24 The Impostor

The taxi driver looked at the passenger from the driver's mirror as he prepared to maneuver the car towards an intersection. "We are almost near BEB building Mr De la Vega," the taxi driver announced. Earlier, the passenger was calling himself Henry De La Vega as he talked with himself on his cellphone, even taking his own selfie a couple of times, so it is natural for the driver to address him for who he is. 

"You can drop me off at the lobby," the man calling Henry De La Vega replied as he readied himself.

The long drive from the city's outskirts took them almost 2 hours as the taxi meter registered a relatively high but regulated fixed fare for the distance it travelled.

Henry De La Vega paid handsomely his fare went out of the car and entered the BEB building's glass entrance door. Inside, he went straight to one of the service elevators and gently pressed the number 22nd floor button. He was comfortably dressed in black crumpled suits and a brown folio containing some of his documents. It was already 6 in the afternoon. The elevator opened at Level 3 parking level, but no one entered. Suddenly, an arm blocked the entrance when it was about to close. Henry De La Vega immediately pressed the open button, and two military men in fatigue uniform entered the elevator. One of them pressed the penthouse button and except for some quick stare, none of the two ever said a word.

The lights flickered inside the elevator, and the interval was repeated as they reached the higher floor. Henry De La Vega thought it was unusual but did not bother to ask the two uniformed men as the door gently opened on the twenty-second floor-his stop. At the hallway, Henry De la Vega's phone suddenly rang.

"The room you are looking for is 2222, on your left."

"Okay, I see it," he confirmed after seeing the room.

He pressed the doorbell, and a white-haired man in butler's uniform opened it for him. 

"Just in time Mr De La Vega."

He entered the room, and a group of men dressed in business suits gathered around a huge conference table. Huge white linen-covered a model structure strategically placed in the middle of the room. 

"Henry De La Vega?" a man buzzed to his ear from behind. He looked around to see who it was. He was holding two glasses of wine. 

"Let me introduce myself, Mr De La Vega. My name is Bob Lenel. I am the one you last talked to on the phone." He gave Henry a tall glass of wine which he gladly accepted. 

Bob was around 32 years old, and Henry De La Vega thought he was much older than he envisioned him to be when he first talked to him. 

"I am expecting someone my age." 

Bob smiled and tried to dust off his left shoulder to check on his bearing. 

"People usually made that kind of unusual impression, but I find it a compliment." 

Bob offered his hand to shake and later signalled to the men at the conference table. 

"Come Henry. The board of directors is waiting for us and boy oh boy, aren't they excited for your acceptance of the offer?" 

Henry De La Vega thought it is much easier to be led naturally by the conference agenda. 

Bob was grinning ear to ear because the event that would transpire that day arising from his arrival was really a cause for celebration. Who would not be happy to find him and brought to the table finally? 

Five days ago, before this event happened- a man called up a newspaper editor to verify an unusual advertisement placed in the ad section by BEB corporation. After hours of verifying with the BEB corp, the editor replied that it is a legitimate one and can vouch for its content's authenticity. He was advised to contact a company liaison officer. Transcript of that recording was transcribed as follows :

(One can hear the lifting of the phone and the static.) 

Start of the transcript:

"Hello, this is regarding the ad you placed in the newspaper. It said BEB was looking for the owner of a plot of land at Palindrome Drive. I am Henry De La Vega," he said to the man on the phone. 

The man paused for a moment as he asked someone beside him. One can barely hear the chattering sound in the background. Another voice came through the phone with a much deeper tone. 

"The Henry De La Vega we are looking for? " The first voice that answered him was kind of tinny and young. 

"Yes. I want to respond to your ad on the paper as posted by BEB corporation. "

"Do you know what that means?" 

"Yes." 

"And that is blasphemy if you are not." 

"I am. Alive." 

The man on the other line seems to be panting. Henry could hear his difficulty breathing as if the man were unable to control his emotional outburst.

 "I want the price of what you are offering for Palindrome Drive."

"You want to sell?" the man on the other line asked. 

"Yes, that's correct. On two conditions." 

"What is it, Mr De La Vega?" 

"I want to know what you will do with that place."

"That would be a nice counter offer. Anything else?"

"The money. I want it double." 

The man on the other line fell silent. One can hear people buzzing on the other line. 

"I have to direct your request to the higher-ups. " 

"I will be waiting. But don't make it long as I don't want to change my mind." 

"I understand Mr De La Vega." 

Moments later, the man called back Henry's number. The man on the other line was ecstatic. 

"Mr De La Vega great news. They accepted the offer. When are you going to sign?" 

Henry De La Vega was breathing hard. Thinking. 

"Monday afternoon is fine with me." 

End of transcript. 

Bob Lenel raised his wine. 

"Let's toast to celebrate this day as Mr Henry De La Vega will be signing the contract to sell. Everyone, raise your glass." 

There were around ten other men in business suits in the conference area, and everyone raised their wine glasses. Henry did the same. 

" Cheers! " Everyone shouted in unison. 

Bob opened the documents in front of Henry, and he asked him to sit on the chair beside him. 

"You can sign in here. Don't worry about all the legal stuff. It is already clean of any encumbrances. Even your money in your bank account where it goes. It is thereby now." 

Henry De La Vega signed his signature on the front and sides of the documents. It took him a while as the documents were voluminous. Bob can't help but smile when he signed the last page. 

" That is.. historic!" Bob gushed and began to clap his hand. The rest of the men sitting around the conference table followed suit. 

"Success!" one of the board of directors almost cried. 

Everyone stood up clapping and went around to unveil the covered object placed in the middle of the room.

"Henry, you asked what Palindrome Drive will be transformed into. See this!" 

Henry listened intently. A few minutes earlier Bob gave him the print out of his bank account number and the money the BEB transferred in it. It was substantial. 

Bob held the string and pulled it with his right hand. What emerged from the inside was an architectural model of a silver-coloured tower, with a huge circular ball on top that looked more like a spaceship docked in three huge spiral columns. 

"What is it?" Henry gasped. 

Bob turned off the light inside the room and let the light from the model tower speak for itself. 

"It's BEB's new megatower that will rise in Palindrome Drive! " 

"Wow, that is huge!" Henry exclaimed. 

Henry De La Vega was amazed at the vision of transforming a relatively unknown place in the outskirts of the city. But he asked himself why? What the f_ck? The city has plenty of unoccupied lots, and one can establish a building in one of its many busy intersections. But the heck with it. He got the money in his hand, and it is the most important thing in the world. His impostor of Henry De La Vega worked!