“Well I didn’t come all the way out here to watch hotel HBO,” Hagar said emotionlessly into the phone. “I was told that once I got here the contracts would be ready to sign. I’m staying the night, and if I haven’t heard anything by morning I’m coming back to New York,”
He snapped the phone shut, ignoring the inevitable excuse coming from the other end. Two minutes passed before the mindless drivel coming out from the television began to wear on him, and Hagar was forced to turn it off. Opening up his suitcase, he meticulously removed a small wooden case which he unfolded into a chessboard.
Before he could set up the pieces, he needed to assign the field of battle. This will have to be the Crimean war. The Turks would be represented by black of course, while the Russians occupied white. While he assigned each piece the name of a warrior with a corresponding level of power, he thought briefly on who he might be in Chicago for. He dismissed the thought quickly and played chess with himself while he waited.