Was She Real?

In an office on the top floor of the company, the office would have appeared to be cold and spaciously boring, if it were not for the ray of sunlight that poured into the office through the glass French window that showed the overview of the bustling city from a single glance. The furniture in the room was wood-panelled and exquisite, it has a deep artistic touch and is rimmed with pure gold. A glass shelf at one corner of the room was cluttered with the detritus of awards and books.

Behind a properly spaced desk made out of mahogany wood sat a man. He was dressed in a six-piece black suit, his head was crowned with sleek fine black hair that was perfectly styled to fit his stoic demeanour. He slowly flipped through the document before him. The office was eerily silent aside from the noise of the document he flipped. One glance at him and it would be noticed that the man lacked social instinct clues.

Another man stood in front of the desk of the man, the young man with his black-rimmed glasses tried to make himself as invincible as possible, he pushed back his glasses while he fixed his gaze on the man at the desk, his boss.

The man at the desk suddenly raised his head and the secretary met with a pair of sharpened gaze. The secretary felt slightly jumpy and only collected himself when he remembered that his boss's eyes have always had a sharp intent within them. He cleared his throat and pushed back his glasses once again before meeting his boss's piercing gaze.

"That is the final report from the investigation on the small companies, sir," the secretary said.

The man tapped the table with his fingers before he eventually opened his mouth to speak.

"I see" his deep and heavily accented words rang across the room. His voice alone emitted an authoritative and majestic aura that could not be easily ignored.

"There will be no further investigations after this one. You should go ahead to offer to buy the companies at a moderate price. Anyone who is unwilling to sell his business to you–" the man paused and a sharp glint flashed through his eyes.

"You know what to do" the man uttered after the pause.

"Yes sir" the secretary answered immediately. He took the document from his boss and took a step back.

"What other reports do you have?" The boss asked as he knocked his fingers impatiently on the table.

"The investment proposal from Microm Tech corporation was sent in last week and it has been handled over to Group A of the investment department. The person that was recommended should have arrived today, I wonder if we should leave the new leader of the group to deal with the proposal or we should allow the other groups to take over the investment first?" The secretary explained.

"If the new leader is incapable, why should we hire them? Do you think this place is a refuse dump for garbage? Let group A handle the proposal. I am looking for to a good report as soon as possible" the boss enunciated.

"Yes sir!" The secretary answered with a nod.

The Secretary could not help but sigh inwardly and say a prayer for the new leader of group A. To handle the proposal of Microm Tech, it was not an easy job, one has to be very smart. As the secretary, he had already glimpsed through the proposal offered by the Microm Tech group, they were offering a twenty per cent remuneration but, who did not know that the boss only accepts forty per cent remuneration and above from any investment. Yes, it was a greedy take but, it was always worth the investment the company offered. The new leader must be able to convince the other company to accept their offer.

"If there is nothing else, you can get back to work" The boss flicked his wrist and dismissed the secretary. The secretary bowed deeply and exited the office.

After the secretary left, the man stared blankly for a moment before he opened the drawer of his table and took out a drawing pad. He flipped through the pages of the drawing book. There were a few blank pages and other pages that were filled with scribbling. On one page, there was an unevenly made sketch, it showed the features of a person but the drawing was prickly done that it resembled chicken scratches.

He flipped open a few more pages of the drawing books only to reveal more of the similarly drawn sketches. Until he got to one page and stopped. On that page revealed the perfect portrait of a woman.

The features of the woman in the portrait were perfectly carved, her innocent honeyed eyes, her long lashes and pointy nose, her plum lips and her angular jaw. The sketch was done effortlessly to the last details of the woman. Her hair cascaded down her shoulder as though it was a waterfall. The woman in the drawing was simple but pretty, she looked unreal and angelic.

Subconsciously, the man ran his finger across the sketch with his eyes fixated on the pure eyes of the woman that stared back at him. His heart could not help but skip a beat. His eyes emitted a passionate glow but it only lasted for a moment before the emotions disappeared as though they were not there in the first place.

The man closed the drawing book and toss it back into the drawer. He pinched the space between his brows and inhaled sharply. Images that felt unreal flooded his mind and his brows tensed and furrowed. He could not tell what was real from what was not. They all felt like memories but, he could not relate to them.

He and that woman… what exactly happened? Was she real? Would they still meet again?

All these questions filled his mind, coupled with his psychological struggle, he felt a pang of pain in his head. He ran his fingers through his hair and reached out for a bottle on the table. He popped open the cover of the bottle and poured the content of the bottle into his palm. Two white pills fell on his palm and he threw it into his mouth.

He felt calm again after a while.