"Fang."
The owner of the name looked up from his laptop when he heard someone calling. Solar stormed into the office with quick steps and without turning around.
"Please give me all the references of wall paint materials you know. I'll wait until tomorrow morning at the latest."
Fang was stunned. No good morning greetings, no preamble after Solar had been missing from the office for a week. Regrettably, Nut and Ying, his fellow engineers at the bureau, are not around, as they are out in the field running their respective projects.
"I have a research article deadline tonight!" protested Fang. "For my studies!"
"Who told you to work here, if you want to continue your studies?" Solar replied flatly as he started up his laptop, to a long sigh from the civil engineer's mouth.
"Engineering manager, supposedly!" grumbled Fang as he frowned at his laptop screen, closed his paper, and searched for a document on building materials specifically on wall paint.
"As the engineering manager, I request that you prepare the references I need while I finalize the design drawings and selection of other building materials."
Fang had the urge to throw something at Solar's head, but there was nothing in the room heavy enough to throw. How could you throw a laptop? In the end, Fang could only grumble,
"Yes, but not like this all of a sudden!"
"If you want to protest, go protest with the project manager," Solar said indifferently. "Tomorrow, I have a presentation in front of your brother."
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Disclaimer: BoBoiBoy © Monsta
A Luta Continua (Latin: the struggle continues) © Roux Marlet
The author gained no material profit from this work of fiction.
Alternate Universe, No Pairing, Grown-up Characters.
Genre: Friendship, Family, Angst.
Rated M (Mature) for the ADDICTIONS theme (to be explained later).
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Important side notes: Tok Aba and Amato here are not father and son.
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Solar could have asked Fang for references last week, but he did not. He felt that he needed to explore his ideas first by drawing preliminary sketches of the building design, and then he would be sure of what he needed for the building materials. In this case, Solar admitted that he didn't know much about wall paints because so far, the construction project had only been upright buildings. What architect would want to deal with the type of wall paint?
With Thorn on the team, Solar was forced to move outside his comfort zone of certainty. He would have looked up the references himself, but he only had a week and tomorrow Kaizo had asked him to submit preliminary sketches. Solar has always lacked faith in the abilities of others and is therefore reluctant to delegate tasks, feeling that he can handle everything himself.
And when Solar can't, his easiest victim is always Fang. Fang's light-heartedness and willingness to help him, become his backup, even if it's accompanied by a lot of complaining and grumbling that can be smothered with a big packet of carrot doughnuts.
"Here is the preliminary sketch of the front of the building." Solar opened his presentation the next day. Amato, Kaizo, Thorn, and Quake were in the room, watching the images from the projector connected to Solar's laptop.
"Wah!" Thorn chirped in amazement and Quake hurriedly whispered something to him. Solar continued with his presentation. The initial designs were always just rough two-dimensional sketches, but Solar had tidied up most of them by using AutoCAD software. Kaizo leaned with interest on the projector screen and nodded occasionally. Amato remained silent throughout the presentation, occasionally typing on his phone, the rest of the time looking at his son's work without expression.
"With all these designs and construction plans ready in a week," Solar said, trying not to sound arrogant, not forgetting Fang's help on the last day, "I think we can do the site survey in the next week, which is the end of March; get the permits in April; do the construction design and technical meeting in May; prepare the tender in June; and start construction in July."
The earliest stage of constructing a building, the design, which usually took 6-10 weeks, had been completed in one week by Solar with the caveat that it would be considered complete if Kaizo didn't ask for any revisions. Judging from the man's enthusiasm, it seemed he was quite satisfied with Solar's two-dimensional design drawings.
"I want to see the three-dimensional model first," Kaizo said finally. "But, overall, I like your design."
Solar can imagine his head inflating.
"It turns out you're also the architect, not just the engineering manager. That's amazing, Solar."
Further praise from Kaizo made Solar smile. "Thank you."
"Now, I want to know the design from Thorn." Kaizo turned his body toward the artist.
"My turn!" Thorn jumped up from his seat while holding up a picture book, then moved to sit next to Kaizo. Amato shifted his seat closer to Kaizo's other side.
