Hidden Behind the Veil (Complete)

Chapter 1

To the beginning, which led to the unending end...

September, 1997.

Alex woke up and surveyed his room with sleepy eyes. Since no one was going to bother waking him up, he tried estimating the time by observing the amount of sunlight that seeped inside the room, through the curtains which hung on the eastern side. His life had always been this way. Without a mother, he usually had to do all his work himself, with almost no helping hand. Though his father had a bank account worth millions, he never really had time for Alex and that made him feel even lonelier.

Alex abhorred his father's source of income. He tried to stay away from it as much as possible. He would sometimes try to trick his mind into thinking that he's just another normal teenager. But it would not be long before the environment would pull him back into reality.

The sunshine suggested that the time was something around 7 in the morning so he lazily got out of his enormous bed. He hated it sometimes, the amount of wealth and luxury that surrounded him. The extra large room with a 62 inches LED tv and a dresser on the western side of the room with one of the finest wood and carving that you could find in the world. The lush carpets that covered the floor. His huge bathroom with floor-to-ceiling attached wooden cupboards. All the rich velvet bed sheets and quilts that he hardly got to see for more than a week before they bought new ones.

"Pointless!" He mumbled.

All that he needed was a collection of his mother's books, and a showcase to set them in. That was Alex's time pass, his hobby. It made him feel like he was connected to his long-lost mother. The mother that had died when he was just a couple of years old. He never really got to know her, and that's maybe why he didn't have to feel sorrow for his loss. But he felt hollow at times. There was this emptiness. A vacant space which had to be filled by her. Who was mother? He didn't really know. All that he knew was that she loved to write. She was a professional writer and the library on the top floor contained hundreds of books written by her. Alex had read almost every one of them. It was his gateway to understanding the mother that he never really had. To understand what she might have been. He wanted to know her feelings, sentiments and emotions through her writing.

Still in his pyjamas and white t shirt, Alex walked out of the room and into the long corridor that had rooms on either side. Rooms that held nothing more than emptiness which aided in him feeling even lonelier. He shook his head, flipping aside the rebellious strand of hair that always seemed to make it's way into his eyes. It was a habit for Alex. Something that he did unconsciously. Yet another trait that the girls admired. He continued walking the red carpeted corridor as it turned to the left and then to the right leading to a grand staircase. It was about ten meters wide, and like the whole house, it was carpeted as well. The staircase was something out of a movie. Like the mega staircase you saw in a multimillionaire's bungalow. But then again, Alex was a multimillionaire. Or at least the son of one.

Alex smirked at the staircase.

"Ruddy, stupid stairs." He hissed, as he began his long descent from the top. 

He reached the bottom and walked around the large glass fountain and out through the main entrance. A huge lobby with a great wooden door that was never closed. A glass roof with the finest paintings of the roman empire which had been stolen around a decade ago. He walked towards the gravel parking where the chauffeurs parked all the expensive cars- which was another way of showcasing their wealth. As dad said, "What's the point of being rich when you can't show it". The pure glass fountain in front of the grand staircase was something that caught every visitor's attention. Sometimes it would become hard to distinguish between glass and the water that flowed inside it, but none of it amused Alex. He stepped into the garden from the parking, not showing the slightest bit of admiration for the natural beauty that surrounded him. The poplar trees on the edges and the perfect lush green grass. The jogging track fencing the prepossessing garden. Everything was beautiful till the extent of being perfect.

As he crossed the garden, he continued on the gravel driveway which was also lined by poplar trees on both sides. It snaked straight from the metalic entrance gate and then passed round the garden leading to the front side of the building where all the cars were parked. As he got close to the great black metal gate he heard a familiar voice.

"Going for a smoke sir?"

It was Chris, the butler, who was sitting in the doorway of his yellow hut. It was built just inside the gate. Chris looked old and humble. With droopy cheeks and messy hair that added to that affect. He still wasn't in his black suit and white dress shirt with the black bow tie- the regular butler clothing. It was too early for him to start his duty but he always sat here waiting for Alex to leave so he knows when, or if he left.

"You just have to ask. Don't you?" Alex sighed.

"Just doing my job sir." Chris said with a bow.

But Alex preffered Chris in this matter. Chris trusted him and gave him leeway. He was one of the few friends that Alex had. It would still get on his nerves sometimes that he had to ask it eventhough Alex went for this very purpose every day, but it was his duty nonetheless.

"Yeah." Alex replied

Alex walked along the road in front of his house and took a right into an alley. Most definitely, he was there. With his left hand in his front pocket and right one holding the cigarette upto his thick lips. Edward. Alex's best friend. He was short and had a round face.

Alex walked towards Edward, completely indifferent to his presence.

"So you wanna take on the record today" Edward said, challenging Alex.

"You know I always go easy on you."

"Yeah right!"

Edward lit a cigarette for Alex and handed it over.

"Ready. Set. Smoke."

With that, they both started puffing. It was just a matter of a couple of times for Alex to inhale in order to get closer to the filter end of his cigarette, but Edward was struggling to catch up. It had always been this way. One could simply not smoke faster than Alex, and yet, only a handful knew that he did.

Alex waited for Edward to catch up.

"Come one you lazy rat! I've got things to do. Is this the best you've got? Huh?" Alex taunted Edward. A smile was playing on his attractive thin lips.

Edward didn't like being mugged around, especially being called a lazy rat. So he inhaled deeper and harder until he started coughing.

"C'mon man, you make me look bad." Alex teased.

"I am just letting you win bro. It's what friends are for. To make you feel better." Edward hiccoughed. "The things I do for friendship." His eyes had reddened as his struggle became evident on his face.

Edward was the only good friend that Alex had. He had been there when no one else was. He meant a lot of things for Alex. His smoking partner, his best friend. But most of all, Edward was the brother that Alex never had. He was Alex's pass to feeling humane. Alex wasn't the expressive type, but hardly was there anything that Edward did not know about Alex. They had known each other since they had known themselves.

Edward's ancestors were from Russia. They had a tradition of sending their sons to the Russian military service. His father had died during the war against Afghanistan in 1979. That happened just after Edward was born. His mother already had to bear immense loss after losing her husband that she did not have the guts to lose her son in the way of preserving tradition. So she fled from the country. She ran away, as far as she could, away from the people and the traditions and stopped here to start a new life. Edward had lived his whole life without a father, and that is exactly why Alex always felt that Edward could relate to his sorrow and his loneliness

Alex looked at his Armani watch. "I'd stay and enjoy the sight of my win, yet again, and your loss, yet again. But I am afraid we both have school to attend."

"Yeah! Same old boring school." Edward replied. With that, they both set off. But one thing was sure, that day proved to be everything except 'same old.'

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note: I do not support smoking XD This is just the requirement of  a character...