The Long Way Home

Thirty Two

Everybody look at the drawings I did of Diamant and Esmeralda

"I'm back." Matthew said flatly after using his keycard to open the hotel room's door and stepped inside.
He had been a few hours but only because he got lost. It was a good thing most Norwegians spoke English because he could have gotten even more lost.
The hotel room was dark when he arrived. So he fumbled around for a lamp, finding it and turning it on.
Lars was curled up in his bed, sleeping. The blankets were kicked off on the end and his face was stuffed into the pillow. Matthew smirked. This was the perfect chance to mess with him.
He could draw a dick on his forehead, or steal his luggage...or touch his hair.
The latter seemed the more diabolical. He reached out and touched the little fringe on the top of Lar's head. It was prickly and sticky from all the product he put in it. Matthew giggled and started pushing the locks around, making all sorts of different shapes. He made sculptures that leaned to the left and the right and shaped like diamonds and hearts. He continued to play around until Lars sleepily batted him away and rolled over, leaving Matthew chuckling in his wake.
The Canadian pulled the blankets over his friend's body, tucking him in as tightly as he could. Lars had spent so long taking care of other people. Maybe he needed that in return. He definitely deserved to be taken care of.
Matthew remembered the first time they met. Matthew had still felt nervous and shaky from his time on the Writing Café stage, reading his work out loud for the first time in ages. He almost fell into his chair, his legs were so weak. He put his head down on the table in front of him, panic eating him alive. The audience had finished clapping and the next reader had gone up on stage. Matthew wanted to puke.
He heard a soft thud and looked up to see a full glass of water.
"Here. It'll help." Somebody sat down beside him.
It was Lars, looking at him with his usual blank eyes.
"Thanks." Matthew croaked. He took the water and downed it in one gulp. Lars had been right. He already felt the life returning to his body.
"So, that was something else..." Lars complemented.
"What was?"
"Your writing."
"Oh. Of course..."
"Do you have any finished works?"
"I...I have a novel I finished...but it desperately needs revising..." Matthew's face went red. He didn't like talking about his writing. Especially to strangers. Especially in public.
"I'm a new editor for a major publishing firm. If you ever plan to get your work out there, I'd be glad to make that happen." Lars started clapping robotically as the reader on stage stepped down and was replaced by the MC.
Matthew blinked. "Huh?" An editor? Who wanted to publish his work?
"Here's my card." A small, rectangle piece of paper was placed in front of him. He picked it up to read it.

Lars Anderssen, editor

The statement was followed by an email and a phone number.
"Wow. Thanks...I-" Matthew looked up again, wanting to show his gratitude with a smile.
But Lars had already left.

It's not super long but a picture is worth a thousand words so here's a thousand words for y'all