"You haven't hired me yet." Asher pointed out.
He took a seat on the couch, fixing Tates with a blank stare.
"And Mr Burns is... different."
Tates scoffed. "He's a living person, you mean?"
Asher didn't respond.
"Listen, Mr Knox." Tates continued. "You're not the first broker I've dealt with. Most of your kind...are just too incapable."
"I'm certain you won't be any different from the last or the many before that."
Asher smiled. "You've been dead five years and you've been through so many brokers?"
"Perhaps you have no intentions to let go of your grievances and move on?"
"Why hire a broker then?"
Tates shrugged casually. "Now that you know, we can skip the formalities."
His tone dropped a notch. "I don't need a broker to settle my grievances. But for other reasons."
Asher didn't like the sound of that.
"What reasons?"
Tates smiled, almost maniacally. "Two things. I need you to get Mr Top Hat off my back."
Mr Top Hat. The man in the Limo, or as Asher was beginning to suspect, the grim reaper.
"Why is that?"
Tates' smile progressed to a full grin. "Because I plan to kill someone, and you will help me."
Asher blanched.
---
The ride to the hospital was silent. Asher still mulled over his conversation with Tates in the office.
He thought Marrick was difficult. Tates? He was terrifying.
Not only did he want Asher to aid and abet his intention to murder a living person, he wanted Asher to somehow keep Mr Top Hat from discovering it.
Those were his conditions to sign the soul contract. Was he allowed to aid a ghost in committing murder if that was the only way to resolve his grievance?
There was no ghost broker manual, or ethics guidelines that could help him navigate this situation. And Asher had no way to contact the union himself, they were the only ones with the means to establish contact.
Now, he had a decision to make between his morals and his life.
Was there no way he could escape his fate to end up a ghost on the sidewalk?
"Mr Knox."
Asher glanced up. George had parked outside the hospital entrance and he now held the door open for Asher.
Rick had taken an early night today, for personal reasons. Asher suspected the poor man was still shaken by the technician's report that his office chair did not have any inbuilt mechanism to rotate on its own.
"Right." Asher murmured, getting down from the car. "Thank you. You can head home, I'll take a cab later."
George looked like he would protest but seemed to think better of it. He got into the car and pulled out.
Asher walked to the elevator, hesitating for a moment to find two spectral figures lounging in the metal box.
Heaving a sigh, he got in. The doors slid closed and Asher stood stiffly.
'Do you think the grumpy old man up on the VIP floor will die anytime soon?'
'If not? He is barely getting by on life support.'
Asher zoned out of the rest of the conversation till the elevator dinged again.
The VIP floor was large. But it was a short walk to Emmy's room.
She was up when he arrived, as if she had been waiting for him.
"Ashy." She grinned, lifting up a new, shiny coat.
He smiled back. There was no unwanted company in her room. It was comforting.
Emmy noticed his sour mood instantly. "Are you okay?"
Asher shrugged, sitting by her bed. "Just some... difficulties with work."
Emmy pouted, folding the coat away. "I like the coat...but I don't know if any of this is right for you, Ashy."
He smiled. He was older, but Emmy had been more like a mother to him for the longest time.
He didn't know how to tell her his difficulties didn't stem from the office. At least not the one she knew about.
"Why?" He teased. "I look better in washed jeans and hoodies?"
Emmy rolled her eyes. "You look better with a smile, Ashy."
He didn't respond. He hadn't smiled genuinely for the longest time, even before he cracked his skull on the sidewalk.
Asher guessed he was just not as convincing now as he was then.
"You don't have to worry about me, Ems." He murmured. "I only have to decide between the wrong thing that may have consequences and the right thing that certainly has consequences."
"Okayyy..." She stared at him weirdly.
"Can't you just do whatever you want?" She pointed out. "I mean, isn't that what being rich is all about? Doing what you want?"
He laughed, ruffling her hair. "Why? You're so smart, I'll have to give up Marrick's inheritance to you once you're out of here."
Emmy grumbled beneath her breath and they settled into comfortable silence. In that silence, Asher pondered over Emmy's words, maybe a little more than he should have.
And finally, he knew what to do.
Pulling out his phone, he looked up real estate listings and typed 'Freedom Stadium Ruins', into the search bar.
Sure enough, the property listing popped up. Ruin considered, it was valued at an embarrassingly low price for the size and quality of the stadium.
Asher dialled Mr Burns.
"Hello?"
"Knox."
"I know you're yet to conclude on our partnership so I thought to give you an incentive, as a gesture of faith."
"I'm listening." Mr Burns responded.
"For our first joint project, what do you think about demolishing and rebuilding a tower on the Freedom Stadium Ruins?"
"The Ruins? Well, it's a promising property. But I've heard...well, they say it's haunted. No one's been able to purchase it for five years, and a few prospective buyers even encountered unfortunate events."
"And if I can assure you I will acquire the property?" Asher asked.
The line went quiet for a moment.
"Then we have a deal. I'll push the contract through my lawyers at once, and stop by the office tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
Asher smirked. His genius plan, give Tates a taste of his own medicine.
Demolish the residence of the deceased Demolition King.
After all, he now had the means... To do as he pleased.