RAY HOOK
Year 2024
(Summer, The U.R.T, Platinum Apartments)
The metal doors of the elevators finally shut.
The princess and her wilful demands were hurled out of the window.
"So," the older wolf turned to the younger one with a knowing grin, "how was she?"
The cocky grin widened to an even one, and a mischievous finger curled invitingly. His uncle moved his left ear closer, and Ray whispered, "Golden."
They pulled back from each other, gazes locked: his uncle quietly scrutinising his face for more details while his own goading that envy behind those smiling eyes. Then, a chuckle slipped from those seasoned lips. A glass raised, and Ray clinked his own on it.
"I knew it!" The uncle burst out in laughter and emptied the glass of whiskey.
Ray took a sip of his, surveying his uncle's face for a sign of give away. Noting none, he gladly emptied his glass and settled it on the small table before standing to declare his exit.
But his uncle settled him back on the couch. "Come on, Ray-ster. Out with it."
Ray cast a puzzled squint. "Out with what?"
"You can't be serious about giving it up. It's your company. You built it from scratch. I've seen you. That much time and effort." He leaned in to whisper in his rare serious tone, "Either you're still an idiot or there's something else."
The young Alpha knitted his brows deeper, which seemed to ask: what else is there?
His uncle faced him completely, elbow lounging atop the back pillows, the right side of his head propping on his fist, and returned an even curious look. "You tell me."
Ray mimicked his uncle, leaning sideways against the back pillows, and flashed an innocent pout. "Tell you what."
Finally, giving in, his uncle put it out bluntly. "Better to be the boss than be bossed around. So why did you quit your own company and willingly slaved under a stranger just to spy for your sister?"
Before Ray uttered his first word, the older wolf swiftly added, "It's not because of the deal you've made with her. I've seen how you handle her. When your interests are at stake, you steer around her requests."
"Requests?" Ray chuckled dryly. "Is that how you see them?"
"Fine. Demands," his uncle corrected with a teasing smile. "Even so, you don't give in to all of them. You, Ray Hook, negotiate."
The twenty-four-year-old chuckled some more, shaking his head in disbelief at his thighs. "You think there's something else."
"I do." The uncle readily admitted.
"And you want to know what it is so you can tell them." Ray smiled gently at the same spot on his right knee, the blue of his eyes deepened.
His uncle let out an apologetic sigh. But there was still a smile in his voice when he confessed, "Give me something, Ray-ster. You know the drill."
Ray lifted a smirk at his uncle and scoffed knowingly before resuming the earlier lounging position. "I've noticed something." His uncle's face wavered in slight curiosity, and Ray hurled the innocent question at his face. "Are you into my sister?"
The veteran did not flinch a muscle.
And the smirk turned into a cocky grin. "So you are."
A finger shot up and shook like a white flag at those deep blue eyes brimming with amusement. "Fine. What should I tell them?"
"That Ray-ster got bored." He stood and patted his uncle's right shoulder to add, "Make it believable. You know how it gets me when they start all the calling and texting."
His uncle exhaled wearily in closed eyes as the cunning nephew moved past him. "I can't lie to them. You know it."
"It's the truth, uncle," Ray said without looking back.
"You know it's not."
"See yourself out." Ray waved the back of his right palm in dismissal.
******
The door closed.
Finally, he was alone.
He can breathe.
The mask can be taken off.
Ray wiped the smile off his face, and revenge settled back in those deep blue eyes as they swept cautiously across the minimally accessorised room. The bed was angled thirty degrees from where he stood; the laptop on the sheets was still pointing at the bathroom door; the magazines on the table were still resting in the centre of the circle table, stacked in perfect cuboid.
No signs of an intrusion. It's safe.
The young Alpha padded over to the other end of the room. The thick, plush carpeted floor silenced his footsteps, giving nothing away to any possible listeners creeping outside his bedroom door. In a slick move, his thigh nudged the armchair twenty degrees to its left then, clearing his path, and he entered the walk-in wardrobe, shutting the door behind him.
The switch flipped and lights flooded the space. Shelves of clothes, stacked and hung, that outlined the room drew back to reveal panels of flat screens. Ray strode towards the middle as a keyboard surfaced on the closet island. He tapped a button and the black screens came alive with trillions of boxes, each one showing live movements of people across the globe.
Ray opened the island's secret compartment and dipped his hand into the thick cloud of cold vapour. He fished out a bottle of beer. Opening it, he took a quick survey of the screens that lined the room, then took a swig of the cooling bitterness before plonking himself on the couch beside the island.
