"When you achieve everything you worked for, what's the point of going on?" -Hanson Heartwell
Hanson fell into his chair clutching his chest as he tried to catch his breath. His heart was pounding against his ribcage and his head ached with a throbbing and intense pain. He took a moment to look around his room as he slowly rode out the spell of anxiety that gripped him.
He looked over at a stack of university textbooks that were gathering dust in the corner of his loft, old tomes that were seldomly flipped through. His gaze then shifted over to the framed Masters of business degree, the most expensive piece of paper he worked for. Finally, it settled on his cup of exotic coffee that laid on his table, black, no cream, no sugar, no nonsense.
Once he had settled he reached out and took a sip of the rich black liquid and peered out his window. It was a beautiful day outside, few clouds in the sky. The cities skyscrapers were glistening and reflected the sun brilliantly. Hanson leaned back into his chair, enjoying the brew, he smiled. "Looks like I picked a good day to die..." He thought to himself.
Hanson finished his coffee as he wrote out his suicide note on a piece of his executive stationary paper. He wrote out his angst and years of pent up anger in a few brief lines, he had no friends or loved ones to write goodbye to, only enemies that he knew would betray him. As he finished his coffee he neatly folded the paper and placed it in his jacket pocket. Before leaving his home he decided to wear his luxury Rolex that his boss, well ex-boss, had gifted him. With everything prepared he stepped out into the world for what he planned to be his last day on Earth.
As he made his way to his old office building he reflected on the events that lead him to this decision. The Heartwell Foundation, his first major project within the company, the first chance he had to truly prove himself as a leader to his peers and an equal to his superiors. Which was then immediately followed by the Heartwell money laundering scandal. A scandal that ruined his career, future prospects of a career, and most importantly one that he was not even apart of until the authorities had arrested him. Eventually his name was cleared in court, but the damage had already been done.
Hanson had been working for this company for years prior to the scandal that brought his life crashing down. In that time he managed to save a decent amount of money to live off of comfortably. However, that was not what he wanted.
As Hanson walked down the street he sees a group of businessmen strolling by on their way to their office buildings and it was at this moment he recalled his earliest memories of growing up in poverty and how he would see these businessmen in their overpriced suits, sipping their expensive coffee, as they made their way to work. He made a promise to himself at that young age that he would be one of them and he would be just as, if not, more successful than them.
As time went on he achieved that goal and more. Hanson worked for one of the biggest companies, he drove a fancy car, he lived in an apartment loft in one of the most expensive neighborhoods, and he had been living his dream life until one day that dream ended.
Of course it was neither an easy or clean rise to the top. He had to step on a lot of backs and screw a lot of people over to get to where he did after all he wasn't handed the keys to the kingdom like many of his peers who were, in his eyes, nepotistic leeches that came from old money. Sons of CEOs and board directors that knew more about partying in international waters on the family yacht than diversifying a stock portfolio.
Hanson sighed as he came to a busy crosswalk. He thought, "There are so many stories about chasing your dreams, yet none of them talk about what happens after. After you win the championship, after you land your dream job, after you reach the summit. No one talks about taking the trophy home and training for the next game, no one talks about clocking in the day after, and no one talks about the climb down."
Hanson crosses the street as he continues to sulk, "and what's worse..." he thought "No one tells you what it's like to have all your dreams come true, only to wake up one day and have everything taken away from you. Every single thing you worked so damn hard for, that you sweat for, that you sacrificed for, and all of it just being gone one day."
"Well this is it." He thought, as he walked past an alleyway. "There is nothing left for me anymore, I'm going to the top of that building that I clocked into day in and day out and I'm taking a dive. They're going to have to scrape my sorry ass of the sidewalk when I hit the ground. Not a terrible way to go, at least I'll end things on my own terms." With that determination he continued forward taking his last steps not noticing a the figure that was rapidly approaching him from the alley.
Suddenly, a slender arm clings around his and he feels the warmth of another human's body up against him, matching his pace the young and petite woman looks up to him and whispers, "Just don't look behind you...okay?"
