He taps his fingers rhythmically on the chestnut table and hums a tune along with it. Boredom; that's his problem, and there's really nothing more he can do to keep it at bay than what he's doing at that moment.
There was a time when I was busy, he remembers, when I had a lot to do than my time could afford. But those days are long gone behind him now, remaining back in his youth when he still aspires to be more. Now, he has it all: fame, fortune, age, and of course, a lot more time than he can possibly do anything with.
He finally stops the tapping but only to begin arranging and rearranging the contents on his table for no particular reason nor aim.
Thing is, even till then, a lot of people still marvel at the way he seems to have everything that can be had in the world. On his table lay an assortment of possessions ranging from the rarest, oldest artifacts of the bygone eras to the newest, coolest collections of the world today. Something to connect the past to the present in preparation for the future, he tells them whenever they ask.
Of course, it didn't a psychic to know that none of them can grasp the concept behind his saying but they pretend to anyway; they always pretend to.
He moves from his table to the window to admire the scenery outside. It's a breathtaking view of Shanghai's skyline at midnight.
In truth, what he's looking at isn't really Shanghai; just a display on a set of monitors that make up his "window." It can be Shanghai today and London tomorrow, but he's neither in Shanghai nor London nor Washington nor Cape Town nor anywhere that can be thought of for matter.
The truth, the real truth, is that he's nowhere at all; and that's exactly how he likes it.
Just as he's still contemplating on how he can replicate the structure of a beautiful skyscraper he saw of recent in Dubai to one of his own company, one of his employees suddenly burst in shouting, "Boss, you gotta see this!"
"What have I told you about barging into my office unannounced?" he returns, murder in his voice as he turns to face the unruly intruder- more than anything in the world, he hates being interrupted, especially when he's in the middle of one of his trademark reveries.
"I'm sorry for the interruption, sir," replies the intruder before his boss's legendary anger, which he knows is just boiling below the surface, comes alive, "but this is very important, believe me."
Now, he doesn't believe a single word of what the intruder has just said. He's only trying to save his skin, he knows. Nevertheless, he goes back to take his seat before motioning for the intruder to come forward. The latter steps forward as instructed and hands him a tablet.
"What exactly am I looking at?" he asks after only seeing nothing but a wave chart on the screen.
"Brainwaves, sir," replies the guy with a little excitement in his voice although he seems to be the only one who's having the feeling.
"And?" He looks up at his employee and glares murderously at him; his way of prompting him to spill what's so "important" about the brainwave immediately or suffer the consequences.
And it works too apparently because the intruder immediately gets down to business quickly. "Sir, remember when you gave us a specific wave pattern to look for and we even had to dedicate one of our most gifted specialists to that task," he says. "Well, we were running that algorithm last night as we do on routine and you won't believe it, we found a match."
The excitement has now spread to the man in the seat and he begins to smile. Finally, he thinks to himself, but he quickly catches on that he can't be seen to lose control of his emotions and he reins in the smile and excitement immediately.
"Have you been able to pinpoint it?" he asks instead.
"Yes, sir," replies the man, "which is why I'm here actually. What should we do now?"
"You go bring her back of course!" He shouts and the man in front of him visibly shakes. These men are such fools, he thinks angrily to himself, and when I was almost praising them too.
But the intruder doesn't leave to go do what he has been instructed like the man expects he will. "Considering everything, sir," he says, "do you think we'll be able to retrieve her without risking exposure?"
"Use whatever resource is necessary, do whatever needs to be done. Just make sure to bring her back alive. Are we clear?" the man replies with an air of finality.
"Crystal." The intruder nods his understanding and finally takes his leave.
The man's left again to his thoughts and just like before, he begins to tap his fingers on the table and hum a tune along with it, but this time, the tap and tune aren't about boredom. Every note and tap is immersed in anticipation now.
It's been a long time, my dear, he thinks as he taps and hum, but I promise you that'll change very soon.
