Rounding the corner of the street, Simon was awash by memories of nostalgia as he saw the sights of this small town before it was forever changed. He even recognized some of the faces but could not place their names causing him to feel a slight sense of guilt.

Simon knew that this small town of Brandermill will not be small for much longer. In fact, numerous companies will attempt to set up branches in this town in the near future, which is one of the reasons Simon failed and one of the causes of misery that will befall this town in the name of modernization.

The Simon back then fought against this wave of modernization as did many town people, but in the end, all that mattered were the opinions of those few who wielded true power. As he was thinking about the past, or in this case the future, Simon stopped in front of a blue Aston Martin that stood out amongst the modest cars around it.

This car alone put Simon back half a million and also happened to be the first thing to go when he was hit by misfortune, although it was only worth a fraction of its cost at that time. Simon shook his head at how childish he was, in fact, he couldn’t help but feel some disdain for himself which was an odd feeling.

Simon got in the car and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a second thinking about the situation he was currently in. He still felt that this was nothing more than a dream or hallucination that will fly away any moment only for him to return to that bleak life.

But, after a few moments, he steeled his heart, started the car and pulled out on the road.

………………………………………………………..

After driving for thirty minutes, Simon arrived at a small suburban neighborhood with small, single family homes neatly arranged on each side of the road. He looked around with a lost look for a few minutes as if trying to remember something specific, but after a few rounds around the neighborhood, he pulled in front of a single-story house.

Unlike all the other houses in the neighborhood, this house was in a especially bad shape, with overgrown grass, chipped paint and a broken mailbox. Looking at the state of this house, Simon could not help but shake his head, but the smile on his face betrayed his thoughts.

He immediately got out of his car and walked to the door of the house. He simply put his hand on the doorknob and walked in without obstruction. He expected this somehow since he didn’t even pause his step.

He immediately looked around the inside of the house which seemed to have been used as a dumb for years and reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. Simon once again shook his head, this time with less of a smile and made his way to one of the rooms of the house.

Laying on a mattress on the floor was a half-naked man clutching a bottle of whiskey in his chest with other empty bottles laying all over the place. Seeing this sight, Simon’s heart felt a few stabs of pain before being replaced a resolute feeling. He immediately walked over to the mattress and kicked the edge of the mattress while speaking:

“Hey Silver. Wake up.”

Simon at first spoke with a light tone so as to not startle the man, but after a few dozen seconds of non-response, he immediately got impatient and started kicking the man himself while throwing a bunch of curses at him.

A few solid kicks later, the man was finally up, although barely. He looked at Simon with a glazed look as f trying to place him or at least figure out where he was. After ten seconds of staring at each other in silence, the man named Silver immediately understood what was going on and bounced to his feet.

He immediately pointed a finger at Simon and spoke with an extremely angry tone:

“What the fuck are you doing here. I thought you couldn’t stand the presence of a failure like me after you became a big banker. Get the fuck out of my house.”

Simon was still smiling and looking at the angry Silver who was a head taller than him. Silver was a broad-shouldered blond man with strong face and a well-shaped body. He towered above Simon causing Simon to slightly look up as they spoke.

Simon remembered the last time he spoke to this close friend of his, which was the week after his father’s funeral or two months ago at this point. At the time, Simon was ecstatic that he just inherited his family wealth and seemed intent on taking full advantage of his newfound wealth.

He immediately cut ties with those people he though would lower his stock and Silver was one of them. Silver and Simon were roommates and childhood friends before that. However, because Silver was always ahead of Simon in everything, Simon couldn’t help but develop some resentment towards this best friend of his.

That was why he decided to cut ties with him the first chance he got. However, when Simon was in his lowest moment, it was this Silver that helped him out the most. In fact, Simon spent a few weeks crashing in this very house after he sold his family manor.

Simon felt guilt at how he treated this friend of his, so he didn’t get angry at his insults and kept staring at him with a smile on his face. After two minutes of rather explicit insults, Silver started to notice Simon’s behavior and was slightly freaked out. He stammered slightly as he didn’t know what else to say:

“A..Alright. Get out now.”

“Are you done?”

This was the only response Simon gave Silver after his chain of insults. Silver was at a loss for words as he stared at Simon who continued speaking:

“If you’re done, go get dressed. We’ll pick up little Charles and go out to lunch.”

Silver couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He thought he must have heard him wrong, but then he got angry again and spoke while taking a step towards Simon as if he might just punch:

“Who the fuck does you think you are Simon. Do you think you can just brush over what you said last time? Get the fuck out of my house before I do something I’ll regret.”

