THE FAMILIAR MELODY

Chapter 2

“Where the hell is he?” Lambert asked. He and Eskel had been sitting at a Café, the exact same one as last night.

“Give him a break, Lambert,” Eskel said, trying to calm him down, “he just broke up with Yennefer. He’s probably going through some stuff right now.”

Lambert snorted, “Yeah well, we all knew that relationship was going nowhere. Sure I feel bad for him but c’mon that girl’s always been trouble.”

Eskel sighed, “Still, he loved her, he still does and she probably loved him as well. We have to be there for our brother, Lambert. Don’t forget that.”

Lambert looked away from Eskel and decided to stare at the menu. It wasn’t that he was hungry, but Eskel made a point. Now he felt like a shitty friend and was too proud to admit that. “Yeah you’re right,” he looked at his watch, yep, Geralt’s running late again.

“Well speak of the devil. Geralt you made it!” Eskel stood up and greeted his brother with a hug, which Geralt returned.

“Thought you’d get lost or something." Lambert greeted with a nod.

Geralt responded with a simple ‘hmm’ and sat down next to Eskel.

Eskel cleared his throat before he spoke, “So Geralt. How are you holding up?”

How was he holding up? Let’s see, Yennefer broke up with him not too long ago and he was getting evicted for not paying more money. But other than that, “Fine.” Geralt grunted.

Lambert scoffed, “Seriously? Fine? Didn’t seem fine to me last night.”

“Lambert!” Eskel eyed him, signaling him not to push any buttons.

Geralt chuckled, “Nah it’s ok. Man, you two really missed me, huh? It hasn’t been twenty-four hours yet.”

Eskel laughed, placing his hand on Geralt’s shoulder, “Haha. Glad your sense of humor came back. I thought it was limited last night.”

Lambert observed Geralt, “Tch. Wipe that smug off your face. I don’t buy it man. Something’s definitely off. What happened?” he crossed his arms over his chest, “Oh god, please tell me you did not contact that witch last night?”

As always, Lambert was always able to see through the façade. It was always like that ever since they met in the military. Deep down, Geralt was glad that his brothers called him, telling him that they were in town, or how else would he survive right now? Even if it was just for a week, that was enough time for them all to reconnect. It had been a year, since they last saw each other. It was at a funeral, no less.

Geralt rolled his eyes, “Way to ruin the mood Lambert.” He huffed, “If you must know, I just got evicted by my landlady, if I don’t pay rent next week. And it’s a hell of a lot of money.”

Eskel shook his head, while Lambert smirked triumphantly. He knew it was bad, but it felt damn good to be right, even though Geralt was getting kicked out of his apartment.

Lambert suppressed a laugh. “See, I told ya there was something. But in all seriousness Geralt, you should’ve just told us, instead, you just let me squeeze it out of you. Again.”

“In my defense, it happened twenty minutes ago.” Geralt shrugged. He then ordered coffee from a waitress.

“Dammit Geralt, that’s what we’re here for. To help out our brother.” Eskel lectured.

“Exactly. We’re brothers remember? Well technically not biological but you know what I mean.” Lambert agreed.

“Guys. I can handle this. It’s just a minor set-back.”

“Minor set-back? Yeah, that’s not it. That’s far from it.” The conversation paused, as the waitress placed Geralt’s coffee in front of them, to which Geralt thanked her and sipped his coffee, “From what you told us last night, you have trouble getting a job lately.”

“I’m glad you brought that up, Lambert. Geralt, do you remember my old job?” Eskel asked.

“Uhh. A bouncer.”

“Nope, that’s my job. But hey, at least you remembered one of our jobs.” Lambert teased.

“A bodyguard, Geralt, a bodyguard. Anyways, I called the agency, if they have any vacant jobs. And as luck might have it, there is one.”

Geralt raised a brow. “You got me a job as a bodyguard?”

“An interview. But when you nail the interview, then yes, you get the job.”

Geralt was taken aback, he couldn’t believe what his brother did. “Wow Eskel. I can’t believe you’d go to all that trouble, man. I owe you one.”

“Damn Geralt. You’re getting soft. I guess that happens when you’re getting old.” Lambert smirked. That was his way to care for his brother. Sure, he sounded like a jerk, but that was Lambert’s nature.

Geralt and Eskel ignored Lambert and hugged it out. “Anything for a bro.” Eskel said.

“Ah jeez. Now you’re both getting old.”

“We’re all the same age, Lambert!” Geralt and Eskel shouted in unison.

They all laughed for a while. Times like these were precious to Geralt, from what he learned throughout his life, was that you’d never know how long you’d be able to see that person, before they disappear in your life. He learned that the hard way, when he and his best friend from high school drifted apart. He regretted how things ended between them. He always wondered, what happened to that guy?

When the laughter died down, Geralt cleared his throat, “So, who am I going to have an interview with?”

“Ah well. Good that you’re on board with that.”

“Haha yeah. We thought it might take a while for you to deal with it. Since you hate being a bodyguard.” Lambert pointed out. It was true that Geralt hated being a bodyguard, even though he was a bodyguard for a month. But that was “too much for him”, as Geralt claimed.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” Geralt mumbled before he sipped some coffee.

“Well. It depends, you might have an interview with the manager but since the guy doesn’t trust anyone right now, the one who wants to hire a bodyguard would interview you.”

“And who’s this guy?” Geralt asked, drinking coffee.

“Well this is going to be fun.” Lambert sniggered.

Eskel whispered, so that no one could eavesdrop. “It’s this singer, Julian Alfred Pankratz.”

Geralt almost choked on his coffee. He felt his heart stopped beating for a second and it was just only by hearing his name. Was it really him? Was it really Jaskier?