London Hotel (Presidential Suite)

Suhail woke up feeling extremely tired, maybe she was suffering from jetlag. She was momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight when she opened the curtains. It was a beautiful day in London, and from her huge window, she could see people walking in the streets and, a few blocks away, a small park. She glanced at the minimalist clock on her night table: 8:15 am.

In a couple of minutes, she got ready to go to the park. Suhail wanted to seat in one of the ornate benches that surrounded the grass and read her novel: One Hundred Years of Solitude, by the famous Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.

She donned her heavy jacket, stuck the book in her little pink Hello Kitty purse and left her room putting on her pair of pink gloves. Her mom surprised her again by making her wear the stupid ski mask. One of her dad's bodyguards was waiting for her in the hallway of the suite.

"Where are you going, Miss?"

"I'm going to the p-p-park. It's a b-b-beautiful day," she said smiling at him.

"Please, don't take too long, miss, I don't want to get in trouble with your father. One of the bodyguards will be waiting for you to accompany you in the lobby."

Suhail's escort was younger than the guard in the hallway and was waiting impatiently for her in the hotel's lobby.

"Miss, I'll go with you to the park."

It was sunny, an unexpected occurrence for a London day. People went about their day, going into shops and cafés, enjoying tea and cookies. Suhail watched thrilled how people filled up the streets and reveled in the cold morning.

As they neared the park, Suhail felt a weird sensation in her chest, almost like she had been here before. The park's grass was beautiful and as well-kept as a golf field. Several benches of wrought iron and cement were the finishing touch to create a peaceful and joyful environment. Suhail saw a café bursting with people and asked her stoic bodyguard if he could get her something for breakfast. He nodded, and she sat on a bench.

"Wait here, please."

With a smile, Suhail agreed and pulled out her book from her purse: she was almost finished, only a hundred pages to go. Suddenly, something broke her concentration: right in front of her was laying the dog she dreamed of, the same playful Dalmatian that had outsmarted the three bellboys in the hotel's lobby.

A deep but familiar voice startled her.

"Good morning."

Out of nowhere, next to the bench, appeared a man dressed in a white robe and wearing a pointed hat. The weirdest thing was the odd wooden staff in front of him that was standing, without any kind of support, upright, as if by magic. Maybe the man was some kind of wizard. Interestingly enough, at the tip of the staff there was a cadaverous hand holding a glass globe filled with swirling white gas that looked similar to a cloud. He stared at her with his piercing blue eyes and smiled, just like the dog resting in front of him. There was something familiar about him.

"Have we met before?" said Suhail, glancing at the café and looking for her bodyguard.

"My name is Salazar. I know all of my potential hunters in this dimension."

Suhail thought that she was sitting next to a crazy man, so she moved over a little and didn't take her guard down, just in case she had to run away.

"My dear, first of all, I'm not crazy, and secondly, you're in good hands, aren't you?" he took a quick look at the dog still smiling at her. "I came to offer you a job, my beautiful Suhail" He pulled out a white book out of nowhere and gave it to her. Slightly afraid, Suhail accepted it and was astonished to note that the book, even though it looked heavy, was weightless. However, she handed it back.

"I'm sorry, sir, and with due respect, but I'm not interested in a job. I'm in school and still have a lot to learn."

"I know you want to fly, don't you? Wouldn't you like to fly?"

Suhail was taken aback. How's possible that this man knows that I've always wanted to pilot warplanes? she wondered.

"Dear child, I handle all the information of the Universe. I know your dreams."

This man can read my mind! Suhail gaped. "Yes, I can."

She smiled nervously and tried to refrain herself from pointing the obvious. I'm going crazy!

"The job I'm offering you is not an easy one."

Suhail was getting tired of this odd man's insistence. "Sir, I'm sorry, but I don't have time for a job and I'm yet to finish high school. I don't want to work right now—"

"You'll be working only in your dreams."

In my dreams? Yeah, right. "Let's see, and what kind of job would that be?" Suhail replied, her voice hardened by sarcasm.

"My dear child, you'll simply have to save the entire universe. By the way, why aren't you stammering?"

"Excuse me, miss, are you feeling all right?" interrupted the young guard, who was standing next to her and holding two paper bags and a glass of orange juice.

"What?"

"You were talking alone."

"A-a-alone?" Suhail turned around and didn't see anybody: neither the old man nor the dog were around. They had vanished.

The guard sat down next to her, took a bread roll from one of the paper bags and gave it to her, along with the glass of orange juice.

"Miss, I saw you talking alone while I was queuing" He insisted.

Suhail took a deep breath and nibble her roll. I'm going insane. I wasn't even stammering while I was talking with that man, Salazar. Surely, I'm still tired from flying eight hours straight; my imagination was playing tricks on me."

"What's up with that book, miss?"

Suhail choked on a piece of roll, started coughing and, gasping for breath, saw horrified the white book laying on the grass. She picked up the book and said: "The b-b-book? I b-b-bought it."

Still holding the bread roll in a hand, Suhail stood and started on her way back to the hotel. What a weird lady, thought Suhail's escort.

Her bodyguard caught up to her. "Got it. We're headed that way," he said, answering to his earpiece.

"Your father is waiting for you in the suite, and I think he's pretty mad."

Suhail was staring open-mouthed at the book she held. She put it away in her Hello Kitty purse and picked up her pace. Suhail dared a peek at the park bench. It's empty, she confirmed.