The voice sounded familiar to Xie Rong but she couldn’t put her finger on where had she heard it?
There are certain feelings which are buried so deep in our soul that even if our mind forgets all about them, our heart still keeps it as a reminder... As a memory.
The man who was roaring like lion a minute ago turned into an obedient cat and replied, "Mr. Xiao, I was bringing your gift down but this person came crashing down into me and it fell down."
"I told you that I’ll compensate for this." Xie Rong spoke again with indignation.
"There is no need for that." Xie Rong heard the same mellow voice. "I believe, it was a mistake on your part as well. I really can’t hold you accountable for a mistake."
She turned her face to see the person who was this understanding. Was there really people like that in the world?
She rubbed her eyes and saw a tall man donning a well-tailored, handmade black suit. He looked like someone who had walked right out of a comic book. He had tall stature with a well-built body. He held an aura of extraordinary elegance. His ink-black hair was short and sleek almost reflecting the lights. His glossy ink-black eyes were like a calm stream. His whole persona was enough to scream his exquisiteness and yet his face was a bit blurry to her.
The exquisite man didn’t glance at her and turned to the man behind him, "Qin Qu, get something else for the gift." With that, he walked away taking long strides with his long legs.
Xie Rong wanted to stop him but another wave of nausea made her turn back and enter the elevator. After reaching her Presidential Suite, she puked her guts out in the bathroom, washed herself up and donned a pair of black jeans and shirt again.
She came to the living room when she heard a knock at the door. She pressed a button and the door was opened. Wu Dishi walked inside with a group of people following behind him.
The group of five people stood in a straight line and bowed in respect greeting, "At your service, Sir!"
"Cut it!" She said while taking a seat at the sofa and wore a jacket. "Wu Dishi!" She called out.
"Yes, Master!" Wu Dishi answered.
"I broke someone’s gift downstairs. Go, find out about that and compensate with set 4." Hearing Xie Rong mentioning set 4, Wu Dishi was taken aback.
He knew how much effort his master had put into attaining that specific set. But knowing his master’s nature, he didn’t dare question and left the room to follow her orders.
Xie Rong heaved a long sigh and leaned back on the sofa with her hands crossed before her chest and addressed, "All of you!"
Everyone stood ramrod at her voice. "No one will call me Lord Alev here in China. The world should only know that Lord Alev Knight is still in Europe." Xie Rong took a pause and added, "Here, I’ll be Xie Rong; The Chairman of Metrix Consortium. Am I clear?"
The group of people looked at each other before saying simultaneously, "Yes, Master!"
"Also," she spoke again while pushing her short messy hair to one side to show the layers of her haircut. "None of you is allowed to talk about your real identities. The rest is up to you."
"Yes, Master!" With that, all of them left the Suite leaving her alone in the huge space.
Being alone in the room, Xie Rong closed her eyes for a moment and a distant yet mellow voice rang in her ears:
"good god you’re a gift
a wildflower in the rain
a wild child with stains
sometimes imperfect
sometimes unclean
but so shiny underneath
you are glistening
are you listening
you are a gift
good god, you’re a gift."
― SHILOW
She promptly opened her eyes and ran her eyes around the suite to find nobody except for her own self. As always. ’Another poem but the same voice... Once again came back to haunt me. Is it because the man from earlier had the same voice? Or is it because that you want me to remember that I owe you my life?’ She sighed audibly and said out loud in the empty space, "Even if I owe you my life, I told you that I need to find myself first before repaying this debt of life."
Xie Rong stood up and paced up to the French doors of the balcony. She looked into distant as she reminded herself of the reason for coming back to China.
She heard the sound of a door’s opening but didn’t turn to see who entered her Suite. "Master, are you feeling okay?" Xie Rong heard Adia’s voice behind her.
"What are you talking about?" Xie Rong acted as if she didn’t know what Adia was talking about.
"When you left China about 2 years ago because of a conflict with your best friend, you said that you never want to see this country ever again." Adia reminded her politely staring at the back of Xie Rong’s head.
Xie Rong clasped her hands behind her back and said, "When I decided to leave this country a decade ago, I promised myself that without finding myself, I won’t come back here." She inhaled a sharp breath. "But I broke that promise for my best friend 2 years ago. And yes, I did say that I won’t come again. Today, I want to stand before my friend and ask him how can he say I was playing god in his life when I can’t even be the god of my own life? Just because I didn’t want to come, doesn’t mean that’s what life had in stores for me."
Adia stayed quiet for a moment before asking, "Can you really stay here?"
Xie Rong turned her body and faced Adia saying, "Haven’t you heard a Chinese proverb, ’Wherever you go, go with all your heart.’ Since I’m here already, I’ll just stay."
Meanwhile, Wu Dishi brought the set 4 from Xie Rong’s collection to pay as compensation. He called the employees to gather around and asked, "Which customer’s gift was broken by our hotel’s employee?"
"Mr. Wu, I didn’t break it. It was a young man who intentionally bumped into me." Wu Dishi stared at the employee before him trying hard to stay calm. "That young man was not even worthy of stepping foot in our hotel with the clothes he wore. I don’t know how security is working here."
The employee had just finished talking when a crisp slap landed on his face. He turned back to see a lean man in her late twenties with his western features and blond hair. "Call him ’not worthy’ one more time and see what I do to you." This man was the part of the group that was with Xie Rong in the suite.
"Jake!" Wu Dishi called his name. "For now, let it go. I have to finish the task Master gave me first. We can take care of him afterward." Jake nodded and helped Wu Dishi in carrying the most expensive piece to the banquet hall of the hotel.