MY TREASURED DESIRE

Chapter FIFTEEN - General Raymond Chang's Care.

General Raymond Chang’s Care.

Lagos, Achaia, Asia.

I was shocked at the way I feel about Greta being hospitalised for what I did to win her heart. My Grandfather – the emperor - had told me that some dates are pivotal that they change the whole course of history. ‘Which date it would be,’ – he had said – ‘hangs in the winds of obscurity!’ I find it difficult to put my hands on the date I became such a lover-boy.

I went, four years ago, to the German-Achaia University, as the head of the undercover agents, to apprehend the then most notorious serial killer who masquerades as a student to destroy his victims… I nabbed that criminal before he could dehumanise Marty Chu’s lovely daughter. Marty Chu is one of Achaia’s foremost industrialists. Chu Celerina was one of Greta’s friends. The Group saw me in the open fight that subdued the serial killer forever… The Press later reported that the emperor’s grandson hid among undercover cops to save Marty Chu’s daughter. That was true. But the grandson in the news was Reynold, who had debunked the idea – without revealing who it was. He found it wrong to expose the identity of the head of his secret service personnel. I have him to bless and appreciate for all my escape from near-death shaves… and, continued cover from exposure. Less than 8 people knew the identity of Raymond C. Chang… Reynold is a perfect, VIP cover… Will anyone believe his rebuttals? On that day, Greta came nearer to me and gave me a peck on my left cheek, and I saw her for the first time... So close, that the soldier in me became a jelly! She was the most beautiful human being I ever met, after my green-eyed Mom… Greta’s words to me after the mild kiss were, “whether you remove your dark glasses or not, My Prince, I will be your wife sooner or later!” People had laughed, but I noted her words, even when I knew that she did not know who I was.

Another time in history was during a mass riot at one of the sites of the Merkel Construction Conglomerate. Greta had been captured by some men of the underworld for a ransom… The Secret Service crept into the crime scene, without anyone’s knowledge. We only appeared, not because of any tip-off, but for another investigation. The criminals who captured the daughter of the Merkel Corporation’s President were a crack team of daredevil Professionals. But they made a remarkable error: I was kidnapped from amongst the lowly masons on the same day, strapped with bombs, and pushed beside their main target, Miss Greta Merkel… They were erroneously assured that my cousin had travelled abroad without the notice of the press. So, they found my resemblance to Reynold as a key to fool the people, using me as bait… They dressed me up in an expensive suit and pushed me before the media, threatening that “We shall kill the next Emperor in line, if Merkel Construction refuses to pay the $ 20,000,000= ransom, or if the Government makes any smart move.” It took 2 hours, but I overpowered the criminals, with my team. I was able to get a darkened pair of eyeglasses before the lass could get a chance to see the eyes of her co-captive. She was saved… and she told me: “You again?!” I only smiled at her, telling her to be more careful next time.

There was truly a next time… She went for a gambling spree and, with a large chunk of money to the stake, she shocked herself as she won $50,000,000=… The cabals pursued her to take her life, but when the Secret Service surrounded the kingpins, I was able to rescue her and her winnings… I had warned her never to return to that casino… She had smiled again, saying: “Why do you stalk me everywhere? You will get your reward, you know?” I could not make any response, but to tell her to get away from troubled waters!

I knew that she was not really after me, but the one I look like… So, where did my own ‘love interest’ spring from?

***

At the King’s Ward, in A.R.S.H., Greta was revived on the same night when she slumped from the shock of seeing my cousin and I together. However, for some medical reasons, she was retained on admission for the next 6 days, and each day – she saw my face and refused to either acknowledge my presence or allow the nurses to let me be alone with her… Today is the 7th day, and I have been longing to be by her side. Then, I met a very ruddy little boy who hung his hand on a nurse’s arm – She should be his mother. The boy eased his hands from the Nurse and caught my hand. He pulled me to one side, made me to squat to his height level, and said: “Nice Uncle, no matter how fast a builder’s mason is – He can only lay one brick at a time. Don’t rush. Just keep the focus, and the lady will be all yours!” The little boy winked at me and ran back to the nurse.