Every single one of them reported the same thing: still no news of her.
He took another swig and pressed the cold glass to his forehead to calm the agitation roaring inside.
Ten fucking years. Not a single word of her. Not even a trace of her existence.
A mocking chuckle slipped through.
It's funny… that people would think they know everything about you, just because they spent every second of their waking life watching you.
Of course, he needed to start a company. How else would he gain independence from his helicopter parents and CCTV uncle? No one would employ him unless he has the papers—they call them certificates and resumes—so he might as well do one on his own. It wasn't that hard. All he had to do was find a couple of like-minded people nicer than Rox, more earnest than his uncle, gentler than his father, and less forgiving than his mother, and he was good to go.
With the company, Ray could pay for everything he needed to find Kate. The investigators, the equipment. Everything here costs something; without his uncle's connections and status, the price Ray had to pay is much higher.
He could ask his uncle for help. That old mutt would be glad to lend a hand too. It would just take a couple of calls for him, a few minutes of his lifespan. But for Ray, the price is exorbitant. He had much qualms in letting people who neither believe him nor respect his beliefs into his search party.
Angrily, Ray downed the entire bottle.
That evil woman. He wanted to teach her a lesson she would never forget. He wanted to make her life a living hell. No, worse than that. For all the suffering she had caused Kate.
She should feel as Kate had felt when the flames were eating her up, when all her screams of pain were left unheard.
"Fuck," he breathed, the heat of guilt swarmed to his eyes, and Ray tipped the bottle to chug down some more.
He had thought of using his company to bring down Ares Corp. But Kate wouldn't like it. Ares Corp was—and still is—her father's hard work. She would want to keep it going. So the only thing Ray could do is to take Ares Corp from that woman's hands and safeguard it.
Ray fetched another bottle of beer and downed it along with his resentment.
Enjoy life? Yes, he is doing just that. He's going to enjoy the human world to its fullest. Or those fucking know-it-alls wouldn't get off his back.
His uncle included. That sex-loving wild mutt is as useless as a missed call.
If his uncle had answered his call that night, help would have arrived sooner. That evil woman wouldn't have a chance near Kate.
He lowered the empty bottle in his hand and cursed at one of the screens, the face-tracking green box blinking across the people rushing along a street in Tokyo. "Stupid Ambrose."
If Ray had stayed for a few more seconds, that sharp and agile mind would've figured out everything. Nothing eludes that old mutt.
He grabbed a new bottle from the secret fridge. Two long gulps later, he felt a smile on his mouth. "Stupid Ray."
Ray knows that he is a creature of habit; he isn't really hard to read if one tries. Deal or no deal, he'd never comply with obnoxious demands until his terms—or at least some of them—were met.
Three tries. He had applied for three different positions at Ares Corp, and they were all rejected. Ray didn't think that that woman would be capable of a strict and shrewd hiring process. He didn't even think that he would fail to meet anyone's requirements; he was certain that any company would die to have his skills and talent.
Afterall, he had single-handedly created a company with a 90 percent gross margin that had attracted three VCs as lead investors and a dozen more as follow-ons. They had to turn away a dozen more because the waiting list is full.
Could he be overqualified? Or perhaps they reckoned him a competitor?
But Ray was careful to have his name stayed behind the curtains, letting his partner be named as the 'sole founder' of the company. So no one would've known about his business.
The only reason remained was: corruption.
And this spelled a bleak future for Ares Corp.
As his graduation neared, Ray grew more desperate. If he couldn't get into Ares Corp, what other means is there? To replace the CEO and resume Frank Ares' original plans for the company—just as Kate would've wanted.
Ray cast the empty beer bottle and grabbed his sixth one, a smile pushing up his tinted cheeks.
Finally, Lady Luck noticed him.
"That stingy bitch." He was back on the couch, stretched relaxingly across the cushion as he took another swig. Then, an exhale of relief slipped through his cool, moistened lips. "You ambitious ick. You want Ares Corp for a cheap price, you'll have to get me in there. Or… or…." The heat of guilt returned.
Ray closed his eyes and twenty-ish Kate was beaming at him, relief written all over her sobbing face. The last he remembered of her before she—.
"Or I won't be able to find her," he breathed.
She's not dead. He's sure of it.
She's as real as his own breathing.
Because she's still beating inside him. Faintly, but surely.