From The Seduction of Emy and Other Stories

Copyright 2023 A. R. Gregory

 

Ten Million

She wouldn’t get a wink tonight. She had to hit the office running, get her team cracking. Talk of a Zhouchang-Panasheru merger was all over Asia. What an investors’ dream scenario! Her analysis had to be on everyone’s desk here in New York at opening tomorrow morning. Get this one right, she grinned to herself, and she could name her bonus this year.

She needed coffee, and Stop & Snatch’s workaday brew had done in a pinch before. The gleaming fluorescent oasis in the night, its floor-to-ceiling windows dancing with “Happy Holiday” decals, looked deserted. Just two orange-and-green uniformed clerks visible. Every parking space empty. Good, she could pull her Jaguar right up to the front doors. Before getting out, she glanced around.
"Jeezus,” she muttered. “What is that?” She squinted at the old man scrunched under a filthy old blanket next to the recycle bin. She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. Had to have her coffee.

Cars were whizzing by. The clerks could see everything, inside and outside, plus the new snow on the ground made everything brighter. She checked her lipstick in the rearview mirror. Never knew who you might run into at a Stop & Snatch. She set her jaw, slung open the door, climbed out of her Jaguar. She walked deliberately.

The old man climbed to his feet. “Dollar, miss?”

“No cash.” She flung a hand before her face to ward off the steam of his breath, then stepped faster as she clenched the lapels of her unzipped leather jacket over her breasts. Even the old droolers had eyes, right....