Solar set up his laptop and projector, surprised that he wasn't the only one who had to present, and thinking that Thorn would be presenting on the device. He momentarily forgot the fact that Thorn was out of date. Solar met Quake's gaze sitting in the corner of the room, who seemed to have been watching him for quite some time. The architect looked away, feeling his face heat up when he remembered the embarrassing incident in the restroom last week.
"Wow, your drawing is great, Thorn!"
"Look at the details, it's really neat."
Solar's head snapped up quickly at Kaizo's praise of the artist, but more so because Amato did too. Amato, on the other hand, hadn't made a sound when Solar had made the presentation. Ukh, why the sudden pain in his chest? Solar moved closer and looked at the picture book, while from the corner of his eye, he also noticed Quake getting up and coming closer.
What Solar saw was truly astonishing. It was a sketch of a lily, with beautiful petals blooming and lines on the leaves and slender stalk. Solar knew the term realist drawing; that seemed to be Thorn's drawing style. The black-and-white drawing of the lily looked so lifelike that it could pass for three-dimensional if Thorn tried to color it in.
"Amazing...," Solar said absentmindedly, purely in awe of such a beautiful piece of work.
Thorn looked up and smiled widely. "This is what I'm going to draw on the outside wall of the building!"
Solar recalled that Kaizo had requested a drawing of lilies specifically for the outer wall. "You can make it six hundred meters high?!"
Thorn's smile eased somewhat. "Umm, it's never been that high, anyway. But, I'm sure I can do it!"
"That's right. Thorn can do it!" said Quake, who had just spoken up.
"You drew that with a 6B pencil?" asked Solar as he scrutinized Thorn's drawing.
"No, it's not. These are all with HB pencils."
This time Solar was truly dumbfounded. "Is that possible?" With all that thick, neat shading, how could Thorn have only used an HB pencil? The kind of hard & black pencil that's made from a balance of graphite and other fillers? Lines that thick and neat should only be possible with pencils that have much more graphite in the B group, 2B to 9B. To Solar's trained eye, Thorn should have used at least a 6B pencil to produce that sketch.
"Yes, you have to be patient for this part," Thorn said as he pointed to the part with the most shading. "Solar knows a lot about pencils too!"
"Yeah, I used to draw with pencils too, you know," Solar replied.
"Wow, that's fun!" cheered Thorn. "If I knew it sooner, we should do it together, Solar!"
Solar shook his head. "I don't draw with pencils anymore. You saw it yourself earlier. I draw with digital technology."
"Oh, why is that?"
It was a simple question, but it stabbed Solar in the heart. He was left speechless by the innocent and natural question.
Quake said, "Nowadays, any painting can be done with a computer, Thorn."
"Wow, how sophisticated! Hihihi!" Thorn clapped his hands and Kaizo looked amused.
Quake continued while pointing, "Look at your other picture..."
And just like that, the topic switched completely back to Thorn's work in the drawing book. Solar said a quick goodbye and didn't focus too much on who else said goodbye back. Did Amato reply as well?
Kaizo asked for a three-dimensional model, so Solar would work on it immediately. He was confident he could get it done in three days. Three days, Solar didn't think that would be too much of a deviation from the schedule he had planned.
However, the whole conversation after his presentation was very disturbing to Solar. He raised both palms as he walked home. They were both trembling slightly even though it wasn't cold at all.
"Solar... I can't afford to lose anymore."
The memory was still vivid in Solar's mind. His father, Amato, held his hands, which were shaking violently in the ICU. Solar had been in a car accident the night before and only regained consciousness after twenty-two hours.
"It's enough that your mother died in a car accident."
The good news was that Solar didn't die, despite the car being badly wrecked, the windshield and dashboard shattered, and the fall from a height.
The bad news ... the nerves in Solar's hand lost their function, due to being squeezed between the steering wheel and the dashboard of the car, which eventually shattered. The hands can be moved, but not without shaking. What architect could still draw in that condition? This was Solar's karma. Of course, he had regrets, but it was too late.
