by Tia Wylder
In a world where no one cared about anyone but themselves, and anything could be bought for the right price, no one would be left standing when it all burned.
The suit I was wearing cost me over six-thousand dollars. That was the kind of money that could feed a family for a year, and I spent it on a piece of clothing that was currently being ruined by a torrential downpour of rain. We all have our masks that we wear: masks for the world to see, and masks to convince ourselves we're still human, deep down in our souls. My mask was broken, and I was forced to look in the mirror at what laid beneath. There was nothing, just an empty shell of a man.
The smartphone in my hand started vibrating. I swiped to the right and placed it to my ear.
“I’m here, are you on your way?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be there soon. Just stay out of sight.”
I hung up and placed the phone in my coat pocket.
“Zhang Wu! Stay where you are!”
I knew the voice, just not the face. It didn’t matter; he was death coming to finish me off. It was time I paid for my sins.
I heard his footsteps approaching, and I felt myself deeply conflicted. There was a part of me that thought I deserved this, all of it. I told myself I wouldn’t run anymore, that I would face the consequences with honor. Then I saw her face, perhaps the last angels left in a world filled with demons.
You made her a promise.
Death was knocking at my door, howling my name.
Sorry, I can’t answer today, I won’t leave her alone in this world.
I turned and ran as gunshots roared through the night. The bullets passed by my ears, screeching like banshees. I approached the edge of the rooftop and looked down on the building adjacent to it.
Remember your training. Jump!
I leapt off the side of the building and passed over the city below. I tucked my legs into my chest and rolled as I hit the coarse surface of the neighboring building. The assassin behind me wasted no time in doing the same. He hit the ground as I climbed to my feet and ran to the edge of the rooftop.
The next building was too far. I couldn’t make it. I stood on the edge and looked down. There was nothing but darkness until the bottom.
“There’s nowhere else to run Zhang! Stand there and accept your fate!” the voice said.
I slowly turned around and looked my assassin in the eye. His face was all too familiar.
“You?”
He nodded. “They’re not stupid Zhang, they knew from the beginning.”
“I should have known. You’ve made a living out of stabbing people in the back,” I said.
He chuckled. “Don’t put this on me, Zhang, you’re the one who dug your own grave.”
“Better me than the rest of the world, don’t you think?”
He checked his gun and cocked it. His finger curled around the trigger.
“One last question for you, old friend: where’s the drive?”
I smiled and closed my eyes. “If you have to ask, you’ll never find it.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, you’ll never know. Goodbye Zhang.”
He pulled the trigger.
Chapter Two
I hate my job. Most people aren’t very fond of their chosen careers or the ones they’ve settled for, but I hate mine. I get treated like a servant and tossed around like yesterday’s garbage. The last time I heard a “thank you” seemed like an eternity ago. I thought taking a job as a secretary for a major corporation would open doors for me, but it mostly just slammed them in my face on a daily basis.
Even with a pay bump, I was still struggling to pay my rent and bills. Brand new stressors like increased taxes and health insurance continued to cut into my paycheck like a psychopath on a war streak. I wanted to quit and walk out. After all, there was nothing left for me here in this city. The closest thing I had ever felt to love walked out on me the second things started to get hard, and my mother drifted off one night while I was asleep without saying goodbye.
It was just me now, me and this empty city filled with hollow people. Today was the day. Yes, today I would finally tell my chauvinistic boss off and walk out those doors forever. I just had to wait for the right moment.
“Tanya, are you alive in there?” Anderson asked.
I looked up from my keyboard and saw my boss, Anderson Grey, leaning over my desk and ruining the organized piles of memos, business cards, and other assorted junk. He had beady little grey eyes and a fancy haircut, but his scrawny frame and thin jaw did nothing to make him look as intimidating as he thought he was.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Grey?” I asked.
“You can start by getting those spreadsheets done; I needed them an hour ago!”
I clenched my jaw. Not yet.
“Mr. Grey, you asked me to do them an hour ago,” I said.
He nodded. “Yeah, I know. Get them done!”
He stormed off and left me staring at a screen full of empty boxes. My heart was pounding and my palms were sweating. I wanted to follow him down the hall, corner him in his office, and tear him a new one. Not yet.
I went to work on the spreadsheet, mindlessly filling in box after box. Another hour went by as workers came in and out. Some had the common courtesy to say hello as they passed my desk and scanned their I.D. badges, but most of them just walked by like I didn’t exist.
As I typed in the last of the numbers on the spreadsheet, Anderson reappeared with a terrified look on his face.
“Tanya, stop what you’re doing immediately!”
“I thought you said you needed these spreadsheets done?”
“Yeah, I do, but not now. Something more important came up. You’re familiar with Zhang Wu, yes?”
I shook my head.
Anderson growled. “Zhang Wu, one of our biggest clients? He’s the C.E.O of a major Chinese corporation? Did you even read the memo I sent out about his visit?”
“Actually I sent the memo and I typed it. What’s the big deal, his visit isn’t for another two weeks.”
