Nat watched, mouth agape. She couldn't believe the outcome as well as how definitive it was. Her eyes darted back up to the serpent in the sky, who, after a brief moment of pause, turned to fly away into a nearby cloud.
The crowd was cheering and laughing, clearly entertained by the underdog victory. All the sounds and the light from the setting sun blurred into the background for Izzy. He reached out to grab the contract. The grin on his face provided a perfect window into his ecstatic state. Yet just before he touched it, he yanked his hand back.
He came to his senses as if suddenly regaining consciousness. He looked at Jax's unconscious body, startled by the dried blood on his chin. He looked at Nat, who stared back at him with amazement and anger. Izzy shook his head, clutching the hand he'd nearly taken Jax's contract with. He ran off back towards his office. Nat didn't follow him.
Izzy's breaths were quick and short, and they only grew in irregularity as he ran past his office and towards where the elevator had brought him. When he reached it, he hunched over, panting and struggling to maintain his composure.
The doors opened with a pleasant 'ding', and Izzy crashed inside. It wasn't long before they opened again. He burst out into the reception and darted for the door.
"Hope you enjoyed your first day!" Henry shouted after him with glee from behind the reception.
Izzy didn't reply. He just kept running.
He didn't stop running until he was at his apartment's front door, drenched in sweat. He'd started crying somewhere along the way but didn't remember when. He slowly unlocked the door and stumbled inside.
"Hello? Izzy?" Amy peaked around the living room corner to see him leant up against the wall. "Oh my god, are you okay?" She rushed over to him.
Izzy let her carry him into their messy living room. Pizza boxes were haphazardly thrown around, and most of the seating areas had been covered in either drying or dirty clothes. A game show played on their surprisingly sizeable flat-screen TV.
"What happened? I thought you were going to call me when you were done?" She placed Izzy on the couch.
He looked down, as if guilty of something.
Amy was worried, but she stood back up and walked over to the kitchen next door. After a minute or two, she returned with a glass of apple juice and a plate of spaghetti. "Made this from scratch, been trying out those recipes from the book you got me!"
Izzy looked up at her, cracking a hint of a smile in response. Amy sat quietly as Izzy at her food. She turned the volume up on the TV, and the two sat watching the show. An ad break started, with the first one being for Mt. Victory. It was incredibly well-edited, sleek, and primarily white in terms of colour.
Izzy looked away; Amy noticed and reacted fast by turning the TV off. They sat in silence before Izzy stood up and headed toward his bedroom.
"Goodnight!" Amy tried one last time to get a response. Nothing. She sighed and headed to her own bedroom as well.
The following morning, Izzy sat in a busy cafe. He was at one of the smaller tables, with only two seats beside it, one of which he was occupying. It was a standard franchise cafe: 'Urban Cups'. He watched the baristas fill refillable cups with milkshakes and fancy coffee mixes. It was a busy start to the day, but most of the customers were hurrying off to their jobs after getting their orders, so the cafe's seating area remained sparse.
Izzy turned to look out the massive wall of windows beside him, watching the cars that were locked in a complete standstill as they tried to navigate the endless concrete jungle of the city. He was calmer than the day before but clearly still spooked. He gazed longingly at his banana milkshake, positioned neatly on the tiny table in front of him.
"You mind?" A familiar voice woke him from his trance.
He looked up to see Nat standing tall next to his table. She was gesturing to the empty seat on the other side. He nodded.
She sat down, taking a moment to make sure her suit jacket wouldn't get creased. Her choice of outfit, the same as the day before, was getting her odd looks. "You're late."
Izzy didn't reply.
Nat pulled out a piece of paper from her jacket, placing it on the small table next to his milkshake, along with an ink pen. "This is the paper you gotta sign to quit."
Izzy didn't waste time. He grabbed the pen and went to sign his name at the bottom of the page. But when his pen hit the page, he found himself unable to drag it. It was like his muscles wouldn't move.
"Come on." Nat goaded him.
Izzy tried to pull again, but the pen wouldn't move.
"There's no magic or bullshit in that pen or paper Izzy." She leaned forward. "No matter what that pretty little head of yours thinks, no matter what you've talked yourself into. You can't deny it. You loved yesterday."
Izzy's lips trembled.
"There's nothing wrong with it, everyone lo-"
"I'm not like that," Izzy whispered through gritted teeth. "I'm not some animal like the rest of you. I don't enjoy hurting people."
"Oh yeah? What was with those kicks then? Were they for funsies?"
He tried to drag the pen again.
"Just put the pen down for a moment." She leaned back into her chair.
He refused to comply.
"I did some digging into you. The Sparks name is quite interesting. Wealthy bunch, two kids, a decorated family tree in terms of military service. Yet the articles I found were only of one 'Lucy Sparks'." She examined her nails. "'Lucy: Local gymnast is competing in nationwide championship!', 'Lucy Sparks, the genius kid going abroad to bring back the gold!', and who could forget the best one: 'Local Lucy Sparks to compete in worldwide finalist round!'. Those all sound great, right?"
Izzy gripped the pen tighter, his hands shaking.
"Yet here you are, living in a shithole apartment at the city's edge." She leaned in again, making sure he could hear the next part. "Don't tell you've been forgotten, Izzy?"
"You don't know anything about me." He snapped, slamming his fist onto the table.
The cafe fell quiet as everyone looked over, but shortly resumed their routine.
"Maybe I don't, maybe I've got it all wrong, and you're super happy for your sister and your family. Or maybe, you despise the fact that you've been outshined in life and the reason you loved yesterday so much is that, for the first time ever, you felt like you were good at something." Nat maintained her cocky, calculating eyes on Izzy's.
"You're wrong."
"Izzy. Mt. Victory isn't just some ordinary company. Mt. Victory is an event, a fever dream, a myth, a tall tale told to your children. It's what you wake up to fight against and thank in the evening for its gifts and opportunities. It's a cruel teacher that you only appreciate once you realise how tough it's made you. Everyone wants to be there, but only those who need to be there, arrive."
Izzy calmed down, genuinely listening to Nat for the first time in the conversation.
"I said that I believed it was a mistake to let you in, but I couldn't be further from the truth. Mt. Victory knows who it wants within its walls. You have a purpose in our company Izzy. Beyond just being better than your sister."
"I... I..." Izzy had no idea how to reply.
"So just stop being a coward, and come fucking defeat Mt. Victory like the rest of us." Nat chuckled with genuine kindness for Izzy.
"Defeat Mt. Victory?" He swirled the thought around in his head. "I don't... I just don't get it..."
"No one does. It's just something we do," she grinned.
Izzy thought for a moment before ripping up the resignation form. "Fine. I'll defeat Mt. Victory."