THE MOMENT
"What do you mean you can't help!?" The President of the United States raised his voice in anger. His chubby, pasty face turned bright red as his head tried to keep from exploding. "WE PAY YOU TO HELP!" His flushed face almost matched the red color of Phoenix's lush, quaffed hair.
"Sorry," Phoenix replied. The lean, white-suited man ran a hand through his hair to make sure it still had its shape. "You haven't paid us properly in over nine months. We stopped charging your account after the first six; you're no longer one of our paying clients," he said.
"What?" the President was surprised. But, he recovered quickly. "We'll deal with that later! How much do we owe you? Will you reinstate our protection?"
"If you have to ask, it's no wonder that you let it happen," Phoenix chuckled with a sigh. "$9.30 for the first six months; then the usual rate, plus $1.55 for the last three months will allow us to reinstate your protection."
"$10!??? You almost put us at risk for $10!?? We pay you billions yearly!" The President asked. He was furious even though he knew he needed Phoenix's help. Phoenix seemed to know it too; he chuckled in response.
"Sharp Development had nothing to do with this. Either you uphold the contract, or you don't. You might want to look into where that missing $1.55 was disappearing to every month. Our records show Kansas was missing that much from its payment," Phoenix smirked. "What do your records show?"
"We'll look into it," the President replied. "I'll have the payment ready in a few hours. What other cooperation do you need from us?"
"None, that should do it," Phoenix nodded. "Just stand by until we get your coverage reinstated."
"I need to know how to best prepare my people, and the world," the President said. "Should we expect any fragmentation of the meteor, or will you be able to make it miss us entirely?"
"Dunno," Phoenix shrugged. "It depends on how large it is and whom they assign to deal with it; we won't be able to decide any of that until you're reinstated."
"The payment will be ready in a few hours, surely we can get a head start on strategizing," the President said.
"Unfortunately, not," Phoenix shook his head. "Sharp Development needs to function a certain way to make sure everything runs smoothly. Once we accept and process your payment, we'll be able to schedule a representative to come and reinstate you."
"Schedule a ... YOU'RE ALREADY HERE!"
"For a different reason; to explain why Sharp Development was unable to help you. But, as soon as we get that payment processed, we'll be able to again," Phoenix grinned. "Well, good luck," a black portal opened next to him.
"Wait! You HAVE TO HELP!" the President took two steps forward and fell on his knees in front of Phoenix. "The meteor is going to hit the Earth TODAY!!!" his face was red again with tears pouring out of his eyes.
"Today?" Phoenix smirked. "Boy, talk about procrastination; you really should have called Sharp Development sooner." He sighed and slumped his shoulders as he reached down to tap the President on the shoulder.
"But, I guess that does change things," he said.
"It does?" The President asked as he let Phoenix help him up.
"Of course! Sharp Development is a good company, and we take immense pride in our reputation." He gave the President a friendly punch on the shoulder, then returned to the portal with a wave.
"We would have to be a pretty lousy company to take your money if we know we're not going to be able to help you," he walked into the portal and disappeared. "Don't worry about the payment."