The first few days.

A couple days have passed since my first encounter with Nicholai. A few days to adapt to the new place I was staying. To me it looked as if I was on vacation in a very luxurious place. Having everything that everyone would sacrifice in life just to have it at least for a couple of minutes. But I was not on vacation. I was on a clear mission with a clear target. To change the reality of a person, to make him more in contact with the real world. To make them socialize with people. To change their whole perception of life.

The first few days have passed normally. Nor something to worry about, neither something that would totally change my mission. I had all the time in the world to focus on the things I had to do. I had been following Nicholai for a while. I had written down all his daily behaviors. For example, what he does in the morning first, his gym timing, when he eats, what places in the house he frequently goes to most of the time and so on. I had to plan all of this in order for me to have a chance to come up to him more often than usual. I know I look like a stalker, but believe me, this house looks like a labyrinth. I seriously do not have any other choice. Considering the fact that his behavior is not normal, I really had to make a block full of writings in order to get to understand his type of person.

To be honest, most of the time we have come up to each other have been quite awkward. I remember the second time we faced each other. The only words he said in shock were:

-"You are still here? Didn't you have enough time to leave? You are quite stubborn."

So most of the encounters have been the same way. Short conversations and him always telling me why I am still here. I do not know what people the Tiger may have hired earlier for the job, but considering Nicholai's behavior towards me, I might have to say that many have failed before me. And that is why I was considered by him as a person who would quit just like the rest. That at least gives me some motivation to keep on going. However, as it looks the odds were not in my favor.

Personally, I did not know how much time I had left to complete the mission I had. The Tiger never told me how long it would take. Actually, we never had a deal about my time staying here. So I would assume as long as it took, without failing the mission I had. Or until I gave up. The Tiger usually is not the type of person who tells you everything. Sometimes you need to assume things. The day he told me about my job as his secretary, he firstly explained to me about all the work I had to do, which honestly is a lot. So many papers, so many things to organize. I did not know that criminals had so many papers. They usually do the dirty work in plain sight with no need for papers. Or this is what I was taught from the television. But The Tiger was a very well organized leader, having everything perfectly planned, leaving no place at all for any mistakes. I remember him telling me that he loved to play chess, as he considers life a chess game.

-"Theoretically, life is just a game of certain moves. You have to do a couple of moves, just like in chess, in order for you to have a successful life. We all are born with all the chess figures. In order for you to achieve success, you need to sacrifice. And at the end of the day, when you die, you must be the one to win. Life is unfair, and in order to get something out from your life, you need to give something. And you need to organize everything in that specific order that no matter how hard it gets, you are still protected by the things you have. Life is about building it a certain way, correlated with your own dreams and deep desires, in order for you in the future to achieve what certain goals you have. And life is not fair. It will never be. But you have to play fair and square when it is needed to."

The Tiger told me to be more focused on her mission. However he said, at the same time, he did not want a mess with his documents or so. So in order for me to be learning them quicker, he told one of his people called ZX, probably a nickname of his, to give me guidelines every time I did not know something or I was not doing the right things. ZX looked quite serious all the time, just like a robot. I would ask him a question and he would answer with no emotion whatsoever. Was he a robot? Or was he trained that hard not to show a single emotion? However, I have to be honest. ZX was quite helpful towards me. Every time I asked something that I needed, he did not hesitate but went to get it straight away. If I was ever hungry or needed to eat, the Tiger showed me the room of buttons. For example, if you need a driver, you had to press the green button, if you needed food, you had to press the red one, if you needed a tailor or something new to dress, you pressed the black button.Each button simbolized a certain person, who was living under the same roof as we did. I am telling you, this house is just like an entire city. I wonder how much does it cost to the Tiger to pay everyone who is here. Or maybe they are in a debt just like me. So they had to work and live with him in order to pay that debt back. I would not be surprised if that was the case.

In the first few days, he did not bother me much asking how was I dealing with the mission. In my opinion, I guess he was following every move of mine in his house, but at the same time gave me the freedom to do things on my own way the first time. But something seemed strange to me. There was a room in the house I was never allowed to go inside. Every time I was close to it, thinking that no one is around, someone would show up out of nowhere, telling me that I must not enter the room. Each time I would pass by, either the Tiger or one of his bodyguards would show up, sometimes just smiling or looking straight at me with no expression at all, letting me know that I was not welcomed there. That had me in question for a couple of days. At least, I had things to worry about during my staying there.

But at the same time, I could get my mind off my people out there. It felt like I was trapped in here without knowing what was going out there. How was my family doing? How were my people hanging out there? What were they thinking about me? I needed to tell them that I was not in danger. All the time at night I wondered if David was looking at the same sky that I was looking at. If he was thinking the same things as I. If he still had the same feelings for me. Somehow, I knew, I knew that he was looking after me and was trying his best to get me out of here. Him and my friends were trying all. I knew it. None of them would give up on me. That is why I needed to hurry, to hurry in order for them not to risk it all for me. I had it all under control. Or so I thought.