Like a puppet

Chapter 6 - Free, but troubled

The next day, the state of stress in which I presented myself was unusual and stupid. Yet I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen once I will be in the garage. And I was soon to be fixed, for I could see the little mechanical workshop open with a view of the back of a man leaning on the engine of a car.

I returned to the place stinking oil while observing inside. Apart from the almost black towels, the room was quite clean. A little music was played in the loudspeakers. I felt like I was going back to the therapist whom I saw when I was a kid, and who kept on playing music in the waiting room.

"You need something, ma'am?" asked the bearded man, causing me to jump on the same occasion.

"No, no. Actually, I'm looking for Alex. I start working today."

"Ah! The new secretary who he doesn't stop talking about!" he said with a laugh. "You don't know how hard it's to work when he's grumpy."

"Well, I'll try not to put him in a bad mood then!" I exclaimed, smiling softly.

"Serge, go back to work," Alex's grumbling voice commanded.

The man laughed before working on a car. I walked to the door where Alex had just left. It was a small brightly lit room with a table in the middle, surrounded by shelves. To my surprise, the colorful binders rest on wooden shelves. No sheets flying everywhere.

"Well, there are a lot of papers that aren't tidy in the binders. You can start with that. If the phone rings, you can note the name and time of the appointment on this notebook."

He then left the room not letting me say a word. I sighed and began my work. I took out the binders one by one, and checked that everything was in the right place. I answered the phone. Only one call in the morning. At noon, Alex came to tell me that I could go and see Elena to eat while he was with his friend Serge. The garage was open until at least eighteen hours without interruption. So Elena used to prepare a good meal that they could eat in the garage itself.

I went in to see Elena singing an air in the kitchen.

"I'm here," I said.

"Oh, hello my little one!" she said, leaving the saucepan to turn her attention back to me. "So that first day with Alex?"

"Well, I stayed in the room to sort out and check that the papers are tidy, and I also answer the phone. It's fairly well organized."

"Of course it is now! I threatened not to eat anymore if he hadn't clean a minimum that room before you came there. If you'd seen that before, it was a real mess!"

"You didn't have to help me. It's my job after all."

"Let's see my child, after the days you spent putting away his father's office, it was okay not to be overworked," she said, shoving the spoon into the saucepan.

"Thanks then."

After eating, I went back to the garage. But I was bored. The phone didn't ring, and I sat down and did nothing. I was surely going to have cramps.

Suddenly, raising my head, I saw a cardboard hidden behind filing cabinets. I got up and stretched out my hand to remove the binders in front, then tried to touch the cardboard, but it was too far away. A presence behind me made me froze. A hand extended to the cardboard and took it to place it on the table. I turned to see Alex just to my right. He didn't move and neither did I. Our eyes were captured without anyone turning away.

"Thank you," I said as soon as the use of my voice came back to me.

"What do you want to do with this cardboard?"