Chapter 5

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.