He had made his fortune early in life.
However, happiness for him was elusive. Despite his great wealth, he felt compelled to go looking for more; something greater than what he had, something of greater value. He was not entirely sure exactly what he was looking for. He seemed to have all that a person could possibly want, yet there was something missing. He had money, female companions, memberships in the best clubs, and properties in several countries. With all these things, came the freedom to pursue his dreams. As a self-made billionaire, people would say he was the man who had everything.
As a boy, he loved travelling by train, now he regularly rode the Trans-Siberian Express when he wanted time out. He would spend his idle days in his penthouse suite in Geneva. He took his Winter sports at an exclusive lodge in the ski town of Aspen. He sometimes holidayed on his private island in Fiji. Occasionally, he would spend time in a five-star safari lodge on a luxury reserve in South Africa.
A couple of times, he took the six-month epicurean odyssey luxury cruise. He had enjoyed several Air Cruises in the exclusive 777-200 private jet, when not using his own. He often stayed in the underwater hotel suite in Atlantis the Palm, Dubai. At times, he would relax in the French Polynesian paradise of Tetiaroa Island. He liked to chill out in his beachfront villa on the Santa Teresa Beach in Costa Rica, and once in a while he would sail his luxury yacht and moor for a spell at the Marina di Portofino, Italy.
But… at the end of the day, there was something that the 24-carat gold bathroom tap fittings, the chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce and the Saint Laurent suits weren’t giving him.
Finally, the night came when he had his chauffeur drop him off five minutes from his city apartment, preferring to walk the rest of the way. It took him past a late-night café. On a whim he went in and ordered a coffee. He sat looking around at the other customers. It had been such a long time since he’d done anything like it.
The waitress brought his coffee. His napkin fluttered to the floor. She picked it up. Their eyes met…
He’d been looking in all the wrong places.