12 Ism a video gamer geek (1/2)
When An Ning woke up the following morning, Richard was gone. Her phone beeped and there was a message: Off to work. Back after lunch.
An Ning frowned. She didn't even know what this guy she's supposed to be with did for a living. The house they lived in now was big. The opulence was unmistakable. Even without her memory, she understood wealth and the evidence was all around her.
She took a shower, dressed then went where her stomach was leading her into the kitchen. Sarai, the old lady in charge of their meals, was already there whipping cream on a batter. She turned around when An Ning entered and smiled.
”What do you want to eat for breakfast this morning?” she asked, pausing in her work.
An Ning looked at the batter.
”Pancakes would be good. And bacon. Do we have any cacao chocolates anywhere? I couldn't find any when I looked the other day.”
”I could make some for you if you like. They're not that difficult to make,” Sarai said, pouring batter on a pan.
”I'd like that,” An Ning said. ”What time did Richard leave this morning?”
”Sevenish.He said to let you sleep. He looked kind of in a hurry. I guess this movie business is keeping him busy.”
”Movies?” asked An Ning, startled. ”Is he an actor?”
Sarai laughed, shaking her grey head.
”He manages talents like Du Lu.”
”Du Lu?”
”He's a very famous actor. Richard I think discovered him when he went to Europe some years ago. He's really famous. Girls are crazy about him. Even my ten year old granddaughter likes him.”
”I don't know him.”
”Of course you don't remember him. It's no wonder.”
”Where does Richard work?”
”I think he went to the main office in the city this time. But he has another office here in the compound. You can go there if you like and watch Du Lu's movies. I heard the building has an in-house theater for private showings.”
An Ning nodded noncommittally.
But after breakfast she did just that. She discovered that she was a very energetic person. Even pregnant, her energy was very high.She didn't suffer from morning sickness, she wasn't burdened by mood swings, and she can't sit still even when she's doing something.
She asked Sarai for directions and decided to hike the two mile distance on foot without telling anybody.An Ning was staggered by the vastness of her surroundings. It was almost like another world. The valley, which was farmed commercially, was irrigated by a river, which turned and twisted around the hills and mountains like a moat.
The one-story building where Richard worked was hidden deep between tall trees. It was artistically designed in the manner of a glass house infused with the warm presence of wood. The door to the entrance opened when she twisted the knob. The lights turned when she entered and the gentle pattering of water falling on glass was heard.
There was a short flight of stairs that led to a loft. She climbed the steps and saw, in the middle of the room, a massive table facing north. Beyond was a cliff overlooking the panoramic view of the valley, the mountains and the river.It was breathtaking and very unexpected.
An Ning sat on a chair behind the table and turned the computer on. She didn't even hesitate when she typed the password. The computer went black then blinked. Her fingers flew on the keyboard. She had typed a total of about 20 pages on Word when she stopped. She read the words silently then her fingers again flew to open another program then another.
By the time she finished, there were about a dozen programs running on the computer at the same time. Then she clicked on them one by one and closed them all off. She then started messing with the database and was inputting codes when she raised her head and saw Richard watching her with a smile.
”How did you guess my password?”
”It's either caps or a lower case of the letter P in the word password. I guessed caps. Easy.”
”Hmnn…”
”You should really change it though. Too easy for any hacker to mess with.”
”I always forget the damn things whenever I changed them.”
”Anyway, I changed it for you. It's my name all in caps.”
”You've been at it for a long time,” Richard said, pointing at the computer. ”Find anything?”
”It seems I'm not ignorant about computers at all. I know the basics. I might not be a great programmer but I seem to understand codes a lot. What the heck did I do before all this happened, anyway?”
”You played games. Video games,” Richard answered. ”And you were good at it.”
An Ning stared at him, shocked.
”You mean I have all this education and all I did was play video games on computers?”
”A lot of people do it. What of it?”
”Not as a living surely,” An Ning protested. ”How old am I now?”
”Twenty-two.Your birthday is on the 5th of August.”
”That old and I'm still a bum,” An Ning said, slumping dejectedly on the chair. ”Turns out I'm a freaking loser.”
”Your family is enormously wealthy. Nobody expected you to work,” Richard shrugged indifferently.
”Your family is also obviously wealthy but you still opted to have a career,” An Ning pointed out.
”You can still start a career if you want. Up to you.”
”As what? I don't even know if I'm good at anything or not.”
”Why not help out here?” Richard suggested. ”I run the company with Du Lu but I'm the sole owner. We have about 50 talents in our stable plus two boy bands that another group is handling. I set up this place because my father got sick some months back and nobody else was around to look after him. You can work here or go to the main branch. Up to you.”
”I think I'll work in the main branch. I need to know the staff, the talents and how the entire thing runs anyway. I have the suspicion though that I don't like to watch that many movies. It didn't ring a bell at all when I saw the CDs on the shelf. How many movies did we see when we were dating?”
”Not that many. I only got into it when I met Du Lu.”
”He's that famous actor?”
”That's him.”