The Man With The Gloves (mxmxmxm)

Epilogue

"The problem with books is that they end." (Caroline Kepnes)

A few years later...

"So, squirrel, tell us again how you met with Harvey" Zephyr asked his mate. 

"There was this very old man, sleeping outside on a bench at night..." Fayez started.

He had told this story to his mates countless times. It was about an old man with a green hat and an old, patched coat.

He used to see this old man all the time when he strided through the narrow alleys of the town. At that time, he had just left the ISB, and he had moved to a small city with his mates, in Northern England. 

It had been frightening, at the beginning. 

After all, just like his family castle, the Institute was a bubble of some sort, keeping him secluded from the oustide world. 

Now, here he was, living among humans - weird and fragile little creatures he couldn't really understand.

This had been terrifying. 

Of course, he wasn't alone. He had his mates with him. The thing was, his mates had already seen the outside world. They couldn't really understand the turmoil Fayez found himself in. 

Soon, his three mates had found jobs and occupations. Zeph worked as a sexual therapist, Akhenaton was a coach in a gym, Ashur was a PHD student in History.

Things weren't so easy for Fayez. Despite his mates'advices and words of encouragements, he still found difficult to meddle with others, let alone human beings. 

Job interviews seemed out of reach, as well as meeting up with people in pubs or attending social events. Even the mere idea of it was enough to make him sweat. 

That changed the day when he finally talked to the old man for the first time. 

He wasn't one to talk to strangers on the street, but the air was teeth-chattering that day, and the old man had looked so cold.

So, Fayez had come closer to the bench where he was sitting, and he had mustered the courage to talk to him. 

"What's your name?" he had simply asked.

"I'm Harvey" the old man had replied with some difficulty. 

"I'm Fayez. Do you - uh - do you want to go to a coffee shop or something? It's - 'it's on me', as the youngsters say." 

Fayez had felt utterly stupid, but thankfully the man hadn't seem to mind. They had gone to a lovely coffee shop, with colourful cushions, children books at every corner and a small fountain in the middle. 

It had been incredibly easy to talk to Harvey. They had remained a long time in the coffee shop, talking about everything and nothing. 

When it was getting very late, they had decided to do the same thing on the next day and, with time, they had become great friends. 

Friendship was the thing the old man lacked the most and having Fayez in his life helped him to socialize again with others. 

He eventually decided to get in touch with social services and with Ashur's help, he obtained a place to stay. 

He was the one who suggested that Fayez could work in an association doing charity work. He thought it definitely suited Fayez's profile. 

That's what Fayez was doing, now. He was doing charity works to help persons of no fixed address.