Alves decided to keep quiet all through the drive to wherever the bank manager was driving him to. He neither wanted to be forward nor did he have an idea what to say.
It all happened like a total shock to him. He looked at his phone again, making an attempt to count the numbers of zeros behind the one.
No matter how hard he tried to, he couldn't say for sure what that range of number is called. He knew thousand, million, billion, trillion and --
"We should get you changed first, sir. You must feel uncomfortable in those wet clothes."
The manager offered and pulled over at the same time.
SIR?
It was like a dream. That was the only definition Alves could find.
He watched the manager step out of the car and walked towards and into a boutique. To Alves, everything was strange. Ranging from the fact that he was being driven by the manager of Mavelik, and now the manager went to get him a new pair of clothes?!
Not only was Mavelik the biggest bank in Grimmings Hills! It's an acclaimed fact that not every well-fed and edified entrepreneurs could have an account with them. The bank was such a big deal that it was almost a myth.
The staff of the bank are not even seen on a daily basis. You can't have them walking around like every other person, even on their off days. That was how special and esteemed they were.
Rumour had it that, not only was the bank directly connected to the world bank, but also, ultra rich men from across the globe have accounts with them. Men who loved to keep their networth hidden.
Now, to have not even a staff, but the manager of such a bank come pick him up. It was more than a fluster. It was as though he was suffering from an impostor syndrome.
"What the hell is happening? What's this about? Did someone mistakenly drop this money in my account?"
Alves gulped, unable to cut his gaze from the building where the manager had disappeared into, even though his mind was in the figure in his broken phone.
"There must have been a mistake somewhere. I should clear the misunderstanding before it becomes a huge deal. I don't want madam haunting me down in the name of tarnishing the sacred name of Grandpa. My surname."
He heaved a sigh, coming to a conclusion in his mind. Point in time, the manager was seen, with a package in his hand. He got to the car and stepped in.
"Sorry for taking your time."
The manager apologised firmly.
"I think there is a sort of ---"
"Why don't you change first before we talk."
The manger cut him short. He stared at the manager for a while. He thought of it for a while. He took a glance at the clothes. It was a tux. He didn't remember when last he wore one.
Though Tux did look good on him, yet he was never given whatever he wanted. He was always the black ship.
He thought of the tux as a bonus in case anything happen with the manager.
AFTER HE MOVES THE MONEY BACK TO THE OWNER, THE MANAGER WOULD HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LEAVE THE TUX WITH ME FOR THE STRESS.
Another conviction to help him adjust to the overwhelming situation. He was excused to a private place and he got changed.
"I guess we can talk n---"
"Please sir, let's get to my office please."
The manager pleaded with him. Words eluded him. Not becauee he wanted to go with the manager, but because the manager was acting really weird. Treating him like a renowned figure. Something he was never used to. He was used to been treated like a trash, all his life.
I HAVE TO GO LOOK FOR A HOUSE. THERE IS NO WHERE TO SLEEP TONIGHT. I HOPE HE WON'T MAKE ME MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO CHARLES.
He heaved a sigh and gave in. The manager nodded at him in a respectable bow. He drove off.
Soon enough, they arrived at the bank and he was taken into the building through the VIP entrance.
Some important members of the staff in the bank saw him. Alves could notice the way they looked at him.
He wasn't interested in anything at all. He had a particular thing occupying his mind. And he wouldn't achieve that until they had arrived at the office of the manager.
"I think there is some sort of misunderstanding here."
He finally had his chance, unwilling to take a seat even after being offered by the kind manager. He didn't even for once check out how beautifully furnished the office of the manager looked.
No matter how hard he tried to, he couldn't throw aside the thought of how to convince Charles to take him in for the night. At least by the next day, he would find a way.
"See, Mr manager. I appreciate everything until now, but I'm not a kind of person who reaps from where he didn't labor. As much I'd love to enjoy it, I can't bring myself to doing so."
He sighed again, taking a pause.
