Hilary followed the man's instructions and arrived at a busy intersection. Here too there were tall buildings on either side of the street. But her eyes were drawn to the tallest one among them, a huge structure of steel and glass towering over the others. On the very top 'ENERGEN' was embossed in large gold lettering.
Mustering up courage, Hilary walked up to the entrance. A security guard eyed her up and down but made no move to stop her as she walked through the revolving glass doors. The beautiful lobby with it's marble flooring and warm honey colored wood paneling took her breath away. Cosy cream coloured furniture was arranged neatly in one corner for guests to relax and at the far corner of the lobby, high speed glass elevators whisked people up to the top floors. Hilary made her way to the large reception desk that was also embossed with the company name. A gorgeous young women with elegant coiffed hair and immaculate burgundy suit was seated at the desk.
Hilary felt embarrassed to walk up to her as she had worn a very casual shirt paired with an old pair of jeans. She looked completely out of place like a lost tourist, compared to the other smartly dressed people in the building. The young women smiled as Hilary cleared her throat nervously.
'Hello', she said putting on her warmest smile. 'My name is Hilary', she said slowly, pointing to herself. 'I come from Japan on very important business'.
She was getting weird looks from people walking by. But she was determined to extract any information from this woman even at the expense of coming across as an idiot.
'How can I help you Ms. Hilary?'
The woman answered back in perfect English.
Hilary blinked back for a few seconds but quickly composed herself. 'Hi...umm sorry about that. I was hoping you could help me locate a company by the name of Hiwatari Enterprise. I was told that previously it used to operate from this location but that they ceased operations and moved out'.
The woman studied her carefully before leaning forward.
"Hiwatari Enterprise didn't exactly go anywhere. ENERGEN is a division of our parent company HKC or Hiwatari Kai Corporation. Hiwatari Enterprise was rebranded to HKC under our new CEO Mr Hiwatari Kai".
Hilary stood gaping up at the woman. She had not only found the elusive Kai but literally just walked into the company owned by him.
She felt giddy with excitement as she requested the woman to give Kai a quick call and let him know that his former team mate/ friend was waiting downstairs for him.
The lady however looked aghast at the suggestion. "I'm really sorry Miss, but Mr Hiwatari is a very private person and does not meet with anyone without due appointments. He is extremely particular about that'.
Hilary waved away her concern. 'I am his childhood friend. Trust me, he would be ecstatic to see me".
The woman looked at her suspiciously. "Might I suggest you book an appointment first". She consulted her laptop for a moment. "He has an available slot next year in March".
Hilary grimaced. "Or, I could wait here and catch him as he leaves, she suggested.
The woman looked positively alarmed. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. Mr. Hiwatari is extremely busy and is always in and out of meetings. If this is a personal call, I suggest you reach out to him personally and arrange a time and place".
The smile vanished from Hilary's face. This woman was no push over. She would have to find some other way to gain access to Kai. She thanked the woman stiffly and made her way out of the building. That's when inspiration struck here. They couldn't stop her from waiting outside the building and catching Kai as he left for the day.
She glanced at her wrist watch. It was 4 PM now. Kai ought to leave the premises by 6 PM at the least which meant she had another 2 hours to kill. She crossed the street over to a cafe and plopped down on a chair. From her seat, she had a good view of the office building and its main entrance. She ordered a cappuccino and a slice of Russian honey cake and settled down for the long wait.