A Day in the Life of Lou

I was bored and wrote a story. Here it is...

“What’s up dude?” A man, tall and blond, in a black Armani suit sat down on the bench next to Lou, who continued his intent people watching, barely acknowledging his peer. Lou always had been the strong, silent type.

“Oh, hey man.”

“Dude, what’s with you? You look like your best friend just found Jesus. What, you didn’t close the Henderson deal?”

“No,” Lou sighed. “I closed it. And the Morley deal, the Harrison deal, as well as the Smith-Jones takeover.”

“Fuck, what the hell are you sittin’ here cryin’ about? You should be out celebrating. Hey, let’s hit Hooters and have a few drinks!”

“Nah, I’m not in the mood man.” He remarked dejectedly and fell back against the bench, his feet splayed out on the pavement beneath him in six hundred dollar loafers.

“Man, what is with you?”

“It’s just too damn easy.”

“What’s too easy?”

“Closing the deal. It’s like, the slightest push in the right direction, everything neatly falls into place and the deal is over before you know it.”

“And how’s that a bad thing? Look at you man, you’re doing great. Pimpin’ clothes, big house in the burbs, a wife, some spawn, a pool in the backyard. What more can you want?”

“Dude, get out of my fuckin’ way, will ya? Jaysus!” Both men looked up as a football player rudely pushed a tall, geeky teen out of the way. The youth stumbled and dropped his stack of books, his cheeks flaming.

“It’s just too easy. There’s no morality in this business anymore.”

“You, bemoaning the lack of morality. When has there ever been morality in this line of work? Hey, remember the Garrison deal? Talk about a slam dunk! And in record time even!”

“That’s what I’m talking about. What happened to the fight, the guilt, the internal struggle with the conscience? Garrison didn’t waste time with a second’s guilt when he laid off all those people right before Christmas. Where’s the decency? How is that any fun?”

“Ensuring that thousands of people were laid off right before Christmas wasn’t enough fun for you?”

“You my friend,” Lou remarked with a condescending wave of his hand, “have no imagination. The fun is in the torment, the agonizing, the excruciatingly sumptuous guilt that rents their soul in two as they finally succumb to their selfish desires.”

“Mom! He tripped me!” A girl cried indignantly, pointing at her older brother as they passed by the pair on the bench.

“Well, you pick easy targets.” Don replied, gesturing towards the people passing by. “People already halfway to where you’re trying to lead them. You talk about having no imagination, where’s yours man?”

Lou fell silent, considering Don’s words. Both men watched as a pickpocket wandered past them, sticky fingers accumulating new treasures by the second.

“I mean, that’s exactly my point. The last three, how was there potential for any kind of challenge with any of them? The jock, that was nothing more than triggering natural Darwinian instinct. Same thing with the brats. And the pickpocket, you didn’t convince him to do anything he hasn’t already done a million times.”

“But everyone has their weakness, it’s always just a matter of uncovering what already lurks just beneath the surface.”

“Yes, but some people are easier to uncover than others. Stop going for the surface fish man, dive down to the ones whose desires have yet to see the light of day. Look for the tormented souls, the ones that agonize over their deranged desires. That’s where the fun is."

“You think I haven’t thought of that? Believe me, it doesn’t matter if you’re talkin’ a nun or a rapist, if you get ‘em in the right spot they fall like dominos.”

“Well man, I don’t know what to tell ya. Maybe you’re just too damn good at what you do.”

“Maybe.”

“Hey, wanna get some Subway?”

“Sure, why not?” Lou remarked with utter dejection as both men disappeared in a flash of orange flames and smoke.