"I'm sure you know what that means sir. You have the wrong person. But one thing that I'd love to say is that..."
He hesitated. Perhaps waiting for the manager to give him a reason to continue. When he waited in vain, he continued.
"Giving by the amount of stress you've put me through, I won't give back this tux. And I'll take your prolonged silence as a common ground between the both of us. You can move the money back to the account of whoever made the mistake."
It was as though a burden was eased off his mind. He puffed a wave of warm air,
"Have a nice day then."
He turned away from the manager, heading towards the door.
"You might want to read this before leaving, sir."
The manager called.
"Not again... please let me go with this tux..."
He cussed under his breath. Then he turned to the manager who was reaching out a piece of A4 paper.
Alves reluctantly collected the A4. He just wanted to read and leave.
He started reading, twirling his hasty eyes to do a skim, but he found himself reading all through the content. One because it's short and two, fascinating.
Dearest XMT,
Please in everything you do, do not be in denial of what is rightfully yours. Because this is just the one-hundreth of your fortune. Forgive us for not revealing ourselves yet, there are rogues to tame.
Your Loyal subjects.
He read the letter over and over again as though he was missing out on an important detail, yet he got the same exact insinuations.
When Alves looked up slowly from the letter, his head was blank.
"If you would have a seat, sir."
The manager offered.
"We'll love to see you around again sir. Whatever and however little your concern is, you are totally and absolutely welcomed."The manager said to Alves. He had just walked Alves out of the office and was bidding him a goodbye."Is there any other thing you would love for us to do? I mean, we could have a car take you home if you don't mind. And even if you so wish, you could take my own car home."Alves wasn't sure how to respond to the generosity of the manager. Though the manager really appeared kind to him, but he knew too well that it was an offshoot of professionalism. The manager was just working for the money. If Alves had not received such amount of money, he wouldn't have been pampered."No, I got it covered. You don't have to worry."He said and the manager nodded. He turned away from the manager. If he kept looking, the man might keep on the idle talk which Alves was already getting tired of.As soon as he noticed that the manager had left, he walked away from the vicinit
Alves couldn't bring himself to accepting what had just happened. No matter how hard he thought about it, it didn't make any sense to him. There were a lot of things that left him speechless. Just yesterday, she had promised to follow him to a gala event, even though Madam was so much against it. Before the sudden and unfortunate incident of Grandpa's death which pulled all plans apart. He didn't remember having a fight with her. If it was something else he might have been able to stand it and probably ignore it. But that wasn't even the main concern. What struck him to the depth of his conscious was what followed the whole shocking event. She slammed the door in his face!!!He wanted himself to believe so badly that he was held up in some sort of trance or probably a dream. That was what if felt like. Like he was dreaming!LUARA... IS CHEATING ON ME... SLAMMED THE DOOR IN MY FACE. He didn't know which of the two thoughts was the most devastating. All he did was stare, he couldn'
Alves phone started buzzing in his pocket. He brought it out before any other thing; he was still on his knees, in an open place. The hidden exit which he had taken led to an exposed roadside. He looked at the caller. Seeing the caller, he helped himself to his feet. He could see people gazing at him, but he didn't care. If they had an idea what he was going through, they probably would tell him to continue doing whatever he thought right. "Why is Charles calling me?"He thought first, staring at the number for a while. He knew he has to make a decision as soon as possible else the call would fall through. He answered the call. "Hey Charles. I was just about to call you."It wasn't a lie. That was the next thing he had in mind before the whole Laura situation. "Makes sense that I called you first then. But it doesn't matter who calls who first."The husky voice of Charles came over the speaker. Alves could hear a voice underneath, over the speaker. He could tell that it was the v
