Without taking his wild eyes off his new client, Charon deftly took the toy boat out of Baron Samedi's hand and placed it on his desk.
"One moment please, Madam." He apologized to his client.
"At least de rum is not so bad." The Baron's other hand came up from behind the wall, bearing an over full tumbler of rum that he began happily to sip.
Charon sighed, and rolled his mad eyes eyes to look at the pallid, skull like face of Baron Samedi.
"What do you want, Baron."
"Noting!" He replied innocently, swirling his drink around and leaning heavily on the cubicle wall. "Noting, dat is, that you shouldn't want yourself mon ami." And he grinned wickedly.
"I am not going out drinking with you again, Baron." Charon stated coldly, before adjusting his rust-coloured tie.
"Awww, come now... We won't drink so very much dis time, I swear..." The Baron gestured eagerly with his drink before realizing the irony and putting it down on Charon's filing cabinet. "You are such a great wingman, Charon... I need you, mon ami!" And he opened his arms wide, eyes pleading.
"Absolutely not. The last time I went out for an evening with you, Baron, I wound up spending two weeks in the Diyu. Alone. No thank you."
"Ahh, but dis time I promise not to abandon you for some qualitee time wit' Hausos." The Baron looked at Charon's client, a clearly confused young woman, and gave her a wink. "Even eef it was totally worth it, I assure you."
Charon's wild gaze bore in to Baron Samedi with renewed ferocity. His face was a statue of contempt.
"So yes den?" The baron asked, eyebrows high.
"No."
"Hmm." The Baron looked crestfallen, but not not defeated. "Are you sure there ees nothing I can say to sweeten the deal, wingaman?" And he began to crack the knuckles on one hand using only his thumb.
"Certainly not." Charon stated firmly. "Now if you don't mind, I have a fair amount of paperwork to get through here so..."
"Nothing... at all?" The Baron smiled and produced, seemingly out of thin air, a single Obol. He rolled the ancient greek coin across the backs of his fingers, letting it flash in the fluorescent light.
Charon was transfixed. "Where did you get that?"
"Oh, I been hanging on to dis for a while now, wingman. Shall we say seven o'clock?" He grinned, holding the coin out to Charon.
Angrily, Charon snapped it out of his hand and examined it. He turned it this way and that, felt its weight. He slumped slightly. Definitely authentic.
"Fine." He growled at the Baron. "Until then, could you kindly shove off."
"Sure, sure." The Baron cackled, retreating back into his cubicle. Just as his top hat was about to dissappear (much to Charon's relief), he popped back up. Charon slumped.
"Forgot my drink, mon ami." He grabbed his rum from the top of Charon's filing cabinet. "And since I'm in such a good mood..." He casually flipped a second coin to the young woman waiting to be processed by Charon. "Make sure you get a nice afterlife, eh madam?" He winked at her, and vanished back into his cubicle.
She held the weighty, ancient coin in her hand. It was silvery, and had an engraving of an insect on it. When she looked up, Charon was eying it hungrily.
He cleared his throat, and with a sweep of his arm slid the huge pile of paperwork he'd pulled out for her to complete into the trash. He pulled out a single sheet, without taking his eyes off the coin, and asked her a single question.
"So, do you prefer penthouse, or ground floor terrace?"
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