He continued looking at the headline, eyes wide with resigned horror. The paper stared back at him accusingly as he re-read the story that grabbed precious space from the other events that are currently shaking his world. The pictures were marvelously printed on the front page, the color separations perfect. At another time, he would’ve praised the high quality of work that went into the day’s paper, commended the printers and promoted whoever was in line for promotion. But he has sold his holdings in the newspaper that carried the story.
Like someone who can’t avert his eyes from the scene of an accident, he read the rest of the story, swallowing fitfully, feeling his mouth and throat dry up with every second, his spirit wilt like a flower left out in the sun. “I’ll never get through the day,” he softly told himself as the first beads of sweat formed on his broad forehead.
Deep inside though, he knew this wasn’t entirely true. After reading the paper, he would fold it and tuck the rest of the pages neatly, buzz his secretary for some coffee and attend to the day’s businesses. The company he created may just be ten years old, but its growth has been described by the business community as phenomenal, with combined awe and envy. No, it wasn’t entirely true. He got through the day no matter what happened. Paying undivided attention had always been one of his natural abilities. One murder, however grisly, can’t distract him.
But this could be an exception, he thought again. He loved her. Even though they were never lovers, so not like the many women he dared to call friends.
Holding his cup of coffee grimly, he looked at the view of the city that the picture window of his penthouse office offered. The sun shone bright, indifferent to the darkness he felt inside his heart. He could only squint. The city yawned before him, its face of concrete, metal and glass wide and foreboding, cut sideways by the long shadow of his twenty-eight-storey building. Like the smirk that crooked her smile a bit. He wrapped his fingers around the base of the cup, relishing the sudden warmth radiating into the palm of his hand. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes, distorting his vision.
He had known her for almost fifty years. It had been another life when he met her. He was a stagehand in the theater where she sang as opening act for a couple of comedians whose act consisted of an hour of acting like buffoons, peppered with sexual jokes. The post-war crowd, new to bawdiness, loved them. But he loved her. She was beautiful; had a powerful singing voice. Her creamy skin shone against the dingy interiors of the theater. Her songs dug deep inside his heart.
Less than a month after meeting her he was out of a job. After a year of scrounging for menial jobs at a film studio he saw her again, getting made up on the studio lot. She was on the verge of becoming the latest star. He was one of the bit players in the production. He soon realized that she didn’t only have a powerful singing voice; she could also dance circles around anybody. He watched her dance up a storm, her body taut like guitar strings; her joy obvious. His admiration was boundless.
After a long period of obscurity, his perseverance only seemed to bring him nowhere. But he got over that period, which movie chroniclers called his hungry days. Soon after that he got bigger and bigger roles. He realized he had an almost uncanny ability to make people laugh with a simple movement of his rather longish nose, with even just a simple remark. His comic skills were noticed, and his services were soon sought after.
His launching movie was a big hit. The studio bosses loved him. He came cheap and brought the largest profits. But that cheapness wouldn’t last long. The business taught him many things. Negotiating among them. He got more money because he knew he deserved it. A mansion in the city’s posh district because he knew he earned it. Cars, jewelry, trips to exotic and expensive places. Women melted in his arms, giggling and laughing. However, his womanizing would not become legendary until many years later.
