Cafe on the bridge

Outside, the sun was slowly rising. Slowly dragging the rays behind you. Martin sat half asleep and listened to his interlocutor, who endlessly told him something about the stars and the universe. He listened to her with half an ear. Looking through a small window, a new day lights up. Foretelling new traffic jams and new scandals in the morning. At some point, Pauline saw that Martin was looking somewhere above her and suddenly turned around and saw the dawn. She jumped up. And she began to pull on the coat that had previously rested on her knees. Warming its owner. — Are you in a hurry somewhere? — Martin, who did not expect such a turn of events. And drunk with wine. Jumping to his feet, he regretted it. He felt very dizzy. — I? — Pauline, pointing her finger at herself, looked at the dawn again. — No, what are you talking about, I just don’t like to see the sunrise somewhere other than the street. I love meeting him on the balcony of my apartment. — And where do you live? — Far away from here. I live in a quiet area of ​​“crazy people” as other people call us. — Why crazy? — Martin pulled on his coat and casually paid the waiter. — Because normal people will not walk at night and come home in the morning and go to bed without even having breakfast. — Pauline opened the cafe door. And she went out into the fresh air. The rays of the sun hit her eyes, and Pauline hurried to the stop. Martin hurried after her. He wanted to stay with her a little longer. Feel its unusualness, its lightness. She was slipping away from him. — Do you like the morning? — No, of course not. Morning is that time of day when all your dreams fall apart, and the time when you have to return to your harsh reality again. I don’t like the morning, and I always prefer to greet it at home and then sleep off. — Then may I accompany you? I’m in no hurry anyway. — Martin and Pauline were walking along a snowy street. Workers shoveled the snow. Throwing it onto the sidewalk. Because of this, many city streets were inaccessible. This made the girl very upset. However, she did not lose optimism. And she crossed the street cheerfully. Walking and not paying any attention to the pedestrians she met along the way. Pauline looked, glancing over everyone’s heads and intersecting her gaze with them all. And tearing out individual emotions from their souls: sadness, melancholy, joy, embarrassment, longing. Martin tried to keep up, they crossed the bridge, and when they came out on the other side, at first the man did not understand why he felt so uncomfortable. As soon as they stepped over the bridge, the first thing that struck the man was the tone of the houses. They were all bright without exception. Red, blue, orange, purple, pink, yellow. There was not a single house in gray or black, unlike the shore where he lived. The second thing is that there was complete silence on the streets. There were no cars, no people. It seemed that this part of the city was extinct. — Pauline, why is it so empty here? — the girl looked back. For her, this was a common thing, but seeing the confusion on Martina’s face, she answered — It’s always like this here. This part of the city only comes alive when darkness falls. This is what distinguishes your coast from ours. Your shore comes alive when morning comes, and ours when night comes. Even if people go somewhere in the morning, it’s not to go to work, or to sit in a cafe, or just to buy groceries. — And how do you all earn money here? — Whoever can. Mostly art, we sell it, on your shore. You see, only people of art live here. Artists, writers, architects, musicians. And on yours — politicians, business people, teachers, doctors, all these people live with you. She turned behind the catch, approaching a brown-brick building. Painted in a pattern with bright blue paint. And turning around she waited for Martin to approach. He walked at a leisurely pace, slowly knowing that she would wait for him. “This is my home,” Pauline nodded to him goodbye. Martin smiled and turned around and began to walk away gradually. He didn’t wait for her under the windows and say goodbye for a long time. He already knew that today would pass and they would meet again. And now they will have more to discuss. The night will hide everything. Their meeting, their mysteries and secrets. Pauline entered the entrance. This is her home. To which she is temporarily attached. Entering the floor and taking the elevator to the fourth floor. She slowly looks around the cabin with bored eyes. It’s almost a hundred years old. But there was still something in her that inspired her, that made her always come here. Closeness from people, the opportunity to be alone. The cabin is all cracked and stained, but even the presence of this does not prevent the girl from considering it the most attractive object in her house. Her apartment is number 37. She is familiar to the point of being annoying. The living room is poorly furnished. But the girl passes by old wallpaper, pasted by the previous owners. And he goes to the kitchen and puts on the kettle. And to finally come to my senses after a restless night. Which took place in the company of