Chapter 3

He drove very fast, over 140 meters per hour, in the dark night. It was a long way, through many intersections and past many buildings. Unlike last time, he didn’t ask me any questions. About ten minutes later, the car stopped in a quiet neighborhood. Where we arrived was a rich area with lots of nice mansions.
“My house is here, but I don’t often come. Few people know about this place. You are safe here,” he said. “Let me help you into the house.” He took me into the house and let me sit on a sofa. “Don’t worry. My personal doctor is on the way, he will be here soon,” he said.
I nodded but said nothing. I didn’t want to talk, because I was in pain and tired. However, he always had too many things to say and ask.
“I guess you want to know why I was there.” He sat on the next sofa and started to talk. “I saw you, and a drunk who was with you in J bar. I wanted to say hi to you, but I was afraid that would bother you. When I went out of the bar, I saw you go into the back street. Your actions looked a little different. I was worried, so I went after you. I was surprised what I saw. You sat on the ground with full of blood on your shirt and hands. Would you mind telling me what happened?”
“Curiosity will kill the cat,” I replied.
“I see, I will not ask again,” he said.
A minute later, there was a knock on the door. It was his doctor. The doctor came over to me and said, “Nice to meet you, sir. I will check your wound. May I take off your shirt?”
Rex helped me to take off my shirt, and the doctor checked my wound. He cleaned it first, and then put some medicine on and bandaged it. All his actions were careful and expert.
“I have already done. Your wound is not deep, you don’t need to worry. I think you will be better in a week. Be sure not to put your wound into water, or that will be too bad. And you lost a lot of blood, so you’d better rest this week,” he said softly and gave me a warm smile.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome,” he said. “Rex, if there is nothing more, I will go back.”
“I am so sorry to call you to come at this late time, and thank you,” Rex said.
“That’s ok, I don’t mind. Take care of your friend. I’ll go.” Then the doctor left.
It was quiet in the living-room after the doctor left. We looked at each other but said nothing. It was like the last time in Ivan’s villa.
“Why did you save me?” I broke the stillness.
“How could I leave you alone in the back street? You get hurt, you should go to see a doctor,” he replied.
“I won’t bother you for long. Let me take a little break and I’ll go.”
“You can sleep here tonight if you want,” he said kindly.
I was thankful for his kindness, but I didn’t say a word. It was silent again.
“By the way, I think you know, but my name is Rex Thomas. You can call me Rex. But you still haven’t told me what your name is.”
“Lawrence Dominic,” I said.
“May I call you Lawrence?” he asked.
“It’s up to you.”
“My father told me about Ivan – who gave the order to kidnap me. Do you work for him?” he asked.
“If I haven’t done, how could I get into his villa and help you run away?”
“I think you are a good person. Why do you work for such a bad guy?” he asked.
“You don’t understand Ivan, so you can’t say this,” I replied in slightly angry voice.
“Maybe I don’t understand him, but he had me kidnapped to try to get the stocks. That is a fact. I can’t believe a good man would do what he did.”
“I don’t want to argue with you,” I said.
“Why don’t you come to work for my dad? He will pay you well, because you saved me.”
I didn’t say a word. In fact, I didn’t know what I could say to him. He wanted me to work for his father. How interesting this boy was!
“Ok. It’s just a suggestion. You don’t have to listen to me. You have a choice,” he said.
I still said nothing. The room fell still again. Three minutes later, he started to talk again.
“Everyone is aware that I am Mr. Thomas’s adopted son. But it doesn’t affect our relationship. Both my adoptive parents love me very much. This was why a lot of bad guys have kidnapped me. They were all sure my dad would give them a lot of money in exchange. However, the police would come to save me every time. And the bad guys would be arrested before they got the money from my dad. Things were always going on like that. This is why I could be calm when I was kidnapped.” He looked a little sad when he said it. “But last time was different. I didn’t have to wait for the police coming. You set me free. I am really thankful for it. I would like to say thank you.”
I was sorry to hear his story. It was difficult to live in a rich family, such as the Thomas family.
He stopped a while, and said, “I don’t have a real friend. Everybody plays with me because of my dad’s money. I always think if I am not adopted by Thomas family, or I can stay with my birth family, maybe I would be happier than now. However, I have no choice, and I don’t remember anything about my birth family. My adoptive parents never told me. This is my story. Would you like to tell me yours?”
My story was long and complicated. My parents had died in a car accident twenty years before. I had a young brother, but we have missed since my parents died. However, I never gave up looking for him. I have lived in a life since I have been alone…until three years ago, when I met Ivan. I didn’t tell anybody about my story, even Ivan. So, I wouldn’t tell those things to Rex.
“If you don’t want to say, I will not push you,” he said, “But, may I ask you one more question?”
“If it is not about my work, I will answer you,” I replied.
He looked at me with hopeful eyes. “Could we be friends?” he asked.
I thought it was a funny question. Could a rich boy, who would become a CEO some day, and a mafia member, who might be put into prison or die at any time, be friends? No, I didn’t think so.
“Do you think we can be friends? How? Don’t forget our backgrounds.”
“But I want to be friends with you,” he said.
“If you have already finished what you want to say, please be quiet, or I will go,” I said and I closed my eyes. Things would be complicated if I continued that conversion, I thought. It was comfortable to lay on the sofa. I want to reｓｔ, and soon I fell asleep.
The next morning, I got up early. There was a blanket on me. Rex must have put it on me, I thought. I felt warm with it the night before. Rex was still asleep on the sofa. I put the blanket on him and went to find a piece of paper. I wrote down “thank you” on the paper and put it into his hand, then turned to go. I walked to the door softly. Before I closed the door I looked at him warmly for a while. “I hope we will not meet again, it’s better for us,” I thought.


— TBC