Anderson shook his head so hard I thought his glasses would fly right off his head. “He pushed it up, he’s coming in today!”
Now I felt nervous. I couldn’t make a scene on a day like today. Word would spread like wildfire and my reputation would be ruined. I’d have to tell Anderson off another day, when a C.E.O wasn’t visiting.
“Okay, so what do you need me to do?” I asked.
“He’s going to want reports, and I haven’t done them yet. I need you to stall for me,” He said.
“Stall for you? What do you expect me to do?”
“I don’t know, give him a tour, show him around the city, use your womanly ways on him or something!”
I sat back in my chair and shot Anderson a glare. “My womanly what now? I’m a secretary, not an escort service.”
“I know I’m sorry. Just do me this favor and I promise I’ll get off your back about everything.”
That did sound nice.
“Alright fine, I’ll keep him busy.”
“Yes! Thank you, Tanya!”
“You’re welcome.”
Anderson scurried off like a frightened mouse and left me to my ways. I decided to do a little research on this guy so I wouldn’t look like a total idiot when he arrived. I jumped online and searched his name, “Zhang Wu.”
His picture popped up at the top of the list. He was a clean cut Asian man with a sharp jawline, warm brown eyes, and perfectly cropped jet black hair. In his photos he had a piercing gaze that seemed to leap out of the screen. I delved deeper into his biography and I was shocked at how little information was available.
They had his birthday, two years before mine, and where he was born: Hong Kong, China. I already knew he was C.E.O of some fancy corporation, but beyond that the man was an enigma. Either he wasn’t important enough to write web articles on, or more likely he had something he didn’t want public.
It took a lot of money and power to remain anonymous in the mod
ern era. I had learned that the hard way when my ex started stalking me after I moved. Anything I did, from Facebook to checking my email, all of it left a digital footprint that he could use with the right tools to follow me.
“Hello, I’m here to see Anderson Grey,” a voice said.
I looked up from my screen and stifled a gasp. Zhang Wu was standing in front of me, in the flesh, as if he had leapt out of my computer screen. He couldn’t see it, but I fumbled with the mouse to close the window and feigned typing.
“Hello Mr. Wu.”
“You can call me Zhang. Only my butler calls me Mr. Wu,” he said.
I looked up at him. He face was perfectly still and stoic. After a long moment he cracked a smile.
“It’s a joke. I do have a butler, but he calls me Zhang as well. And you are?”
“Tanya, Tanya Bates. It’s a pleasure to meet you Zhang,” I said.
He shook my hand with a firm grip and continued to hold a perfect smile. Another long moment of silence passed as I found myself speechless in his overwhelming presence.
“Is Anderson ready for me?” he asked.
I fell back to reality and shook my head.
“Uh, no. He apologies but there was an emergency that took him out of the office. He will be back soon. I would be happy to give you a tour of our offices in the meantime?”
Zhang’s smile faded and I saw the cold fire return in his eyes. He clearly wasn’t someone who liked waiting.
“An emergency? He could have called me. I just stepped off a flight from Hong Kong; I’m not in the mood to be waiting on him.”
“Well, like I said, I can give you a tour?”
He waved away the thought.
“I’ve been on a hundred tours of this place. How long will he be?”
“I’m not sure,” I said.
Zhang ran a hand through his perfectly cut hair.
“Tell him I’ll be back tomorrow, and I expect him to be ready for me.”
I couldn’t let him walk out; I had to think of something. I looked down at my desk and saw a stack of requisition forms from the week prior. The offices had been outfitted with new equipment. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
“Wait! Did I mention our offices recently received new equipment? It’s state-of-the-art, I’m sure someone of your business stature would like to see how we’re staying on the cutting edge,” I said.
Zhang turned around and looked at me. His eyes lit up for a moment and he snapped his fingers.
“Yes, I do recall hearing about that. You also received new servers in that hardware refresh if I’m not mistaken? I’d like to see those; they’re supposed to have updated security features.”
I nodded eagerly and stepped out from behind the desk.
“That’s correct, I’d be happy to show you them,” I said.
Zhang pointed to the desk.
“Who will be watching your post?”
I reached down and programmed the phone to forward calls directly to Anderson’s office. A little payback.
“Not to worry, I’ll have my calls forwarded. Right this way!”
I scanned my I.D. badge and Zhang followed me through into the back offices. The server room was on the floor beneath us. I knew I didn’t have the security myself, but I also knew Anderson’s password. He had the memory of a goldfish with amnesia, so he enlisted me to memorize his passwords so he wouldn’t have to remember them himself.
We reached the door that led downstairs. I paused at the panel, running through the passwords in my head.
“Is there a problem Tanya?” Zhang asked.
“No, no problem at all.”
The numbers hit me. I typed in the password and the door’s lock clicked open. We stepped inside and walked downstairs to the main servers. Zhang followed silently as we passed the glass enclosure. I stopped at the door leading inside.
“Here we are. Would you like me accompany you inside?” I asked.
“I don’t know are you familiar with the specifications on these servers?” he asked.