Hanson is dumbfounded at what is transpiring, a stranger is holding onto him and whispering to "not turn around" his mind races as it tries to make sense of what is going on.
"Lady what do you think you are do-" Hanson says before being abruptly shushed by the strange young woman.
She whispers, "Keep your voice down, for goodness sake, look I'm not trying to hurt you I just need to walk with someone for a bit."
Hanson, still confused at the stranger's words, reluctantly complies. After all she didn't seem like a danger and he had nothing to lose, if she was some pickpocket after his wallet or some psycho that was going to stab him and leave him bleeding on the street it wouldn't matter because he was planning on ending it all anyways, what's the worst this person could do?
After a few awkward and tense moments of walking the woman looks back and breathes a sigh of relief, "Finally he's gone." She says.
"What? Who's gone?" Hanson asks
"The weird guy that was following me." The strange woman replies nonchalantly.
"You're kidding me..." says Hanson "...that's why your holdin onto me. Because some random guy was following you?"
"Yeah" she says in the same carefree manner "So, how's it feel?"
"How does what feel?" he asks.
"To be a hero?" she says with a smile.
"What? Lady I'm no hero, I'm just some guy."
"Yeah, but you still saved me." she says as she leans her head on his shoulder.
"Ugh, so what do you want with me now?" he says in an annoyed and harsh tone.
"Well nothing, I guess this where we part ways my hero." she says as she straightens her posture and lets go of his arm. "Nice meeting you, and thank you again."
"Yeah sure, whatever..." Hanson says, his voice cold and emotionless.
With that the strange woman started walking away abruptly leaving as she had abruptly arrived. In front of Hanson standing tall before his eyes was the office building he had worked in for years and the same one he had planned to jump off of that morning.
As Hanson took one step towards the building something felt wrong. There were no second thoughts or change of heart towards what he wanted to do, but there was a strange emptiness he felt in himself, a coldness that seemed to emanate from his once held arm that spread throughout the rest of his body that shook him to his core.
He took one look at the building and then he looked to the left where that woman had parted ways with him. She was half way down the sidewalk and he could still see her. At that moment Hanson made a choice.
Breaking into a brief jog he followed after the young woman and called out to her, "Hey, wait up."
The young woman turns around surprised to see the businessman she had clung onto now pursuing her.
"Yes? Can I help you?" she says to him
"Yeah...I mean, no I mean uhm..." Hanson stumbles over his words.
"..." The woman stares at Hanson in silence giving him time to collect himself.
"Look I just want to, well what I mean to say is..." Hanson tries to figure out something, anything, any excuse to stay by this person's side. "Would you like to have breakfast with me?" Hanson manages to spit out the words just before she loses interest.
"Uhh...what?" The woman asked puzzled at the offer.
"W-well it's early and I didn't have anything to eat yet and I figured maybe you didn't have anything to eat yet too. So, I thought we could have breakfast together." Hanson says scratching the back of his head baffled at his own words and logic, or lack there of.
The young woman ponders for a moment, giggles, and then smiles.
"Why, sure I don't mind accompanying you for breakfast. It's not every day I get to dine with a hero." She says teasingly.
Hanson straightens up a bit uncomfortably and blushes a little at that word, "hero."
"I suppose we should introduce ourselves, name's Hanson." Hanson says, mumbling a little towards the end.
"Handsome?" asks the young woman leaning in with a mischievous grin.
"N-no, it's Hanson" he says clearly.
"hehe, I like handsome better, well I'm Violetta. Friends call me Vi though." Violetta says gracefully introducing herself.
"Pleasure to meet you Miss Violetta, there's a cafe down the street here. Nothing too fancy, although they have great pancakes." Hanson says pointing to the direction of the cafe.
"Miss?" Violetta says copying Hanson. "Such a gentleman, but don't you have to go to work?"
"Well, I can clock in late today. I have some paid time off." Hanson answers.
"Great, well now that's settled let's go. I love a good pancake." says Violetta with a bit of excitement in her voice.
The two make their way down to the cafe.