Costa del Crime

inspired by Fandango’s One Word Challenge (FOWC) of 20 October 2020, finagle. Another uncommon word here, I hope I got the interpretation right.

“What a lovely place”, I say,
The old man shows me round
“With such a perfect dwelling place,
You surely must be proud.”

How could he afford all this?
I wonder silently,
I think he must have won the pools,
Perhaps, the lottery.

He beckons me to breakfast,
Beside the indoor pool,
I cannot help but gasp in awe,
Gawking like a fool.

“What was it you used to do?
How did you spend your day?”
He said he was “a fixer”
Made problems go away.

A hint of menace in his voice,
Thought best not to inquire,
The type of problems that he solved,
Before he had retired.

With croissants and fresh coffee,
I sat uncomfortably,
“Okay, let’s get this business done”,
He says commandingly.

The paperwork completed,
Our business had been brief,
I came out from the villa,
I’m shaking like a leaf.

Safely at my office,
I Google this old man,
Shootings? Gangland? Murder?
Relieved I cut and ran.

I was imagining here a lawyer or an accountant or something, maybe an office junior, having been sent out to visit some client who he’d never met before, maybe to collect some signatures on something, and it gradually dawning on him that this client might not be all he seems…