Chapter 2 - Some Like It Erect

Rayna

Yes, a wheelchair and no, I am not kidding.

Uncle James was right when he said Mr. Axel Windstorm, CEO of the Windstorm Conglomerate, was different.

I blamed it all to myself for not Googling the man out after I read my assignment through email. I would have spared myself the visit to his Washington office. Damn it.

CEOs or business executives in general always left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I had a soft spot for people who were impaired whatever social status they were in. For this reason alone, my strong aversion of the job somehow decreased.

I was yet to know how this man got wheelchair-bound, though. Maybe it was some kind of degenerative illness or freak accident. However, this wouldn't stop me from doing my job right and that was to ensure his safety and certainly not the other kind of job—which entailed a

hand, a mouth or another part of my body.

As we continued our way to Hextrion, I kept on glancing at him, the bolts on his wheelchair secured against the copter's floor, and what was underneath his robe. Like all the other CEOs, he wore a starched designer suit—black for that matter, one-tone tie—black again, and polished Italian shoes—and yes, you guessed it, black. I just couldn't get past this anonymity.

Was he doing this to hide his identity while we were in HQ? Was it to ward off bad press? A CEO financing the military power of a government sure had bad implications if history had a say in it.

Or was it just his style? A twisted one. I mean, who in their right mind—a professional even—would go outside their houses wearing robes? That was just…unusual. Freaky.

Whatever the case, I was meant to find out anyway as we stay for the next three days inside Hextrion's secret facility.

"Hey, George," I called over the intercom some seconds later. 

"Yes, boss," the man answered, tipping his head slightly towards me, but still keeping an eye on the flying path. He was our pilot for the rest of Mr. Windstorm's stay. I hadn't known the Bolivian man until we met this morning, but I sure felt at ease with the way he handled our flight.

"Are there always wolves in Bolivia?" I stared back at the towering trees below us and got glimpses of these furry creatures running about on the forest floor. And they were fast ones too. A civilian would have a hard time spotting them, but no, not me. Under my trained eye, I could easily track them from tree to tree.

"Wolves?" His tone sounded like a skeptic. "Maybe you're looking at wild dogs or boars? As far as I know, there are no wolves in this country, in Gundonovia specifically."

"I'm seeing a couple of them, though. Big ones. I reckon eight feet long and six feet high."

Finally, this caught Mr. Windstorm's notice. He dragged his sight from me to the trees below and stared like I did. I was unsure though if he saw the wolves. He was a civilian, after all.

"Woah, hold up boss, I know your eyes are sharp, but wolves? Really? And that big?" George expressed, clearly in disbelief now. "But there's this secluded laboratory in the area, so maybe, if what you're saying is the truth, these animals might have been experimented on."

"Highly plausible," I remarked, giving him a shrug.

"Are you afraid of wolves, Ms. Chase?"

My skin hairs stood without warning when I heard Mr. Windstorm's voice fill the intercom. Like I said, his interactions with us had been limited since we met and his words scarce too, but this here…this here was surprising. I didn't expect him to join the conversation at all. Because of this, it really gave me a better feel of his voice and hell was it fluid.

Not to mention how he pronounced my family name. I introduced myself earlier with my full name, but I didn't expect him to use it so, so…simply. I am called Office Chase, not Miss Chase, damn it. I am not his secretary.

"No, Sir," was my swift reply anyway. I stared at him and found his eyes under his shades trained on me again.

And blast it, my skin hairs continued to stay erect.

"How about bigger creatures?" he continued.

I cocked a brow. Was he actually establishing a small talk with me?

"As per Guinness Book of World Records, the largest land creature living in our planet right now are elephants, and for me, elephants are the gentle giants, so, no. I'm not afraid of them—Sir," I quickly added.

If he was offended by my curt reply, he didn't show it on his face; instead, he asked me further: "Reptiles like snakes? Iguanas, lizards, komodo dra…gons, are you afraid of them?"

Heck. When did this become a question-and-answer portion?

"No, sir. I think they are lovable creatures," was my honest reply.

"Lovable?" George butted in a raised voice. He chuckled the next second and snorted against the intercom. "Boss, you have some twisted ideas about reptiles. They ain't lovable creatures. They have scales for crying out loud."

"Indeed," Mr. Windstorm chipped in.

I tsked and redirected my attention to the mountains.

"I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion. This is mine."

On one hill we passed, I noticed a black mass standing tall and sturdy under the shade of trees. Upon further inspection, I realized it was another wolf, but this one was three times larger than the others. It had a shiny black fur, almost metallic. Beautiful.

What chilled my spine was how it watched our helicopter so intensely. For a moment, a rogue idea crossed my mind; an idea that with just one leap, this wolf could easily reach our copter and bring it down.

I was thankful to the heavens that didn't happen. However, as our helicopter flew by, I certainly felt now like a prey. Like the wolf took fancy of me instead of the helicopter.