Evan woke up, sweating, probably as an effect from all the alcohol and drugs he had consumed the night before. He woke up to a dull light which barely filled his apartment, which by the way, was a complete mess: beer cans everywhere, the unwashed dishes, clothes on the floor and a peculiar smell. He closed his eyes again, but sleep was not coming, probably because it was 3 p.m already. Oh well, he sighed, and lit up a ciggarrette.
It had been 3 years already, 3 years since that night. And his life had been a mess since then. He had been working now and then; Waiting tables at a chinese restaurant, painting houses and even selling motorcicles; Of course, none of them had nothing to do with his carreer of journalism. It had nothing to do as well with his position at Mai Lux, that important publishing house where he was getting that promotion as head editor. He had met Maggie while working in there. She was a writter.
He groaned. Frustrated from the annoying sound coming from his door. Someone was knocking loudly at it, and although Evan tried to ignore it, the sound persisted.
BANG! BANG!
"Coming!" He didn´t even ask who it was, he already knew. The last few years no one came to visit him, except for that very same person. "Max..." he said as he opened the door.
"Evan" said the man standing at the other side, he had a wide smile which later turn into a frown as he exclaimed "Seriously? It´s 3 o´clock and you still haven´t taken a bath?"
"Well... you´ll be surprised if I tell you I haven´t taken a bath since last week" said Evan with a grin on his face.
"Ugh. Disgusting!" said Max while rolling his eyes. "Man, you used to be such a ´ladies man´, if only they could see you right now.... please shave that beard".
Max was Evan´s best friend and had always been his support. After Maggie died Max would always visit his best friend every week and got frustrated when he saw Evan wasn´t moving on.
"Look man, I know it was hard for you, I know you loved her so much, but you can´t waste your life this way. It´s not ok". Said Max and then stopped while waiting for some answer from the man in front of him. After getting nothing he added "Is not what Maggie would have wanted".
Evan snapped. "Don´t tell me what Maggie could have wanted or not. She´s not here to tell me what to do anyway. Right?"
Max sighed and then said with a softhearted voice "Look, I´m not asking you to forget her, I´m just asking you to move on. I´ve found you a job Evan. You can teach journalism at Saint Philippe University. Of course it´s nothing compared to the position you had at Mai Lux but it´s a good way to start. Plus, they need someone and I told them about you and with your exprience they told me they would hire you right away."
Max stopped, staring directly at Evan, trying to decipher his answer. Evan looked uneasy. Of course he knew everything Max had said was true but maybe he wasn´t ready to accept it. "Max... thank you. How can you still be my friend after all this years? Is something I can´t explain myself. But today... I can´t take your offer. But look. I´m ok. I saved enough money to live at least three years more with this lifestyle." Now Evan had walked to the door and had opened it.
Max stood up. "I understand and I don´t want to sound like a pusher at all but, that´s not life buddy, could you please think about it?.... Three days! Just think about it for the next three days and give me your answer".
Evan rolled his eyes, almost shutting completely the door. "ok! ok! three days, fine?".
