Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Alex is A ‘Kept’ Man
As fate would have it, while walking past the Mumbai Tech park, Rishikesh noticed a small and modest looking security booth at the entrance of Mumbai Tech park.
"Eh? There’s a post here too?"
He got surprised that there is a booth here too.
Then as if destiny would have it, unknowingly he was drawn towards it, thinking that this last interview might be the perfect finishing touch that he was currently lacking in his coverage.
So deciding on it in his mind he approached the two guards at the post who are willing to give a interview.
One of the many Security guards stationed there said frankly about his job on the interview:
"This job is not easy at all.
You know, every day I have to check people coming in or people going out.
And we have to open-close the gates, patrol the grounds everyday. It’s tiring work."
One other security guard also added:
"Work is too hard on some days, especially on when we have firing inspections.
Those days we have to work overtime until late at night. If we don’t pass, the boss scolds us in front of everyone."
Now that was exactly the kind of content Rishikesh wanted for his coverage.
He turned to the camera with a dramatic sigh.
"Sigh..."
"It’s really not easy for them. Whoever said being a security guard is relaxing let me tell you friends, that’s completely false."
Just as he finished reporting which he deem as the finishing flavour, he suddenly noticed someone walking by on patrol.
Rishikesh glanced at him and froze mid speech.
A tall figure in a neat security guard uniform with a straight posture and strikingly handsome face appeared in his vision.
None other than Alex.
For a second, Rishikesh almost forgot to breathe at the sight of this young man, whose demeanour does not match with the uniform on his body at all.
After seeing him there was only one thought in his mind:
How can even a security guard look better than me?
A bitter thought clawed at his chest due to the envy. But almost instantly, it turned into something darker.
Fine. Looking at how handsome you are, you are going to be famous soon.
...Let’s see you crumble on camera after I brought your sufferings too.
Rishikesh forced a warm smile adjusted his expression a little, and walked over to Alex.
"Hi, Brother", he said, voice dripping with fake concern, "it must be very tough doing patrols, right? The sun is so blazing hot. I feel hot just by standing here.....how about you?"
But Alex did not even frowned a bit. He simply smiled faintly at him, his tone calm.
"Not really. I just drive around the Tech park, I enjoyed the scenery, admired the flowers a little by the roadside. It’s not tiring at all."
Rishikesh frowned slightly. This wasn’t the kind of response that fit his narrative.
His voice is too relaxed and too carefree for someone who was lying.
But he didn’t backdown even a bit, He pressed harder.
"Really? Do you really never had any difficulties, while on duty?
Have you never been subject to any type of unfair treatment?
Most guards say they’ve had their pay deducted even for small mistakes, and they have also been scolded for no reason.
Didn’t it happen to you?"
Unexpectedly, Alex shook his head again, still smiling.
"Money does not matter that much to me. What’s important is being happy."
Alex’s faint smile which never left his face made the grin on Rishikesh’s face slowly vanish.
No way...
Did this guy really have no problems as a security guard? Wasn’t it supposed to be exhausting, humiliating, and bitter to point of unable to bear it anymore?
Rishikesh clenched the mic tighter in hand.
I came here to hear about your hardships, your struggles... not to listen to how optimistic you are about life.
Damn it! From the way you’re talking, even I feel like being a security guard isn’t so bad!
No, he couldn’t let this go on anymore.
As a so-called "Award winning reporter," He couldn’t afford to have the interview collapse like this.
He had to make Alex admit to suffering.
So, forcing himself to stay composed, Rishikesh adjusted his tone and fired a sharper question at him:
"I’ve heard the salary of security guards in Mumbai is very low. You mean to say you’re not at all worried about deductions from the higher ups?
Suppose your pay is cut—how can you even afford rent?"
This time, his question was designed to strike at reality. Almost all guards in the city rented cramped flats in crowded neighborhoods.
It was the perfect start to show his miserable life.
But the next moment, Alex’s calm reply made Rishikesh eyes widen in disbelief again.
"Rent? Why should I rent a flat? I already own my house. Actually... Even you won’t believe me but I live in a villa. And besides that, I have several other apartments that I have rented out recently."
For a moment, the entire crew froze at his statement of owning a Villa.
"Pfft!"
Rishikesh, who had just taken a sip of water, spat it all out in shock at the poor photographer standing beside him.
The photographer wiped his lens in silence while thinking.
A security guard... with a villa? Multiple apartments? Is this guy serious?
Rishikesh brain began spinning at full throttle mode.
Was this guard secretly messing with me? Or was he hiding something shady?Otherwise how can he have so much?
He suddenly seemed to recall a rumor that he had once heard from his colleague that some unusually handsome men got "kept" by wealthy women for providing them with some ’special services’.
Could this be one of those cases?
So having a handsome face is actually this profitable?
Trying to mask his unease, Rishikesh presses on:
"Is this really true? Brother, please answer honestly. We’re still conducting an interview.
Cooperate with us, okay?"
But Alex only waved casually.
"I didn’t lie. Everything I said is obsolutely true."
"Didn’t you say you live in a villa?" Rishikesh’s wavered. "Where exactly is this villa of yours?"
"Lotus Crown Villa," Alex answered calmly. "My place isn’t that huge just over two thousand square meters, including the front hall and back garden."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold-plated access card, handing it over. On it was the name of the luxury complex that he was currently living in.
The second Rishikesh read the words, his hands trembled around the microphone. Even the photographers exchanged stunned glances, eyes opened wide.
Lotus crown Villa, one of the most expensive villa in all of Mumbai. Each property around that was valued at hundreds of thousands dollars.
"Oh my god..."
Rishikesh’s thoughts raced wildly. He had been working over twenty years, scraping and saving which is barely able to put together the down payment for a modest flat in the suburbs currently.
Even now, he still is living in a rented building. He didn’t own a place he could truly call his own.
And here was a man in a security uniform, a profession to which society heavily looked down upon, living in a multi-million dollar villa in Mumbai.
The comparison hit him like a slap in the face, unable to believe his ears.
Rishikesh has only one question left in his mind:
Who’s really at the bottom of society? Him... or me?