My Short Short for the Day

Tom slumped into his chair dropping the empty cash box onto his desk.  “That was a fail.” Tom grumbled running his hands through his hair and sighing loudly.  It was such a solid plan, especially because he looked much older than 15, or at least he thought so.  But the Dean caught wind of his scheme and ended it.  Fortunately, he was able to avoid getting expelled.  Being a child prodigy had its perks, sometimes.  Well, now he was flat broke and no way was he going to call his parents to ask for money.  Then he’d have to explain what happened and that would not end well.  So, maybe he could borrow from Jeff, the only guy he actually considered a friend.  Or maybe…

The phone rang breaking into Tom’s wallowing.  “Yeah?”

“Is this Thomas Sampson?”  The voice was deep and very business like.

“Yeah, this is Tom.”  He said with mild curiosity.

“We have a job for you.”  The voice stated.

“Yeah?  What kind of job?”  Tom responded wondering which guy might be pranking him.

“We will discuss that in person.”  The voice said.

“Well, I don’t know.  I’m kind of busy right now.”  Tom thought that maybe it was Allen from his Psych class.

“No you aren’t.  You’ve completed your exams and will be starting winter break tomorrow.” The voice stated matter of factly.

“Oh, yeah, well.  I’m not looking for a job.”  Tom pushed the nervousness from his voice.

“You are broke and have no money to buy a cup of coffee let alone a ticket home.”  The voice sounded cold.

“How do you know that?”  Tom blurted out.  This was no joke.

“We have been watching you Thomas and we feel you are the right person for this job.”  The voice paused for a moment.  “Be out front of your dorm in 5 minutes.  A limo will be there to pick you up.”

“I don’t know…”

“We will pay you $10,000 to meet with us.”  The voice said.  “If you don’t want the job, then we bring you back to the dorm.  You keep the $10,000 and never hear from us again.”

“Ok.”  Tom said trying to sound casual.

“Good.”  The voice said.  “Be out front in 5 minutes.”

The phone clicked in Tom’s ear.  He sat for a minute with too many thoughts running through his head but then kicked himself into action.  He texted Jeff about the meeting and hurried downstairs.  Little did he know that this meeting would change the course of his life forever.