“How come there are no workers in your company anymore?… Don’t tell me everyone resigned after the scandal broke out?” William asked absentmindedly, his eyes darting across the office in the company before it rested on Liam and Rachael who had been patiently waiting for him.
“It’s Saturday,” Liam remarked with a deadpanned look on his face, his tone full of mockery. “Workers don’t work on Saturdays”
“Hahaha.. my bad” William scratched the back of his head nervously as he realized how stupid his question was and how much he had embarrassed himself in the presence of Rachael. He added,” I forget it’s a Saturday.”
“Well, now you know” Liam remarked with a smirk on his face. “There’s still one more person we are waiting for and there he is” Liam announced as he sighted Adrian walking into the building.
“Now, we’re complete,” Liam remarked again. “Adrian, this is the man I said you will be working with… His name is William Louis”
“Louis?… As in the son of Mr. Louis?” Adrian exclaimed in surprise, his eyes flashing with admiration as he gazed at William who was baffled by the attack. He didn’t know his father was that popular. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time”
“Wow!.. really?” William asked, his gaze unbelievable. “How did you know me?”
“Well, it was through the combat game you designed four years ago… It was mind-blowing, and the fact that you created it out of fun is what makes with incredulous and spectacular” Adrian’s lips were filled with endless praise as he shook hands with William.
William smiled nervously, saying “Looks like I have a close fan”
“Tch… We should get straight to the point. I didn’t come here to emphasize how inspiring a game was” Rachael who had been silent the whole time, seething her teeth in anger finally spoke. “My friend’s life is at stake here”
“She’s right. We shouldn’t waste our time any longer” William chipped in his support, his gaze on Rachael’s back as he expected he bro say something but she didn’t. She resumed her moment of silence with immediate effect. “Erm.. Adrian, how far is the range of your computer, can it cover a whole country?”
“Yes, it can” Adrian readily replied, his gaze fixed on apparently, his role model. “It can even cover two countries together”
William was quite stunned by the efficiency of Adrian and said, “I really love your works. Did you upgrade the system yourself?” He asked for in bewilderment.
“Yes, Mr. Louis” Adrian nodded in affirmation, his gaze darting to Liam. “It was all thanks to Mr. Callahan. If he hadn’t pushed me beyond my limits. I wouldn’t have been able to build something as sturdy as this”
“Please, let’s get started” Rachael butted in, her tone rude to show everyone she wasn’t in a good mood today. “How do we track these kidnappers?”
“Well, that’s easy” William replied, placing a laptop he had brought out from his bag, on the large table in the room. He connected it with a motherboard given to him by Adrian. “I just need to connect this to the last trail I had on then and let the system find them itself”
The four people in the room stood in anticipation as they keenly watched the green bar on the screen increase steadily.
“How long is this going to take?” Rachael asked, her voice laced with impatience as her eyebrows furrowed into a frown. “Are you sure the system is functioning properly?”
“Yes, it is ma’am” Adrian responded to her question, he had already sensed the tension between her and his role model a few minutes ago. “It’s a steady process and should be completed in the next two hours”
“Two hours?.. are you fu*king me?” Rachael half yelled, dumbfounded by the response she got. “We can’t wait for that long?”
“Yes, we can” William replied with a sharp tone, irritated by the fact that everyone was getting affected by her anger. “You just have to be patient. Every one of us here wants this done as soon as possible but there’s nothing we can do”
Rachael was offended by his voice, but when her eyes rested on the frosty face of Liam, she realized at that moment that she had overreacted for nothing. “I’m sorry” she muttered, placing her butt back on the chair.
“It’s fine… We just have to be more considerate” William whispered, trying his best not to grab her hand and squeeze it in with his. He occasionally glanced at her as they all waited for the tracking system to identify the person.
****
“Doctor Charles, the VIP patient is convulsing”a nurse barged into the office without knocking, in a panicked state. “Penelope is in a critical situation”
Charles despite being annoyed by the nurse’s intrusion, still controlled his anger and understood the severity of the situation. He ordered with immediate effect. “Inform the neurologist. It looks like the surgery will have to commence earlier than expected”
Charles stood up and put on his operation clothes and gear before walking out.
“Sir, the neurologist is here. He said he wants to see you”The same intruding nurse came back to deliver a message.
“Tell him I’ll be with him in a few minutes. I need to make sure the patient’s family are in their right state of mind” Dr. Charles said, his gaze darting around till it landed on little Sabrina who was hanging on to her grandma in tears.
He walked over to them and crutched to stare at the girl’s face. “Sabrina, your mother will be fine, okay?”
“I can’t believe you guys anymore. You saying that all the time” Little Sabrina shook her head vehemently with a cute little pout which showed she was angry.
Charles felt a feeling of guilt rise in his heart. It was part of his job to instill hope into the patient’s family, even if there wasn’t even the slightest hope. But as he gazed at Sabrina, he felt a bright fire lit up in his heart, causing him to smile as he placed his hand on Sabrina’s shoulders.
“This will be the last time you’ll hear this from me, so hold on to it… Your mother will be fine after this”