Even then Richard was unsatisfied. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously when An Ning introduced Matt to him, glaring at her like she was at fault or something. Having no experience at all of the darker side of jealousy especially when its venom was directed at her, An Ning was uncomfortably puzzled.

It was Matt who caught on to Richard's gathering frown and put himself in the firing line with a grimace. He made sure to mention An Ma's name, explaining to Richard that the elder man had been worried for him, hence the invitation to recuperate in his house for a few weeks. Richard's knitted brows eased a little especially when he stared at the bandages wrapped around half of Matt's face. The boy looked pale and haggard. He was obviously still in pain but he met Richard's unfriendly stare placidly and with a composed smile.

An Ning snarled at him to sit down because he's depressing her mood.

"You look like a mummy," she grouched.

"And you're in a bad mood," Matt did as she asked, his eyes looking around the room. "This place looks like a CGI's wet dream. Wow."

"Thanks."

"Didn't you used to be a gamer yourself?"

An Ning was startled.

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you're the type of person who would go on a bungee jump naked just to get a tan."

"You make me sound like a nut," An Ning laughed uproariously.

"Don't you know how cool you are, lady?" Matt asked, surprised. "You incinerated that creature single-handedly and without even breaking a sweat. I think I would have been dead if it weren't for you."

"I dislike people trying to kill me," An Ning said, shrugging off the compliment. "p.i.s.ses me off. And it wasn't courage or bravery. I was scared stiff but I also didn't want to die."

She stopped and considered Matt with a frown.

"You're going to be okay. The surgery went well and the doctor said you'll be good as new after he takes the bandages off. So, what are you going to do after that?"

"Worried about me?" Matt teased. "I'll be fine. I'm good at my job so I'll be going back to it, I suppose."

"Why don't you work for me?"

The question hang in the air. Matt's eyes lit up like stars. Then the joy in them dimmed as hopelessness replaced hope.

"That's not possible," Matt said after a moment with a strained smile. "I'm very grateful but I think that's out of the question."

An Ning leaned back in her chair and studied him in silence. She then reached down and pulled a drawer open. She took out a square object and threw it unexpectedly at Matt, who didn't blink as he caught it in one hand. He looked at it and at her and waited.

"You have two minutes," An Ning said.

Matt held the Rubik's cube in his hand then his fingers moved. The puzzle rotated and flipped; the cubes changed colors; the combinations a.s.sembled and disa.s.sembled. A minute pa.s.sed. The seconds ticked by.

Matt placed the completed cube on the table and looked at An Ning.

"You beat your previous record by 19 seconds," she commented.

Surprise gleamed in Matt's eyes.

"You had me investigated?"

"Of course," An Ning smiled.

"So you know about my background?"

"Yes."

"Why hire me then?"

"Because I need a hacker," she said simply.

Matt sat on the edge of the table and bounced the Rubik on his hand.

"They told me not to use any computer ever. In fact, the agreement was don't go near any computer."

"You didn't read the fine print. It said don't go near any computer unless supervised."

"What exactly does that mean?" Matt was bewildered.

"Exactly what it means. You just need someone to supervise you that's all. Then you can hack to your heart's content."

Matt stared blankly at her.

"Security, Matt. Hardware security," An Ning said. "Game design is highly compet.i.tive and everyone is looking out for the next Warcraft. We're not into that yet but we're going there when the company expands. As I said, compet.i.tion is a b.i.t.c.h and everyone wants to be first in line. You can imagine the rest."

"And you trust me to help you?"

"You built your own computer when you were thirteen and firewalled it so tight it took the authorities 10 years to catch up with you. And they did that only because your own mom ratted you out."

The Rubik flew up and down. Up and down.

"She was worried about me," Matt said after a while. "She didn't want her only son to end up in jail for the rest of his life so she made a deal with them. In hindsight, she probably saved my life."

"You regretted it?" she asked curiously.

The Rubik flew up and then returned to the table.

"A bit," he admitted. "But..."

"You miss it."

Matt nodded, smiling crookedly.

"The best ride ever. It made me feel invincible."

