Meeting 1

The bathroom was small but neat. Makeup was strewn all over the white ceramic counter top. Ruby looked back at her reflection dissatisfied. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She tried to highlight her green eyes with a new makeup technique, but it never seemed as stylish on her as it did on the models. Her face was too round and she examined her chin carefully. Was she getting a double chin? She had definitely gained weight. Too much snacking on fries at work. Time to go on that diet and stick to it. Ruby turned away and headed for the door.

It was a warm sunny day and Ruby was enjoying the warmth on her face. She had been working so many hours at the restaurant lately that she barely saw the outside during the daylight. Today was her day off and she had a few errands to run.

Her errand list included the bank, the dry cleaner, and the grocery store. Bank had to come first to cash her check and exchange all her change into reasonable bills. The beautiful sun felt so good she decided to walk to her destination. No reason to hail a cab when the bank was just a few blocks away.

Ruby entered the bank and queued up in line for one of the tellers. After ten minutes it didn't seem like the line had moved at all. Ruby pulled out her phone and started scrolling through social media to pass the time. Moments later she heard a scream, "Everyone get down on the ground!" Someone fired a gun into the air.

All around customers were dropping to the floor and cowering in fear. Ruby lowered herself to the ground too, but swiveled her head back and forth. She quickly counted three men with masks and guns. Her mind was racing with possibilities.

She tracked the assailants swiftly and assigned each one a special feature. The point gunman was calling all the shots and seemed to be the leader. The second robber was very tall and she noted his height. The final accomplice had red sneakers that stood out against the black clothes.

She continued to survey the situation when one of the masked men kicked a teenager who looked up. "Everyone keep your faces down," the tallest man shouted.

Suddenly, the leader shot a man in the back of the head. Everyone screamed, several started crying.

"I said heads down. I'm not afraid to kill anyone to get what I want. I need money and I need it now."

**

After an hour or two had passed, I felt a presence next to me. A man in an expensive black suit had made his way closer to me somehow. His face was down, so I couldn't see his expression, but he seemed very serious. "You keep looking at them and you will cause more trouble," his voice was barely audible.

I put my head down to reply, "Just looking for a way out."

His muffled reply came, "Don't be a hero."

Then the suit man stood up slowly. "Hey, Rowan Kitzker here. You probably all know my dad? Paul Kitzker? If you need a hostage, I'm the only hostage you need."

Everyone in the building was awestruck. This man radiated power and wealth. The robbers knew they hit the jackpot... or they were screwed. They should've ran right then, but their greedy little brains just saw dollar signs. Rowan walked across the lobby and all eyes were on him. He spoke calmly to the robbers, but with authority.

"You have me. My dad will pay anything you want for me. You want a private island? A jet to get there? That can all be arranged. Just let these other folks go and I'll get my dad on the phone."

While the gunman were focused on Rowan, I slowly scuttled over to an empty cubicle space and hid behind a desk. I thought I had made it to the desk safe and unnoticed.

From here I had a better view. I realized there were four gunman, not the three I originally thought. Glad I had not acted earlier, that could have been a deadly mistake.

I sat hidden behind the desk and listened to Rowan communicate with these masked mad men. He acted like they were comrades, offered suggestions such as, "Oh, you should demand some pizza too, I'm starving." I tried to figure out what his end game was? Stick it to his dad? Be the hero? This same man that told me not to be a hero? I wanted to know his thoughts, but I was conserving all my energy.

Eventually, the masked robbers did negotiate a deal with the police. First step was to let half the hostages go. I sat and watched as about 20 people went running to freedom and safety. They gathered up the remaining hostages and put them together against the teller window shoulder to shoulder.

Since Rowan was being buddy buddy with the bad guys, he was free to roam around the lobby. Nobody dared to tell the meal ticket what to do. When he wandered towards my empty cubicle I panicked. The last thing I needed was attention drawn to me. Rowan sidled up to the desk and propped one hip lazily on the empty desk. He leaned over and grabbed an abandoned pen and started tapping. The tapping rhythm never wavered as he slowly slid something my way. Once it was out of sight, he stood up and wandered another way across the lobby.

"Hey guys, if you ask for pizza on the next call, make sure you get pineapple. Remember me when you're rich and famous, ok?" He smiled and winked at the masked man closest to him.

I guess I wasn't as sneaky getting to my hiding spot as I thought. I grabbed the small silver object from the desk and checked out what had obviously been left for me. In the palm of my hand was a phone. With several texts from "Dad."