Je me sens un peu plus en sécurité quand je suis avec toi.

That was a late night. 2 AM. I was sitting at my laptop, watching some videos on YouTube that popped up in recommendations, until I noticed how on the tab where Facebook was open with my personal messages, a notification appeared that a new message had arrived, even the sound of the notification itself gave know about yourself. I didn’t really have so much friends, and we didn’t really hang out much except for Lynne and Nene, so I was a little surprised who suddenly needed some kind of “social interaction” at a time like this. p1co.9 — 2:07 AM hey listen, you’re free right now, rn’t you? we need to talk, dude, stop ignoring me! :( It’s quite strange and even stressful to see such a message from a stranger on the internet, especially who is not even your acquaintance, he is a total stranger, and besides, there are no mutual friends with him, if you check his friendlist… Wait, Nene? She know that guy? I was so surprised to see her on Pico’s friendlist, but decided that it’s better to leave this question for tomorrow, when I visit her in the cafe for breakfast. Anyway, he is not on my friendlist. I clicked on his photo, which he put on his avatar. There was one girl on the backround on it who had red hair, and it seemed like she was also trying to take the phone from the owner. One could also tell from her physiognomy that she was furious, although maybe it was something like friendly games, I don’t know; also visible, apparently, was the left hand of the same owner, who was showing two fingers. You know, like when you are asked to take a photo, and without noticing it, you bend three fingers, leaving only two — the index and middle, trying to take a normal photo; You also seem to automatically put a smile on your face. And you do it as if unconsciously. This same “owner” was dressed, apparently, in a green jacket or sweater, it’s hard to see here. The face itself wasn’t particularly visible, just a part of it where a small strand of bright orange hair and a few freckles were still visible, as well as part of his smile in the photo. I continued to look at his page. I don’t know where I got this habit from, when some stranger writes to me, I simply have to look through everything: if there are any mutual friends, place of residence, date of birth, where he works or studies, and maybe at least find out the appearance of the person himself, however I barely had time to look at anything other than the photo when I heard a notification about a new message. But I didn’t even have time to ask who it was, how he found me and why, when suddenly the status “Pico is typing…” appeared. This alarmed me more, I don’t know why, but still I decided to find out what he would write to me again. However, the status that notified that the interlocutor was typing disappeared, so I decided to wait a minute to calm myself down and, making sure that this same Pico was not going to print anything else, I wrote:

keith.cl — 2:09 AM

I’m sorry, do we know each other?

My hands began to shake for no reason, as if I was afraid of something or it was cold. Although no, it was warm outside, it felt like about fifteen degrees Celsius, then why am I shaking — am I afraid? Come on, it was just a stranger who accidentally confused people and wrote to the wrong person, Keith, stop being so nervous. Besides, this is the Internet, it’s not in reality that some leftist dude accosted you and started talking about some kind of ignoring, right? Again this status that the interlocutor was typing a message made me even more nervous. Soon a message arrived: p1co.9 — 2:09 AM oh sry, i accidentally confused u with someone else. btw, why rn’t you sleepin', “stranger”? “Stranger”? It seems he was just making fun of me a little by calling me that; I didn’t even notice how I put on a smile, no matter how strange it may sound, it warmed my soul. Nice. However, it is correctly noted that we really don’t know each other. I don’t know how he found me, much less how he managed to confuse me with someone else, or maybe he deliberately hid behind the confusion and deliberately decided to write to me out of the blue. Just for what?

ke1th.cl — 2:10 AM

Confused you say… Understood.

As for sleep, I don’t really want to sleep right now, but I think I should go to bed soon, it’s already late. Why are you not sleeping?

p1co.9 — 2:10 AM yeeeep i don’t feel like sleepin' at all, well… i still needed to talk to one dude but i think he’ll kick my ass faster than ill get any answer from him lmao ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I was thinking of writing something, I don’t even know what, when suddenly the status that the other person was typing popped up again. p1co.9 — 2:11 AM btw, is that u in the photo? good look but why blue? :)

ke1th.cl — 2:11 AM

Thanks I guess. I was born this way, but thanks anyway, nice to hear.

