Career Advancement

This short story is connected to Ability and describes how Fin gets Charles to accept David is going to steal the stamps.

David Beasley, who was twenty four, had red-brown hair and blue eyes, had been engaged by Fin Noose to help with a heist in Bangladesh. He got excited when he heard he would work together with another legend, Charles Harold Fox. To his dismay Charles was haughty, and David preferred Fin.

Fin, who was five years older than David, light ash blond and had blue grey eyes, was sometimes gnashing his teeth, when Charles's behavior drove him mad. He wondered why Charles had no respect nor intuition how it made others feel. At least he had himself that much under control he didn't punch Charles, like he had done once in the past. The temptation was there, though. They had thank goodness security figured out quickly and planned accordingly. The only thing Fin was unsure about was who was going to do what. Of course he was sure each of them could break into the Museum of Independence and lift the stamps easily. Fin wondered if he should let Charles, the oldest of the three with slight built, light brown haired and had green grey eyes, or David go ahead with it. Whoever wasn't going to the Museum of Independence would steal the Buddha relief with Fin. Thinking about it carefully and weighing up what made more sense, Fin came to a decision. He invited Charles to a small snack and tea for breakfast. Fin had his favorite little tea stand, where he went every day to relax. He liked the cha, which was black and served with condensed milk and sugar. The neighboring stand offered pitha, which was made from rice flour and covered in ghur, a syrup made from the sap of date trees. It was delicious and looked a bit like small pancakes. Charles rolled his eyes, when Fin was warmly greeted by the stall owners, who knew him pretty well. Naturally Fin could order in Bengali too. Charles wouldn't take the pitha, because he believed he would end up with Bangla Belly and was sceptical about the tea. "The stall owners are meticulous here, so everything's spotlessly clean and they use bottled water only." Settling down at one small table Fin said to Charles: "I have come to a decision and I wanted to tell you before speaking with David." "That sounds ominous." "In a way it is. See, you and I are established, but David isn't, so he needs a success more than we do. David will take care of the stamps." Charles frowned. He wanted to protest, but seeing the set of Fin's chin and Fin's determined facial expression, he knew he wouldn't get his will. "I would appreciate if you would accept gracefully, when we meet up with David." Deep down Charles admitted it would have been good for his own ego, if he had been chosen to steal the stamps. He also admitted freely David had common sense and was capable, so there wouldn't be an issue with getting results. Fin was a bit surprised Charles backed down immediately. He had thought there would be an argument before Charles agreed. "I'd have loved to go to the Museum of Independence by myself, but you are right. I won't make a scene, when you offer the job to David." "Thank you. I really appreciate your cooperation." "Oh, well, don't believe I will make life easy for you, should I ever need your help." "When did you ever?" Fin asked sarcastically. "I was on my best behaviour this time around, wasn't I?" Fin was about to say something about Charles treating the hotel staff, David and himself, but kept quiet. He feared if he told off Charles, he wouldn't want to do the heist and that would have caused another headache. "You weren't too bad, but as the saying goes there's always room for improvement." Charles decided to ignore Fin's comment. Instead he inhaled the steam of the cha. It smelled good, so he took a cautious sip from the tiny cup. The tea was bitter, sweet and strong. Charles loved it. The pathi wasn't entirely to his taste and Charles let Fin know immediately. Fin swallowed his impatience. "If you want something else, go ahead." Fin gave Charles two twenty Taka notes, which was around 0.50 USD. It meant Charles could get easily a full Bangladeshi breakfast with tea, mixed vegetables, dal and paratha or a dozen singara, which were similar to samosas, but differently shaped and had a flakier consistency. Charles took the money, but didn't get up. "Have you heard of the seven-layer-tea served in Srimongol?" "No, I haven't. Where is Srimongol?" "In the north-east of Bangladesh. Thought it might interests you..." Fin confirmed it was fascinating. He hadn't realized Charles also liked tea. Sometimes Fin’s acquaintance was full of surprises. Fin knew when Charles gave his word he would keep it, so when both had finished their tea they returned and Fin told David about his decision, who was overjoyed he was going to get the chance to prove himself.

©2016