“Well, I got this in the mail the other day,” she said, producing an envelope from her coat. She slid it across the desk. “Do you know what this is?”

Bennett Templar eyed the envelope warily without touching it. “I recognize the seal, yes.” He knew it quite well. In fact, he had designed it.

“Well what is it?” Olivia leaned forward eagerly.

“It means your number is up.” Templar leaned back in his chair, eyeing her coolly.

“My what…?”

“It means it’s time to cash in your chips. It means they’re coming to collect, and, well…” He decided that was enough. Better not to lay it on too thick.

Olivia’s eyes widened slightly as understanding dawned. “But they can’t. I mean, I’m not ready. And anyway, there’s nothing written on the letter. Maybe it’s a clerical error. The page is completely blank.”

“Is it? You’d better check it again.” Templar had been through this before.

Olivia snatched back the envelope, opened it quickly. The page within was no longer empty. Templar was right. Three words were now neatly printed in the center:

OLIVIA JOSEPHINE QUINN

Olivia’s face went completely white. Her hands, trembling slightly, dropped to her lap. “So how much is it going to cost me to put a stop to this?”

“Well, we can’t completely stop it,” Templar said, which was true. He lit a cigarette. “But we can deflect it - for a while.”

“Please… how much?”

“Fifty.”

“Thousand? I don’t have that kind of money laying around.” Olivia was becoming absolutely flustered. “Isn’t there anything else I can do? Any other way?”

“You could confront them yourself, I suppose. Although, most people find it to be too great of a strain.” Templar said confidently.

Olivia seemed to suddenly crack. “Well, then that’s what I’ll have to do. Thank you for your help, Mr. Templar.” She stood up, grabbed her coat and stormed resolutely out of his little office.

“Fuck.” Templar said to himself. “That felt like a sale.”