"The beginning of the end is the beginning; the beginning of the beginning is the end. Ultimately, we'll never know if this is the end or the start of our journey. It's all so confusing. Sometimes, when everything seems to be ending, that's when we find the start of something new—maybe good news, maybe not…"
...
In one of the city's tallest office buildings, the Diamond Tower, Valiant slung his bag over his shoulder as he left his cubicle. Ilyana approached, carrying a hot cup of coffee.
The young woman smiled at the intern.
"Leaving already? Do you not waiting for Mr. Jason?"
Val smiled. He was so tall that the little girl Ilyana had to look up.
Valiant Arcady is a twenty years old young handsome man, flawless smooth face, blue jaded eyes and sweet lips. Long legs, slim body with tall over six feet, a broad, athletic chest—the perfect image of a woman's ideal.
"Boss canceled. He has a meeting with the director this afternoon."
Ilyana looked at their young general manager's office. Jason Garber was sitting with Ria, his secretary, and they seemed to be discussing something important.
Jason looked up as Val walked past his doorway. Ria followed her boss's gaze.
"What is it, sir?"
Jason smiled. He shook his head.
"Nothing. It just Val… he is so enthusiastic. Not even complain when we asked him to go to downtown by himself."
Ria smiled.
"That's just him, sir. Full of energy. But, aren't you going with him?"
Jason sighed, leaning back in his large chair—the General Manager's chair.
"You know I can't, we have another meeting this afternoon with the grumpy old man. And also, let him go alone. Val's been here for over two months now. I think it's not a problem anymore."
Ria nodded. This was so interesting to think about it, how his boss really pay attention on the young man, ever since Val started his internship. Jason had been particularly interested in him, diligently observing the twenty-year-old college student's performance. Besides being smart and efficient, Val was handsome and tall, highly dedicated, making it easy to get respondents to agree to interviews; they tended to be more comfortable with Val conducting the interviews.
Ria herself noticed a striking resemblance between her boss and Valiant Arcady; their physiques from behind were almost identical. If she didn't know her boss was the only grandchild of Mr. Garber, the CEO, she might have thought Val was his younger brother, considering the eight-year age gap between Jason and Val.
"What's on your mind?" Jason asked, interrupting Ria's thoughts. Ria smiled.
"Hehehe, nothing, sir. Shall we continue?"
Jason furrowed his brow. Ria seemed to be lost in thought, smiling to herself. But he didn't care; all the girls in his family's snack food company, in one of the divisions of his large company, seemed a bit strange to him.
A gentle breeze blew.
Although the midday sun was scorching hot and showed no sign of rain, the heat made the city's asphalt shimmer, almost as if it were steaming.
Not far from the skyscrapers and bustling city streets, on a less busy connecting road, Val struggled to lift a box of fruit from the floor to a display case. His respondent was an elderly fruit shop owner.
"Goodness, grandpa, don't lift it yourself! You have employees, why not ask them?"
"They're on break. Besides, this old man's still strong."
Valiant looked the slightly stooped old man over from head to toe.
"What's still strong if your waist goes, whoa, that's serious. Old men, if their waist gets twisted, it's hard to recover, you'll end up hunched over,"
The old man raising his hand to playfully whack Val's head, who dodged quickly.
"Hey, this kid's cursing me!"
Val laughed at the old man's glare.
"Haha, it's the truth, grandpa!"
"You naughty child!"