An Ning nodded as if she understood exactly what he meant.

"I talked it over with dad and he and I will sponsor you. My father is not exactly an ordinary man as you know. He knows a lot of people and he's got clout. Let's see how it works out but I don't see any difficulty in it at all."

Matt stood there like he had been turned to stone. The good eye that wasn't covered by the bandages glistened with unshed tears. He swallowed hard and tried to speak but he was too choked up and just stared at An Ning like she was an apparition that appeared in the middle of a sandstorm.

*****

Richard called to say that he would be late coming home. He was held up in his brother's office because Alex was having a meltdown about something or other. He and An Aning had a good laugh over it because it sounded like Alex was finally coming to terms with the fact that his wife of three years was not as sweet-natured and gentle as he first thought.

After three years, Nuo Nuo has had enough of late dinners and late nights so she threatened her workaholic husband with divorce unless he stayed home more often and did his husbandly duty to finally get her pregnant. After that, he can do whatever he d.a.m.n pleases for all she cares.

An Ning was still chuckling when she put the phone down. She decided to go home and looked for Matt. She found him hanging around one of the interns, looking over his shoulder as he showed him something on the computer monitor. An Ning decided not to bother him and went outside to Moira's. She would call him later and tell him where she was.

An altercation of sorts had already started when she got to Moira's. A man was ha.s.sling a girl who was cringing in her seat trying to get away from him. Moira looked tense and scared as she glanced over the couple. And a man, the most beautiful man An Ning had ever seen, stood behind the counter, looking confused and befuddled as if he was deciding whether to rescue the girl or not.

The girl shrieked when the man put his hand under her dress. The girl threw An Ning a desperate glance, her eyes swimming with tears.

An Ning walked over to the couple and without a word, bashed the man's head with her bag. The man yelped and turned to An Ning. When he saw who it was, his expression hardened menacingly. He stood up and lunged at An Ning who balled a fist and struck the man's temple hard with it.

The man staggered to the table howling with pain. An Ning's fist again flew and hit his exposed throat. The man choked and clutched at his neck, his face turning a ghastly purple. An Ning grabbed a handful of hair then dragged the man to the door. She put her boot to his rear and kicked him out into the street until he staggered and fell on his face. An Ning didn't even bother turning her head when she heard the loud crunch behind her.

The two people standing by the counter gawked at her with their mouths open. She ignored them and walked over to the crying girl. "You okay?"

The girl nodded miserably.

"Online boyfriend?"

The girl again nodded.

"Figures," An Ning muttered under her breath. "You got somewhere to go?"

"I want to go home," the girl said, sniffing.

An Ning pulled out her wallet and counted some cash.

"Here,"she said, putting the money in the girl's hand. "Get yourself a cab and go home."

The girl nodded again and turned to leave. A few steps away, she turned and said to An Ning: "Thanks."

"Any time."

The door closed behind the girl. An Ning turned to Moira.

"Wrap me one of those cakes, will you?"

"I haven't seen you in a while, An Ning," the beautiful man said, his beautiful lips split in a beautiful smile. "How have you been?"

An Ning turned cool eyes towards him.

"And you are?"

The man's smile faltered as he gaped at her shocked.

"An Ning, this is Du Lu," Moira said in a whisper. "That Du Lu."

An Ning smirked.

"Figures," she muttered.

"I was about to...ahrm...to...you just got to him first...ahem."

"You meeting Richard tonight?"

"That's the idea," Du Lu said, scratching the back of his neck like a tick had suddenly stuck to his skin and made him itch.

"Hmnn..."

The two women ignored him after that. But every once in a while, Moira would throw him a sympathetic glance. He would catch her eyes and she would smile at him, like she was giving a treat to a recalcitrant child who had just been told not to go out in the rain.

Du Lu cracked open a smile and was about to wiggle himself into their conversation when the gla.s.s door opened and Matt came in.

The two men stared at each other bristling with hostility. Matt sauntered in and ignored Du Lu, who narrowed his eyes at him and rudely asked: "What the f.u.c.k are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in jail?"