"And so, Leon, you are a writer. What are you writing about?"
Leon, smiling slightly, combing his hair back, replied, "I write about different things. About people, about things, about life, about the universe."
"How long have you known each other?" Fortunata asked. Since lunch, she's been a little nervous. Looking at Leon, it was as if she wanted to understand him as much as I did.
"It's been a very short amount of time," I briefly replied.
"I must admit, your arrival here is very unexpected. I guess you have something important to say to the professor?" she asked, clearly showing her hatred to him.
Leon, looking at the carrot salad in front of him, replied, "Yes. That's the way it is."
"Professor, how do you feel? Do you have an appetite?" Lei asked.
"Yes. I'm fine."
"Your friend really scared us yesterday," Draken began but Lei interrupted him.
"Professor, you need rest. Try not to do anything today. Rest, walk in the fresh air."
"Thank you, Lei. But I'm really fine."
"I knew you shouldn't have come here," Leon said softly, and got up from the chair. "I'll be waiting for you in your room," he added, and quickly climbed up the stairs.
No one dared to say anything.
The blizzard itself hummed its tune. During this time, I managed to find some comfort in such weather.
The sounds of the blizzard were very soothing.
Fortunata didn't take her eyes off me. And when Lei and Draken went about their business, she moved closer to me and suddenly hugged me sharply.
She didn't say anything. She was just breathing heavily.
"What happened?"
But she suddenly got up and ran out of the house.
I didn't dare to follow her and the curiosity led me to the second floor.
When I reached my room, I suddenly stopped. For some reason I was worried to talk to him.
But soon he opened the door and asked, "Why are you standing there?"
I walked into the room and locked it.
"What are you doing here? Leon, what are you even doing? Are you following me?"
He sat down on his chair and slowly turned his head in my direction. The expression on his face was indifferent.
"Skye, you still have a long way to go. But that's not the main thing right now."
"What is the main thing then? Leon, what game are you playing? All of a sudden, you appeared in my life and now you're everywhere."
"You sound like all people now. Don't look like you're scared. That's what you've wanted all your life. A sense of mystery. You've never had enough of this world, these people. That's why you've always been alone. So now, you have everything."
Leaning against the back of his chair, Leon lazily pointed his hand towards the book and then said, "Your book has caused a sensation in this world. You don't know yet?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Why don't we take a walk? I've never seen such a beautiful winter," he suddenly said and headed toward the door.
But I closed the door so hard that there was a noise all over the house.
"You're not going anywhere! Leon, explain it to me! Enough of this mystery!"
He looked at me. Now, his expression was the same. Kind and a little sad.
I didn't want to raise my voice.
"Leon, sometimes you scare me. I don't know what kind of mystery you are. I don't even know who you are."
"That's the problem, professor. A person is in such a hurry to learn about another person that when he learns about him or her, he immediately loses all interest."
"Enough! Just answer my question."
He went to the door and opened it.
"Dress warmly. We're going for a walk. Show me the city."
Having said that he quickly walked away.
It was a little hard to follow him through a strong blizzard.
But feeling a new surge of energy and neglecting the words of the doctor, I still went forward and soon we were in the city.
Stopping at the counter with toys and souvenirs, Leon pointing to a glass ball inside which was raging blizzard, said, "Professor, buy me this."
I wanted to laugh, I was confused and a little scared. But I still bought him this souvenir.
I always thought I was the weirdest person on the planet, but Leon was weirder than me.
Stopping in front of each counter with different things, he just pointed me to a thing and I was buying.
The day couldn't have been any weirder.
Finally, when we stopped in front of the cafe, Leon opened the door and said, "Let's have a coffee."
There weren't many people in the cafe. The small round tables stood far apart from each other.
Cozy light and a little darkness created a sense of comfort.
I sat down in front of the window and started studying the menu.
A quiet melody swirled around us. Recalling the festive mood.
Leon, looking out the window, suddenly plunged into silence.
I ordered us two cups of coffee and two cakes.
"Leon, did you want to talk to me about something?"
"Yes," he said.
"So what it is?"
"About your book."
"I'm listening."
He looked at me and said, "Your book has become very popular. Professor, you could remind people of their dreams."
"What are you talking about?"
After waiting for the woman to walk away from us, he then continued, "When you left, your book quickly gained popularity. And soon, people started to change all of a sudden."
"What do you mean?"
"You wrote about dreams and goals, didn't you? Well, people began to give up work to fulfill their long-forgotten dream. All of a sudden they're giving importance to their dreams."
"But it can't be."
"Maybe. Skye, now in our city, people are just changing in front of their eyes. Teachers leave work saying that this is not what they have always dreamed of. Bank workers are quitting and all because they always wanted to be a cook or an artist. Skye, don't you understand? Your book was able to reach people. Now, they suddenly began to pay attention to their lives and dreams."
"But I didn't want that," I said feeling the slight anxiety.
The very idea that everyone was quitting work scared me a little bit.
"Calm down. You just reminded people to dream and achieve their goals. And not to go to work where you feel unhappy, or to study something that is not interesting to you."
"How serious is this?"
"Skye, your book is becoming a world bestseller. And that's why we need to go somewhere."
"What? Where to?"
"People started to change. So, we have to wait," he said and smiled.