Raising his blue eyes, the lad sighed once more, held out his hands and placed them on the table.
"I'm even used to you coming to me so often now. You come to me for all sorts of things. Two days ago, you came to ask me the meaning of life. Do you really think that I am your friend who you can talk to whenever you want?"
"You're the only one who understands me," Nicholas said quietly, lowering his eyes again and making a terribly sad expression on his face.
"What happened this time?"
"My mother threw me out of the house."
"What? Why?"
"She said she didn't want a son like me."
"What did you do wrong for her to say something like that?"
"Nothing. I didn't do anything."
"What do you want me to do? You want me to talk to her?"
"It's her new boyfriend. He's against me living with them. He's the one who told her to kick me out of the house. Can you imagine that! At three in the morning, a mother throws her 16-year-old son out of the house. Is that normal?"
"Nicholas, is there anything you want me to do to help you?"
"Talk to my mother."
"All right. I'll talk to her."
"It would be better if child welfare picked me up or whoever's in charge of keeping these kids safe when they're abandoned by their parents."
"I'll help in any way I can."
"Can I stay at your house?"
"What? Do you understand what you just said?"
"I have nowhere else to go."
"You have friends."
"They don't need me when I'm in trouble."
"Do you have any idea what you just said to me? And how do I explain having a 16-year-old in my house?"
"It's not like anyone's going to know."
Breezing into his office so suddenly that Jasper almost fell out of his chair, Mrs Anderson also stealthily found herself next to him.
"What were you two talking about? Nicholas, what's the matter?"
"Nicholas, I'll talk to your mother and that's all I can do for you. Go back to class, class is about to start."
Without saying anything, Nicholas slammed the door behind him, and his loud footsteps could still be heard for a long time.
"What a cheeky kid. He acts like he's your friend. What kind of behaviour is that? You're right, you should talk to his mother. I think he should be sent to a school for difficult teens. If this continues, he will become as dangerous as all other young people."
"Do you think all young people are dangerous? You were young once, too. You were 16 years old too."
"Are you defending him?"
"No. I'm just asking. Mrs. Anderson, did you want something? Why are you here?"
Covering her mouth with her hand and bending her legs at the knees, Mrs Anderson laughed, and the sound of that laughter reminded him of the sound of a child's rattle. He could hardly restrain himself from laughing.
"I was wondering, are you free tomorrow? Tomorrow night, after work."
"I don't know."
"I'd like to invite you to my birthday party."
"That's very kind of you. But I don't know if I'll be doing anything. I might have some urgent things to do. So, I can't make any promises."
"But still, I'll wait for you. You don't have to give me anything. The most important thing is that you come. You know my address, don't you?"
"Yes. But I can't promise you anything."
Looking at him, Mrs. Anderson adjusted her round, red-rimmed glasses, then blushing so much that her face became just as red, she chuckled softly and left the office.
He looked at the clock again. It was four hours to the meeting. An eternity for him, but an instant for Professor Everett, who had already started his lecture on Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. For, as Einstein suggested, for those who enjoy it, time passes very quickly. After all, Everett loved his work and Physics so much that a four-hour lecture was like four minutes to him. But to students, like four years. And after such a long lecture was over, everyone left the auditorium looking as if they were already grown up and even old.
"As a homework assignment, I will ask you to write down all your observations that you will make during the whole week. Write down how slowly and how quickly time flows, when you are happy, when you are enjoying the moment and when you are sad, nervous, or waiting for the moment to end. Observe the passage of time and watch how time adjusts to your mood. Is that clear?" he asked when the four-hour lecture was over.
"Yes, Professor."
"Thank you for your attention," he added as everyone began to make noise and quickly leave the auditorium.
"Everett are you free?" his only friend and colleague asked, when Everett was ready to leave this place.
"Yes. I'm on my lunch break right now."
"So am I. Come on, I want to tell you about something."
"What is it? Is your wife pregnant again?"
"No. Don't say things like that."
"What happened then?"
"I want to change my job."
"What? Why? What?" Everett asked loudly, as if he'd heard something shocking that would put anyone in shock.
"Why are you so surprised and scared? It's not like I'm dying," the man named George said, nervously taking off his jacket and throwing it on the table. Then his jacket flew after him and his tie.
"But you like your job, don't you? You love literature. You love reading, and you can teach."
"Yes, but still, I want to change something in my life. I'm already 45 years old."
"Yes, you're 45 years old and you want to change something. Don't you think it's too late? I mean, you've got everything a person needs."
