Chapter 35: The Babylon Cat

I got to KLCC as planned. I believed Diana Sinclair was waiting for me at Dome to continue with the interview that was left unconcluded the other day. Soon as I reached Dome, I saw Diana was already there, reading a book at one of the tables.

"Hi, Diana!"

"Hi, Marina"

"You're early. How long have you been here?"

"About half an hour now."

I sat in front of her and I could smell her perfume's scent from there.

"You smelled so good today."

"Thank you," that compliment made her smile.

"Wow! What book are you reading now?"

"From Johan Halid, called 'Orang Lain' (The Other People).

"Is it good?"

"Yes. If you are into psychology."

"Oh, so it's about psychology?"

"Yes. But without those complex theories in."

"Oh," I nodded.

"All right let's stop talking about this..." Diana closed the book and put it on the table. "Marina, I want to apologize for what happened the other day. Truth be told, I was being such a mess. There were just so much stuffs in my head and I could not stop thinking about them. So much things giving me headache!"

"Oh. Never mind. I have my share in that too and for that I am so sorry."

"Honestly, there's nothing that I never heard from the press.. I'm so used to those kind of questions. I could answer each one of your question the other day. But I was..." she seemed struggling to find the correct word.

"Dizzy?"

"Hahaha...Yes! Dizzy!" Diana laughed. "I don't want you to think that my behaviour the other day was just to play you around or something."

"Oh no...not at all," I shook my head.

"Well, I think we should start over."

"Hi, I'm Diana Johari," Diana gave out her hand. 

'What is she up to now? What she's trying to do? Hmmm I better just play along,' I told myself.

"Hi. I'm Marina. Ummm...from Hey Magazine," I replied, in search for the correct words to say.

"Oh! Stop using your magazine's name as your identity."

"Why not?"

"There something so formal about it. Let's do that again. Hi! I'm Diana Johari!" she said it full in enthusiasm. Diana Johari? Not Diana Sinclair? What was she up to? But I guessed by using that name, it meant that she wanted me to treat her as someone I never knew before. As someone, not a celebrity, probably. So I followed along anyway. It looked more like a roleplay now, as opposed to a trick or game she was trying to play with me.

"Hi! I'm Marina Adam!"

"Yes. That's how you do it!" said Diana joyfully.

"So, Marina. Tell me. What is it about me that you really need to know?"

"As we both know it, your name is pretty much on fire now. So yes...I want to write about YOU. Your works, what lies inside that visionary brain of yours...your future endeavour...and much more!"

"Oh...if that's what you want, we might as well just do it on the phone or through email. No need to meet like this."

"But this way is more effective. And it gives me full satisfaction. Well at least I know it, it comes directly from your own mouth, not your team. I know some celebrities who have a whole lot of PR teams who do this for their bosses, down to duplicating their bosses' voice for a phone interview. And Hey is all about authenticity"

"Hahaha...that's logic! But I never met anyone who can copy my voice so far," Diana laughed.

I tried not to treat her as a character and I did my best to forget the fact that she was a public figure.

"But you can get all the answer from other magazines, no?" asked Diana.

"But I want you to give me something different."

"Okay...if that's what you want. For Hey's patience before this, I'm going to give you just that. But are you free tonight?"

"I have cancelled everything today just for you Diana."

"Aww really? Free as a bird?"

"Yes," I nodded, fast and full of confidence. But deep inside I was honestly quite nervous. 'What is it that this unpredictable lady going to do next?'

"If so, then let's go! Come with me around!"

"What? Where to?"

"Just around here. Don't you feel bored just sitting here?"

"All right. No problem. Let me be your tour guide tonight."

"No need. I will be your tour guide tonight. And by 'go around', I mean 'walk around' all right?"

"On our feet?" I could not imagine we both doing it honestly, especially in this hot and humid weather and heavy traffic. I thought she just wanted to stroll around the KLCC park. But yes...being unpredictable lady that she was...

"Yes. On our feet."

"Do you know this city routes?" I asked her.

"Are you being serious with that question? Of course I do. I lived here for years before I left for the States."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. But where are we heading now?"

"Let's just take a stroll around first, and then we go for some archery.

"Archery?"

"Yes. So fun! You got to try it!"

