Alex made his way back through the thick throng of pedestrians. Normally, he would be intrigued by the night life, but his shoulders carried an overbearing weight that was invisible to everyone else.
The faint ringing of a church bell began to ring in the distance. The urgently clanging of the tower bells rode on the back of the wings of the wind, alerting every human being in the two mile radius, telling them that the twentieth hour of the day was at hand. This only further infuriated the already frustrated Alex.
He just could not understand it. Was is too far fetched for him to assume that every religious building on earth would have an avatar of some god? Had he been overly optimistic? Or had he simply missed something completely? As he forced his legs to keep going, he wondered whether this was what it meant to be human. The blind belief in what was virtually out of touch with them was pretty commendable, if not stupid.
He wondered if he was going mad trying to understand why exactly the buildings were not charged with spiritual energy. Clearly, the churches (as a building and as a religious institution) suggested that humans were well aware of the divine world that existed outside the realms of life and death. So, was it some kind of freak coincidence that he simply could not get in touch with the upper world?
That question changed the entire trajectory of his thoughts. The image of the Cosmic Emperor flashed through his mind, and Alex frowned. Maybe he had something to do with this. Alex could almost picture him looking down on him right now, laughing at him tauntingly.
His shoulders slumped even more. This was definitely rock bottom. Almost immediately, he heard the sound of the handle of a bucket screech overhead, as he lifted up his eyes in its direction, he was hit with a wave of sticky, slimey liquid. The fat inn keeper's wife that doused him with the bucket full of water did not even bother to check if the liquid had touched ground. Oblivious of what was happening on the street below, the fat woman simply slammed the door behind her.
Completely drenched, face dripping with what he could only hope was 'dirty water,' Alex knew his original thoughts were not wrong. This truly was rock bottom.
Two days later, with a million dollars in hand, Alex swaggered through the hallway of one of the biggest banks in town. As he edged his way towards the counter, he reflected on the chain of events that led him here.
By this time, Alex had already figured out that his time on Earth was pretty much going to be longer than expected. Since he was doomed to stay in this realm for the next decade or so, he decided he might as well enjoy his time here. So, securing funds for living life to fullest was necessary. The one million dollars he had won from the casino was burning a hole through his bag.
Despite the fact that he was more than capable of handling any kind of trouble, he knew that keeping such a huge sum at hand was dangerous. He would literally be inviting trouble to himself. Hence, the decision to head to the bank.
Knowing just how much cash he had in hand, he called the bank ahead to time to give them a heads up. A million dollars cash was no joke.
So, dressed in casual clothes, not wanting to draw in any unwanted attention to himself, Alex walked to the counter with the least number of people waiting in line and waited his turn while clutching his bag of money.
A hand tapped his shoulders from behind. He turned swiftly to see a well dressed, bright looking young man dressed in a suit;
"Good day sir," the man greeted. Then looking at the bag, he said in an official tone; "It appears you have a huge transaction to make." He pointed to a door on the far left; "Please head to the VIP room where you will be attended to immediately."
Alex complied. It actually made sense.
The lady in the VIP room who was seated behind the counter welcomed him warmly.
"Welcome to J.P. Forge Bank sir. I'm the manager of this branch. How may I be of service to you this morning?"
"Hi I'm Alex, I called earlier on to inform your bank that I'll be here today to make a deposit."
"One moment sir..." Her fingers clicked about as she checked her records. "Oh, I have a mister Alex here for a one million dollar deposit?" Alex could hear the shock in her voice. He lifted up the black duffel bag, placed it gently on the table and unzipped it. "Yeah, it's all in there. Count it if you like."
Outwardly, the lady did her best to maintain a professional outlook, but Alex was not easily fooled. One million dollars cash was enough to make anyone's head spin, no matter how many times they had seen it. He knew she was impressed.
Indeed she was. As she stood up to inspect the cash, the full figure of her body came into his full view. The lady was really beautiful. The buttons of her suit pressed up against her bosom and hugged her frame nicely. The bank definitely knew what it was doing when it had hired her as the manager and strategically placed her in the VIP bulk room.
She brought out the thick wads of cash and placed them in the counting machine. As the machine whirred softly, she introduced herself; "Pardon my manners sir, I didn't introduce myself properly. My name is Rachel."
Alex wondered what that had to do with anything. They were both here in an official capacity, so knowing her as the 'manager' was fine enough for him. Unless she was...
"So, are you in town for business or do you live here?"
Yep, Alex thought, she was definitely flirting with him. He answered her evasively. "I live here." Before she could ask a follow up question, he told her calmly; "Could you hurry it up? I'm kind of strapped for time."
"My apologies sir, could you please hand me a few bundles from the bag?"
He delved into the duffel bag and fished out four bundles at once. As she took it from him, she made sure her fingers interlocked with his when they made contact. Alex ignored her. Not because he did not find her attractive or anything, but solely because she did not the key quality he currently sought in his women.
Rachel had a great body, but the data over her head showed that she had no potential to explore. By his calculation, he had to sleep with her one hundred times to get the equivalent value of one Catherine!
Considering the fact that sex with girls was his one way ticket to gaining his full powers back, Alex was bound to be selective of the women he slept with. It was no longer just about fun, it was basically business. He simply could not afford to waste time on such small fish.
Rachel on the other hand saw clearly that she was making a fool of herself. As a pretty woman who had spent most of her life as the object of men's desire, she was astute at reading body languages and hidden signals. And right now, Alex's coldness towards her spoke louder than words. He simply did not want her. It came as no small surprise to her. But she was not some uneducated blimbo with low self esteem, she took her loss quietly and concentrated on the business at hand.