I blushed and looked away from his gaze. I knew as much about computers as I did about quantum physics.
“No, I’m afraid I don’t,” I said.
Zhang laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed softly.
“Don’t feel bad, I don’t know either. I’ll just take a look around, wait here.”
He stepped inside and I waited for the door to close behind him before breathing a long sigh of relief. His presence was overpowering at times. He exuded power and control to the point where he rendered me speechless if I let my guard down. I stood outside the server room awkwardly looking around as Zhang inspected the new hardware.
One of the techs came walking down the hall. I stood out like a sore thumb, so naturally he came over and started grilling me with questions.
“What are you doing down here? You don’t have clearance to be here!” he said.
“I’m showing Mr. Wu our new servers. Anderson is busy catching up with his work so he asked me to keep our guest busy,” I said.
The tech looked into the glass enclosure, then back to me with a bewildered look on his face.
“So you just let him into the most secure part of our facility? He could be stealing files for all you know!”
“He’s our biggest client,” I looked down at his name tag, “Frank, so I suggest you keep your paranoid accusations to yourself. If you really want to accuse one of the most powerful people associated with our company of corporate espionage, then be my guest. Here’s the thing though, if you tell anyone we were here, or even whisper that kind of bold accusation again, the next job you’ll be working at is in a drive-thru at McDonald’s. So, I suggest you keep on walking Frank.”
The scrawny guy seemed taken aback. He adjusted his glasses, cleared his throat, and left without another word. I may not have been a Harvard graduate, but I had more street smarts than everyone in the building combined. I could talk my way out of almost anything if I needed to.
Zhang emerged from the servers. I spotted a few beads of sweat on his brow, which he quickly wiped off with a handkerchief that he pulled out of his jacket. He flashed me a cool smile and looked down both sides of the hall.
“Everything alright? I heard you talking to someone,” he said.
“Yes, everything’s fine. One of the techs got a little snippy with me, but when I told him I was showing you around, he backed off.”
My phone started ringing in my pocket. I answered the call and placed it to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Tanya, is Zhang with you?” Anderson asked.
“Yes, are you ready for him?”
“I am, send him up. By the way, does he seem angry with me?”
I looked over at Zhang who stood calmly waiting for me to finish my call.
“No, everything’s fine. I’ll let him know you’re ready.”
I hung up the phone and placed it back into my pocket.
“Anderson will see you now. It was a pleasure Zhang; I hope you are satisfied with our new servers.”
He nodded. “The security on them could be better, but otherwise I was happy with the performance I saw. Listen, before you go, I was wondering if perhaps I could repay you for your hospitality? I can book us a table at Le Bernadin? They have an excellent seafood menu.”
Once again he took me off guard with his confidence.
“Wow, that’s very generous of you, but I don’t know what I would wear. The pay here doesn’t leave much room for fancy dresses,” I said.
Zhang nodded. “Of course, I’ll have my tailor deliver something. Type in your address here. I’ll pick you up at seven?”
He handed me his phone to enter my address.
“I haven’t said yes,” I said.
“No, but you will, won’t you?”
He was good.
I typed my address into his phone and handed it back to him.
“Excellent, I’ll see you at seven.”
He walked a
way without another word and I was left with butterflies furiously crowding my stomach. A few hours ago I was going to quit my job and dive head-first into the world of the unemployed. Now I was going to have dinner with one of the most powerful businessmen in the world.
It’s amazing how things can change in a moment.
Chapter Three
I expected a fancy car, but not a limousine, or a chauffeur for that matter. I should have expected both when I saw the dress he sent me. A young Asian man, probably in his early twenties, showed up at my door shortly after I had gotten home from work. He was dressed in a suit and tie, something you didn’t see often in the neighborhood I lived in.
He introduced himself as Phiet and informed me that he was Mr. Wu’s personal driver. He asked if I was Tanya Bates and I told him I was. That’s when he handed me a white cardboard box and told me he would return to pick me up at seven for my engagement with Mr. Wu. It was all very formal. I took the box to my room; a short journey across my tiny apartment. I pulled the top off and almost fainted at the sight of the dress within. It was soft as silk, with black straps and a flowing purple interior. It shimmered in the orange sunlight coming through the window. I picked it up by the hanger and draped it over me as I turned and looked in the mirror.
The shimmering purple paired perfectly with my caramel colored skin. I always loved purple, I felt like it made the emerald in my eyes stand out. However, it had been so long since I could afford to wear something this beautiful, let alone enjoy myself.
I undressed and took a hot shower. The steaming water relaxed the tense muscles in my back. As I lathered myself with soap, I closed my eyes and thought of Zhang. I remember the way it felt when he spoke to me. He was so confident; his presence was both overwhelming and consuming. Being away from him, all I could think about was when I would see him again. He was infectious.
Perhaps it was the mystery about him, or maybe I was just a woman who appreciated a man that exudes that kind of assuredness without coming across as arrogant. I climbed out of the shower and toweled off. After applying a thin layer of lotion to my taut and dry skin, I finally put on the dress Zhang had sent.