"And what's that?"
"Stability."
"Don't tell me you think a person needs stability."
"Yes. Stability is very important in life."
"I shouldn't have told you that. I didn't think you were so old-fashioned."
"I'm on my lunch break and I'm hungry."
Looking at his friend, whom he had known for a very long time, Everett was not trying to prove to him that it was too late to start anything at that age, he just didn't want to lose him. After all, it was with this man of small stature and curly hair, who always wore a jumpsuit of his own creation, that he liked to dine and talk about everything in the world.
But when they sat down at the round wooden table, Everett could see the sadness and even disappointment on his friend's face. And in that moment, he wanted to say something he would never say to himself.
"George, look, it's your life and it's up to you to decide what to do next. Stability's an important thing, but I think you should change something, do something that brings happiness back into your life. Don't listen to me. Do what you want to do."
"You're a strange man. You know that?"
"I know. Now tell me what you want to do next, and why you decided so abruptly to give up the art of teaching."
George rested his head on the table, his legs under the table beginning to shake, as they usually do when he's nervous and it was all too much like the antics of a child. He looked like a child himself, determined never to grow up.
"What happened to you? You can tell me anything."
"I'm just tired. I'm tired of this life where nothing happens. I want to do something to bring me back into this life. I want to write a book, paint a picture, learn to play the violin. I want to go to Japan. I want to climb to the top of some mountain. Do you understand?"
"Yes. But what will you live on? You have to earn money. You've got a daughter. By the way, how's she doing? She graduated from medical school a year ago. Is she working somewhere now?"
"My Violetta's getting married. She's going to London."
"What? To London? So that's why you decided you had to leave everything and become someone else. You're suddenly a free man. How does that feel? It must be nice. Passing the responsibility for your daughter to another person," Everett said and immediately regretted what he had just said. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
"It's all right. You're right. That's what we do with kids. When they grow up, we hand over responsibility for them to their husbands or wives. That's the way of the world. What can you do?"
"When is she getting married? And who's the lucky guy? Your daughter is very pretty, isn't she? I've seen her a couple of times, and I couldn't forget her face. A very pretty girl indeed."
"His name is Arthur. He's a doctor, too. He's an ophthalmologist. Violetta will be working in the same clinic as him."
"That's great, isn't it? What does Violetta treat? I've already forgotten."
"Gastroenterologist. She treats the stomach and intestines."
"I'm happy for her. I hope Arthur's a good and decent guy."
"She's leaving in two months. The wedding will be at the end of this month. When the invitations are ready, I'll give you one."
"I'll definitely be there."
"When she leaves, I think I'll go too. Probably to Japan after all."
"What will you do there?"
"I'll travel. Live, eat, sleep, and read books. Maybe I'll even start learning Japanese."
"You know, I'm already sad that you won't be around. How will I survive with all these students who hate me?"
"Come with me. You have nothing to lose, either."
"What? I have a wife and kids."
"Your wife doesn't love you, and you don't love her either. It's obvious. Even the students know that. And your daughters, they can handle themselves. They'll get everything they want."
"Go to Japan with you? I'll go to Japan with you. I think it would be a great joke for my wife. I'll tell her about it today and see how she reacts," Everett said, not even aware of what was waiting for him exactly one hour later. He even looked at his watch as if he had a premonition that he should act right now so that he didn't miss that chance and that disaster that would change everyone's life.
"Many people regret what they didn't do at the end of their lives. I don't want to be the kind of person who, before he dies, regrets that he never went to Japan. Are you so sure you won't regret anything?"
"I like my job. I love Physics. I'm willing to talk about it for days and nights on end."
George lifted his head, snatched the banana from his hands and looked around. With a hurt look that made his chubby cheeks even cuter, he put the banana down on the table and waited until several students had passed them.
"Why did you put the banana on the table instead of eating it?"
"These days, I can't even eat a banana in peace. You know what young people are thinking nowadays when they see someone eating a banana, don't you? They think of something else and dirty. It's not just the banana, I can't even eat ice cream and lollipops properly."
Everett laughed, grabbed a banana, and popped it in his mouth, thereby immediately attracting the attention of the two boys who were sitting not far away from them.
"You're right. No one can eat a banana in peace," he said, taking a quick bite of that banana.
"Thank you for listening to me. I have to go now."
"Yes, I have to go too. I suddenly remembered that I had to pick up my suit from the washhouse. They told me to pick it up after lunch. I've got time, so maybe I'll take a walk. The weather's great today."