I flicked out my cigarette, watching the ember twirl away into the dank darkness of the alleyway. Tilting back the brim of my hat, I looked up, past all of the fire escapes and into the unforgiving sky.
‘Looks like rain again,’ I muttered to nobody.
‘It always looks like that,’ a voice echoed out to me from the shadows.
I bristled slightly, but tried not to let the man see it as he slowly strode towards me. Weakness wasn’t a smart thing to advertise in any circumstance, but with this character – it could be fatal.
‘You said midnight,’ I grunted, tapping out another smoke. ‘That was half a pack ago.’
‘I’d apologise,’ he said, coming to a lazy stop beside me, ‘but we’d both know I’d be lying.’
‘A bit of lying can be good sometimes,’ I let out a solitary chuckle. ‘Like when I told my wife this morning that I definitely think we should find someone expensive to replace our tiles and not the most affordable bathroom designers based in Melbourne. I have cheap taste.’
‘You don’t have a wife, Jake,’ the man sighed, sounding disappointed. ‘You have a girl you see every other weekend and a mother who refuses to pass over – hardly matrimonial bliss.’
‘It was a nice lie though,’ I shrugged. ‘Had to test you a little, didn’t I?’
The man didn’t answer, except to slip his hands into his pockets.
‘Can you do what I need you to do?’ I eventually asked him, nerves fraying slightly around the edges.
‘Of course I can,’ he said. ‘The real question is, do you have the stomach to let me?’
‘I’m hiring you, ain’t I?’ I replied, belligerently.
‘Then make your peace with it,’ he shot back. ‘You clearly haven’t yet.’
‘I have, I have,’ I muttered. The man shook his head, sighed again.
‘This is why I hate liars,’ he said, stepping away from the wall. ‘If you ever do need someone, I know some of the best bathroom renovations companies in the state. Other than that – don’t call me again.’
And he disappeared into the fog from whence he came.