The Man With The Crossbody Pouch

Victoria was in trouble. She was crushing big time on a man who was rich and married. 

This was the worst combination a girl could hope for. 

At least if he were poor, he would be nicer. 

Now she had zero power and leverage in this equation. 

She didn’t know how it happened. He had hired her to write some articles and a few business proposals. Over the course of work and lots of conversations, their energies must have synthesized and formed an electrical blue cord.

Lee was the most powerful stock market operator in Jakarta.  

At first sight, it was hard to tell what the appeal was. 

He carried a provincial small town vibe, and better resembled a DVD peddler with his signature loose polo tee and crossbody pouch. 

He lugged the mandatory paunch of most middle aged men.

The sharp and fierce eyes were the only giveaway that this was no ordinary man.  

The Chinese always say that rich people had big fleshy noses. 

Although Lee was rich as Croesus, his nose remained puny and flat. 

His features as a whole, did not fit the requisite of what was considered good fortune for the Chinese. 

Even the eyebrows were sparse and unremarkable. 

God was in a hurry while creating Lee.

Nonetheless, what God overlooked in aesthetics, he more than made up for Lee in the brains department.  

Lee simply had natural talent when it came to the stock market. 

He pushed up stocks. He gave investors FOMO - the fear of missing out. 

Making lots of money from the market was so easy for Lee. 

Playing with people's psychology, even easier. 

Lee just knew how to get into people’s heads and make them part with their money. 

Publicly, Lee did not have a good reputation. Everyone knew he operated in the shadowy grays of ‘pumping and dumping’ stocks. 

When desperate men of power sought for his help, it was always done quietly and discreetly. 

Lee made money two ways. His bread and butter was pumping and dumping stocks. 

His other more lucrative business was money lending. 

Lee always preyed on men with big titles but were short on cash. 

They would strike a deal - heavily in Lee’s favor. Lee was single minded that way. It is just business, he always said. 

There was no doubt that money was Lee’s biggest currency. 

The chip on his shoulder was his blemished notoriety. 

This was the circumstance that led to Lee and Victoria meeting.

* * * * * * * * *

He thought Victoria was the most talented and adaptable journalist he had come across.  

Energy seemed to spring from her writing, and she could produce a credible story with two feeble scraps of information. 

He had seen her business articles in the local daily, and thought she was the best person to write a business proposal for a few of his companies that he was looking to groom. 

When they first met over coffee, he blustered in broken English.

Lee did not want to just be seen as an underground syndicate boss. 

He wanted respectability. What was the point of being rich and feared, but ultimately still illegitimate. 

Lee felt the best way to achieve validity was to own a proper business. Turn it around, create jobs, make donations and plant trees.

In the future, could Victoria help him with all the paperwork, press releases and subsequently on the publicity of his new companies?

“I don’t actually need new capital for my businesses, but I do want new investors to buy into the business model. Do you understand?” said Lee. 

“Yeah I think so,” said Victoria slowly. 

“You want me to write really good stuff about your companies. Make it sound decent with all that corporate governance shit right?” 

Ah, so she was speaking his lingo already. Lee was ecstatic. Surely she must be a gift from the Gods, he thought. 

He hurriedly pulled out a dainty box from his crossbody pouch and put it on the table. It was an Omega watch for her. Lee was so used to bribing people off, so this was only reflex. 

“Errr no need for that Mr Lee. You can pay me later when I am done with the work,” 

So this was the great stock market operator, Victoria thought. He looked so normal. There was nothing rich looking in his appearance. In fact, he looked rather unpolished and rural. 

Nonetheless she was excited at the prospects of being friends with someone from the underworld. 

Maybe he could help her with a few favors.  Victoria had a list of people she really disliked. Top of the list was her neighbor, Fattie, who had kicked her dog Brisket. Brisket had peed by Fattie’s garden patch. 

If Lee could send some of his underlings to give Fattie a good beating one of these days, this new found friendship would be worth it. 

So Victoria started on the business proposals and they soon became friends. She would go to his office a few times a week for information gathering and discussions with his accountant. 

Victoria understood him better. Despite the outward persona of being invincible, he felt second tier because he wasn’t a card carrying business figure who wore fat ties and pressed suits. 

It was perhaps to be expected that Lee would develop feelings for her. 

She was efficient and reliable. And she could read his mind. More importantly, she was not interested in him.

He would ask her to write a letter to a potential investor, in his typical unclear manner.

That obscure explanation would be over in under 20 seconds. He would hang up while she was still digesting what he was trying to say.

Thirty minutes later, and Victoria’s letter would be ready. The document would say everything Lee wanted to say but hadn’t known how to express lucidly. 

My my, she could be an extension of me, thought Lee. 

“You are mine,” he simply told her one day over the phone. His tone was matter of fact.

“Huhh?” sputtered Victoria. 

“Excuse me, hey aren’t you married?” Victoria stated dumbly, although the bigger revelation was that Lee was interested in her. 

“No need to be so serious. I was just joking with you anyway,” said Lee irritably. He was annoyed that she had not embraced the idea more enthusiastically. Why, she should be so grateful instead of asking silly questions.

Physically Victoria was certainly not Lee’s type. This was obvious from the women around him. The army of secretaries and personal assistants he hired were different books from the same edition - feminine and fair with straight Chinese hair. They were docile tottered on skinny candle legs. 

Victoria was tan and boisterous. She also had big un-Chinese hair and muscular legs from lots of running. 

Since that day though, he started referring to Victoria as his girlfriend. 

“I will ask my girlfriend,” he would say when anyone asked about her.

Victoria stopped correcting the label.

While she never liked being referred to as anyone’s ‘girlfriend’ as it sounded so very weak and diminished, she was secretly pleased. She warmed up to the idea of being his.

Sure he was married, Victoria knew. That was evident from the start. Anyway this was just the friends phase. Nothing was happening, so perhaps there was no need to think so far ahead. How gullible she was. 

Victoria started to look forward to his calls, whether it was for new assignments or summoning her to the office. While every conversation was about work, the underlying unspoken theme was soon love.  

A few short months later, and Victoria finally finished writing the last of Lee’s business proposals. She had done proposals on three of his companies. There was going to be nothing more to write for the time being. 

She submitted her work to his secretary, and for a full week, they did not speak. What excuse was there to call one another if there was no work? 

She experienced the first jolts of missing Lee. Victoria did not enjoy the feeling. This was the downside of love. Starting to depend on another person for happiness. 

Victoria told herself she would not call him no matter how much she hankered for him. She kept herself busy by looking for a new project to take on. 

Two slow weeks past, and Lee finally called. How delighted she was to see his name flashing on her caller ID.  

“Hi V, how are you?” 

Victoria was annoyed at how happy she was to hear from him. 

“Want to go out?” he asked. 

“Sure!” Victoria replied joyously. 

“How about Friday night?” he asked.  

“Can we make it Saturday or Sunday? I sort of already have something on Friday,” she said. 

“Sorry dear, but I won’t be around over the weekend. I’ll be taking the family to Japan. So of course I want to see my girlfriend first,” he said, thinking he was making her happy. 

Victoria felt as if someone had punched her directly on the solar plexus. 

So this was what it felt like to be the other women. 

Victoria felt no consolation that he wanted to see her. 

Although she was aware of it all along, now it really hit her that a three dimensional women in the form of Mrs Lee, really existed. 

This Mrs Lee had been around all the while she wrote the business proposals and allowed herself romantic fantasies about Lee. 

Victoria’s silence made Lee realise he had said the wrong. 

“Did I make you unhappy?” he asked tentatively 

“Oh no, not at all,” Victoria tried to recover by sounding normal and busy.

“I’ll let you know about Friday. Let me check my schedule and get back to you ok,” she chirruped. 

“Ok dear,” said Lee, now oblivious that she was upset. She could hear his other cell phone ringing just before he hung up. He was probably already busy with a new stock or deal.

His happy indifference stung. Here she was feeling so distressed, while he was gleeful and going about life all chipper. 

Imagine if this went on for another six months. The risks would be too high. 

Victoria knew she would be fully invested in Lee with no chance of escaping. Only misery and insecurity would accompany her. 

She would be majorly hung up on a guy who could never really be hers. 

Victoria picked up her phone, searched for his name. She erased Lee’s number. 

Sure it would hurt for awhile. 

However between love and happiness, Victoria would always choose her own happiness.