"I swear I'll never do that again in my life," groans Mia as she wakes up to her head throbbing. The throbbing is accompanied by a really heavy headache, but compared to the assault that knocked her out, it's just a lovetap;and for that, she's thankful.She finally pries open her eyes to see that she's in her room, wearing her pajamas, and from the looks of things, quite comfortable in bed.How the hell did I get home?Mia asks herself. She remembers the party and how Andrew got on her nerves- she's still considering murdering him in retaliation for that- She also remembers her indiscriminate drinking, the pain that threatened to take her life, and finally, the merciful blackout that saved her from it all.But try as she can, she just can't seem to remember anything after
“You know him?!” That’s the first thing that Mia thinks to shout after her initial shock. Now, she knows that most people will begin with questions like "What in the world just happened?"or"Where the hell did you learn to kill like that?" or something else along those lines.But Mia has never claimed to be like most people.“Yes,” Regina replies, a bit confused at her choice of question. “Andrew’s a friend.”“Wait, you’re friends with this demon?!” she shouts again. How the hell can Andrew be friends with Sam and Regina?She thinks and almost gives in to the temptation of murdering the boy who is her nemesis there and then.“Look, I know you have so many questions but I just heard those guys radio in for reinforcement,” Andrew says, cutting into Mia’s thoughts. “I suggest we leave before they arrive.”“No
We must be going at a death speed, thinks Mia as the car whizzes in and out of traffic. It's only a suspicion that she’s fairly certain is true, but she doesn’t dare to take a look at the speedometer for the fear of confirming it.By then, Mia half-expects the cops to be on their tail but none of them are in sight. Then, she realises that virtually no cop car can keep up with the Ferrari’s speed. Their pursuers, on the other hand unfortunately, has no trouble keeping up; her interval glances confirming it.“Relax already, Gates!” Andrew suddenly shouts at her from behind the wheels. “Your incessant movement is distracting me.”“Those guys are still following us,” she returns as if the past hour isn’t enough to tell him that.“Don’t worry, they can’t catch up, and they won’t want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves by shooting at us,” Andrew assures h
Mia dries herself with the lone towel in the bathroom before putting on her new outfit of blue jeans coupled with a cream top; and a frown spreads across her face. Her clothes; they fit; perfectly.How could Andrew have known my size? Mia wonders as she steps into the room to see him sprawl across the bed with a magazine in hand; his black jeans, grey top, and blue sports jacket adorning his body excellently. He has opted for a pair of leather boots instead of sneakers like her.The receptionist is nice enough to send up an extra bed to their room and even follows it up herself to make sure it’s delivered to the right room; although Mia finds her motive for doing so questionable.Thing is, throughout the set-up, she does nothing but send not-so-subtle sensual looks at Andrew and Mia almost gives in to the urge to barf at the sight of it.He’s an overbearing, narcissistic teenager, you moron! She mentally shouts at the woman.
Mia has been running for more than fifteen minutes but she hasn’t come across the payphone she spotted from the motel window.I swear it had looked so damn close before, she thinks as she tries her best to keep up her speed, but that doesn't hold as the seconds tick by.Truth is, Mia has never been an athletic person. Yes, she can hold her own quite well in a race, but her body is a little bit on the generous side- as many people have pointed out in times past- and although it has never affected her before, it definitely is now.Her thought returns back to Andrew. It has been doing so ever since she left him, but she quickly stomps it just like she does every time it crops up. He’s gonna be okay, she assures herself. There’s no doubt that Andrew’s a strong guy and will be able to carry on without her eventually.She, on the other hand, is a different story. She can’t even find a damn payphone.Mia is st
New York City, New York. It’s around ten in the night when they drive into New York; at least that’s what the clock on the dashboard says. Mia has never felt as tired as she is in that moment but the excitement coursing through her veins from seeing such a marvellous city didn’t make that all too obvious. Now, it’s not that she thinks Chicago isn’t marvellous anymore- seeing an actual big city isn’t enough to just rob Mia of that love that she has for her home city- but being in an economic jungle like New York is definitely an upgrade in travel experience for her and she likes it. And Andrew said that this isn’t even the best part, she reminds herself. The street traffic has become light by that time of the night but it still isn’t very easy to manoeuvre through the city- one of the side effects of being in the city that never sleeps- but Andrew’s navigation is quite expertly and that makes the journey reaso
Okay, everything in this company has got to be imported from the future, Mia concludes when she sees the diagnostics room; at least that’s what the inscription on the door calls it. It takes a few more minutes of persuasion from Jacob before Mia finally agrees to have them run diagnostics on her mind. Whatever the hell that means, she thinks all the way. Truth be told, she doesn't see the importance, nor care to really. But Jacob has gone out of his way to protect her for sixteen years, the least she can do is indulge him; and so, she does. Besides, if he means me harm, she thinks to herself,he could have done so when I was still young and defenseless. However, one question that keeps nagging at Mia even as she gives in to the request is, why is Jacob Londermann, the CEO of one of the greatest tech company there is, so invested in her, a sixteen-year girl? And no answer she's come up with so far has sa
Forty-three... Forty-four...Mia counts as she puts one foot in front of the other and moves round the big white room that has become her home. For about a week now, she's been staying at Alphatech and her life has quickly taken the shape of a routine. She wakes, eats, exercises, does a little bit of schoolwork as assigned to her by the numerous tutors that have been hired and paid for by Alphatech; and of course, her evening isn't complete without a diagnostic test with the master himself, Jacob Londermann. Now, it's not that Mia's against her hermit-like lifestyle. In fact, it rather suits her "Not mingling with people" personality perfectly. However, the problem is that even though she's shown that she's ready, the answers she so desperately craves for haven't been given to her. Every day, she's asked to look for a certain someone or something; and although the pain is almost non-existent now when she does a mental search as she likes to call