p1co.9 — 2:12 AM “to read”, we can’t even hear each other hahaha and btw it’s amazing, it suits you. interesting pathology even lol As for reading, he correctly noted that I felt like an idiot when he said this, but on the other hand, they still say that, but for some reason it somehow became uncomfortable after this mention. I also felt awkward after the mention of my hair color; I always had a complex about them and even once thought about dyeing them either brown, or maybe becoming blonde, but my mother dissuaded me, saying that my natural hair looks very good on me, despite the fact that I constantly denied it. I tried to persuade my mother to buy dye and dye at least a few strands of hair, so that people would think that I only dyed part of my hair blue, as most teenagers did — to no avail. I continue to walk around with this blue on my head, but I’m already used to it, at least I don’t have to be afraid that they might beat me up on the street for this, they say, suddenly I have “problems with sexuality, I need help”, and thank you for that. Although this is more due to the fact that I often wear a hat, which is already like my own, but nevertheless — it’s a stupid question.

ke1th.cl — 2:12 AM

You’re right. Thanks again.

p1co.9 — 2:13 AM listen, do u have to go to work tomorrow? better go to bed then, otherwise you’ll oversleep some more It was 2:13 AM, so he’s right — I should go to bed, I need to get up early, I don’t want to be late again due to the fact that I’m just terribly lazy and slow, and besides, sleep is constantly getting the better of me. It’s time to restore the regime and stop whining to yourself about this.

ke1th.cl — 2:13 AM

Why don’t you go to bed? It’s time for you go to school.

I sent this message without hesitation, after which I folded my hands on my chest and, re-reading it, began to chuckle, but as soon as I thought for half a minute, I suddenly thought that if Pico was not a schoolboy at all. Honestly, I even forgot about the photo and was guided by the way he communicated, I could definitely say that this is how teenagers of thirteen to sixteen years old write. Well, it seemed so to me, at least. However, now I feel even more like an idiot, because I don’t even know who I’m talking to — a schoolboy or an adult and educated person, and I’m already claiming that this is some kind of schoolboy who decided to do nothing to write to a leftist person on the Internet, or didn’t decide, but accidentally confused him with another interlocutor. Holy shit, I didn’t even have time to look at his page, maybe he at least wrote there how old he is at the moment… p1co.9 — 2:13 AM hey badass, i actually already working, also i graduated from school a long time ago i can even buy alcohol x)

ke1th.cl — 2:13 AM

Sorry, didn’t mean to offend.

p1co.9 — 2:14 AM you didn’t offend me lmao, it’s nothing, so forget it in any case, go to sleep, at least for my sake)) “For my sake”. This phrase is ingrained in my head, it sounds funny, but he was right; If I don’t go to bed, I’ll sleep through work. Again, I thought more than once about restoring the regime, but every time everything went downhill. The main thing is not to get to the point of dismissal, otherwise it will be fun for my colleagues to watch how they scold me again, and then how the boss can’t stand it and decides to fire me, because the tower is probably putting pressure on him because of me.

ke1th.cl — 2:14 AM

Funny. Although I myself planned to go to bed, get up early. In that case, you go too. For me.

For some reason I decided to play along with him, why not?