a stranger. The girl lies down on the sofa. Which she found at an antique furniture fair. It’s shabby and looks a little cheap, but the girl likes it a lot. Besides, it’s the only thing the girl wants to sit on. The girl closes her eyes and wishes for two or even three minutes to just lie down in front of her all day and she will be able to sleep. You don’t have to worry about that. Although if you think about it, Pauline hasn’t been worried about anything lately and has forgotten this feeling. The sharp ringing of the phone disturbs her and pulls her out of the oncoming sleep. She reluctantly extends her hand and takes the device, along with the tube. Pulling him towards you so as not to reach for him. The length of the wire allows her to do this. The girl says hello. In response to this, an unfamiliar voice sounds. Pauline already wants to hang up, but the name Haile, uttered by the girl, puts everything in its place. — Where did you find my number? — Pauline turns over on her back and points her finger at the ceiling. The dialogue won’t be long unless, of course, her childhood friend gets caught up in something and starts telling her stories that Pauline doesn’t want to listen to. — Where from! I found your mother’s number in the phone book, and when I called her, I found that number too. Pauline, why did you leave so quickly? — The girl rolled her eyes. — Haile, I am not obliged to report to you in principle, as well as to other people. I didn’t run away, but left temporarily. I needed this. That’s all I can tell you. Now excuse me, I’m busy. — Pauline heard the kettle whistling on the stove and, taking the device and holding the receiver, she hurried to the kitchen. — For everyone, your sudden departure, I would even say disappearance. It was a complete surprise. We couldn’t imagine why everything happened so suddenly. — I don’t intend to discuss this anymore. I live a great life and I’m happy. As a matter of fact, I don’t give a damn about you. And once again I will not discuss this with you. Bye — when she finished, the girl hung up. And putting the phone aside. I went to the stove. Haile raised a wave of indignation in her and brought her balance into seething chaos. Over the past month, she is the third person who called her and asked why she left. Why did she run away? Do you need a special reason to escape from what annoys you and what infuriates you? Aren’t your feelings enough? The girl sat down with a mug of tea on the windowsill, covered with a warm blanket. And she looked at the city seething with life. She felt sleepy. And fatigue slowly creeped up. The girl decided that she wouldn’t think about anything difficult anymore today. Only about books, or simple thoughts that come and go from her head like planes take off and arrive in the country. Today her peace at night was disturbed by a stranger who burst into the cafe and sat down at her table without saying a word. Pauline felt strange next to him. She was inevitably attracted to him, but she couldn’t afford to give up everything right away. But something was eluding her. His gait. Brave and clear, he gave the impression of a self-confident person. Pauline replayed in her head for a long time how they left the cafe, and he never asked if he could go to her. Or you can come to her tomorrow. Will they see each other again? The girl was confused. Because she had never said goodbye like this before. Without promising the man anything. They persuaded her to meet, waited under the windows, but Martin did nothing. Polina looked around the room. The sofa has a telephone set, a tape recorder with a bunch of records, a radio. The room seemed lifeless no matter how the girl furnished it. No flowers, nothing. The girl also had a large bookcase. But she rarely took anything from there except philosophy. Which the girl was engrossed in, and all sorts of absurd writers. Pauline looked at her watch. It was exactly seven. This means everyone has already gone about their business and the house is half empty. The girl went to the closet and took a volume of Hegel, undressed and went up the stairs. Taking a cigarette from the pack, lighting it and absorbing the smoke, she sat down on the stairs to read. There was something about her daily ritual. And no one even thought of condemning her for this. Everyone in this house had some quirks. Footsteps were heard from above, and the girl realized that it was Madame D leaving the apartment, she always slammed the doors noisily and snorted at the residents. And she didn’t say anything else. Only on rare occasions, when she took a deep breath in her chest and quickly jabbered something so that nothing could be understood. The steps were approaching, but Pauline had no intention of moving or leaving. Pauline heard footsteps and shuffling from foot to foot behind her, and looked up from her book. On Madame D — Do you need anything? — Lady D blinked her eyes and said nothing, she took a deep breath in her chest, but immediately released it, and when she approached the elevator, she called him and went about her business. The girl only managed to laugh after her. And shake the ash off the cigarette. Madame D had a fireplace