The Contract

“BECKETT!”

The bangs grew louder.

“Open up! I know you’re in there!”

They’re not going to give up unless they break my door down, or I answer it, and that’s never going to happen, either way, they won’t be satisfied...

Not until they beat the hell out of me or I give them their money, either way, I don’t have their money, and I never will, not when I’m like this, and can’t get a decent-paying job.

Money... it’s the root of all evil and my main problem right now.

The men at the door go quiet, so maybe I have some good luck, after all, now I just need to find another place to crash-

A brown envelope appears from under my door and is shoved into my room, I quietly stop forward and grab it.

“We’ll be back next week, and if you don’t have our money by then Beckett, I’m breaking every bone in your body!”

I take the paper from the envelope with shaking hands and read what’s on it.

“See you next week.” The man says as the sound of his footsteps grows distant.

I read the line in bold letters and numbers, and my whole body freezes.

My stomach drops. “3 MILLION DOLLARS?!” There’s no way I can pay that back.

I only had a loan of 10k, how the hell did it rise to 3 million? I know loaning from anyone other than the bank was a risk, but I didn’t know just how much... until now.

Fuck... fuck! I don’t have enough to buy a goddamn slice of bread, there’s no way I can pay this back, and the rest I borrowed from different places and people.

I’m really going to die, like this... because of money.

I head into my bedroom and grab my phone from the bed and start phoning the only person I trust.

“Hello? Evan?′

I sigh in relief once I hear his voice.

“Robbie, they now say I owe them 3 million, what am I going to do?” I grip the piece of paper in my hands.

“One of the guys I loaned money from was just here, and if I don’t get 3 million by next week... I’m dead, they’re going to kick the door down next time and kill me, this time I know they will...”

“Woah Evan, slow down, 3 million?” He loudly asked.

“You need to go to the police, it’s gotten way out of hand Evan, you need to tell them you’re being scammed and now threatened.”

Tears fall from my eyes and I let them. “I already did, they won’t help me.′ I rub my eyes. “Banks have blacklisted me and now work is drying up... I’ve screwed up Robbie, I never should’ve borrowed in the first place, but I was desperate.”

Really... the more I think about it, maybe it’s about time I just let them inside and beat the shit out of me, beg them for my life, maybe they’ll even let me live if I work for them? There’s nothing I can offer them but my life, to work off my debt.

“I have an idea... but it’s a long shot.”

“What? I’m desperate, at this point I’ll do anything.” I sigh. “Long as it’s not anything sketchy.”

“It’s not anything like that.” Robbie insists. “I knew a guy who knew this singer who was in a situation, she went to this guy and he gave her money, all she had to do was one simple thing, whatever he asked, and she did it.”

“That girl was Carmen Deed the lead singer in Girls 101, she took the deal and in return, she got her dream, stardom, and the money to pay off her debts”

Carmen... I’ve heard of her, I thought it was crazy how one day nobody heard of her, then the next she’s top of the charts, and in makeup adverts.

“What did she do?” I tap my foot nervously. “To get all that, it can’t be that simple, nothing is.”

“Don’t know, the guy didn’t say, something about an NDA.” Robbie’s voice gets happier. “Evan, you need this, just think, you could be getting movie parts, you could pay off your debts, you need this Evan.

“What left have you got to lose?”

He’s right, I know he is, I have nothing left, but a bed and an empty fridge with ketchup inside and the clothes on my back.

But something about this seems too good to be true, no one in their right mind would give you money for a single ask in return.

“Okay.” I breathe out shakingly. “Who... what was the person’s name?” Let’s just get those over with, there’s no harm in going and asking.

My pride is already on the floor, I have no other options left anymore.

“Donovan Steele.” He says.

I try to think, but I’ve never heard of them. “Is it legit? Would they see me for an appointment?”

Robbie leaves me in a long silent pause.

“I mean... there’s no harm in trying right?” He says sheepishly. “I’ll text you the number and address, it’s a shot in the dark, after all, they say this guy is the devil but he gets shit done.”

“Thanks, Robbie, shit I don’t know what I would do without you, seriously, you’re my guardian angel.”

“Just stay out of trouble until then, I’m not burying my best friend because of this, you got that Evan?” He says, before hanging up.

Robbie sent me the address and number, my stomach churns for some reason with anxiety once I read the man’s name again.

Going onto Google on my phone, I type in the guy’s name and wait.

‘Donovan Steele’ pops up so I then click on the first link, his Wikipedia page.

The first thing that attracts me, is his face, I was expecting some old grey fat guy who liked younger women, but Donovan was anything but what I had expected.

Donovan was handsome, and young, with a net worth more than anything I would ever see or touch in my entire life, and for someone so young, he had risen to the top all by himself, in such a short time.

It said he was one of America’s wealthiest and youngest bachelors, and I believe it.

In the first photo I see, he was standing in front of his desk with a view of New York in the background from his large glass window, he was leaning against his desk with his arms crossed, with a passive expression.

The whole image of this guy screamed ‘money’.

I scroll down and I see his net worth and what he owns, and my eyes almost pop out of my head upon realizing just who he is.

He’s a billionaire who owns Steele, a business company and it also says he’s the CEO of Desire... one of the best talent agencies in America and in my option, the world, anyone who is part of Desire has automatically reached the peak of their career in my line of work.

It would be a dream to have an agent from Desire, only the top actors and models with deep pockets ever get the chance to step foot inside the building, never mind actually getting signed on as a talent with them.

If I became a talent here, I could be in TV shows, and movies... fuck I’d no longer be scraping by with commercials that only aired when everyone else was sleeping, adverts not even I would blink twice at.

Fuck it, I’m calling them, I’m at a crossroads with dead ends, there’s no other option left for me, it’s this or I run back home like a loser, without accomplishing anything.

I’m not ready to leave my dream behind... I still have one last move, and that is Donovan Steele.