Chapter 5 ~ He Doesn’t Look Real

{Morningstar’s POV}

Morning arrived without ceremony and when I opened my eyes, the room was quiet— too quiet.

The other side of the bed was empty, the sheets cool, smoothed of any lingering impression. The absence registered instantly, without surprise.

She had left. 

The woman from last night

I turned to the side then and saw the note on the nightstand.

“Thank you for your help.” 

I picked it up and placed it back down almost immediately. 

I didn’t ponder upon it. I accepted it the way one accepts a resolved variable. Some things arrive without permission and exit the same way. So if anything, her departure confirmed what I already knew.

I sat up, reached for the glass of water on the bedside table, and drank. I had been drugged yesterday at a small business forum. 

Someone foolish had spiked my drink and rendered me disoriented after which my assistant, Celeste, had arranged for me to lodge at the nearest hotel. This hotel.

I didn’t habitually attend functions like that but I decided to do since the president himself was going to be in attendance and had invited me. But then someone had plotted to compromise me since they knew they’d never be able to get the president’s attention as long as I was present. 

Dumb move, but they had succeeded and last night entertained a version of me nobody had ever seen— except for that random lady. However, it didn’t matter now. None of it did.

The room smelled faintly of soap and something unfamiliar— already fading. I crossed the floor now, pulled the curtains open, and let the city come into view.

It was awake. Moving. Indifferent.

By the time I got out of the bathroom, dressed and ready, the room had returned to order. The bed was straightened and the air cleared. Nothing remained that required explanation.

Good.

The room service attendant bowed swiftly when I stepped outside the room and then came his words. So many of them.

“I.. I didn’t believe it when they said you were at our hotel. I literally fought my colleagues to get here and– and be the one to clean your room,” he was trembling and stuttering. “Sir, it is an honor to meet you in person.” He rushed his speech and when he was done, I nodded subtly.

“Likewise.”

**

“Good morning, Sir.” Celeste greeted me as I got to the end of the hallway. She was already waiting.

“Good morning, Celeste.”

“How was your night?” She asked as she fell in line with my pace.

I hesitated for a moment, choosing the truth without drama.

“Eventful.”

“Oh. That’s new and interesting.”

“I’d prefer ‘disturbing’.” I responded and she smiled.

We took a turn now and she started filling me in required info. 

“So.” She started. “All the hotel’s main entrances are crowded. We’d have to take a private one arranged by the management.” She scrolled on her tab and squinted.

“The receptionist that checked you in posted something about seeing you in real life and now everyone knows you’re at Hotel du Lac.”

I nodded “Traffic?”

“Dense. But the helicopter is ready. I had it arranged earlier.”

“Alright.” We took another turn that led into an opening.

There were people but there were guards also to hold them back. Nonetheless, it became noisy at once while cameras flashed.

“Oh my goodness. It’s really him!”

“He’s even more stunning in real life.”

“The city’s bachelor himself! The man who refused to marry.” 

“Purely business and power.”

“Look at his skin. He doesn’t look real.” 

“I would collapse if he touches me.”

Someone collapsed.

Celeste and I soon got out of that axis and resumed our dialogue as the noise went down. 

“Did the president inquire of my absence?” I asked. 

“He left in your absence.” Celeste responded. 

We stopped at a small foyer then and I raised my wrist to check the time.

“He asked and I told him you were unavailable so he requested for your number. I gave him mine.”

“He wasn’t mad at my leaving?”

“I’m not sure. But he was definitely grateful for your attendance. I’ll ask to schedule a meeting with him when you’re ready.” Celeste resolved and immediately squinted at her tablet again. 

“Also, headlines are saying that the president visited the city yesterday but you’re trending more than he is.” She added but I changed the topic to something more cardinal.

“The man who spiked my drink. Have we found him?”

“Yes. Yes.” Celeste looked at her tab again. “A short, chunky white male. He was about the first four guests to arrive at the summit; eager to meet with the president.” She said. “He owns two construction companies in the city; he’s a small scale businessman.

A pause. Then. 

“What do you want to be done to him? Do you want him caught?”

“No, Celeste, his name is enough.”

“Right. Alvin Lipton.”

I checked my watch again. 

“Make the necessary calls. I want all his international dealings and contracts terminated. And then collapse him locally.” I said.

He wanted to render me inefficient at the summit so I’ll render him inexistent.

Two words, similar effects.

“How soon do you want his collapse?”

“Put a call to him and let him decide for himself. Whatever duration he says he’ll use to expose me for the fraud I am, use it for his ruination.”

“Alright. Noted.”

l checked my watch again and frowned. “Why are we just standing here, Celeste? Where’s the management?”

“Right. Sorry. Our security personnels mistook them for the crowd of fans at the other foyer so I sent James to go and help identify them and bring them here.” She said and I nodded. Just then, footsteps approached, then voices.

“We are so sorry for the delay, Mr. Morningstar.” A female voice said but I paid little attention.

“Where’s the private exit?” Celeste asked at once, doing her job by handling things.

“It’s this way.”

We followed and left. 

**

Later, alone, I stood by the window several stories high and watched the city reorganize beneath me. Somewhere below, deals were unraveling and others were solidifying— movements set in motion hours earlier.

My phone vibrated then, a message from Celeste.

“Completed, Sir. He chose one week.”

I read it and placed my phone back on the table. I settled in the silence once more with a glass in my hand. Only then did the odd memory surface. 

The mute lady.

After my resolve not to marry and never to bed a woman again, I had slept with one last night— broken one resolve.

I had been intoxicated so I couldn’t place any meaning or waste my time regret.

Whoever she was, she was just a passing anomaly. Nothing more.

I took a sip now and set the glass down.

Outside, the city continued to bend and reform around my presence even when I didn’t ask it to.

That’s the thing with power, once you have, it demands things from people even in your absence.