MOVIE >scene27> - A Dorm. A Delinquent. A Girl.

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Rihanna stood by the elevators near the steps. The office had called her and had said that a package was sent to her name. She had a feeling it held the letter that would finally admit her into the Business Elective.

Or not.

Either way, she had to get approved. She'd try her best if she needed to.

She looked over as the sounds of grunts came from her left side, and saw a short old man with a cane struggle to walk up the stairs.

What is a man this old doing around here? Shouldn't he be in a wheelchair?

He looked like he was having such a hard time, he almost toppled over a few times.

Rihanna quickly ditched the elevator and ran down the steps over to him.

"Oh, here, hold on to me." She said, trying to figure out a way for him to lean his weight on her.

"Thank you honey." He said as Rihanna slipped her arm around his back and under his other arm.

He took his time up the long stairway. Rihanna was patient and guided him slowly.

"What's your name?" The old man asked.

For a moment, it crossed Rihanna as funny that they were making conversation while they walked up the stairs. It felt like a long ride home and they were trying to pass time by chatting.

"Rihanna. Rihanna Gessner."

"Well, Rihanna, its very sweet of you to help me. I hope I didn't alter any appointments for you."

"Its no hassle." She smiled. "A good deed a day, keeps evil away."

The old man's faint slow laugh was the sweetest thing Rihanna had ever heard. She studied him. He was shorter in height. About eight inches shorter than Rihanna. His back was bent and he was barely able to put a foot up on the next step without his cane. His white hair looked messy and not brushed, with balding spots near each of his two temples. His eyes were blue and squinted slightly as if his eyesight was faulting. And as he looked up and smiled at Rihanna, she was suddenly touched by the way his lips were sucked into his mouth from being teeth-less.

All of him, his features, were very beautiful to her eyes.

That aside, something about him made her heart swallow itself in sadness. And it was more because of the gray around him than anything else.

"What do you do?" Rihanna asked, suddenly curious.

"Me? I'm retired honey. I don't have the energy for anything else. I have long ago gave up on that."

"Oh."

"My grandson is a student here. So I like to visit for something to do."

Rihanna smiled. "He must be very lucky to have someone as tough as you for a grandfather."

"Tough?"

"You fought time."

The old man laughed again, and his eyes twinkled.

"You're very smart."

Rihanna was surprised by what he said. "Why would you think that?"

His shoulders rose and fell. "Maybe it's because you have your priorities straight." He looked up at Rihanna. "There doesn't have to be a reason for everything, you know. Take it as an advice from this old man."

"Age is the essence of knowledge, gramps. Some people might die with brains so young, ones without a single wrinkle on them, those die unlucky."

He nodded his head. "Nothing more true had ever been said."

They reached the last step and he walked slowly on the floor's surface.

"Where would you like to go now?" Rihanna requested.

He stopped walking and pulled away from her. He rested the palms of his hands on the cane's top and looked up at Rihanna with his back still bent. "I'll wait by the elevators and call the Academy's staff to take me up by that. I've troubled you too much."

Rihanna smiled politely. "Well then, I'll excuse myself–"

"Actually." The old man quickly interrupted her with his raspy voice. "Can I ask you a question that'll probably assess my grandson with a bit of wisdom. Your answer will be for him more than it will be for me. You seem like an intelligent girl and your words have more width in them than my son can ever muster."

"I highly doubt it. But, of course, go ahead."

"In your opinion, what do you think businessmen are most afraid of?"

Rihanna stood very still, thinking about the question. She had never thought of it before, but now that it was asked, she wondered what true fear for them would be. Persons in the business world.

That was her field of interest.

In fact, it was one of the reasons why she enrolled into the Academy. Her brain worked like a mad machine when it came to business. At times, Vincent said that she had a gift most would put fortunes for.

So Rihanna thought of herself as a business owner. A CEO.

She thought about present situations of her as CEO.

And she thought of herself in future situations as CEO.

She did the math. She consulted her intellect. She looked at the old man and smiled.

"Age."

The old man scratched the top of his head, confused. "Do explain more."

"A CEO. Someone that does business. Someone who harvests loads of money from this business. Money that buys things that the common population can't have. New things that come out to impress the world with their innovative technology or their unimaginable use.

"Businessmen who become so attuned to that world would become so afraid that one day they will not exist anymore to experience it. That one day new technology and phenomenal tools would be made a year too late for them to see or experience. That the new generation, both poor and rich, would put sight on it, and they, who had priority to afford it, will never do so–will never even know of it. Which could only aggravate them, make them that much more fearful, for a future like that to ever come."

The man stared at the ground, listening to Rihanna silently.

"Of course, that is a flawed answer since it is based on opinion. But I do believe all businessmen, maybe even all humans, could share that fear."

The old man pointed a forefinger at Rihanna and flashed a toothless smile. "You did not disappoint me. Well then, off you go. Didn't you say you had mail to get?"

She nodded and politely said goodbye, leaving the old man by the elevator.

She was halfway to the office when she realized something.

I never mentioned to him that I had mail to get.

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