Cafe on the bridge

Pauline walked carefully through the streets of the part of the city where Martin lived. It seemed to her that she found herself in a completely different world. In a world where people don’t know what a sun or a rainbow is. Everything here was black and dark. People walked along the streets, tripped over each other, and each tried to say something to the other’s face, some nasty thing at that. Everyone wore black coats, and everyone walked in the same direction, and the cars were driving the wrong way, every now and then they ran into each other, there were a lot of accidents. People were screaming everywhere, it was restless. — Martin, tell me, how far is it from your apartment? — the man looked at her over his shoulder and replied that no. They will cut you off if they go through the courtyards; besides, it’s snowing on the streets now, it’s not clear what’s going on. There will be accidents again and there will be crowds again. — Don’t worry, I see how unhappy you are here. It will all be over soon. The main thing is not to lag behind, otherwise you will get lost — Pauline, but she walked and began to walk evenly with Martin, who could not help but smile, which immediately transformed his face. When they approached Martin’s house, the snow was ankle-deep, and upon entering the entrance, Pauline shook herself off. Martin quickly walked into the apartment without paying attention to the Girl. His heart was beating faster and his nerves were exposed, he took a breath and held it, he didn’t want Larry to know that he was afraid of her, but, as luck would have it, nothing helped. Pauline, flying after him, almost hit him in the back when he stopped at the apartment. “No matter what happens to Pauline, and no matter how she behaves, you should know that I have a gun in my coat pocket, and I must say that when we leave here, I think that I won’t be with you for a long time.” forget whether we get off at different stations or not. — Why do you have a gun in your coat? Why do you carry it? — Well, I have such a nightmare that I leave the house and they kill me, that’s why I wear it. Sometimes I don’t understand where is night and where is day. So it has to be. — Why should I believe you? — She switched to a whisper, but Martin simply shrugged, — But she didn’t need an answer. She knew. Martin can’t lie to her. Simply because Larry is his past. This reason is sometimes enough to never let go of the past. And then he decided to confront him face to face. This was a great test for himself and for his memory. She didn’t know what connected them. However, the pain that was between them connected them stronger than anything in the world. — Fine. Just don’t do it right away! Talk to her. I think everyone deserves to be allowed to speak out before saying goodbye. — Okay, but I won’t hesitate, though. He turned and walked into the room where Larry was sitting on the couch, where they had parted ways a few hours earlier. — Well, why did you decide to go back? Well done! I knew you would come to your senses. — Larry! Tell me, tell me, what does love mean to you? — Martin, don’t talk nonsense, it doesn’t mean anything to me. What can we talk about love? Even in the name of your return back. — So why are you here?! — Raising his voice, Martin demanded an answer from her. She was silent. Paler before his eyes. It was clear that she had something to hide. There is something to hide, and even if killed, she will not greatly regret that she did not tell the whole truth. Pauline was wrong when she said that not everyone needs to speak out. Not everyone needs it, not everyone needs it. — Then I won’t go anywhere! — You will go because your father wants it. I would like to remind you that you approved of his choice. — This is because Larry then I was dependent on him, but now I’m not. Besides, you were better before than you are now. Look what happened to you, dear. Your soul is worn out, even though your body is fine. — He sat down on a chair, motioning for Pauline with his hand to stand and not go into the light. — And there is no need to say that this is not true, you knew the truth when you came here, besides, tell me, did my father send you? Not surprised by this in his style. — Martin even if that’s the case. You really think you can hide from him forever. He will find you sooner or later…” He interrupted her with a gesture showing how tired he was of listening to this. Outside the window, more and more, the streets of the city were filled with silence and peace, and only the wind drove mountains of snow from one place to another. “Larry, I won’t come, and I don’t think so either.” He went to the table where the envelope of money lay and handed it to her. — What do you mean by this? — So that you can go where you need to go. It’s not too late, the last train will leave in three hours. You can still have time to go to the sea as you wanted. — Martin I — Yes, Larry, I know you wanted me to go with you, but, you see, I can tell you the truth that you deserve more than anything in the world. I’m sorry I pretended to be with you. You are a wonderful girl, but I think that you did not notice my indifference towards you because you were in love with me. I think the greatest degree of respect is love. It’s not easy to explain, but I think this thought has crossed your mind. The thought of freedom is the thought of something you have never seen. Yes, I know you can’t just give a person freedom; he’ll think it’s a trap, but there’s nothing here except the happiness that I give you. — Martin… — She said quietly — You think that I really deserve her freedom. To have freedom you need to manage it correctly, but I don’t know how — Larry is not taught this, only you can learn it yourself, just as you learned to adapt. Believe me, there will be many things in your life where you will not have enough freedom. So take it from me. Accept it from my soul. Only a quiet exit marked the beginning of her freedom. Her body went limp in his arms. And he turned to Pauline and watched as the girl froze. Larry just quietly took the money and went to the exit. Her confusion was evident in every movement, and Larry, who thirsted for Martina as an object of possession and as an understanding that in life she had received more than just pain, now stood at a loss. She left a bright red scarf on the chest of drawers in the hall. First Christmas present for him. Pauline accompanied Larry to the door. They sat down for a minute to catch their breath, the hardest part for Martin was already over. “It’s so quiet here…” Pauline said bitterly. “It never happens here.” — Probably because you have people with a huge amount of energy, we are engineers, economists, and other people who poison the lives of you people of art. — In the silence of the apartment, only sounds from the street could be heard, rumbling cars and people screaming on the streets, the house was quiet — For a minute, it seemed to Pauline that she was completely in a dead house, and there was no one and nothing in it. — Okay, let’s go, I have nothing else to do here. — Yes, that’s right, you don’t belong here, it’s too cold for you. Let’s go get some coffee on the bridge and warm up. Then Martin took the suitcase with his collected things, destroyed all personal records about himself in the fireplace, everything that could indicate that he lived here, and he and Pauline left the house without meeting anyone. Which also worked to their advantage. They moved, making their way through the snow, through crowds of people and traffic accidents to the cafe, and it seemed to Pauline that the road from his part of the city was much longer than from hers. They exhaled only when they entered the cafe, which served as their only refuge and pier for their souls.