I was dumbfounded as I stood up again, clutched my sixth bouquet of expensive flowers and went towards Greta… She had thrown the other five bouquets back at me. But I had always left the plants where she threw them until I left. She obviously did not wish to see my brother and me. But today, to my surprise, she welcomed me:

“I am sure that this is not Reynold. It’s 7.00 am on that watch, and the Crown Prince is on a Live Programme on National TV… This is the Green-eyed General,” she said with a smirk. So, I offered the bouquet and went down on one of my knees, looking at her eyes…

“This is the man you have always loved! Your True Crush, Raymond Chang.”

This time, she smiled. “The young General – son of the emperor’s second son. The gentleman I kissed when he saved Chu Celerina. The one who saved me at the Merkel Construction Site; the one who kept my winnings intact as he saved my life during the popular Achaia Casino shoot-out in Vegas District, New Beijing, Achaia,” she said with a bright countenance, raising her eyebrows at me…

I felt relieved a bit as I quickly used my opportunity, saying: “And I remember what you told me: ‘Why do you stalk me everywhere? You will get your reward, you know?’ I guess the reward is ripe… You had earlier informed me about ‘the reward’ in your old statement: ‘whether you remove your dark glasses or not, My Prince, I will be your wife sooner or later.’”

I watched Greta blush so clearly and cover her closed eyeballs with her white hands. I moved closer and gave her a soft kiss on her lips… She chuckled and slowly turned away with shyness. The little boy came again, dragged me to his level, and whispered into my ears… “Patience, Focus, and Belief are the keys to a relationship that brings abundance… soon, she’ll be all yours: You must clean her up and marry her.” He left me alone, moved a step backward, winked, and ran out of the room. I smiled as Greta was stunned…

“Who is that cute little fellow?”

“I hope we get the grace of having a charming son like him, you and I… He is the little angel I just met here at A.R.S.H.”

***

9: 15 am. Radar Hub, Achaia Special Secret Service, Achaia.

Achaia’s Special Secret Service radar zoomed in on the Conference Room of the Casino Cartel (popularly known as Achaia Casino Edifice) where 13 Men of the Underworld were seated. They were perusing the present valuable document for which they paid a whopping $500,000=. The meeting was highly monitored, and the discourse recorded and transcribed for the attention of the General – the crown prince. Only the General of the Intelligence Command can hear any discourse from the crown prince on the wires.

I listened to the Crown Prince Reynold Chang’s voice: “O Green Ray, Congratulations on your big stride in winning back your wife-to-be. This is the initial step towards getting your target… As you know, I will do all I can to support your relationship.”

With a smile, I nodded and waited for his command. He was reading the transcribed information from the Casino Cartel. “What is our next move on the Conference?”

“They bought the information about their foreign allies… Their reaction will determine our next move, as they stop spending the whole time venting their anger on the betrayal of their Partners…” I replied.

“It is not yet Uhuru, Green Ray. They will soon wonder why their permutation that their cover has been blown along with other enemies of Achaia proved to be false. They will want to know why the Royal Force Plans to crush their enemies were not part of the scoop they bought… We must work harder to see what their next acts would be…”

I nodded. “My Lord, O Blue Rey! Let us thank God that their ‘eye’ in our base has been diverted to another Service that does not benefit the Casino Cartel… But we shall soon get a stronger discovery about the Casino Cartel’s main ally in America. The blueprint is on the way… We shall stylishly use their spy within our organisation for this, so that he may give them the information… We need to use the Cartel to discredit their own ally and we strike the duo at one swipe!”

“How about the s*x video between Greta and I…”

“My link in the Casino Cartel is next in rank to the Big Boss… He is also an I.T. Genius. He has overwritten the video with a regular pornographic movie… All links to you remain in their own minds, since they watched that video immediately Greta submitted the original copy. That phone was destroyed after they had traced possible share points and clouds… So, they believe they have that scoop, intact and safe. They won’t even need that video until they must get something from the Government of the Empire of Achaia… But that is when their deal with their International Partners pulls through: I doubt that. They have a huge betrayal to overcome with those partners in crime… But if they ever have a need to see that video, we shall cross that river...”

“I am really sorry for having carnal knowledge of your woman… Please, forgive me, Green Ray,” My cousin lamented, finding it difficult to forgive himself.

I pitied him and shook my head. “You have never fallen for any girl so fast, My Lord… My Girl was too forward, too sexually savvy for you. She’s my type – not yours, Blue Rey… You never knew that I was having a crush on her. She was also thinking that it was you. I did not even allow her to see my eyeballs before the day I eventually made love to her. She was only dreaming about you – the only copy of me available on the Media Reports. She thought that she was dealing with the same man in her heart until she saw both of us, and you know what happened: So, relax! Don’t be too hard on yourself… I am the adventurous one here, Big Brother… And she has now realised all these! I will marry her because I have found out that I love her, and she had built a lot of dreams about you – making you her hero… The wound would be healed as fast as she could confirm that you never knew her and that you are in love with someone else!”

“I am waiting – with bated breath – to see what will happen on the day the three of us would meet again… Even if we play hide and seek for the moment, remember, our Wedding would be on the same day at the same venue, as the emperor had agreed with his sons!” We both laughed.

***

Greta’s Reminiscences…

Around the German-Achaia University, Achaia.

It was clearly 8 days after my discharge from the hospital. I was on a leisure drive through our alma mater to help me remember the past. I was emotionally troubled by the fact that the gentleman who loved me and saved my life many times was not the Crown Prince of Achaia… What will I do with a mere cousin at the corridor of power! My driver was always equal to the task.

Thoughts of my friends and school life consumed me for a while. I remembered my bosom friend, Chu Celerina – the exceptionally beautiful daughter of Marty Chu – who also has a disdainful hatred for the poor. She possessed a ‘bad-mouth,’ that insults anyone that is not wealthy - at will. We, her second-generation wealthy classmates at the German-Achaia University also get amused at the way she – along with some of us – treat all those who were less privileged. But Celerina made them to do dehumanising chores for so low a pittance – if the indigent students needed help to survive in School… and she laughs them to scorn. She often spoke degrading things about the girls and the boys, to keep them away from her friends… What is more, we belong to the group of the snobbish, spoilt friends who behave like her. We just despised the downtrodden! We treat the needy like filth!

Darlene Spiff was an African American who lost both her parents in Achaia at 20 when she got admission into the University. Her Uncles gave her little or no assistance.

Hence, she excels in doing menial chores for fellow students to make ends meet and pay her school fees. She was 22, and on her third year, reading Estate Management.

Chu Celerina had been using Ms. Darlene Spiff as a School maid for a long time. A year before Chu Celerina had an encounter with the Serial Killer and was saved by some Government Security Forces, Celerina entered the trap of Hooded Cult Boys who wanted to rape her on her way back from a Night Party off-campus. In fact, she had been beaten black and blue, her fashionable wallet emptied, and she was already stripped naked when – suddenly – Darlene appeared from nowhere… The girl challenged the Cult Boys to leave her or be beaten up, with or without their weapons. Darlene knew how bad Celerina was, but she would not leave a fellow female to be dehumanised by rascal hoodlums.

“Chu Celerina was an arrogant scoundrel of a young lady; all vengeance-seeking boys in the low class of the society have been looking for her… As for us, our parents are also wealthy, so, after raping her and we are caught, we are ready for a prolonged Court case…” The leader of the Cult Boys, wearing a cat mask, announced. “Ms. Spiff, we respect you a lot… Do not interfere. We only want to show her a lesson or two! So, go away…”

“Unfortunately, I will not leave without her. You have already beaten her so badly… Leave this place now, or you will regret it,” Darlene had threatened the Cult Boys. She had weighed them to see that she could handle these young people.

