Chapter Twelve

As Terrence turned the corner from IFC into the overhead that led to Worldwide Centre, a middle-aged man with a green tie and parted hair brushed by his side. Terrence remembered that he wore a red tie yesterday, but had little recollection of the history of his dress code beyond that.

Then at the bridge several metres past Exchange Square heading towards Prince's Building there was the small Asian woman with red-rimmed glasses who's looks probably deceived her age. The European man with short curly hair and Armani glasses passed by near Chater House; the tall hawkish lady who fitted white trainers with her business attire at the HSBC Building...

It was a 10 minute walk from Terrence's bus terminal to his work place, and having sported this routine for over 3 months now, he found that it wasn't only the walkways that he became more familiar with, but also the faces of the people who wandered in a brownian-like motion across the Central district at 8:45am every morning. The precision of the timing was impeccable, and Terrence could almost predict the exact moments at which he would cross paths with the corresponding individuals each day.

There was a sense of bonding too, amongst this select crowd of white collared workers. There were no exchanges of names nor titles, greetings nor glances, but a subtle acknowledgement of each other's existence sufficed to demostrate a mutual understanding of their respective destinations and purposes. The middle-aged man would proceed to open a store in Worldwide Centre, the small Asian woman would continue in an opposite direction to Terrence towards IFC, the European man would take the elevator up to the office complexes at Chater House and the tall lady would disappear behind the front doors of the HSBC headquarters.

The anonymity was comforting, and it gave Terrence a chance to feel welcomed into the environment without having to reveal any secrets about his identity beyond that of a surface outlook.

But today, as he went down the escalators into the Standard Chartered building, he noticed that the other side of the escalator was empty. The American woman with short blond hair and large brown eyes wasn't there.