Lonely Shade of Blue

PROLOGUE

The sound of the clock ticking, echoed loudly in the room. It felt ominous, like a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode. Perhaps, it was.

Ariel looked around the room, perusing his surroundings with equal amounts resignation and determination. He was determined to get this done but he was resigned to the fact that it was difficult, if not impossible, to do so.

"You do know that this is like finding a needle in the haystack right?" Adrian Jimenez, his long time friend and colleague, said. There was a finality to his words, some sort of doom even, that Ariel found himself unable to hold back his scoff.

If only he was as confident about this as he wanted to appear.

Ariel rolled his eyes and determined that he can, at least, fake it till he makes it. "Nothing is impossible, Adi," he stated with a shrug of his shoulders. He was, of course, trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince Adrian. "I'm not saying it would be easy, pero, wala namang imposible. Especially in this day and age."

Adrian laughed, and though it should be nothing more than just casual ribbing between two friends, Ariel found himself, nevertheless, ticked by it. "You mark your own words, Ariel Morales," he said, shaking his head. "Remember, pride cometh before the fall."

.::.

Perhaps he had, as Ariel surmised rather belatedly, bitten off more than he could possibly chew. He'd been determined of course, but there were such things that even the most determined person could not accomplish. It might also not have been in his best interest to have planned to do this when he was trying very hard to redeem himself, but he had figured that it was, as such, go big or go home.

He knew Adrian was right, it was like finding a needle in the haystack, but he wanted this, needed this. He needed to do things right and make sure that he was able to restore his name to its former glory.

He knew that people had been talking behind his back, saying that he was past his prime and that he'd been doing more damage than good, but he's determined to change their minds. He was a producer who had a good run in his career, and he was not about to go down without a fight. If this was going to be his last, his way out, then he was leaving with aplomb worthy of his career that spanned decades. He may be in his 40s now, but that didn't mean he's lost his sight or that he couldn't be as good as he had always been. He just needed the right timing and the right material.

Which he has, of course, already found. It was a book that he wanted to develop into a screenplay. Looking at the statistics and the projections of the movies nowadays, he knew this to be a hit. The thing is, it's about fifteen years old and no one has seen the author of said material in as many years. No one knew where to find them either, and it was up to him to find a person who obviously did not want to be found and convince them to take a chance on his project. To add more burden on that, the author had used a pseudonym and no one knew their identity. The publishing house that published the book has closed down and it was taking too much time to track down the people involved in this entangled mess he had gotten himself into.

So everything seemed to be looking...grim, to say the least. Still, he believed he could do it. He has to.

No sweat, just blood, and perhaps a lot more tears.

He was deep in thought that the knock on the door startled him. Shaking his head, he sat straighter on his chair. "Come in," he said loudly, watching as the door of his office opened slowly. His assistant, Katherine, poked her head in and looked at him questioningly. He lifted his hand and beckoned her in.