Simon looked at this huge man with a nonchalant look and spoke with a kind voice:

“You and I have been like brothers for as long as I can remember. I fucked up, but I will not let my mistake end our relationship. Now go get dressed and we’ll get the gang back together.”

Simon spoke words that he heard before, except last time, it was Silver who said those words to him when he was trying to get him to accept his help. It was at that point that Simon realized that he and Silver shared a deep bond.

Silver was immediately taken aback. He couldn’t help but think that something was not right. He looked suspiciously at this old friend of his that he though he didn’t know as well as he believed. He tried to remember ever having an interaction like this with Simon, but nothing came to mind.

Seeing Silver’s hesitation and suspicion, Simon couldn’t help but pat his friend’s shoulder as he spoke:

“Let’s go Silver. I haven’t seen you or Charles in a while. I’ll be waiting outside for you. Also clean your house, this place is disgusting.”

Simon immediately walked out of the room and made his way to the front door without waiting for Silver’s response. He really wanted to catch up with this good friend of his, but he couldn’t stand being inside the house, so he opted to wait by the car.

As he was standing by his car and thinking about the number of times he hoped he could go back and do what he did today, Silver walked out of the house and towards Simon. Seeing the Aston Martin parked in his driveway, he was slightly taken back but was too afraid to say anything since he wasn’t sure about how he felt about this development.

Simon didn’t mind his guarded behavior because he knew that the rift he caused could not be healed within a short period of time, but he was willing to put in the time. He immediately tossed a packet of cigarettes to Silver and spoke as he walked towards the driver’s side:

“Where is little Charles. I haven’t seen him in a while.”

Catching the cigarette pack with ease, Silver couldn’t help but snort before speaking:

“He’s probably at his office. His business is not doing so well lately, so he spends most of his time there.”

Simon’s eyes immediately lit up as he heard this, but he put it out of his mind as he continued speaking:

“How about you. When will you get over her and start acting like yourself again.”

Silver became visibly agitated as he seated himself in the car but he didn’t respond to the question. Seeing his reluctance to respond, Simon did not push, instead he started the car and started driving as he spoke:

“Did you hear about the Brandys getting relegated to the national league?”

Simon knew that there is nothing Silver loved more than football and was an avid supporter of the Brandermill football club. However, to his surprise, Silver did not answer him and seemed to be deep in his own thoughts.

Simon couldn’t help but sigh within at the sight of his friend’s heartbroken look. But he knew this was best for him and his future. He remained quiet for a while before speaking again:

“Hey Silver.”

“What?”

“You should really clean your house. It’s like a pigsty.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Haha.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A short drive later, Simon and Silver pulled into a parking lot in the outskirts of the town center where a two-story building stood. The building was rather similar to the numerous other buildings around it, except there was a sign out-front that read “Preacher Holdings “.

“We’re here. Let’s go in.” Simon said to Silver who was in the middle of his third cigarette. Silver took a sidelong glance at the building before grunting and walking out. Simon followed suit as they walked towards the building.

The two-story building was really small with a small waiting area out-front and two three offices surrounding the waiting area. The second story served as living quarters so there was a “Do Not Enter” sign in front of the stairs, although it was not needed since there was no one around to enter.

Simon followed Silver into one of the offices as he didn’t even knock and just proceeded to enter. As soon as Silver entered the room, a tired voice sounded out from inside with a hint of surprise:

“Sil. What are you doing here?”

Silver did not respond as he simply pointed over his shoulder at Simon who was just entering the room. As soon as Simon entered the room, he saw a tidy office with a wood table. Sitting behind the table was a dark haired, pale man who seemed in his late twenties due. If Simon could be described as an average built guy, then this man could only be described as malnourished.

The moment the man behind the table saw Simon, a look of incredulity passed through his face before being replaced by a mix of loathe and disdain. Simon was rather helpless when he thought about how he treated these two friends of his, so he spoke quickly before Charles could say anything:

“Charles. Before you say anything, let me tell you I am sorry. I was going through some things and acted like a prick, hope you’ll forgive me.”

Charles looked at Simon who had a sincerely apologetic look on his face. He was much more easygoing than the hardheaded Silver, so he couldn’t help but sigh as he spoke:

“I know you just lost your father back then, and I know you might not have meant what you said to me and Silver, but that doesn’t change the fact of the matter.”

“I know, and I’ll make it up to you guys. But for now, let’s go get lunch. I also have something to discuss with you guys”

Both Silver and Charles were intrigued by this old friend of theirs’ words. Charles was the first to speak since Silver was still moping:

“What could you possibly want to discuss with us.”

Simon looked at his two friends before speaking with a confident smile:

“Gold and Glory. of course”