in her house. And she had her own heating, unlike other residents. Including Pauline, who lives off the city’s crappy heating system. And on winter nights, everyone was freezing in their apartments, but the girl preferred to go to a cafe and not stay in the apartment at night. She felt unbearable at night. Pauline was drowning in her own nightmares of the past. Which were following her. The next person to disturb her while reading was Mr. Mu with his cane and sciatica. He moved around and lived on the same floor as her, but even getting to the elevator was very, very difficult for him. He kept moving his feet along the marble steps. And then he dragged his cane, when he found something to lean on, then he held on and leaned on it with all his weight. Mr. Mu was a big fan of erotic magazines. And only for them did he leave the apartment; everything else was done for him by a nurse hired by his relatives. And despite his advanced age, he still read similar literature and when he saw Pauline he called her Girl Lou, from his books. She herself, Pauline, did not react to this in any way. She didn’t care. However, watching the neighbors while sitting on the stairs was more interesting than listening to their bickering. Pauline finished reading the chapter and went back to her apartment, throwing on a dark robe. She crawled into bed and stared at the wall for a long time. Trying to understand what he feels. On the one hand, this was difficult for her, because even the healthiest person cannot understand this. What can we say about people who live their lives in a calm and unchanging environment. Closing my eyes for a minute. She decided that she wouldn’t want to see anyone tonight either. Deciding to stay home. Pauline made herself more comfortable on the pillow. Like a friend rang the doorbell. At first the girl didn’t want to open it, but she remembered the crazy old woman downstairs, who was always screaming at her because Pauline was supposedly drowning her. I decided to get up and open it, and if I didn’t do this, she would call the police and the girl would have to explain it to them as well. And she definitely didn’t want that. — Madam, I’m not drowning you, calm down — The woman looked at her with hatred and bile — Then why is it dripping from the ceiling?! — Probably because not only am I your neighbor, but also a chemistry student, whose experiment, judging by the burning smell that is now wafting through the entrance, was not very successful. So come to him. Best wishes. — Pauline slammed the door. Neighbors. These are still those tests. The expression is true. Who is your neighbor? Those sins you committed in a past life. Her mood today was mixed. Tall chimneys raised clouds of smoke above the city, watching from the window how high in the frosty air they rose and poisoned the air. There were almost no clouds, only the occasional ones that passed by and did not linger for long. The sun was low. The girl yawned and felt sleepy. And once again finding herself on the bed, she fell fast asleep. Without hearing that the neighbors were knocking on her door. Only having dozed off for several minutes did Pauline listen in bewilderment that someone was looking at her. However, whoever it is will be in trouble. More than anything, Pauline hated having her sleep interrupted. Opening her eye, she dimly made out the figure of the stranger who, more than anything else, was the reason for her moving here — Vladimir! — Pauline instantly opened her eyes and woke up — Tell me, who allowed you to open my doors, how did you find me? — A man of about twenty-seven turned around and sat on a high bar stool. “You see, Pauline,” he said quietly and with a threat in his voice, “you didn’t think that you could really hide from me?” Oh really, how stupid you will be if this turns out to be the case! — Vladimir laughed. — Tell me, Vladimir, didn’t you think that I wasn’t hiding from you? I left for a completely different reason, not because I really wanted to hide. If I wanted you not to find me or to make you somehow languish from your defeat, between us, in this game. I certainly wouldn’t do it that easily. — Then why did you run away? — Haile and three people who knew me asked me the same question. But I want to ask you a counter question. Why, when I left. Oh no, it would be more correct to say disappeared from your life. Are you all so caught up? Answer honestly Vladimir, I don’t need you, but your ego. And the desire to possess me like a toy. You do not need my soul, trembling from pictures and flowers, you need my brain, for which you could get a lot, including praise for owning me. “Perhaps,” Vladimir lost ground, apparently he didn’t expect Pauline to present him with the truth, which he is afraid to tell himself. Yes, this was the truth for which he came to this godforsaken city, on the outskirts of the country. — Oh, if that’s the case, please leave my apartment. If not, then I will leave. And period. — Pauline got up and began to get dressed. Vladimir did not move. In front of him stood a new girl unknown to him, not the one who had previously burned with memories of that brief, soft and somewhere even passive Pauline