No matter how much Alves thought about it, he couldn't bring himself to a definite conclusion. He quit tossing the thoughts from one side to the other. He walked towards the open space and stopped a cab."Majood Riverside."He told the driver and the cab zoomed off. It didn't take much time to get there. He got off and paid. He turned at once in the direction of the Riverside.He stood there for a while, doing the last thinking, perhaps he could take a guess of whom the person he was going to meet was.It was only grandpa who would take him to the Riverside on his birthdays when he was younger even up to this day. If it wasn't because of the cold hands of death, he probably would be there next week too. His birthday.He shook his head scoffing,"Impossible. His coffin was taken away."That was the funny thought he had.WHAT IF IT'S THE REAL OWNER OF THE MONEY?That was the thought he had been trying to avoid all the time. He realised finally that he was wasting time standing there. Al
It was hard for Alves to put his thoughts together. It was quite a difficult task to align his thoughts at that moment. There were so many things going on in his mind, but the greatest of them all was,DID GRANDPA KNOW ABOUT THE MONEY?He shook his head slowly. That didn't seat right in his mind. It was as though he needed to make a rethink.IF HE DOES, WHY DID HE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL HIS DEATH TO TELL ME ABOUT IT?He couldn't provide an answer for that question either. He opined that he would be able to answer a question with another one.IF HE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT THE MONEY, WHY IS THIS LETTER ADDRESSED AS THE ONE I GOT FROM THE MANAGER OF MAVELIK?It was as though his head would explode. He had gone through a lot for that day to be greeted by such a mystery."It's not a compulsion to open it right here. You can take your time. It seems to bring so many memories."The aged voice came from beside him. He had almost forgotten that he had the old man there with him. He had been so engrosse
Alves was quite puzzled by the fact that Madam couldn't tell that he was the one from his back view. If it was the other way round, Alves would had known she was the one. He could even tell by the way she turn her neck whenever she was going to hop into a discourse which she wasn't invited to in the first place. Before Alves could choose what to do; whether to avoid her or turn to face her. He felt a force which shoved him to the side. He crashed heavily into the nearest wall, almost breaking an arm. It was sudden and ruthless. "How dare you stand in the way of our Madam." Came the voice of one of the two bouncers who had thrown him out of Casper's earlier that day. While it was raining. That got on his nerve. He didn't plan to hide his face any longer. There were quite a number of thoughts going on in his mind. WHAT IF I WAS A RICH MAN, WOULD HE HAD SHOVED ME AWAY LIKE THAT? HE HAD NO IDEA WHO I WAS, AND PUSHED ME OUT OF THE WAY IN SUCH A ROUGH MANNER? Then he remembered that i
Even though Alves knew that there was no point struggling with the cops, yet he tried to put up a fight. He was quite a realistic person, but at that moment, logic had nothing on him. He was so pained and pissed off that he just wanted to exchange fists. In his mouth was,"Bullshit! Bullshit!! Fucking Bullshit!!!"He took beatings. Several punches in his face. His cheeks folding in at the effect of the angry fists. To think that police men could be this brutal towards a SUSPECT left him speechless. Literally. Both sides of his mouth had blood trailing off. He could feel pain in his nose. He must have broken it at the ruthless contacts. He was shoved into the van of the cops before he could have himself a moment to think. He should ask them who sent them. He had an idea who it was. But it was strange. He knew Madam to be plain whenever she wanted to attack him. She had nothing to lose, so she didn't make attempts hiding her true color. He could remember vividly that Madam humiliate
Alves watched and observed closely the look on Madam's face when she had a taste of the sumptuous mucus grilled with blood. What crawled up her face was more than shock. It was as though she had seen more than a ghost. Alves didn't know when last he felt so soothed and happy after these long years. Seeing that look on Madam face was more than Utopia to him. Of course he was a realistic person. He knew what he has just brought upon himself by going to that length. He knew what was bound to happen. He knew that there would be a shower of more and more misery on him. Yet, he allowed himself to bask in the strong rays of those soothing and intoxicating feelings teasing his nerves. Before he gets drenched and drown.Suddenly he noticed Madam losing her balance and was falling away. She collapsed. She must have been very irritated. Alves knew that she would never get over something like this. He had just stepped on the tail of a cobra. While Madam was falling away, the two cops from ear