“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
“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
“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
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
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
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
Michael went back to the kitchen. He finished the rest of the biscuits and emptied the cup of his almost cold coffee. He turned on the radio and tuned into his favorite station. He didn’t mind the macabre, sacrilegious act of violence and media he was hearing about.The world is beautiful even with all the omnipresent evil, rascals, tragedies, wars and death. Life is wonderful as long as we can see it's good sides, not just the negative. ‘I live! I woke up! A new day is ahead of me! This is the most important thing!’He got into the car in a good mood. He drove calmly, like he wasn’t bothered by the traffic jam, the rain or the driver who stopped at the orange light just in front of him, instead of stepping on the gas pedal and crossing the intersection as fast as possible.Yes, he felt like sounding the horn, but stopped himself. Anyway, he arrived at work much earlier than usual. He parked the car in the empty parking lot at this time.
In the end, Alex couldn't stand the unknown situation and asked them what was really going on. However, he didn’t hear an unequivocal answer. Seeing that Jack, the biggest editorial office lurking in the corridor, he didn’t seek the truth immediately.He decided to wait for more favorable circumstances.“Gentleman, why don't we meet for lunch?” Michael suggested.“Are you cooking or taking us to a good restaurant?”“Details later. Now, let’s get back to work.” He said, once again seeing Jack sneaking past the kitchen door."Mmm… why don't we just slack a little more? Is there any food left? One fragrant, hot coffee please if not.” Matthew began to moan loudly, noticing him as well. “Doesn't that jerk have an upbringing?” He whispered, signaling to Alex that they had uninvited company.Alex smiled knowingly.“Gentlemen, let’s go to work.”
Michael felt guilty that he had criticized the airports’ parking publicly a few years ago, when it was being built. At the time, he believed that such a juggernaut was not needed for such a small airport, and building a terrible-looking structure would destroy the aesthetics of not only this unrepresentative place, but also the immediate vicinity. He tried to remember why he had spoken out on the matter. He wasn’t a competent person, neither was he an architect nor an urban planner. So why did he put his penny in this debate? Well, he couldn't remember the reason anymore. He often meddled with his own affairs. He must have written about something in the pages of ‘Man’. Anyway, who left his car for a few days in the parking lot a few years ago? Certainly not him. Did he make a mistake? Shouldn't he leave his car here? Yes, but what would he do with it? Looking at the scratched walls, he began weighing up the pros and cons of the place. He just hoped that no on