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Chapter 34
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"Get up and leave." Michael said calmly. “From now on, you don't work here anymore!”
“Fuck off, Michael.” Carl muttered, sipping his beer from the bottle. “Save the stupid jokes for another occasion.” Carl still thought that it was just another ’crazy act’ of his friend.
“You're fired, you don't work here anymore! Do you understand?” Michael announced with great satisfaction. “Do I have to call the police to check how much you've already drunk?”
Hearing this Carl felt completely confused. He didn't know what to do. Should he get up? Get out? Ignore Michael completely? Or maybe he is not joking?
“Do you need my help to get up?” Michael didn’t give up.
Carl, seeing that his friend was probably not joking, got up and calmly went to his work desk, i.e. to the reportage section, located next to the newsroom.
Michael was right behind him.
When Carl wan
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Michael was tormented by his remorse. He wondered what would happen to Nicolas' health; he was also worrying about Carl and his family. His wife didn’t work, they also have small children. Maybe he should help him, call one of his friends to ask him to do something.‘I'm a wimp!’ He thought after a moment. ‘The fool didn't care at all, he didn't care about anything. Should I care about him?’To be fair to himself, he decided that if Carl didn’t find a new job within a month, he would call his friend who offered him a place at a public relations agency. He will surely find something for Carl.They wouldn’t indulge him there, much less let him hang around, but he could be sure that no one would hurt him there.Fortunately, he had so much work to do that he didn't think about Alice or what happened on Friday night, or the brawl with Alex this morning and then with Nicolas.At this point, the most important thi
Anemones Chapter 36
It's good that she didn't want to boil eggs or fry bacon for him, because the house would have blown up. That chick cost him dearly.He would long remember her red fingernails and the idiotic expression on her face when he entered the kitchen full of white, thick, suffocating smoke, and Adria, dressed in his favorite blue shirt, was running around the table like crazy, looking for a fire extinguisher.It was a pity that her ‘bird brain’ had not burned down. The only positive aspect of knowing her is that he now knows that all those who have these claws have no idea about life.The meaning of their lives is the search for a rich sponsor. As limited as Olga was, she fortunately had little more gray cells in her tiny brain than Adria.Olga… He remembered her perfectly as an exceptionally beautiful lady with a shapely body and heavenly long legs. A brunette with a dark complexion and a charming smile.Wanting to please him, she almos
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“Young man, where are your manners?” Nicolas asked, amused to see Alex soiled with sauce. “It would be good to start eating with everyone.”“Excuse me! I haven't eaten anything… since this morning…” He explained in confusion. “I really haven't eaten anything since breakfast.”“I understand, starveling. You are always hungry.” Michael laughed; he had seen a similar picture more than once."Sorry, I'm really hungry." Alex said, swallowing the mouthful.“As usual, nothing new to me. By the way, who called? You said someone called you.”“You won’t believe it, man.” He made a very serious face. “Carl, in person.”“What did that asshole want from you?”“What do you think?” Alex said sneeringly. "Do you know any reason why that cocky, bloated buffoon would call me?"“Friends, let's not talk
Anemones Chapter 38
“Why me?” Michael rebelled.“Did you kick that one out too?” Nicolas wanted to know the reason for such a strong friends’ rebellion. He supposed that he had put a hard time on him, and now he is reluctant to admit it. “When? At university?”“There is nothing to talk about! I didn't kick anyone!”“So where does your objection come from?” Nicolas pushed. "If you didn't kick him, why don't you want to give him a chance?"“I don’t like him.”“You didn't like me either!” Alex said casually. “Do you remember?”“You were a fucking pain in the ass! Is your memory failing you?” Michael replied honestly.He just then realized that Alex was also not tolerated by him when he was his student. He even kicked him out of class, and unfortunately more than once. But since they started working together, he became a friend for whom he
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“Leo Walker never complained.” Nicolas added. “Michael, don't feel sorry for me. If his departure from our magazine was supposed to be realistic, I couldn't tell you. Otherwise, you would have gone to the Tavern, drank with the boys and blurted out everything.”Unfortunately, Nicolas was right. Michael felt knocked out. He had scarcely listened to Alex's words with humility, but now Nicolas had killed him.Leo Walker never said anything about him, he worked for two and didn't even complain, and he thought that he was just a corrupt pig with no rules. He told him in public, in front of the entire editorial team, what he thought of him."It was good, and sensational…" Alex, seeing his friend's low face, suspected what he was thinking about at that moment. “Your public speech about Walker, his moral and ethical principles…”Alex couldn't help but laugh at the mere mention of that event.“You gave
Anemones Chapter 40
Over the next few weeks, Michael worked not only for himself, but also for Nicolas and Alice. In the magazine he couldn’t count on anyone's help, not even Alex. Alex was the one who used to drive off to Nicolas’ house at any free moment on a whim several times a day to check on his health, i.e. bring him lunch, press, correspondence or consult with Michael's decisions until the day of his departure.Nicolas was doing quite well. Away from editorial life, he looked better and better day by day. Home care and the loving patronage of family and friends made him not so worried about waiting for a major surgery.Michael, on the other hand, was aware of the tragic situation he was in. He felt lonely, abandoned, and at times, even unhappy. Not only did he work for three, but he had also lost his closest friend. At least he thought so.There was no one to make him coffee, not to mention that someone would come and help him with anything - to turn on the comp
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Matthew turned out to be his support in this difficult time, whom he brought to the editorial office the next day after visiting Nicolas. It turned out that Williams, as usual, was right.He wrote quite well. He is a disciplined, well-organized young man, who in no way resembles a disobedient, constantly disturbing student, sitting at the very end of the room on the last bench.Despite the huge age difference, they found a common language almost immediately. On Matthew’s first day of work, he voluntarily stayed with him until midnight to catch up.In fact, it was Michael who was catching up, and Matthew kept him awake over the keyboard, searched for information whenever possible, followed agency services, and looked at public relations materials.Michael was grateful to him for his presence and help, because if it weren't for him, he would probably have fallen asleep in his armchair, tired and so would have been found by dawn.Besides, it was
Anemones Chapter 42
The next day, Michael got up earlier than usual. As he opened the windows, he saw that it was just dawning. Heavy, dark clouds hung just above the ground. The gloomy, rainy weather made no impression on him.‘It's going to rain like hell in a moment.’ He thought, not too saddened.The bedroom was in chaos, a total mess. In the corner on the floor, there was a large pile of dirty clothes along with a stack of newspaper and magazines. Next to the bed, lay a few trays full of dirty glasses, cups, an unfinished pancake covered with a thick layer of mold on a plate. Then there were a few pairs of shoes in disarray behind the door, and on the bedside table were a dozen letters whose appearance indicated that he shouldn’t ever read them or open them at all.‘Creative atmosphere, cosmic dimension. Yes. Tasteful disorder and sophisticated metaphysics saturate my bedroom, maybe I should write about it?’ He thought, laughing.He l
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Without waiting for Alex to bring clean clothes for Michael, she took him home. As she parked the car in front of the entrance, she wondered if she should go in. Her heart was pounding like crazy, she couldn't control her emotions. It was so hard to keep calm. For the first time in ten years, she found herself in a place with so many memories and not only the good ones. She was surprised to see that Michael didn’t change much in the interior. “Did time stop here?” She asked. “For me it has stopped.” He smiled that she noticed that. “Here, you have always had good taste and an unusual sense of daintiness. That's why I didn’t change anything, apart from the kitchen decor.” “Can I have a look around?” “Sure. After all, it's also your home.” “Not any more. I have a few of my own. That's enough.” “Will you allow yourself to be invited for tea?” Michael timidly suggested. “I will just run to my bedroom to put something on, I will be back in 5 minutes.” “Why not, but only green tea wi
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"It's been ten years. I don't want to mess with your life, but it's pathetic to watch a great man tumble down. Too painful to look at." “It's my life. You don't want to mess with it? Really?" If she was telling the truth, why did she invade his world again? “You took everything from me. Even the children I fell in love with. Go away!” He drawled through his teeth. “Michael, finish this show.” She knew he was starting to play to make her feel guilty. She knew him too well. In a completely calm tone, she continued: "I didn't take anything from you. I was in an accident in which their parents and my dear friends died. I promised their dying mother that if I survived, I would look after the children. When I picked myself up after the accident, I returned to arrange the adoption.” “What else do you want?” He asked, tr
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In front of the clinic, taking advantage of Alex's moment of inattention, while talking to his friend, Michael broke free from him and started to run, but he was still too drunk and his legs were not obeying him. He hit the nearest curb and fell down. He felt the pain and for a moment he had black spots in front of his eyes. He couldn't move and he just raised his head up. He felt a wet trickle on his face, and felt its sweetish taste. “I'm not crazy!” He started screaming as Alex caught up with him. “You are not!” Picking up from the ground, Alex calmed him. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and put it on his friend's forehead. “You'll stay a few days to detox.” “I'm not crazy!” He continued to defend himself. “You must have my permission to lock me here!”
