THE MOMENT
"Alright...," Charles mumbled to himself as he scrolled through the message. He sat on the edge of his bed about to turn in for the night. It was a small, spartan bedroom with only a bed, a nightstand, and a lamp. It was the larger of the two rooms and his roommate insisted Charles take it. He only lived there for a little more than a week so far and his roommate, Greg, had been nothing but kind and friendly. But, as he readied himself for sleep, his phone chimed. He almost ignored it; but, the notifications kept ringing. He finally reached for his phone to see what the fuss was about. His niece sent him over a dozen pictures from her birthday party; and, he also received two heartfelt thank-yous from his sister and brother-in-law. He shook his head with a sigh. "...I need to find out."
He stood, left the bedroom, and headed to the living room. Greg spent most of his time in his own bedroom; he liked his privacy. But, whenever he was willing to socialize he liked watching the big TV. Charles was glad to see Greg there watching what looked like a roller derby match. Charles wasn't a sports fan and didn't pay much attention. But, he saw people skating around a track and decided it was Derby.
"Hey man, can we talk?" Charles asked.
"Sure, no problem," Greg grinned and did not hesitate to turn the TV off; Charles appreciated that he had all of Greg's attention. "What's up?"
Charles handed his phone to Greg to answer the question, then he sat down on the brown couch next to him. Greg glanced at the photos and his grin grew wider.
"She got the gift? That's awesome man, congratulations. I hope that makes her feel better about you not being able to make it."
"What the hell, man?" Charles asked. He had no idea how to phrase the question he was trying to ask. He was worn out from a long day at work and he already wasn't going to get enough sleep for the next day. Greg chuckled.
"What the hell, what?" he asked. Charles took the phone back for a moment and selected a different picture. Then, he zoomed in on it and showed it to Greg again.
"You know a guy that can take care of speeding tickets, and you know a guy that does lawns, and an excellent mechanic, and just everything. Ever since I've moved in, you know someone that can handle whatever I need; but this?" he gestured at the photo with his free hand; it showed a majestic white horse with a sleek golden horn spiraling out of its head.
"You know a guy that rents out unicorns for birthday parties? Unicorns aren't even real...," he felt the need to add that explanation when Greg wasn't seeing the problem.
"It depends where you look," Greg shrugged. "But, for the record, it's not 'a guy'. She's a girl, and she's the same one I use for everything. Speeding tickets and unicorns, and everything in between.
"Just one?" Charles asked. He was surprised; he assumed that Greg had an army of supporters a phone call away. He was definitely kind enough to have that many friends. But, if it was just one person, maybe Charles didn't need Greg to be the middleman. "Can... I meet her?" he asked. Greg chuckled and nodded.
"You know, I work with her so much, I wouldn't have let you move in here if you weren't going to meet her eventually." Charles thought back to their first meeting. The pair hit it off almost immediately but, something odd stood out to Charles.
"You wouldn't have let me move in...," he repeated with a confused look. "...wait. Is this related to the number 20??" he asked. As he remembered their conversation, he noted the last question Greg asked before agreeing to be roommate. Greg asked his favorite number and he answered '20' without hesitation. Greg only grinned and said he was welcome to move in at any time. Charles spent a couple of days wondering when he got a favorite number before he lost himself in work again.
"You got it," Greg nodded. "Charles, say hi to Monday." Greg gestured at something behind Charles and he turned to see a pale, rainbow-haired teenage girl standing in their living room. She wore a crisp white blazer with a red crescent moon logo, and white slacks. She smiled and waved at him as he wondered where she came from; he'd been facing the front door the whole time.
"Uh,.. hi.. Monday," Greg nodded.
"Hello," she said. "Greg said you're interested in my services?" she asked.
"Kind of...," Charles nodded. "...what do you do exactly?" He was too tired to try and figure anything out. All he could do was move forward and carry on the conversation.
"I'm a freelance merchant," she said. "Anything you want to buy, I'll get it and sell it to you."
"Sell..?" Charles turned to Greg. "I thought they were favors," he said. "You paid for everything? How much does a unicorn rental even cost??" he asked. He wasn't sure that Greg had a job, Charles always saw him whenever he was home. "How much do I owe you?" he added. Greg grinned and shook his head.
"C'mon, man, I'm a nice guy. Of course they were favors. You don't owe me a thing."
"Greg and I have an arrangement," Monday added. "And, I don't really deal with money anyway," she pulled a translucent red clipboard out of her white blazer. "If you'd like to sign on, I just need your signature on this form and I'll arrange anything you want, whenever you want."
"My signature? That's it?" Charles took the clipboard and looked over the white form. It was printed in red text and a header at the top had a red scissor logo that read: Sharp Development. He chuckled. "So, what, I'm selling my soul?" It was meant as a joke; but, he had no idea what else 'anything, anytime' would be worth.
"You're quick," Monday nodded. "Signing that grants ownership of your soul to Sharp Development. Then, you can start making requests." If Charles were more awake, he might have taken the situation more seriously. As it was, he was exhausted and barely keeping his eyes open. He wasn't sure that he wasn't dreaming and decided he had nothing to lose. He signed his name, then turned and looked at Greg.
"Obviously, no offense; but...," he turned back to Monday. "I want my own place. Preferably tonight, and a million dollars in the bank in the morning. I'm going to want more, but I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow."
"No offense taken," Greg chuckled. "Since you signed your soul over, I'm moving out anyway," he added. Charles had a sudden realization that he wished he'd had sooner.
"Wait... why did you need a roommate if you signed your soul over to Sharp Development?"
"I haven't," Greg smiled. "Monday and I have a different arrangement."
"Huh? Different how?" he should have asked about other options.
"It's simple. Monday puts me somewhere and I start looking for roommates. Then, I let her know when I find one with a favorite number. I guess it's kind of a head-hunter deal."