Chapter 1

1

“Don’t look at the camera, please,” Zeke Wu instructed gently while smiling at Gerald, the five-year-old birthday boy posing for a picture. “Run around with your friends. Make it more natural. Have fun.”

Gerald nodded while grinning widely at Zeke. “Okay.”

Zeke chuckled as Gerald and his hordes of friends started playing among themselves. He was certain Gerald didn’t fully understand what he actually wanted, but he was glad and relieved that the little boy complied to his instruction anyway. For the next several minutes, Zeke was completely ignored by all of the children, and he didn’t mind it at all. He was the photographer hired by Gerald’s parents to record the event on their behalves.

“Hi, Zeke.”

He glanced to his left. It was Nancy, Gerald’s mother. She offered Zeke a bottle of cold soda, which he accepted gratefully. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. How are the pictures?”

“Great,” Zeke replied while opening the bottle before sipping the contents and heaving a small sigh afterward. “Gerald is an awesome kid.”

Nancy beamed. “Thank you. He really is. I wish his father…I’m sorry. Never mind that.”

She seemed rather embarrassed now for almost revealing a personal matter to Zeke, but he didn’t need to be a mind-reader to comprehend the point she was trying to make. He had witnessed August, Gerald’s father, leaving the party about an hour ago, claiming he had things to do at the office even though it was Saturday afternoon. Gerald had seemed really heartbroken and disappointed about it. Zeke had noticed how hard Gerald had to force himself not to cry in front of August. He had been saddened by the sight. Fortunately, Gerald, as most children did, appeared to have bounced back and become more cheerful at quite a rapid rate. However, Zeke didn’t quite know how to respond to Nancy so he simply cleared his throat and pointed at Gerald.

“I think it’s almost time for the cake. Why don’t you gather all of the kids and some of the other parents in the garden? I’ll do my best to photograph Gerald from as many angles as I can.”

Nancy’s expression brightened up immediately, obviously relieved by Zeke’s tactfulness and also the abrupt change in the topic of conversation. “That’s an excellent idea.”

After that, Zeke spent the next few minutes doing as he had promised, and he continued to do that all the way until dinner hour was over. He didn’t really focus on the burger and two slices of pizza Nancy had brought to him because he wanted to make sure he performed his job well. Instead, he wolfed them down as fast as he could before washing his hands and picking up his camera again. He also made sure to get video recordings of some of the activities that occurred throughout the party. By the end of the evening, he was rather exhausted, but he believed he had done a wonderful job that day.

“I’ll save all of the files in a flash drive,” Zeke informed Nancy as the two of them walked toward the front door of the mansion. Gerald’s friends and their parents had already left for home a few minutes ago. Gerald himself had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. “I’m sure I can get everything done within the next two days. What time may I call you on Monday?”

“Anytime. I’m a website developer, and I work from home. It gives me more time to be with Gerald, and I can look after his needs better that way.”

“All right then,” Zeke said as he shook hands with her. “Thank you, Nancy. You’ll hear from me soon.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

They bade farewell to each other, and a few minutes later, he was on his way home, driving his old, beat-up car out of the affluent neighborhood. His own apartment was approximately forty minutes away, so it was going to be quite a long journey home. Not surprisingly, the road was really quiet and rather empty that evening. Zeke loved living in Ostal, an island-country with a population of nearly eleven million people, but aside from the downtown areas, most of the neighborhoods in the country were rather deserted even on Saturday evenings.

He was glad he had taken his car instead of the trains and buses. He was beginning to feel dead tired, and in his current condition, he didn’t fancy standing on the buses and trains to reach his neighborhood all the way on the other side of the island. However, he was taken aback when his car engine started sputtering and letting out weird noises. He could feel the frustrations and irritation rising from deep within him as he stepped on the gas pedal, but a few seconds later, the car began to slow. Fortunately, he was able to maneuver the car to the curb and away from the middle of the road before it completely died. He slammed his hands on the steering wheel before getting out.