The Unpredictable
Page 17
“I’m sorry, Mr. Avito, there is no Mr. Vestwood here at the consulate, are you sure you have the right name?”
“Look, he sure was here until three months ago! Foreign Office, second floor, his office was at the end of the hallway to the right, he had a blue Range Rover. Do you want to know the license plate? I remember that too.”
“There is no need, Mr. Avito, I am mortified but there never was a Mr. Vestwood here. Now if you’ll forgive me, I must leave you.”
He went back home, his soul bulging with unspoken rage. Only time would help him overcome it.
****
- Milan –
Avito residence
Three months later…
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Sara?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“Good evening, my name is Chris Vestwood, I’d like to talk to Nino please…”
NOTE VII
Often, facts and events that we believe to be out of our reality turn out to be much closer than we’d expect.
Our daily routine often has a castrating effect on our ambitions and on the potential they hold, which would instead allow us to fulfill our life goals if only we let it develop freely. Our “Unexpected fate” is, in fact, the reflection of our ambitions.
Beyond the necessary steps that fate makes us take, is a strong component that depends on our free will. Hence the significance of our choices, of the ways we choose to take these steps. What I’m saying is that the values we believe in, the ideals that molt our souls, are what shape our ambitions and create our behaviors. The stronger they are, the more upstanding and genetically absorbed, the more solid our hopes of seeing them come true. If fate were to put us in the way of a Minotaur’s grasp, we will have to be steadfast, strong, ready. We better be prepared to face him as hunters than as preys. Because we may not be able to choose “whether” to face him, but we will choose “how”, and the more we are resolved and prepared to be hunters, the greater our chances of making it out safe and sound.
AUTHOR’S FINAL NOTE
“The Unpredictable” is a novel in which all names, characters, and incidents portrayed are fictitious and are a product of the author’s imagination. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, companies, corporations, events or places is intended or should be inferred. Swiss Exploration is a purely fictitious company, as are all references to international government authorities.
* * *
[1] hraimi - Typical dish in the Tripoli cuisine. Fish fillets in a spicy sauce.
[2] Bouncing Betty - A type of landmine.
[3] NOC acronym for - No Official Cover - used to indicate an agent operating under cover who has no ties with the government
[4] NSFS National Security Foreign Service
[5] CIIS Coordination International Intelligence Services
[6] Salah al-Din - Saladin sultan of Egypt, Syria and Hijaz from 1174 to 1193
[7] Basiji - paramilitary forces of “social mobilization”
[8] Koresh a typical Iranian dish made up of meat and fresh or dried fruit
[9] Dough: Typical yogurt-based drink
[10] VEVAK : Iranian internal secret services
[11] CQB acronym for “Close Quarter Battle”, it refers to a close-up fight in an urban guerrilla context.
[12] Who dares wins is the motto made popular by the British Air Service. Attributed to the founder of the SAS- Special Air Service, David Stirling.
[13] Yahtzee strategy game played using 5 dice.
[14] Ghom and Tabriz types of handmade Persian rugs, considered to be among the highest expressions of the whole modern Persian production.
[15] Shaykh is a term coming from Arabic that literally means “old man” but can be used for any person that is held in high consideration.