We both walked from KLCC to Jalan Imbi. Let's be honest, it was quite a distance and thank God I was not in high heels! But still my feet felt tired. But there was no way I would let it shown to Diana because she was really energetic! She did not seem tired at all!

'What is this lady been taking!?' my heart said.

Along the walk, we talked about so many things. And I did my best to control the pace of the conversation. Learning from my mistakes before, I was certainly not going to rush her straight to the hot topics. We talked more about the changes of the Klang Valley and women's stuffs, instead.

As soon as we got to the archery place, we stopped talking entirely. Our attentions were all poured down to shooting the bulls eye, as best as we could.  However, Diana was still my priority and never been out of the radar. I spent many times observing her, wondering how this lady from Kota Tinggi could be such a phenomena and a powerful persona. She led Babylon Cat Inc. that I had known about way long before we first met. From what I read, I learnt about the company's potential and the way it was operated. The company's rapid growth had caught the attention of various industry players and also from the public. Everyone was asking how it could become as dominant in less than ten years. This 'cat' from 'Babylon' quickly became a public figure and a mogul and everyone wanted a piece of her...advice! For the record, Diana had never been in her office on the daily basis like any other bosses. She was biggest shareholder of the company and her orders travelled fast and far to the company, no matter from where she was in. But I believed it was not without her 'eyes' in the company reporting to her directly that contributed to the smooth management by her.

"So how is it? Did you love it?" Diana asked as soon as we stepped out of the archery centre.

"Yes! I loved it so much! It's all about the focus!"

"Yes. All rely on the power of focus."

"...and it is fun!"

"Yes, it is!"

"So, Diana. You do this often?"

"Yes. I have the whole set at home."

"What else do you like, other than this?"

"I like tenis too."

"I see...anything else?"

"Oh, yes. I like drag race and boxing too.."

"You like drag race and boxing?" I found it hard to process. I could not believe this coming from a lady like her.

"I do. Why?"

"I can't imagine you racing on the circuit and throwing a punch on anyone."

"I actually meant that I loved watching them. Both seemed dangerous and violent, but they are fun to watch. We always have to race to prove ourselves don't you think?"

We continued the conversation until we were back in KLCC.

"I really had fun tonight, Marina."

"Me too! Especially when I got to try the archery with you. It was my very first time! I'm sure to be remembering you when I do it again in the future."

"You know...you are among few people who were not surprised getting to know me closer," Diana told me and kept patting my shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

"Some people be like 'Oh I thought she's a bimbo'"

"Nobody got rich by being a bimbo," I said.

"This meeting was not about money right?" She randomly asked.

"Huh?" I looked at her with question marks. Suddenly my mind went straight to Diana's fantasy that I read in 'Secret Garden'.

'Oh God...please don't let anything in my head now happens to me tonight,' My heart said.

"Hahaha! Yes. But it should be rephrased to 'Nobody stays rich if they are a bimbo.'"

"I actually hate that 'Bimbo' word. It sounds rude to me," I said in all honesty.

"Yes. Because nobody is a bimbo...or dumb... They just not knowing what to do. Or maybe their methods are not the right one. Or they are simply just unlucky."

"So...what is your secret? Your 'have it all' secret?"

"I don't have it all, Marina..."

"Oh come on Diana. You know what I mean. You have everything other people don't."

"I'm just a worker like anyone else. I keep in check with my creativity, utilise it, and I never felt bored with what I'm doing."

"That's it? That's exactly what I'm doing right now. But at my age now, you already possessed everything that I don't. There must be a secret to that."

"As cliche as this might sound Marina, stick to this- you must be hardworking and never give up. There's no short cut to success. Know how to differentiate between assets and liabilities. That's the key. People at your age are mostly failed at differentiating these two. They only learn about it when it's too late.

"Oh...so your recipes are creativity, hardwork and knowing how to evaluate assets and liabilities? Like that?" I tried to make my own conclusion.

"Do you really want to know about this, seriously?"

"Of course!"

"Okay. Meet me tomorrow morning. Can you?"

"No problem at all!"

After Diana and I parted ways, I quickly reached my phone and made a call to Daniel.

He was so ecstatic when I updated him with everything.

"She asked you to go out again?" Daniel asked.

"Great!" He shouted.

"Unbelievable, right?" I said to him.

"Do your best for tomorrow all right?"

"Okay, boss!"