The grinding of the air conditioner’s worn fan may as well have been a jet engine blasting into his ears. The occupant laid back on the wiry mattress, even through the thin sheets he was lying on, the metal springs dug into his sweaty back.
Light streamed in through the broken blinds, accompanied by the noise of traffic and people. The term budget hotel didn’t even come close.
Reaching for his phone he thumbed his way through several messages, mostly spam, deleting them he dropped it onto the bed beside him. Three days he’d been waiting in this room, waiting for the word to proceed. Following orders was easy, but coping with boredom was not. The package sat in the bottom of the open wardrobe, it’s unremarkable container hiding the contents from prying eyes.
Tired, hot and bored the occupant sat up and rubbed the sweat from his forehead, his eyes passed to the bottle of cheap synthetic whiskey on the table and he moved towards it.
As he poured the drink, his phone bleeped, one word on the display
‘NOW’