One of the boys, wearing a woven sweater hood reasoned: “Darlene is also so curvy and beautiful… Let’s rape her too… Since she is a fly that wills to enter the graveyard with the rotten dead body…” The Leader cut his advice short with three quick, thunderous, succeeding slaps.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

Another Gang member spoke up: “Darlene is a ferocious fighter and a black belt karateka… I don’t fear her, but I would never wish to fight against a good-natured girl like her for this bad girl’s sake… We shall get Celerina again!”

Before one could say ‘Chu Celerina’ the boys have gone…

Darlene picked up her benefactor, wore her dress on her, and took her back to the Hostel for first aid, and medical care… She appreciated Darlene for saving her from being raped. She was already bruised, weakened, and helpless: She could not have resisted.

At her good times, Celerina told me her account – the view that I was not part of - on this story of her brush with the cult boys!

But Chu Celerina spent 3 days out of School to recuperate, came back, and forgot what she experienced. She continued being snobbish and hateful, even towards Darlene Spiff.

Our friends decided to take her to a good eatery to celebrate her victory from the Cult Boys, so they drove two posh cars to the Hospitality Arcade, about two miles away from the University. Alan Rich and Jack Robinson took their Ferrari Cars, filled with lovely girls, to the very classy venue. I was one of the 4 girls. My request to take Darlene Spiff along was rebuffed by Chu Celerina – who gave the excuse that the party was for the Children of the rich, not orphans that she hired for Hostel Chores.

Unfortunately, after enjoying the party, we, eight students were waylaid by the hooded (as usual) Cult Boys … The four boys in the car were beaten to a state of helplessness… the girls were driven - in the Cult Boys’ armoured Hummer Jeep - to a dilapidated building within the quiet vicinity, to be raped…

I had pressed a code on my iPhone, to send a signal to ‘my crush’, with a picture showing the Ferraris and the background of the vicinity… A member of the Cult Boys suddenly swung himself towards me and snatched away my iPhone XS. Well, the boys collected all our 8 phones. The gang leader had already raped Chu Celerina, while we all shuddered and helplessly watched. He commanded that the other girls be tied down as the four boys were also tied down in the heavily guarded Hummer Bus… The Leader commanded that none of the girls should be spared from gang rape!

Suddenly, we experienced a very smooth and clinical entry of masked Ninja fighters. The masked Cult Boys swung into defensive action… This time, to free themselves and escape. But it was impossible. One of the Ninja Men dived to where I was tied, loosened the heavy twines as if they were cobwebs carried me through the opened windows, and landed silently on the ground floor. He kept me at the Owner’s Corner of a Bentley car that was parked there. I looked at the only co-occupant of the car. It was Reynold’s Driver… “Where is my husband-to-be?”

The driver moved the car with a screech before answering, “Besides you, Your Highness!”

I wanted to scream, but someone covered my mouth, “It is I, My Lass!” The Ninja Man beside me unveiled his face, and it was Reynold and his greenish eye pupils, smiling.

I relaxed with gladness and asked, “How did you get here?”

“Immediately I dropped you and locked your door, I moved through the other door… It took me a few seconds,” He smiled.

“Are you human?” I asked him, but no answer. “What about my friends?”

“All saved!” He shook his head sadly, before saying: “The Celebrant had already been raped before you called.”

“How could you get the iMessage when the guy had collected the phone before I could send it. And how did you get here so fast?” I wondered. But he gave me my iPhone.

“You sent the iMessage... Other phones were sent into the Ferraris, which took your friends back to your university… We moved as soon as we got your message. We already knew where you were.”

“Were you still stalking me, for FOUR YEARS? Aren’t you tired?”

“I love to see you, always in safety,” He had replied with a smile. And I playfully screamed:

“Bad Boy!”