Luna's POV
"How will I be able to get this amount of money that I will use to treat my mother? " I whispered to myself lost in thought.
Just coming from the Doctors office and he told me to find a huge amount of money to treat my mother, I was at the hospital's surrounding thinking about what I will do.
"It's just the small work I was doing to make money for my mother and I to eat" I said inwardly outside the hospital looking at different people going out and coming inside the hospital.
Not long ago, I heard someone clear his throat at my back.
I looked up, surprised to see a man watching me with some expression I cannot read on his face.
He was in his sixties, simply dressed in a tailored suit that set him apart.
"Good evening, Lena," he said calmly. His voice was low, calm, more too polite for a place like the hospital.
I looked back, surprised for him to know my name. "Um, good evening. How can I help you?"
The man's eyes was stable, his eyes was very sharp despite how old he was.
He extended his hand for me to shake. "Mr. Langston. I believe we have something important to talk about."
I hesitated for some time before shaking his hand, still not sure if I should or not.
I had only heard of Mr. Langston everywhere, his name has been around the town as someone that's influential, though I could not really remember exactly why he is popular.
"I'm sorry, but I think I am not the one you are looking for." I said looking elsewhere, wanted to leave.
Then he smiled and said "Actually, you are the right person I am looking for."
I looked back, raised my eyebrows, I was very curious about what he wanted to talk to me about. "What do you even mean?"
"I have been watching you," he replied me softly.
"Seeing how hardworking you are, how tirelessly you devote yourself to doing your duties at all of your three working places." He continued.
"And I know you are doing it all for your mother and you don't want her to die in her current condition." He said.
At him mentioning my mother, My ears were up. "I don't see how my situation now turns to your business, Mr. Langston."
Mr. Langston was signifying with his hands for me to hear what he has to say, giving me signs for me to hear him out. "Maybe I should say it again in a way you will understand."
I like your efforts, Miss Thompson. I know life has not really been easy for you, and yet, you are here, carrying the weight of all the people on this earth on your shoulders."
I looked down, I tried to swallow my words. I didn't like a stranger noticing all my struggles, but I could not ignore that his words hit me very hard.
"What do you really want from me?" I asked him, my voice was very steady despite the nerves inside of me.
Mr. Langston took a step closer towards my side, his eyes filled with a very strong effect. "An opportunity, Lena. Just for you, and maybe… for your mother as well."
My heart was beating very fast. "What kind of opportunity is that?"
He paused for some time, watching my reaction closely. "I know your mother's medical fees are very much for you to pay."
I also know that she is not receiving the care she supposed to receive because of that." He said.
"With all due respect sir, you still have not answered what I asked you. Why are you telling me all these things?" I said feeling frustrated.
"Because I can help you." His voice was very calm, almost too calm self.
"I have the means to cover your mother's treatments generally, with no expenses at all. She can get treated by the best doctors, the best facilities and everything she needs to be okay." He explained to me better.
My heart skipped a little bit. It was what I had been dreaming of actually, and yet… I knew that offers like these doesn't come without something they will attach to it.
I looked at him, reducing my eyes. "And what will you get in return?"
Mr. Langston's smile was slow, like someone that has other thing in mind.
"I need someone I can trust to get close to a business partner of mine. His name is Elias." He said.
"Elias?" I repeated, my mind was racing.
I had heard the name before though, though only when I was passing somewhere.
He was another powerful figure in town, people used to mention him when whispering about something.
"Yes," Mr. Langston continued, his voice was straight and was very pleasing.
"Elias is… let's say, he is not trustworthy. I have many reasons to believe he is hiding many things from me, things that could even harm my business seriously." He said further.
"All I need is someone he would not suspect at all to watch him very very well, learn his ways, and those he connects with."
"And you, Lena, is a very strong, skillful and a very clever person that I am looking for and that I really need right now."
My mind went far away as I think about his words. "You want me to spy on him, is that what you are telling me right now?"
Mr. Langston smiled, though there was little friendliness in his laugh.
"I cannot call it 'spying.' Just… observing him. A little bit of harmless observation, Lena. In return, you would have the means to save your mother. Is that not what you really want the most?" He said looking at me smiling.
I was silent, my mind carried a great feeling of emotions.
The idea of betraying someone, even a stranger, did not really sit very well with me, but the thought of my mother suffering on the hospital bed without a very good care was even more than worse.
Mr. Langston seemed to know what I was thinking.
"Think about it, Lena. I am offering you a chance to change your life and to change your mother's future. All I ask in return is for you to be… hardworking and to even earn more money." He concluded.
"What if I say I can't do it?" I asked quietly.
His smile disappeared slowly. "Then you are free to walk away, that's very sure. But I suspect the financial burden would become even more difficult than you can ever imagined as time passed by."
"I would not want to see someone as strong as you are fall under the weight of something that can be easily solved by your strength and your work." He told me.
I took in my words, I was feeling so trapped. I looked down, my mind was racing as I think about the options he gave me.
"And Elias… he won't know anything about this? He won't know I'm… involved?" I asked worried.
"Not until you want him to know about it," Mr. Langston replied me. "You should put your mind at rest, you will have all the protection you need."
A moment of silence was very long between us, heavy with promises and risks that has not be sorted.
"You really need some time to think about it, you can take as much time that you want," he said, his voice was calm. "But don't let it be too long. Opportunities like this are not always around everywhere ."
With his last words, he put a small card into my hand, his fingers was stable just a moment longer than normal.
I looked down at the card, my heart was beating fast as I read his name and number written on the card.
"I will be in touch with you," he said, moving back.
Then he gave me one final look that I cannot even read before turning and walking out of the hospital ground I was.
He left me standing alone with the weight of how big his offer was pressing down on me....