Success is buying another condo next week. He already has one for himself, and one for his parents, so this new apartment, he says, is for investment purposes. He's just bought a car to satisfy Progress and Insecurity, his parents, whom he tells me will want to go for another round-the-world vacation very soon. He's also bought a sports car for himself, which he's thinking of changing again? because it doesn't go fast enough for him.

We're in a cafe in the business district, where Success occupies a top-floor office in a prominent corporate tower. Success is well-dressed as usual, but his hair is greying early. When he talks, his eyes tend to look around, as if spotting someone he knows who's just come in. Sometimes, he has a distant look, as if gazing deep into the horizon. Those who don't know him attribute it to his arrogance and indifference. Those who do know him understand that he listens deeply, and is trying to connect what he knows with what he has just heard, in order to learn something new. He is always looking ahead.

Success has always been good at numbers and appearances. Years ago, when we were together in college, he was the sort everyone wanted to have around all the time. Back then, he was pursuing Purpose, and they did seem a perfect couple to those who knew them both. Since then however, they have not seen much of each other, except at other people's weddings.

After that, Purpose went abroad in search of her beloved Passion, who has been missing for a while now. Success immersed himself in work, and eventually met and married Complacency, who is easy to please. He still hasn?t forgotten his first love, and hopes that their paths would cross again. In fact, I suspect he's been secretly trying to track her down all this time. He won?t admit this, of course - he's afraid of what he might do and what he would have to give up, if he really found Purpose again.