who could not even say a word against him. And now in front of him is a completely different girl. Vladimir did not move. But Pauline kept her word. Seeing that he was not going to leave, and that he was silent. She threw on her Coat and walked wherever she could. And they looked at her country, an amphitheater abandoned by everyone. Of course, it wasn’t very warm there, but it was possible to hold out for the night. She knew there was one place in the non-working dressing room where there was still a working heater. That’s where she headed. And at night she will again go to the cafe where she sat that night with Martin, it was cozy there. This Cafe was located on a bridge connecting, as it were, two banks and allowing the inhabitants of both banks to sit together. After walking around the streets, and concluding for himself that Martin felt bad among people. The man lay down on the bed. The gray walls and the brick wall calmed him down. The apartment was quiet. And lonely. But loneliness is better than a crowd of people. Loneliness tormented Martin, and always drove his soul away from himself. From his childhood, and from the life he wanted. It weighed on him. Without any regrets, and forced to do terrible things. Go into a crowd to meet people or, even worse, participate in their conversations. No, Martin was not forgiving of communication, but those who he met were people who had gone wild and thought like a crowd. They had nothing of their own, everything was in common, and they shared all their dreams with him. The man did not want to join them. Society tired him. With your endless conversations and bickering about everything possible. The problems that were in the heads of the leaders of society were stupid and hopeless. They boiled down to only one thing: how to make people stop thinking for themselves, and begin to completely trust only one single person. But they still couldn’t do it completely. After all, there is always an exception, and in this case it was Martin. the man who stood in the middle. didn’t work, and if he worked, he never said where he didn’t participate in anything. And he never allowed anyone to step into his home. Whoever wants to come to him. The squabbles of the neighbors that he heard downstairs finally subsided, but what especially infuriated Martin and drove him crazy was the constant travel, which he had to attend one way or another. Birthdays, Christmas, New Year, March 8th, and so on. All this tired him endlessly. Of course, he could print the refusal and send it by mail. Or call by phone. But this was rarely possible. Moreover, in cases when he needed someone, and this happened rarely, but it did happen. His acquaintances and friends. They will definitely remind him of an event that he did not attend. But is it really that important? Remind a person of the moments that he did not share with you. What if he needs you now? Martin thought. Of course, it’s impossible to refuse all acquaintances, and it’s stupid. Just because of your loneliness, refuse everyone. On the other hand, why not. This would save a lot of money every year that he spends on gifts. Never celebrating holidays for yourself. There was a knock on the door, and the man trudged over and opened it. A middle-aged man, bald and with wrinkles, stood on the threshold. — What you need? — Martin unceremoniously asked the question. He knew such people. You need to either scare them or not open the door for them. — I came to see the condition of the gas pipe in your apartment — Okay, pass. But first, show your documents. That you really are from the authority. Although you can see it in your face. — It turns out that you don’t need my documents? — Needed “Okay,” he handed over his identification and, having convinced himself, Martin let him into the house to inspect the pipe. After buying the apartment, he had never used it. And the stove stood in his apartment like an unnecessary item. Along with a small TV. The only thing he needed here was a bed and books. Well, also a pen for writing. Nothing else. The master made notes on the sheet about the condition of the device and left the apartment. It was noon. The day was in full swing. You still need to live for about six hours in the hope of somehow killing time. Martin sat down to listen to music and try to learn the words from the song. But everything was pointless; he came up with some kind of nonsense. At some point, he began to remember the night spent in a cafe on the bridge. Cozy and small, it attracted people from all over the area to forget about their problems and everyday troubles. He immediately remembered Pauline, a light-hearted and carefree girl whom he associated with water, a living and powerful force, and at the same time so elusive and so immense. He must go to this cafe again, no matter whether he finds her today or not, he will have a good time there, leaning in the corner, sitting at a table and just looking at people’s lives in the world. Although you can look at the world from your own apartment, there was little that brought him joy. Therefore, you need to go to a cafe. It was for him like a pendulum in the sea of ​​his stormy and unstable life.