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Alex was even glad that Michael wasn't home. In a hurry, he picked up everything from the floor and neatly put it on the table. He also put his shoes against the wall so they wouldn't get in the way and headed for the kitchen to search for some food.He was surprised to find an empty whiskey bottle on the kitchen table, and there were no signs of his friend having any guests recently. He didn’t see any dirty dishes or pots around the place.The dishwasher was almost empty too, only a few cups and a plate were inside. To his despair, the refrigerator was practically deserted.There was nothing to eat, no leftovers. Just a few pieces of different kinds of French and Swiss cheeses, which he didn't like because they smelled horrible.There was not much choice, so he pu
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A few days ago, his older brother's only daughter, Michael’s favorite, turned eighteen years old. On this occasion, as a gift, he sent her a check for a considerable amount, thus wanting to compensate for his absence at the birthday party.Looking at the photo of the party, he had remorse that he didn’t accept the invitation and didn’t fly to them.He checked his email, then agency services, nothing fancy happened. Another coalition has broken up again, the prime minister is threatening to dissolve parliament… The mess has been the same for years.At times like this, he wished he had emigrated like his brothers. Now, he felt too old for any changes.He only dreamed that he would be able to work in relative peace, until he retired and be able to d
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On Monday, he returned on the same plane with the same bloated, slant-eyed individuals.He was greeted by an ugly, rainy, completely not July weather. He drove straight from the airport to work. However, he found the editorial office to be empty.“Have you visited the solarium?” Alex greeted him unusually.“Solarium?” Totally surprised by his friend's question, he decided to simply ignore it. “Hello, Alex! How are you?”“Hmm… Not too bad. Where did you get so tanned in such weather?”“I was on a trip by the warm sea.”“Sure, probably on a bike?” Alex said with undisguised irony, knowing very well that M
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“You look very pretty, Alice. What's the occasion?” Michael asked.“As always, I know. Thank you. An occasion?” She thought, confusion crossed her face. “Do you not know anything? I'm hosting a party today for my friend at my home.”“I noticed already.”“I forgot to ask you if you brought any suitable outfit.”“Our tastes are very different. Appropriate, what is that?”“Did you pick up any of your linen suits that you parade around at work?”He wondered. In fact, he was only pretending, because he hadn’t thought about a typical summer linen suit.
Anemones Chapter 65
La Croisette was the most famous promenade of the Côte d'Azur, covered with palm trees, providing shade on a hot day like today. He decided to walk along it.The place was known for the fact that the most famous representatives of show business and the crowds of onlookers looking for their idols were walking around it, if they blended into the crowd somewhere. This was a regular phenomenon and not something that happened only during the film festival.Along the promenade, he met many artists of various kinds, painters who painted portraits of tourists for a dozen or so euros, a caricaturist who wasn’t as good as his editorial artist Simon, acrobats kicking goats, a clown and some quite serious musicians.He paused for a moment next to one of them, a young boy with a storm of blond hair, who looked to be
Anemones Chapter 64
He was driving in the left-hand lane and could not turn into the right, because the cars were on a string. His car was right behind the car ahead and so on, thus it was impossible to squeeze anywhere. With no other option, he began to apply the brake hard. He slowed down with difficulty.He heard the horns of the cars behind them. Somehow, he avoided the bump. His legs trembled with fear at the mere thought of what would have happened if the cars behind him had not kept the proper distance and had not slowed down in time. He breathed a sigh of relief and was silent.He waited to hear Alice saying ‘I told you so’, but she said nothing."I won't be surprised if one day I hear the news that famous Mr. Johnson tragically died in a car accident." She said in a completely calm tone without a trace of anger.Then, with a sneering smile, she added: "And breaking the rules is my private business. I don’t meddle in your affairs and expect the same
