Measurement of Longingness

"Oh him? That poor man looked like he was toppled in trash more than twice and then left to rot under the sun for days." The lady finally seemed interested in talking. "But he was generous, so I could forgive him from looking so... horrendous."

Wright noticed Quin quietly rage though it was an expressionless face he wore while she talked. Army personnel were trained to withstand all emotional stresses they harboured within themselves; it seems that even after all that training, there is nothing that can stop one from being human.

"He handed me a mere sheet of paper along with a handsome amount of money. Not only that, he bought our limited edition Shahtoosh Persian Blue scarf!" Her posh accent was growing thicker by the second. "I immediately thought he was a fashion critic in disguise and for that reason, I accepted to hold onto his request for more than a year. That man also mentioned to hand the paper to the one, who will be 'examining' the Shahtoosh scarves for a long time."

Wright was sweating at the word 'Shahtoosh'. Those clothing articles made from this cloth were expensive; costing around three thousand pounds on an average.

"So, I simply gave the page to this, curly haired gentleman, who did not even bother to thank me and left the store immediately after reading it." She huffed. "The audacity!"

Wright awkwardly witnessed the one-sided tension that was seeping through Quin's aura. The manager's voice was fading in the background as the Colonel sat in thought. He did not have the slightest clue as to why they were searching for this mysterious man named Adi nor did he know his significance to the search mission they were handling.

Quin mentioned only categorized him as a victim, who led a trail of torn pages from a diary. Now, Wright did not like being dishonest, but he did read certain contents from the page. All he could register from what he saw was that, it was an ordinary diary entry.

It was odd as to why Quin would go through lengths to follow what the entry said.

If they had a backup plan for this project, then depending on these seemingly normal entries would have made more sense. If somehow they did not find the underground concentration camps through these sheets of paper, then they would have to go back to square one.

"By the way, is Adi some criminal? Otherwise, how could he have enough money to-"

"Enough."

Quin's authoritative voice resonated in the office and shut the lady almost immediately.

"I believe we have gathered the information we needed." Quin stood up. "Wright."

"Yes sir," He calmly responded.

The two of them walked out of the shop and headed east of town. Quin was taking long and fast strides while Wright was right behind him, absolutely used to the burnet's outrage. The latter walked briskly for quite a while until he stopped near the town hall.

"Where to now?" The olive haired man asked.

Quin exhaled lightly in frustration. "To be frank, I have only one destination in mind, but I am not sure if it would lead to our next clue."

"So, in conclusion, we are walking blindly on a tightrope?"

"Precisely,"

Maybe it was not the best idea to rely on randomly distributed papers in a world so vast. What could be the chances of being able to collect all torn sheets of a diary? It's likely that even if he had collected them, the chances that they would have been in the right order for their destination were unlikely. The chances of getting lucky and finding one which matched his criteria were equally improbable.

And, Wright was back at it again; doubting his general's plans. Being a realistic made him a non believer of faith and hope, leading him to question everything. His father once told him that his lack of faith would cause problems in his life when he got older but that wasn't quite true either. He just lacked hope - a feeling that was difficult to find since he grew up in a household filled with expectations of him and others.

Quin walked in front of Wright, the streets were filled with the usual bustle of Thursday evenings ; everyone had somewhere to go after work. It was an exciting night for the people living in this part of town and every minute spent doing what needed to be done to live made it feel as though a piece of themselves has been taken away. The day had been a long one.

There were many things on Quin's mind and no matter how hard he tried to push himself and his thoughts aside the thought persisted - it was hard enough for him without letting them wander too far from there goal.

Now that he had found a gap in his plans, his preparation for a backup was extremely limited. He had never really considered the possibility of being mislead by the notes; or if he'd get a chance at it before he lost it. Maybe it was time to rethink everything. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he might've overlooked the unpredictability of circumstances.

But what other way could he think of? The only way he could reach to his beloved was through a path of messily arranged puzzle pieces. He would have to put those pieces together carefully, each piece was precious and fragile and if any single one of them fell apart...

Wright's face seemed to flash through his mind. If he hadn't already known where he would be heading, Quin felt like he'd run straight into him and knock both of them to the ground.

"Careful General! You are daydreaming more than usual. If this mission is distracting you from the main goal, you must commission yourself for a new task." Wright mentioned firmly as an obligation though he had the slightest idea of what had been going through the other's mind.

He could see the wheels turning behind Quin's eyes. The man may as well have been wearing one of those fancy suits that the rich wear and contain an expression of absolute stoicism, it was the first time the colonel had seen him this desperate. If he wanted to continue on this quest then Wright would support him wholeheartedly.

"Although, it is not something I usually follow, trust your instincts, Quin." Wright encouraged.

He didn't know what Quin had expected, it was just a random sheet torn from the notebook. The man seemed like the type who'd rather solve something from scratch and Wright knew better than anyone that if he didn't get the proper motivation, it just wouldn't work. That's why he was still trying to understand this obsession.

He couldn't help but wonder if his partner actually possessed some form of magic or witchcraft that allowed him to achieve his goals faster than even Wright could. But he'd given his word that he wouldn't meddle in his business, and although he trusted his own judgement on many matters, this definitely topped it.

"I suppose that is the only option." Quin replied vaguely.

And with that, Quin took off into the narrow alleys that left the Colonel to follow him after. It was an unusual sight, seeing the General running along the streets, his black cape flapping around him as he ran like some madman. It looked somewhat comical to be honest. However, Wright knew very well that whatever was inside Quin's head, it was not the kind of thing that should be disturbed so easily.

A short distance from their destination, Quin came to an abrupt halt and turned towards the Colonel.

"We're here."

Wright stopped next to Quin, a few steps away from his partner. They were standing in front of a small store, its door wide open revealing the room inside illuminated with soft yellow light.

There were flowers stacked neatly outside in pots, some were behind the display windows while the others were inside. A single window stood between the shelves, allowing light to filter through the glass.

The two men stared at the flowers in silence, neither one knowing whether or not they should approach the shop first. Wright was not sure how to proceed but he knew that Quin was waiting for something. He cleared his throat slightly and spoke up.

"A flower shop?"

Quin looked at the Colonel briefly and nodded before turning his attention back to the shop. "My instincts lead me here and I do not know if any of us are going to like this."

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