Julian could hear the planes over his appartement. This fucking appartement is as small as a storage room, he thought, sipping his Heineken. He could imagine them, these big birds with engines, flying in the sky. His dream was to take a plane to anywhere, one day. To never return. Buying a ticket and leaving this place forever. Heading to a better place.
A couple drops of beer fell on his t-shirt. Julian sighed, took his roll of kitchen towels and erased the stain of booze. Dammit, I need those towels for something else ! He said to himself. The beer had left a strange smell and a weird freshness on his chest. Julian hoped he wouldn't hear the ring of the Alcatel phone. He wanted to be alone, and, above all, he wanted to be undisturbed.
His sister, Lina, was probably at home, in the wide living room of her wide house. She was an attorney. Quite successful, apparently. Her daughter was three months old. And Julian knew Lina loved to phone him when he was resting. She was worried about her brother. Dammit, you sucker, Julian said to himself. In his family, he was the only unsuccessful person. His father was a doctor, his mother was a psychiatrist, his sister was an attorney, and him? Well, he put items in the sections of a store. He despised his job. Had always hated it. He knew he had disappointed his family.
His life consisted of being scared for tomorrow. Alone in his small, colorless apartment. Unable to find love, because of a thousand failed love stories. He didn't love himself enough.
I'm a failure, let's face it, he thought, as if he was talking to his sister. He went on drinking his beer.
Dring, dring, dring.
Well, how surprising, he sighed, rising from the couch. He went and took the phone, which was ringing on the corner cabinet.
"Lina ?"
"Hi! Hey, is my little brother awake?"
This thing annoyed Julian. He was about forty, his sister was thirty-four; she was the youngest. But she still called Julian "My little brother". This nickname kind of sounded like failure to Julian. Yes, at almost forty years old, he seemed more childish than his own younger sister.
"I'm only half awake", he admitted. "Listen, this week, Angel isn't home, and I'm alone with the baby. Wanna come?", Lina asked. Julian sighed once again. "Coming ? What for ? » « Nothing, I don't know. Watching TV, playing. Talking. I have no clue. I'm alone and you are too, so..."
Going to his sister's house? In her big house ? To be jealous? Oh, fuck it, he thought, she was his sister and he felt alone, she was right. On the phone, there was an annoying silence for about thirty seconds. Then, Lina said: "Ah, I have a bottle of Vodka at home!".
That was all Julian needed to hear.
