White Lie. To Hide a Darker Truth
It was almost 5 pm when everyone was getting ready to go home. His boss went out early talking to the higher ups from his cellphone when he went out at around 3 pm. Some of the staff picked up their bags and things and one by one lined up to punch their fingers on the digital scanner. But Bobby Lowell still had an unfinished task on his hand. He tapped his pen and acted as if he was writing something for he was on the lookout for anyone in the office who could see what other things he had on his mind.
Aurora, the other female office staff was still on her station and when she stood up and said her goodbye, Bobby was elated and immediately went on to proceed to the secured computer terminal a few steps from him. The terminal is off limits for supervisors and Bobby isn't one of those cleared to use them. He typed in his boss username, looked for his password under his desk and voila, he was inside the system ready to profile anyone on the planet.
Bobby Lowell watched the record on his screen changes. Search name -Silayman-he typed the word correctly but none was indexed in the people search engine. How could it be zero? He pulled the record for Facebook and other social media accounts and again the screen did not register any hits. That was odd. His own name ran a thousand hits and it included every unimaginable thing he did for the last ten years or so. The result was not pretty.
Is this a freak he is seeking? Who the f_ck uses one name only on the planet? Prince maybe but he is dead. Sting. There's a lot of freaking singers with a single name but they all have hits on the search engine. How can a man that is within 50 kilometers of the terminal is not churning out any result?
He picked up the phone beside him and called up Mike.
"Yes, Bobby. How's the search?"
Mike gulped. He was just curious to know the result. Bobby sighed a couple of times. There was a break in his tone.
""Are you sure of the name you have given me?" Bobby asked. Wondering. Perhaps telling Mike, what the f_ck are you asking me to search? This is trash.
"Bobby. That's the name-Silayman. I am pretty sure it was the one sent to me."
"It's not yielding any search result. Maybe we got the wrong name."
Mike thought it was weird. He was on his third coffee and his mind is fixed on the next card game on the internet. He wants to gamble and now Bobby is giving him a headache.
"Okay...let me check for a second…."
Bobby was impatient. "Why not just call me back...I might check the darknet. They might have a clue what's going on."
"Ok…" Mike Agreed.
Mike dialed Henry De La Vega's number. Like Bobby, he was still inside his office and his boss dumped in his table a pile of paperwork he could not manage to finish. But he was given a clean deadline so he had to stay up late. If he had an opportunity he would shred everything so he won't have to bother all the files on his table for clearance.
While waiting for Mike to call back Henry De la Vega, Bobby clicked the darknet search engine and again typed the name. This time it gave him a stunning search result. He clicked the print function and it sent out the item directly to the printer. The printer beside him was on but it did not churn out the paper result of his query. Is there something wrong?
What the f_ck? Nothing worked that day. Why does all things doesn't work when he needs them at the precise time? He checked the printer driver and everything is okay. He heard a voice behind him which nearly gave him a heart attack.
"Did you print these?" the woman behind him asked. It was Aurora. The printed results on hand. Her face was inquisitive and looking at the system he just accessed. Luckily, he just turned it off in time before she could take a look at it. The items were printed in the common printing area. What the …? Bobby took the paper from her hand.
"The boss wanted me to search for these. He gave me temporary access," he replied. He was good at lying. He said in a natural way that Aurora just nodded her head.
"Uh okay," she replied.
"I thought you went home already?" Bobby asked.
"I….I forgot some things on my desk." She showed her umbrella. Then gave a faint smile.
"Is it raining outside?" he asked to divert the attention even more.
Aurora tried to open her umbrella. Checking if it was broken. It was.
"Yes….kind of heavy rain today," she replied. She was explaining with her arms acting helpless.
Bobby had an idea he thought might be effective.
"Do you want me to give you a ride? I am going home too."
Aurora looked at the window. The rain was getting heavier and taking a ride home outside is not advisable.
The phone suddenly rang. Aurora went to pick it up but Bobby grabbed it first. "This might be the boss."
Bobby cleared his throat. Something was stuck on it. "Yes, I have it already, boss. Don't you worry sir. I will have it delivered to you first thing in the morning."
Aurora just waited for Bobby to finish the call. She was a bit fidgety. The rain is seemingly endless since it started late in the afternoon and she doesn't want any of the traffic preventing her from going home. She had her own reasons not to stay up late.
When Bobby finished his call he went straight to his station and turned off his computer. He cleaned his desk and realized the word Silayman was written all over his draft paper. Aurora could have a look at it and wonder what he is up to with that name of his. He placed the print out inside his bag and the draft paper from his desk. Trash all traces of his activity. He needed to be careful always.
"C'mon Aurora. Let's go. This rain is getting terrible. We need to get out."
Aurora followed him in the security scanner. Bobby, with his heavy bag on his shoulder, scanned his finger before going out of the office.
Inside his car, Aurora beamed. "Finally, I can go home and thank you Bobby for this."
Bobby looked at her. "It's nothing. Let's go home."
Just when they traversed the superhighway, Mike kept on calling him on his cellphone. The rain is 'bomb like' and it's hard to focus on the driving.
"Aren't you going to pick it up. You can take the layover area," Aurora suggested.
"The call can wait…" Bobby mentioned.
Aurora was persistent. "No. It's okay with me."
Bobby relented. "There's a gasoline station nearby and we can probably make a stop."
Aurora agreed. "That's fine. I can take the bathroom too."
Bobby wheeled towards the shaded portion of the gasoline station where there's a convenience store and a comfort room inside.