Green Neon

38 Behind the door

Nikos didn't sleep much that night. Too many thoughts, too many questions, and this new feeling of fear kept him awake. It wasn't so much the fear of being caught by the police. Tom's experiences in this regard were warning enough for him to be extremely careful, but he did not consider his risk in this "mission" to be very high. The fear related more to the time after his first "mission".

When he rode to Athens the next morning, he would walk through a door not knowing what was in the room beyond. He would be among people the regime labeled enemies of the state. Was that what he was?

The journey to Athens dragged on endlessly. He couldn't think straight. Only when he got off the bus and spotted Georgios from afar, who imperceptibly nodded to him, did he regain control of his thoughts.

He had memorized the route to the pastry shop so that he didn't need the map. After crossing two side streets, he felt the urge to glance behind him to make sure Georgios had followed him. He forced himself not to give in, having made up his mind the previous night to completely ignore his bodyguard.

After 20 minutes he reached his destination. The small shop had two glass counters in which several types of chocolates and fine pastries were stacked. A young saleswoman stood behind the counter on the right, behind the other an older woman sat on a high stool behind a huge wooden cash register with brightly polished brass fittings.

Nikos introduced himself as "Sachari". The plump woman, who apparently liked to taste the creations of her sugar factory herself, heaved herself off her high seat. She disappeared through a curtain and came back a moment later with a pink cardboard box with a pink ribbon tied around it. She gave Nikos the box and a note with an address on Mavromichali Street on the outskirts of the new Gyzi district.

He left the shop and studied his city map. The way was easy. In fact, he only had to follow two mainstreets. He strode north. Lots of people were out, which he saw as an advantage. He caught a glimpse of Georgios out of the corner of his eye when he stepped onto the street.

At some point, after a few minutes, he had the feeling that he had adapted to his role as a confectionery courier. He brought fine chocolates to a customer - what was wrong with that? He found that he could put on a much more relaxed face when he imagined himself simply transporting candy.

After a little over half an hour he reached the house at the north end of Mavromichali Street. A newer three-storey building with the office of a rental car company on the ground floor, stood out among the old, simple terraced houses in the neighborhood. There were only two apartments on the upper floors. He rang the bell and, after the door had opened with a buzz, climbed to the top floor.

An elderly man smiled and invited him into the apartment. There were three coffee cups on a small table in a room full of books.

"So you're Sachari, thank you very much for the chocolates." He opened the box, took one for himself and offered one to Nikos. "What's the name of your friend down the street?"

Nikos was flabbergasted. He was sure that Georgios had followed him completely inconspicuously, after all he hadn't noticed him at all. The old man's mischievous smile couldn't dispel the embarrassing feeling of having been caught, of having done something amateurish.

"Georgios," he murmured. When the man walked to the window, Nikos noticed that he was limping slightly. The man whistled on two fingers, and when Georgios looked up at him, he motioned for him to come to the door. He pushed the button of the electric key and before long the three of them were sitting at the small table drinking coffee: an elderly, constantly smiling white-haired man, a boy with curly black hair and a huge question mark on his face, and a boy whose features were still a little childish, and which expressed only one feeling: panic.