The next place where this unusual guy who was like a storm took me, was the same house that looked like a lighthouse.
We stopped at the door and I was struck by the fact that it was from here that I could see green fields and forest in front of me.
How far away we were from the city.
Leon knocked on the door and for a while we just stood and waited until we were met by a young guy with curly hair.
His face looked familiar to me, but I couldn't remember where I saw those almost owlish eyes and that cheerful facial expression that screamed, "I'm very happy!"
"Leon! Finally!" he exclaimed, and grabbing Leon by the hand he quickly dragged him inside the house. "Where have you been? You haven't heard from you for a long time!"
Looking at how Leon looked at him friendly, forgetting about his mystery, I realized that he is perhaps his best friend.
"I brought someone to you," Leon said, and looked at me from head to toe.
"I knew so, " whispered a guy with curly, brown hair.
What he meant I never understood, but the way he looked at Leon was pretty strange.
Looking over each other, Leon nodded slightly to him, and he smiled joyfully, and then if it didn't seem to me, he winked at him.
Holding out his hand to me, the guy introduced himself, "My name is Levi. And I am the publisher of this beautiful publishing house."
"Publishing!" I exclaimed and looked at Leon.
"What's your name?" asked Levi tying the belt of his cardigan. "It's very cold here. Would you like a cardigan?"
"No thanks. My name is Skyemoone. But you can call me just Skye."
"What an unusual name!" and again he glanced suspiciously at Leon. "And what do you do Mr. Skye?"
"I'm a professor of Philosophy."
"Of course!" he exclaimed, and patted Leon on the back.
There was clearly some secret language between them.
"Please sit down. Feel at home," Levi said pointing to a large sofa that stood surrounded by books and papers.
When he disappeared behind the tree door, I looked around and noticed that this house or publishing house looked more like a library. There were millions of books here. And the same amounts of papers that have been written.
In the middle of the room, I noticed a large globe that was closing the whole shelf. The globe slowly twirled around its axis.
The house was quite old, but at the same time there was a smell of new books.
While I was looking at the room and the books in front of me, Leon was looking at me.
"Over there, this is my book," he said pointing to a book that was lying on a small coffee table.
I immediately picked it up and felt my palms sweat.
On the cover was a drawing of a silhouette of a man and the title of the book was "Good Man."
I eagerly opened the first page and wanted to read it, but Leon stopped me.
"I wrote this book two years ago."
"I haven't seen it in stores."
"I didn't publish it for people to read."
"You published it just for yourself."
"It's a kind of memoir. My memoir."
Here he said as if he was already 90 years old.
So how old is he?
Noticing the apparent curiosity on my face, Leon smiled like never before and said, "If you want, you can read it."
"Really?"
"How unusual! Normally he wouldn't let anyone read his memoirs! He even refused to publish it!" exclaimed someone who was going down the wooded stairs.
I looked up and saw Levi. But when he managed to change his hair color and clothes?!
His hair was dyed red and he wore black jeans and a black T-shirt over which was a light red denim.
The moment he reached out to me, I knew it was his twin brother.
"I'm Liam. Twin brother of Levi."
Noticing the surprise on my face, he added, "Yes, we are very similar. Even too much. He's my reflection."
As he sat next to me, Liam handed me a chocolate bar. "Are you scared?"
Turning to Leon, he asked him, "Who is he to you?"
Leon suddenly got up and grabbed the chocolate from his hand, moved a little to the side and began to look at the books.
Liam, behaving more freely and not shyly, almost lay down on the sofa, and put his hand on my shoulder. And then I noticed that he had a lot of tattoos on his body.
He had a crow on his neck, and all five fingers of his left hand had some constellations.
"So, you're a professor?" he asked me.
"Yes," I said.
"Don't be afraid. I'm a good person," he said, and began to massage my shoulders.
"Liam stop," Leon told him, and judging by the way Liam immediately removed his hands, I realized that Leon had shared with him his evil sparks that were coming from the bowels of his dark green eyes.
I felt a little uncomfortable and even a little scared.
"That is enough, don't scare him!"
"Brother! What have you been doing there for so long?" shouted Liam, and jumping over the back of the sofa rushed towards Levi, who was walking with a tray in his hand.
"I hope you like green tea. I also brought some sweets here. If you want, I can cook dinner for you if you are hungry."
"Don't bother. I love green tea."
"I'm sorry if my brother said something to you or scared you. He just loves strangers. Especially beautiful as you. You see, he draws comics. So, when he sees a handsome man or woman, he immediately begins to talk to him or her and when he captures the beautiful features in his memory, he begins to draw his next character. He needs beautiful people for his story and inspiration."
"Don't talk too much," muttered Leon grabbing a plate of cookies.
"Is he your boyfriend?" Liam asked lightly hugging Leon.
"Liam! Actually, now I plan to do business. Don't get in the way."
"Don't get in the way! You're so boring."
Having made a dissatisfied appearance, Liam again sat down next to me and propped his chin with his hand and again began to look at me.
Noticing my embarrassment, Levi whispered, "Don't pay attention. He's just been hyperactive since he was a kid. Just let him look at you and then he'll go to paint."
"It's all right," I replied, and drank a few sips of green tea which, to my surprise, was not like any tea I drank.
"And so, let's get to the point, as you already understand, it's a publishing house. As you can see, all these books around us have been published. Some of them became popular, and some remained in the walls of this house. It all depends on the writer," Levi said before I could give him my manuscript, to which he simply replied, "We will publish your book."
"What?! But you haven't even read it."
"Tell me, you've already been turned down by a few publishers, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, everything is decided. You don't have any doubts about us. With us, your book will skyrocket. Of course, if you want to. Or we can just publish it in binding and just sell a few copies in small shops on the outskirts of the city."
"Listening to you, I understand your publishing house has power and voice among the world of writers."
"Yes. We have a good reputation. Do you know why? Because we're on our own. And of course, because we work with denials."
"With denials?"
"Yes. Writers come to us after denials. And it doesn't matter if the book is good or not. Yes, it's a big risk, but still, I think it's good that with us, every writer has a chance," Levi said and again took a quick look at Leon who walked between the shelves with books.
"I've never heard of your publishing house before," I said feeling that something was wrong. A man can't just take and publish a book like this.
"You don't trust us. But you can be calm. We do it to make this world open to every talent. And besides, your Leon also published his books here several times."
"Professor, you still have nothing to lose. And besides, I know you want to publish the Chain Reaction. So why are you acting like all people now?" asked Leon still wandering between the shelves.
I caught his gaze and Liam began to read the first lines of my manuscript. Brushing off his sneakers, he muttered, "Professor, I see you have talent. And besides, you're a very popular writer. I hope you will publish this book. Who knows, maybe with this book you will become the most famous and coolest person in the world."
Having caught the views of all three people who surrounded me, I thought again, but in the end I agreed.
Still, I wanted my book to be published. And that desire won my doubt. Although I trusted Leon completely.
"I'm very happy Professor," said Levi, and once again shook my hand. "You can have no doubt about us. And yet, if you don't mind, leave me your mail address."
On that note, I arranged the next meeting.