FBI field office, NYC:
Jefferson was sitting in his office with a letter in his hand. It was Michael’s letter of resignation. After Jefferson had asked Michael to hand in his resignation, Michael was distraught, he had pleaded with Jefferson not to do this to him, to trust him, but Jefferson could not. In the end, he had to threaten Michael, saying that if he didn’t resign of his own will, he would fire him anyway, and that would be a much less respectable business. Michael had looked at him with such hate that Jefferson was shocked. He had been expecting bitterness, but what Michael displayed was hate so intense, that Jefferson felt compelled to get away from him. The next day, Michael had handed in his resignation letter and today, he would be coming to empty his cubicle.
Suddenly Jefferson’s phone rang, the call was from security to ask for authorization to let Michael enter the building. Jefferson gave the required permission and after a few minutes, Michael entered the bullpen. Instead of formal attire, Michael was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and a coat. This was a sign that he had accepted that he was a civilian now. Nobody in the bullpen wanted to make eye contact with him. Only Sam made a futile attempt to talk to him.
“Hello, Michael.”
Instead of replying, Michael walked past him as though he didn’t exist. Sam’s cheeks flushed and he went to his cubicle. After five minutes, Michael exited the cubicle which used to be his, with a small cardboard box in his hand. Jefferson came out of his office and walked up to Michael.
“Michael, I…”
But before he could complete his sentence, Michael took his leave. Jefferson looked at Michael as he left, thinking about the decision he had made and whether it was a mistake.
Michael’s Apartment:
Michael was sitting on the floor of his apartment with a black backpack beside him. The apartment consisted of furniture, but there were no clothes in the almirah and no personal effects in the drawers. Michael had packed up everything and his luggage had been sent ahead the previous day. The reason for this action was that he had decided to shift. He was leaving behind the part of his life that had passed and he could not stay in the same place where he had lived when he was an agent. The memories brought up an odd mix of emotions which were not healthy for Michael. In a short course of time, his life had changed and thus, he had to change his surroundings as well.
Michael stood up and looked at his wristwatch. It was time. He picked up the bag and didn’t even look back once as he went out the door.
After managing to get a cab, he had to force himself to do the one thing which he had been dreading to do for a long time. He didn’t even want to think about it, but he felt that it was unavoidable to deal with it.
After what felt like just a few moments, Michael was standing outside Evelyn’s door, unsure about how to proceed. Finally, he mustered up courage and rang the doorbell. Evelyn opened the door and Michael was greeted by the usual “Who is it?” in Rob’s voice, coming from the living room.
“Hello, Michael.”
“Hello, Evelyn.”
She moved aside to let him enter and he did, although nervously. Rob was also in the room, and he perked up when he saw who their guest was.
“Michael!”
“Hello Rob, how are you?”
“Perfectly fine, other than the fact that my sister is forcing me to complete my homework, so thinking about it, I don’t feel very well.”
Michael laughed. Evelyn said, “Rob why don’t you finish your homework inside? So that you can concentrate.”
Rob got up and said, “I don’t want to concentrate,” but he went in, nonetheless.
“So, how are you, Michael?”
“Evelyn I’m here to talk about something very important.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be friends anymore.”
“What? What Happened?”
Evelyn was shocked and there was no need to be a behavioral analyst to know that. Her eyes had widened, and her cheeks had paled.
“Something happened, Evelyn, and I’m in a place in my life where I don’t want any friends,” said Michael with a very heavy heart. This was far more difficult than he had expected.
“Michael, whatever it is we can talk about it. Is this because the robber got away?”
Michael knew how she was aware of what had happened. Everyone had seen the news, the news where the reporters were announcing the failure of the FBI.
“Please Evelyn, this is very difficult as it is, don’t make it worse,” said Michael in a heavy voice.
Evelyn was finding it hard to maintain her composure, but she said, “All right Michael. It was good to have a friend like you.”
Michael got up. “Believe me, the feeling is likewise.”
He exited the apartment in a hurry as he felt that if he stayed in the apartment any longer, he would not be able to sever his connections with Evelyn, and that was something which had to be done. He had no choice.
Michael got in a cab and gave his destination as a specific bookstore. He had no work in the bookstore, but he had his reasons for wanting to go there, reasons which were very personal. After some time, he reached his destination and went into the bookstore. He had to wait for some time and thus, picked up a book and pretended to read it while his eyes were focused on his watch. At the right time, he closed the book, replaced it on the shelf and exited the bookstore. He then walked for some time until he reached a run-down warehouse. He opened the look at the door with a key from his pocket and closed the door behind him as he entered. The sunlight filtered through the newspaper-covered windows and Michael squinted to see clearly around him. There was dust everywhere, but through the dust, one could see a faint glimmer of light on the back end of the warehouse.
Suddenly, someone addressed Michael, “Took you long enough to come here.”
Michael whirled around as the figure of a man emerged from the shadows. They both stared at each other with intense expressions. The man was the person who was responsible for Michael losing his job, he was the man who had manipulated the FBI, and the man was Oliver.
A moment later, Oliver and Michael laughed at the same time and then gave each other a high five as though they were brothers.
Aurum Regium 