***

The ringing of the alarm clock, which breaks your head almost every morning. I just want to take it and throw it at the wall, take a hammer and smash this alarm clock to hell, so that I no longer hear this annoying ringing every seven in the morning, at least get some sleep and not open my eyes staring at the room; and there was clearly not the best view and there was chaos, the same white suspended ceiling, on which, albeit barely, one could see my own reflection, as well as those same light bulbs, of the six of which only two had burst, and I still couldn’t pull myself together with strength and money and buy new ones. The same gray walls, my desk with a laptop and probably some other junk, the same bed on which I wake up every morning, the same wooden wardrobe with a mirror, the same bookshelves with a shitload of books on them, which I have already managed to re-read several times, and some I couldn’t even touch, and some I didn’t finish reading, either because I was tired, or because the book turned out to be so terrible for me, but I can’t get my money back because the expiration date has expired and they’ll send me away sooner. The same floor, baseboards, and of course the sun, which through the window had already managed to hit your eyes with its rays, hinting that it would not let you sleep, unless you closed the windows with curtains, which, by the way, I don’t have, or hide under the blanket, which is also not guaranteed to save you. It’s annoying, it’s the same routine, everything just goes in circles, you just want to never wake up and open your eyes again, so as not to see all this again; I had no choice but to sit on the edge of the bed, turn off the piece of hardware itself, which continued to torment my ears with its ringing ringing, hitting the bells from above, and then sit like that for ten seconds, just get up and go to the restroom to wash, brush my teeth, and preen myself and put myself in some order, give myself at least some kind of normal appearance, so as not to look like I was run over by a truck about ten times. Water procedures usually take me about twenty-twenty five minutes. So far this is my maximum. Having dried my hair for the last time, I hung up the towel and ran out of the bathroom in my home clothes, and threw my pajamas into the basket with dirty laundry. I’ll dry everything that doesn’t have time to dry later. Even if my hair is somewhere in the area of a bob, I think that’s what it’s called, it will still have time to dry at least half. Walking into the kitchen, I was immediately struck by the question: what’s for breakfast? This question annoys me, even when I ask it to myself, but it’s still worth throwing something in your mouth so as not to leave work for “a couple of minutes” to the store for a snack, complaining all day that you’re hungry and haven’t eaten. nothing really even in the morning. Colleagues obviously won’t be happy about this, especially Lynne. I remember how I used to have such a bad appetite that I could literally not eat for days, which is why Lynne constantly cooked breakfast and lunch for me. No matter how many times she claimed that it was not difficult for her, and she was only happy, as long as she ate, every time I was covered and I remembered moments that I would not like to remember. These moments were connected with my mother. Urgh, it still makes me shiver. Even though I don’t remember much from my childhood, some of it is still visible in my memory, which I’m not happy about. Anyway, not only did I ask Lynne to stop cooking for me, but I realized what a burden I was to her, so I just pulled myself together and started cooking for myself. Previously, I didn’t succeed in everything, of course, so I immediately went to Lynne with a request for help, teach me how to cook something at least basic and somehow navigate this area of cooking, so that even stupid thoughts would not arise about what “1 t. s.” means. I am still grateful to her for all this and owe her a lot. If she hadn’t taught me all this… I’m afraid to imagine how I would “survive” here. And so, now knowing what a colander is, I can calmly read some recipe book and cook something out of the ordinary. I went to the kitchen and turned on the kettle, poured cold water into a glass, and then immediately went into the refrigerator. There wasn’t much food, but it was better than nothing. Although I still didn’t really like to shop as much as I could because I didn’t want the food to go to waste. Just money down the drain, buh. After examining the refrigerator with the door and thinking a little, I took two eggs, buckwheat, which I had just brewed yesterday, butter and closed the refrigerator, then I put the eggs on a plate, and a pan with butter, then I took two pieces of sliced bread and also put it nearby. Then I took the frying pan out of the oven and put it on the stove, of course already throwing in pieces of oil, and then I waited for the frying pan to heat up and the oil was ready, placing it on medium heat before doing so. Having prepared myself, I immediately poured some boiling water into the cold water to keep it warm, drank it and went to get dressed. Two minutes passed, when the smell of oil had already made itself felt, and I only managed to put on trousers and socks, and the large T-shirt continued to hang on me, but it’s better than getting my shirt dirty while cooking, especially since I still have something to eat. I should have at least put my things in my bag, I still have my folder, I get dressed pretty quickly… But ok. Quickly taking two pieces of sliced bread, I made a small hole there with a knife, after which I threw this holey bread into the frying pan, and threw out these cut out circles. For what? You could just eat them, or make something out of them, or even fry them, why, Keith? I don’t know myself, but no matter how stupid it may sound, it has become a stupid habit for me that I can’t get rid of. But I won’t lie, I didn’t really try. After a couple of minutes, I threw one and a half tablespoons of buckwheat into these holes of the bread and, after waiting another minute, I threw eggs on each bread, where the slightly fried buckwheat lay, after which I simply waited for it all to be fried. After about two minutes, I turned the bread over every two or three minutes, then I took out a plate and with a spatula began to place these two pieces of bread on it. He also took out a fork and knife and began to eat his hearty breakfast. I wanted coffee, but I was running out of time. By the way, the breakfast was quite good, very filling, enough for me for more than half a day, but you need to eat adequately and not skip everything. Having quickly eaten everything, I immediately put everything in the sink and ran into the room to put on a shirt and jacket, still feeling the dampness on the top of my head. Apparently, I’ll have to spend more time drying… Thinking about this, I immediately took the phone and looked at the time — 7:39 AM. “Fuck, I’m late again, you piece of idiot”. After swearing everything I could, I quickly went to the bathroom and began drying my hair at the speed of light. What you haven’t dried completely will dry on its own. Of course, I didn’t forget to tie my ponytail, and when I went out into the corridor, I put on my hat, collected my folder, office bag, took my phone, keys, wallet, a pack of cigarettes with a lighter inside and ran out of the apartment, closing the door. It was already eight in the morning, and I continued to stand at the damn stop, waiting for a taxi, because our buses don’t go that early, or rather… There are simply too few of them, so it’s better to call a taxi than to wait forever, standing at the stop. When the taxi arrived, I ran up to it and sat down with the driver. We set off, the driver kept trying to somehow talk to me, start a conversation, which I myself reluctantly tried to maintain, I wanted to sit in silence, but this helped relieve the tension, I did not forget to indicate to the driver where to turn, saying that It will be shorter and faster this way. I need to take my mind off the thought that I might be scolded again for being late again; as usual, it’s unpleasant to hear insults directed at me, and then sit down at my desk in a shitty mood, even worse than in the morning, but on the other hand, they say it’s true, I’m truly irresponsible, and the fact that I haven’t been fired yet is still a miracle. Although this is more due to the fact that, despite the problems with being late and screwing up, I work very hard. In fact, I am a workaholic and I can easily spend the night at work just to finish the next bill. I didn’t even notice that we had already arrived. Having paid for the fare, I almost ran to the building where I work. Running up to the entrance, I entered the building, greeted the security guard and immediately headed to the elevator, ran into it and pressed the button for my home fourth floor. The elevator started and went up, then the music typical for such elevators began to play, and when he stopped and dictated the floor number, the doors opened. From there I began to walk quickly towards my office, which was located at the end of the corridor. Entering it, I was greeted only by the sounds of knocking on the keyboard, the operation of the air conditioner, printers and the creaking of chairs. Ignoring all this, I quickly took off my jacket, hung it on the hanger and stood near my shelf to find the folder I needed. Having found it, I took it out and finally sat down at my workplace, and, while sorting out the documents, at the same time tried to turn on the computer, trying to catch my breath a little. I was very glad that Darnell didn’t notice me and didn’t insert his pussy like he usually does. The mood even lifted a little. My colleague came up to me, my same friend Lynne. Smiling, she looked at me and then at her watch. “I see you’re late again. Don’t worry about Mr. Darnell, he promised late today, so I’ll cover you”. She said. “Oh really? Then thank you, I am in your debt,” Lynne pulled me out of some kind of trap every time, for which I again owe her a lot. Being the chief accountant, our boss trusts her in many ways, as well as other important personalities. I even admire her in a way. Laughing, Lynne began to wave her arms. “O-oh come on, no debts, just consider that I saved you from another scandal. In any case, you were not as late as at last time”. This news completely amazed me and even made me happy. “Really?..” I took my phone out of my pocket and looked at the time. Indeed: if before I was almost an hour or more late, today I was only twenty four minutes late. This makes me happy. “This time I was probably just lucky, but it’s better than an hour”, thinking out loud, I smiled to myself. “Well, I can’t not to agree,” she said, “I’d better continue working, won’t distract you, I still have a lot of work as you have”. When she said this, she already began to return to her place. “Yes thank you”.

***

I didn’t notice how time flew by, except for lunch. Outside the window, one could see how the sun was slowly setting, hiding behind tall buildings, leaving a pleasant orange tint in the sky with clouds, albeit temporarily. Beautiful picture. I loved seeing this landscape every day, well, almost every day. I continued to hit the keyboard with my fingers, filling out another report. The boss, as Lynne said, came late and when he saw me, he was greatly surprised and congratulated me, also joking that it was worth celebrating my arrival at work on time. It’s funny. Lynne actually told him I wasn’t late, a nice little thing as she called it. Some were slowly packing up their things and going home, some stayed a little late, and others, like me, sat until late and left almost at night or even stayed the night. This has become a habit for me, I always want to finish everything to the end, so that later I no longer worry about some shortcoming, unfinished reports, deferred invoices, unfinished or not assigned papers and money, otherwise there would be more work the next day. Lynne also worked with me late, simply because she was worried about me and she could make sure that I wouldn’t pass out at the keyboard and would get a normal taxi ride home, according to her; we always left together. She has been trying to force me to leave early for several years now, because this is not very good, I am ruining my health because of some papers and my principles. In general, she is right, but it’s still better to finish everything, so that tomorrow there will be less hassle, and only then rest — at least I think so… I walked Lynne home, she lives nearby. Sometimes I still need conversations to calm down and lift my spirits, so that I can return home with such a good mood. Lynne is a nice person, but again we are just work colleagues and good friends. However, she mentioned that her father and mother sometimes noticed me with her on the way home or when she was simply walking from a cafe with two mugs of coffee in her hands, meeting me on the way to work to cheer me up; besides, I dare say that I am a fierce coffee lover, just like her. Our parents often met us together, and if we did grab hands, it was just to go out onto the sidewalk, for example, so that a car wouldn’t hit us. There was a moment when, in the rain, I had to quickly run to the stop, and then stand and wait for a taxi; she mentioned the negative attitude of my parents towards me. Even she doesn’t know why, much less me. One day her father even came up to me and started throwing threats, saying that if I do anything to her daughter, I’m screwed. I don’t know why they didn’t like me so much that people are already making threats, for which I have the right to file a complaint against him, although I’m not going to do this, but I hope that things won’t come to a fight. I am an ordinary, unremarkable resident with my own problems, interests, principles, friends and outlook on life. I can only guess why they don’t like me so much, but still, as long as they don’t go to extremes, I have no need to worry. At least they don’t mind our friendship. I hope. However, it’s a little strange and scary to realize that even despite Lynne’s age and the fact that she already lives alone, bought herself an apartment, is very responsible, has her own personal life and boundaries, her parents still put so much pressure not only on her, but also on those with whom she communicates. I even feel bad for her and feel sorry for her. But I won’t pry into her personal life, it’s none of my business. The main thing is that things don’t get wild. Walking her home, we had a little heart-to-heart talk and said goodbye. I was heading to the stop, simultaneously taking out a cigarette from my pack along with my lighter. Approaching closer and closer to her, I was already blowing tobacco smoke from my mouth, enjoying the moonlight, which somehow illuminated my path, along with the street lamps. It’s very quiet on the street, almost not a soul, which is not surprising, and if someone passed, they were either people who were coming from work and already wanted to get home as quickly as possible so they could finally rest, eat and go to bed, or teenagers, who were just walking alone or with friends, either drunk or high, even homeless people are no exception, there are plenty of them here too, you can count their number indefinitely. This already suggests that I need to get home as soon as possible. For me this is commonplace, so I have already stopped paying attention to this kind of nightly commotion. For me, like any tired adult after work, it was more important to get home and go to bed as soon as possible. Oh, finally a taxi. I sat next to the driver as usual and, after saying hello, closed the side door of the car. After a couple of minutes we moved. We drove in silence — we were tired, and now we didn’t have the strength to talk, we just wanted to relax, not talk to anyone, sit in silence, or at least listen to the sounds of cars and the wind outside, and how the same people leave the house at night and They’re doing the devil. However, unlike me, the driver was not very comfortable driving in silence, so he decided to turn on the radio. I paid and got out of the taxi, and when it drove away, I looked after it. I thought for a minute and walked up to the entrance, simultaneously taking out the keys. He opened the front door and entered the entrance, went to the elevator and called it and then waited. He drives quite slowly. In general, I dare say, I really don’t like elevators, they rather scared me, especially if there were no mirrors or the elevators themselves were very cramped, and then there are old elevators from the nineties and elevators with bars. I hate them too. Maybe I have a fear of closed spaces, I don’t know, but I really get panicked when I’m in such elevators, and, oh Lord, thank you that I lived in a house with a spacious elevator with a mirror. At least I don’t feel so pressed and even safe. When the elevator had already arrived and the doors opened, I entered it and began to climb to my home floor. And so I drive and drive and drive and look in the mirror, now thinking about my phobia and periodically looking at that small screen where the floor on which the elevator is now located was displayed. Sighing, I walked away from the mirror when I saw the eighth floor, realizing that the ride was still somewhere around thirty seconds, and when the doors opened, I calmly got out of the elevator and headed towards my apartment. Standing opposite my front door, I opened it with the key and entered my home apartment. “Sweet home…” I said to myself, exhaling and throwing my bag on the floor. I locked the front door and sat down to take off my shoes, then hung my jacket on the hanger and then on the hook in the hallway. Looking at myself in the mirror, I shrugged and went to the bathroom to wash my hands. I didn’t go and make myself dinner; I didn’t even have the desire, mood, or energy for a simple broth, so I went to the room to change into home clothes. I put on pants and a long T-shirt with a “prohibited” sign, and hung my office trousers on the same hanger as my jacket. Returning to the room and sitting down at my desk, I opened the laptop, turned it on, and while it was starting up, I went to the kitchen to make myself at least some tea with milk. At least that way. Sitting in the kitchen with the milk already ready and these tea leaves, I waited for the kettle to brew and, four minutes later, the kettle made itself known. All this time I just sat in the kitchen and stared out the window, watching the night landscape, although ordinary, but beautiful. I began pouring boiling water into a glass, then pouring milk. And when everything was ready, I went back to the room, turning off the light in the kitchen. That was a late night. 2 AM. I was sitting at my laptop, watching some videos on YouTube that popped up in recommendations, until I noticed how on the tab where Facebook was open with my personal messages, a notification appeared that a new message had arrived, even the sound of the notification itself gave know about yourself. I didn’t really have so much friends, and we didn’t really hang out much except for Lynne and Nene, so I was a little surprised who suddenly needed some kind of “social interaction” at a time like this.

hey listen, you’re free right now, rn’t you? we need to talk, dude, stop ignoring me! :(

***

The morning does not start with coffee, not with the alarm ringing, not even with the singing of birds or the affectionate voice of your loved one, although in general I am a loner in life, what am I talking about. If I thought about starting a relationship with someone, then this thought immediately disappeared, since it seemed to me that I would rather waste my time and be left without a penny in my pocket. I’m not going to lie, I thought about getting into a relationship with Lynne at one point, but it was during that time that I was such a burden to her, and when I started to realize that I was doing complete bullshit, I realized that we couldn’t along the way. Yes, and I think that I would rather only be a hindrance in her personal life if we date, much less live together… It’s now that I’ve put my head together and am still continuing to learn how to cook, asking her or Nene for advice, I’m taking care of myself somehow so as not to look like shit or even worse, a homeless person, and even if there’s a mess in my apartment, it’s more likely creative, rather than… that mess that is more likely to turn your apartment into a dump. Eh, I remember how the apartment owner scolded me, ha ha. And besides, I rather turn even my creative disorder into creative order, and for all this I literally have to thank Lynne, not even to say thank you, I have to buy an entire chocolate factory. What struck me was that before I was not just a bungler, but, in principle, such a scumbag who sat and was homeless in his apartment, even my memories confirm this. And did I already mention that I don’t remember a damn thing about part of my childhood and teenage life? Considering this, I’m afraid to imagine what happened to me, that I began to slowly turn into a vegetable, who somehow got a job in my position, and continues to not only work there, but also live, somehow I have made two best friends and have quite good relationships with my team; and if it weren’t for Lynne, it probably wouldn’t have lasted long… Somehow I think a lot about Lynne and the past. In general, no matter what kind of romance I would like to build with her, I guarantee that I will get in the way more, and no matter how hard I try, on the contrary, to do what I would like, as long as she is happy… Well, that’s not the point. Let’s go back to my morning, which began with loud notifications screaming in my ear. Even the alarm clock didn’t ring, why write so early? What time is it now? Five in the morning, motherfucker? Having sworn at the whole fucking world, especially the one who is probably why I’m now getting out of bed irritated, I pulled myself up and took the phone to find out who I’m not letting live here, that they decided to start writing to me, like a machine at the speed of light. p1co.9 — 6:57 AM well, u know, sleep is good, of course, but work is work I immediately read the last messages he wrote. And he’s still a pain in the ass, I’ll see. P1co.9 — 7:23 AM keith? like ur real name did u die there? finally ure online, answer, i know that ure reading my messages right now Surprised. But honestly, I’m a little annoyed now because of him. If you have a different time zone, then why should I fuck my brains over it?

ke1th.cl — 7:26 AM

Fuck, why the hell are you spamming me here, you have nothing better to do?! Why are you writing to me so early? It’s probably not even 6 am right now.

p1co.9 — 7:27 AM well, u know, im certainly not saying that u have to go online every morning, not at all. however, i thought that u were still sleeping, and decided that it was worth waking me up, cuz who knows, it’s already 7:27 am, after all, dude And then I was dumbfounded.

ke1th.cl — 7:28 AM

Wait, what?

I looked at the time… Indeed, it was already 7:28 AM, and why didn’t the alarm clock ring? Or did I not hear it? It’s interesting how I live. Looks like I’m going to get a little fucked up by my boss.

ke1th.cl — 7:28 AM

Yes, you’re right, thanks. Sorry for coarseness, I thought we had different time zones and you decided to write to me at 5AM or something. Or the alarm clock had not yet rung.

p1co.9 — 7:29 AM np))) btw why didn’t he call? have u checked what’s wrong with him? ure lucky that i showed up here lol That’s right, Pico. Wow, how lucky. After his message, I looked at my alarm clock and began to think that it was time to buy a new alarm clock. But why am I? You can set an alarm clock on your phone. Okay, with that out of the way, the most important thing is to finally start getting ready. I definitely won’t have time to have breakfast, I need to at least get myself in order, pack my things for work and get dressed, but before that…

ke1th.cl — 7:31 AM

Yes, I’ll throw out this alarm clock and probably set an alarm on my phone. Why spend money?

I guess this sounds more like thinking out loud, but why not share? p1co.9 — 7:31 AM lmao ok dude, get ready and chat back ;) Buttoning the last button on my shirt, I went to the mirror in the hallway and looked at myself: the same bags under my eyes due to long work and two to four hours of sleep, the same face that you look at and you want to kick that bastard, and even though I don’t look like a monster, I look normally, but at the same time so pathetic. “As usual — brat”. I said to myself out loud. Okay, I can do self-flagellation in any other free time, but now it’s more important to get myself in order. After combing my shaggy hair that stuck out from all sides of my head and tying it into a small ponytail with an elastic band that Lynne gave me, I looked at myself in the mirror again and posed a little. “But now, basically, nothing”. I looked at the hairtail again. In general, when I started wearing a hairtail with an elastic band, Lynne often said how it suited me and how she admired it, that I looked cute… It always lifted my spirits, but I spoiled it with the fact that she just loves to compliment everyone, especially for me, so you just have to take it not as some kind of sympathy on her part or an attempt to cheer you up, but as an ordinary compliment out of respect, a friendly compliment. Most likely, I just have low self-esteem, which is why I think so pessimistically. I stood at the bus stop and just waited for the taxi driver whom I called almost every morning. After some time, a taxi arrived, I ran up to it, said hello to the driver, sat in the front seat, and when the taxi driver turned up the volume of his radio a little, we drove to the location I needed. The clock already showed 7:58 AM, probably, like yesterday I would be late for a not so long time, it would be cool… I sighed quietly and simply began to watch the landscape outside the window, which quickly disappeared and changed to another landscape familiar to me due to the speed of the taxi driver, who silently drove where the answering machine from Google maps told him, or where those same arrows in the driver’s seat pointed him, emitting such a loud but pleasant squeak. And sometimes it sounds like someone was knocking. And after some time we finally arrived. Having paid for the fare, I ran out of the car and closed the side door, then quickly walked to the cafe, which was located right under the building where I worked, listening to the taxi driver behind me already leaving for another person who had called him. I haven’t eaten anything since the morning, so it’s worth throwing at least something into my mouth, or rather, taking it with me, and when I have a free minute at work, I’ll eat. I had already walked into what felt like a native place, where I felt the familiar smell of various pastries, drinks, sweets and other dishes. Every time I felt a kind of euphoria, it’s so pleasant and relaxing… Approaching the counter where cashiers and cooks usually stand, I started ringing the bell next to the cash register in order to attract at least some attention to myself, so that people would hear what was coming to them a new visitor has arrived. Hearing the ringing, a girl I knew ran up to the cash register, with whom we communicated quite well, we were good childhood friends. “Morning, Keith! You’re late again, I see,” she said, chuckling. “Yes, but at least not for an hour, as usual,” I even checked the time: 8:26 AM, and then showed it to her, “as you can see, the child is growing, he’s not late anymore”. “Ha-ha, that’s for sure!” Nene was always cheerful, acted quite optimistic, cheered me up and took care of me, very nice of her. We often helped each other in difficult situations, I appreciate all this, and besides, we are childhood friends. More precisely, school friends. “What are you planning to order? And with or without?” “Let’s do it as usual, and perhaps with ourselves, I don’t want to linger even longer”, I said, chuckling quietly. “As you say, then wait, everything will be ready soon! There aren’t many visitors now, so you won’t have to wait longer than five minutes”, with a wink, she ran to her colleagues, telling them to start working on the order. To pass the time, I sat down at the table that first caught my eye, and took my phone and thought about what to do for these five minutes, but when I took out the phone, a message that Pico had written seventeen minutes ago immediately caught my eye: p1co.9 — 8:08 AM have you arrived? good luck!! :) The smile itself gave me away; I was pleased just to read such messages. Even though I’ve only known him for a day, he seems like a pretty good guy so far.

Thank you.