Helena turned around slowly to meet Walter's gaze on her. She glanced around the bar and moved her gaze to Walter again. " You mean that?" She asked him in a calm voice.
" It is written on this agreement form and once you sign, it is my obligation. So you see now Helena, the ball is in your court and this is an opportunity for you to make your life very much brighter than it is" Walter said.
Helena scoffed at his words, there was nothing bright about her life at that moment. If for any reason she was going to take the deal it was because he was going to be paying her mother's medical bill.
She had tried to do multiple jobs to raise at least half of the money that was required as an initial deposit but despite all of her hard work, she had not been able to raise a quarter of it.
She had no family members or friends to ask from and she had been skipping many classes in college because she could not also afford her college fees.
She was already expecting that the college would terminate her admission but somehow they were still hanging on with her.
" Will you take this deal Helena?" Walter asked as he stretched a pen to her.
Helena took the pen, slowly sat back on her seat, and began to flip through the file. It took her about ten minutes to finish reading up everything line by line and at the end, without any more words to Walter, she signed the agreement form.
Walter took the form from her and put it back into his briefcase. Helena could see the smile on his face as he closed up the briefcase.
" I am going to send you the data of the only son of the family who possesses this artifact in their home. It is said that the artwork is heavily guarded and we know it is not going to be an easy fit to go in there and get it but we are strongly behind you and we will always direct you on how to go about it" Walter said.
Helena nodded her head in agreement and finally took Walters's handshake when is stretched it out again. " To a successful business partnership," Walter remarked.
Helena returned to the coffee shop having a mixed feeling. She had wanted to go to the hospital and see her mother first before she returned to the coffee shop but when she checked her time she noticed that it was already too late and Nicole was supposed to be having her shift in a few minutes.
" Just on time," Nicole said immediately after she saw Helena walk into the coffee shop.
" Thank you so much, Nicole, I can't believe I made you work my shift when you were supposed to relaxing," Helena said to Nicole.
" Well, I got the time to relax now that you're back. Tell me, how is your mother doing?" Nicole asked.
" She is" Helena wanted to respond that her mother was fine but the words were caught up in her throat and she could not say it. She had not gone to see her mother and she did not know how her mother was fairing at the moment. " She is the same," She said just to cover up the fact that she had been somewhere else.
" Oh dear, Do not worry about it, I am certain that your mother will be fine," Nicole said as she slowly took Helena's hands in hers.
Helena nodded her head and wore a fake smile on her face "Thank you, Nicole" Helena replied.
It had been a week since she met with Walter Smith and Helena met at the bar downtown ane was expecting to get feedback from him like he said she would but since then she had not heard from him again.
After the first three days, she took her mind off the deal completely, thinking that something might have come up and he was not interested in working with her anymore.
Her life went back to its normal form, all the boring moments and days that she wished she was never born. Her mother had spent a month at the hospital yet there was no deposit for her treatment to kick off.
More than once she had gone to the doctor and pleaded with him to at least start the treatment but he insisted that the hospital could not sponsor such a level of treatment on its own and that was a reason the patients needed to make the deposits before the treatment began.
She was returning from the coffee shop after her shift which was the last shift for the day and it was already dark into the night as she walked down the street.
She had black trousers on, a timber shoe, and a hoodie. It was her signature way of dressing at night just so that she would scare the bad guys away from her.
She turned into the street when she heard a crashing sound behind her. She stopped immediately and she saw a man being beaten by a group of three guys.
She hid behind the street garbage box hoping not to be seen by them. It was already late and there was no vehicle running the streets anymore. The only source of light was the dim light from the street that could barely brighten her path.
She however could see the men clearly from the spot where she was hiding. She stayed there for about five minutes and finally came out when she saw them run away leaving the man who lay on the floor barely alive.
She rushed over to him and tried to help him up but he was too weak to get up. "I'm calling the police." She said to him aloud.
"No, do not call anyone" He replied but it was already too late because Helena's fast fingers had already dialed nine one one.