Paint the town blue

Chapter VIII

I woke up surprisingly full of energy, I would even say...cheerful. It was very strange and unusual for me, especially considering the very recent events. When I opened my eyes, I immediately looked around - I wasn't in my own room, or even in my living room. Gradually, my memory began to return and I remembered that after meeting Max, I went to Esteban. Apparently, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on his couch.

I reached for the phone on the coffee table and looked at the time - it was 10 p.m. After lying down for a while, I took a sitting position and suddenly felt terribly ashamed because of that situation with Ocon: not only did I ruin his day off, I also fell asleep on his couch. Rubbing my eyes, I wanted to fold the blanket and pillow, and quietly retreat from the medical examiner's house, but my plan failed - when I was folding the blanket, I flipped the magazine stand by the sofa, and it fell to the floor with a soft, but still sound rumble. I swore softly, and soon I heard footsteps approaching.

"Oh, are you awake? How are you feeling?"

I was a little confused and didn't even immediately understand the essence of the question, and began to justify that I just wanted to fold the blanket, but it turned out to be a disaster. Estie looked at me, and then laughed softly, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Charles, I appreciate that you wanted to put everything together, but still, that's not what I asked."

"Oh, yeah? I'm sorry, it just slipped my mind."

He nodded, then began to collect magazines and put the stand back in place, while I still managed to get the blanket and put it together with the pillow on the couch. Estie sat down on a chair and folded his hands on the armrests. I sat down on the chair opposite him.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm fine. And that's strange."

"You're just tired, and tea helped you relax and sleep it off."

"So you gave me something "special" to drink?"

"And it did you good, so keep the lecture to yourself."

I smiled and raised my hands in a conciliatory gesture. Estie hesitated for a while, but then he inadvertently asked me about my visit. He said he wouldn't drag answers out of me, but both he and I knew perfectly well that I couldn't keep everything to myself and would speak out anyway.

Sighing, I leaned back in my chair and calmly began to tell him about my meeting with Max. I told him everything from the Dutchman's appearance to his sudden outburst and words before he was led out of the room. My story seemed emotionless from the outside, but inside I felt like I was reliving all those feelings and emotions that were at the meeting. But Estie seemed to understand my condition and therefore he wasn't even surprised by my somewhat dry narration.

It seems to me that the effect of tea hasn't completely vanished, or I'm not as cheerful as I thought I was when I first woke up, hence the lack of emotions and even active gesticulation. Estie listened attentively to every word I said, occasionally clarifying something or asking something about Max's behavior during our conversation. Surprisingly, I remembered everything down to the smallest detail: his every intonation, his every smile, his every gesture. Yes, I even remembered how many times he changed his position while sitting on a chair. Only seven times. Yes, I counted.

When I finished my story, Estie adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and tilted his head slightly to the side. Just like Max liked to do.

"Do you think he'll wait for a second meeting?"

"I think so."

"Will you insist on it?"

"Estie, I thought that after today I would stop thinking about him and be able to let hem go, but in the end, my thoughts are only with him again. Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy."