us up when we try to harm the girl or rob her?".
Leonard stepped forward and voiced out, "Yeah, it's me. Please, you guys should do this for me".
"But why do you have to do that to make her fall for you?". One of the thugs inquired.
"It's a long story, we just want your answers, are you in or not?".
They glanced at themselves, then they voiced out in unison, "We are in".
Leonard and John glanced at themselves with smiles on their faces, then John glanced back at them and said, "State your price".
They discussed amongst themselves for about a minute, then they told them how much they wanted for the job, and it was something Leonard could handle. Then one of the thugs said,
"It's practice time, we have to practice the fight. We wouldn't want you to beat us up mercilessly when the time comes, everything is just fake. So, we have to practice now".
Leonard nodded his head to his statement, and the practice began at that moment.
********
The practice went very smoothly, Leonard showed the thugs Eva's house, and they had made a plan already. They wouldn't be able to implement the plan today 'cause it was late, Eva was home already. For them to implement the plan successfully, Eva must have to be coming back from work. Any small mistake or waste of time, and they'll be unsuccessful.
It was remaining two more days for Leonard to complete his quest. If he fails to complete it tomorrow, then he'll have one more day to live.