"Dad... forgive Solar."
"What's wrong, Solar?"
Solar remembered his inner dilemma at the time. Why wasn't his father surprised at the timing of the incident? Solar was in a car accident at one in the morning! He decided to speak the truth.
"I joined a car racing gang..."
Solar's honesty gained bitterness. From that day on, Amato was cold towards him; his father had every right to be disappointed in him.
"I thought you didn't come home often for your college work..."
That was Amato's comment. Nothing hurt more than a child betraying his parents' trust. Even so, Solar's heart still hurt when his driving license was confiscated by his father, and his car was sold later as scrap metal because it was no longer salvageable.
The brilliant child who had wanted to follow in his father's footsteps was now disabled by his own foolish choices. Solar was still thankful that AutoCAD existed, so he didn't need to end his career as an architect. That was why he was stunned when he realized that he was jealous of Thorn, who could draw so well with his hands.
Apart from the hand, the accident changed many things about him. Solar became traumatized by cars and spotlights; he unknowingly developed social anxiety disorder; and he had a very hard time socializing with new people.
One thing that hasn't changed about Solar is his attachment to people's praise. He can still get them in his current state, as his hard study allowed him to master AutoCAD in a matter of months. At work, his relationship with Amato is a professional one. He doesn't need the warmth of his father's love if he's no longer willing to give it to him, as long as the job gets done and the client is happy. Solar thought he could keep up this pretense until Kaizo's skyscraper project was complete... but he was wrong.
"Oh, yes. Thorn is currently on an ongoing project in Selangor, Malaysia. You can be on the waiting list for now. Thank you for contacting us."
The man disconnected his phone and wrote something on the tablet's screen on his lap.
Thorn and Quake came back to the Surya Gamma Sentosa office three days later when Solar's three-dimensional model was ready and Kaizo had selected some of Thorn's sketch drawings for important rooms.
"Sorry, Thorn needs to focus on this one project until at least August next year. Thank you for contacting us."
Quake ended another phone call. When he looked up from his phone, he found Solar staring at him. "Solar? Can I help you?"
"Is that Instagram?" Solar asked, pointing at the tablet's screen.
"This? That's right." Quake glanced down. "Thorn's account. All his portfolios are here. Want to see?"
"You manage social media for him too?" Solar leaned closer to Quake and looked at the pictures without wanting to sit beside him.
"Yes, I do. I took most of the photos. It's expensive to hire a professional photographer, hehe."
The images captured by the camera do not look amateurish to Solar's eyes. All the plant murals look clear and intact from proportional angles. A thought that had been percolating in Solar's head was becoming more and more tangible.
"Quake. How much do you get paid by Thorn?" Solar couldn't resist asking, since Thorn and Kaizo were having a lively discussion in the next room. Quake had moved in here because of a lot of phone calls. "Oh, forgive my presumptuous and unethical question. I see you have a lot of work, taking care of Thorn's schedule, photos, social media, and so on. Do you ever take time off or vacation?"
Quake smiled. "What about yourself, Solar?"
Never before had anyone reversed Solar's veiled sarcasm to make him fall silent like this. Indirectly and subtly, Quake countered his question with advice not to meddle in other people's business and slapped his face with the fact that those things also felt unfair when you worked for your father's bureau. Solar squinted.
"Did I ever tell you that Mr. Amato is my father?"
Quake blinked, then shook his head.
"But, you know it?" urged Solar.
"I only found out when you told me just now."
"You don't seem to be surprised."
"Should I be surprised?" Again, Quake reversed his words.
"So, what did you mean?" Solar was starting to feel annoyed.
"Which one was it?"
Solar snorted. "Never mind. Just forget it. I'm going home." He exited without waiting for Quake to answer.
Solar's hunch was right. Ever since the vomiting incident in the toilet, Solar could feel it. Talking to Quake like that made him even more certain... there was something strange about the man. Quake was far more intelligent than he showed, he was more sophisticated than just a street mural artist manager.
Solar disliked everything mysterious about Quake.
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to be continued.
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November 26, 2023