L'affaire Bob

24. Pranks and Drinks, C'est Ma Vie

-"What was that?" asked Francesco as soon as we set foot in the training room again.

-"That, roomie, was you messing up a rare chance of me discovering what or who was behind Bob's death!" I exclaimed through gritted teeth.

To be honest, I was having a hard time trying to restrain myself from slapping him. My emotions were boiling underneath. Just a few moments ago, it had felt as if I could finally get some answers. I had been a few steps away from discovering the truth-- a few steps away from finally letting Bob's soul rest in peace.

Francesco, on the other hand, did not seem to have been affected much by the incident, since all he was able to do after my little snap was blink at me. In confusion? Fake Innocence? I had no idea. Probably a mix of both.

-"So?" he urged me.

-"Did you see the guy who was with Bob?"

-"I've never seen Bob in my entire life. How do you want me to know which one was him?" he replied, rolling his eyes.

I took a deep breath.

-"The one with the black mask, did you see him?"

-"Oh, so he's Bob?"

-"No, stupid! The shorter one was Bob. The masked guy was one of Jonathan's new bodyguards."

-"I see. And, umm, who's Jonathan again?"

-"Ah, yes, you don't know him. He's, umm, an important man at work. His father was our former boss. Mr. Gautier took his place after he died a year ago, at 65. People say the poor man died of old age. There are rumors, however, that this wasn't the case at all. Some say it has something to do with an old family affair, while others suggest one of his enemies may have been behind it. I tend to simply stick to the "natural death" hypothesis since that's what the medical reports said, according to Jonathan."

-"And what about Jonathan's bodyguard?" inquired Francesco, as an attempt to get back to our original topic. "Why do you think you could've gotten answers from his and Bob's conversation?"

-"Why would any of Jonathan's new bodyguards be speaking with my best friend? I can't seem to find a logical link between the two. Plus, I don't trust this Mask Guy. And frankly, I don't trust all of Jonathan's new crew of bodyguards. They seemed a bit creepy to me with their black clothes and even darker masks."

-"So you're telling me that this whole "oh-we-could've-gotten-answers!" act was purely based on your intuition?"

I pondered this question for a while. Did I have a decent and logical enough reason not to trust these guys? What did they ever do to me?

Maybe Francesco was right, after all. Maybe I overreacted. Why did I think that this conversation could've given me answers? I was getting crazy. And honestly, this whole affair was driving me nuts.

My certitude of knowing everything about my best friend was slowly fading away. With each passing minute, doubts invaded my mind. They crawled up my spine, chilling me to my core, creating theories that no sane person would've let pass through their heads.

Thankfully, Emma's voice cut right through my stream of thoughts. Directing my gaze back on our trainer, I watched as she combed her hair up in a ponytail while at the same time congratulating us on succeeding in our travels.

-"That's enough for today," she told us with a smile. "You can go rest in your rooms."

And that's what we did. Soon enough, we were out of the training room and climbing up the stairs that led to the dorms.

The image of Emma combing her hair came back to me, more vivid with every step I took. I didn't notice it before, but something had changed in her after our coming back. While before our departure she looked chirpy and full of life, at the end of the lesson, her expression had changed. She looked tired and weary as if her energy had drained out. Heck, she didn't even try to tease me or throw annoying remarks on my way out. Something had to have happened while we were time-traveling.