The Show (2)

Jordan watched the mogul closely as the older man chuckled to himself. He realised that he was still carrying his shopping bag throughout the whole tense interaction and decided to place it down on the ground next to him. With his hands free now, he crossed his arms confidently.

"You know," Jordan said casually, "I managed to do a little bit of research on you and that company of yours."

Gould was in the middle of taking another huff of his cigar, "Hm?"

"Yeah, and you know what was weird?" Jordan continued, "No matter how I thought about it, there was no way that you could have gathered that much wealth, that quickly, seemingly out of nowhere, without at least bending a few laws."

Instead of his usual large breath out, Gould hissed the cigar smoke out through tight lips.

"And it definitely raised some questions when I couldn't find a single mention of you and Gould Constructions before the company was founded, and yet your company managed to grab some of the most high-profile construction contracts almost immediately," Jordan said.

Jordan was silent as he watched Gould slowly mull over his cigar. The man seemed to be planning on what to say next carefully before he sniggered and shook his head.

"I see what you're getting at Mr Lane," the mogul grinned at Jordan. Jordan could see the slightly yellow teeth from frequent cigar smoking, "I guess you could say I might have received some sort of 'insider information' during the early years of the company's life."

"This 'insider information', was it supernatural in nature?" Jordan asked bluntly, and that made Gould chuckle a little louder.

"I'll leave that up to you to decide," Gould grinned widely as he talked, "Although let's be honest, even if it was supernatural in nature, it's not necessarily illegal, is it? I haven't done anything unlawful."

The statement clinched it for Jordan, but as Gould said, there was no way he could prove any wrongdoing in the eyes of the law.

"Why are you here Mr Gould?" Jordan asked, "I have to wonder why my visit to one of your worksites was an event that was call-worthy, and why the call went all the way up the chain of command straight to you.

"Did Mr Gilbert receive a visit from you before his terrible accident, I wonder?" Jordan wondered out loud. His question caused the older man to stop chuckling and glare at him for a split second before his more relaxed demeanour came back.

"I don't like what you're insinuating Mr Lane, but do not worry. Nothing unsavoury will befall on you," Gould paused for effect, "Though it is a dangerous world out there. I hope nothing bad will happen to your loved ones."

Before Jordan could fully understand what was happening, his body lunged forward towards the Panamera, and he felt the hot bile of anger rise in his throat. He reached in and grabbed hold of the collar of Gould's thin business shirt. The driver yelled at Jordan as he started to step out, but Gould told him that he could handle the situation himself.

The pause allowed Jordan's head to clear enough for him to realise the odd situation they all found themselves in. To his right, with his hand reached into the jacket of the suit, Jordan could see the driver was tense and ready to grab his gun.

Jordan looked down into the backseat of the car at the older man whose collar he gripped tightly and realised that Gould was simply smiling at him, although Jordan could see a slight annoyance on the man's face.

"What do you think is gonna happen here, Mr Lane?" Gould said calmly, "As far as everyone knows, I'm a generous philanthropist who has been sharing his wealth with several different organisations to help improve the quality of life of countless others. You are simply a pastor — a religious man — involved in 'God's Army'…

"I wonder who the public would side with if this was leaked to the public?" Gould smiled wider as he saw the expression on Jordan's face change.

Jordan quickly released his grip on Gould's collar and staggered backwards. He was partly shocked at how quickly his anger took control of his body and quickly glanced around to see if anyone had seen the outburst.

The driver's ready stance relaxed a bit though he continued to watch Jordan carefully in case the man lunged at his employer once more.

Gould continued to watch Jordan's shock with an almost-gleeful look on his face. He calmly fixed up his collar and chuckled again.

"It's okay Roger, he understands the situation," Gould called out.

The driver paused for a little bit as he looked over at Jordan one last time before he straightened his jacket and got back inside the driver's seat.

Gould leaned over so that his face was just inside of the Panamera and said, "As long as you promise to drop your 'investigation', nothing will happen to your loved ones. And besides…"

Gould straightened up in his seat and fixed up his seatbelt so that he was comfortable, "…I really don't like dealing with loved ones. It gets way too messy and really goes against the 'family patriarch' image I've cultivated for myself."

He glared at Jordan. It was a non-verbal reiteration of his order for Jordan to stop looking into him.

"For your sake, Mr Lane, I hope we don't meet again," Gould coldly said before he wound up his window closed, and the car drove off.

Jordan's legs started to shake, and he almost lost his balance when he stepped back into the bag of shopping he had left on the sidewalk.

***

Joshua was having a panic attack. He paced back and forth in front of the framed photo of his dad seemingly holding him as a baby. The shock of what he had read on the plaque next to the photo caused a sinking feeling at the bottom of his stomach, and though he felt like he was going to vomit, he knew that he was unable to.

The Curator had stepped back to give the panicking man some space and watched him quietly.

"This can't be real. This can't be real. This can't be real!" Joshua muttered under his breath as he paced. That was the only thought that his mind could muster to explain what was currently happening to him.

Nothing is real. It must have been a dream. At first, he thought that it was all an elaborate prank, but the missing room behind him —the impossibly white room — when he stepped into the first hallway of the gallery, was too seamless and impossible to have been done practically.

It all had to be a dream. Yeah, that's right, Joshua thought, I'm obviously dreaming right now.

His head hurt.

He looked up and glanced over at the Curator and suddenly became furious.

"You!" Joshua yelled. He paced aggressively over to the silent man and got up close and personal, "What the hell is happening here? Where am I!?"

The Curator politely backed away from Joshua and approached the photo both were studying before. Joshua followed closely behind the mysterious man.

"You already know where you are right now," The Curator cryptically said.

"Just answer me straight—!" Joshua yelled but was cut off when the Curator spoke solemnly.

"Joshua, you're dying out there in the physical realm," The Curator said, "Your life is currently flashing before your eyes."