Cafe on the bridge

They, as they wanted, headed to the cafe on the bridge which greeted them with the quiet steps of the waiters and tobacco smoke. The owner, seeing the two of them, giggled and said that they looked very good together. Pauline relaxed in a familiar environment, and sitting down in the farthest corner, she took off her coat and now lay down on the table; she wanted to sleep. In front of Martin there was no desire to appear braver or stronger, she simply looked at him. He elegantly took off his coat, sat down on a chair, poured the wine served by the owner, and exchanged old greetings with them. It was as if they were old friends and had shared under the same roof for many years. Finding more and more new facets in each other. — Tell me why are you so silent today? You smile a lot, but are silent, did something happen? — Martin shook her head. Although the light blush of life and love, frozen on his necks, gave him away. — There is nothing except that Larry left, this is a victory, a victory over me from a past life, from the past from youth. Now I feel much better. — Are you happy? — Pauline took the cheese from the table and took a bite. It was a little hard, but the girl didn’t pay attention to it. — Certainly, — Martin, tell me who you are? — I don’t know Pauline, but such is the difference, there is no difference between a stranger and a loved one, we don’t know either one or the other in essence — Then who do we know? — Only loved ones, and more and more we don’t know anyone Pauline. I don’t know who I am for you, maybe the face of the future, maybe the present. Maybe a second of love or forever love. How do I know? You are a stranger to me, whom I love, but what does that change? Well, there are no real feelings, there are only seconds, and if you miss even one, you will go into the unknown. — Martin looked at the chandelier and at the kerosene lamp that now stood on their table and was smoking. — You’re right, there’s no difference. We are all strangers to each other and loved ones, and when we catch these faces, only then do we show our true face to people. So what was your connection to Larry? — She was my cover. My military father wanted to marry me off and then I said that I already loved the girl. And the first person I pointed to was Larry. And her father approved of her. Months passed, and I moved away from her; what bothered me was not that she loved me, the fool fell in love with me for real! And the fact that my father was manipulating her, her love for me, and all I could do was disappear. I couldn’t stand not having anything in my hands. There is only emptiness in them, and even then, it does not linger for long, flying through them. What connects you with the person you ran away from? — He said skillfully translating the topic. — Well, I think that I was always strange, not like others, that’s why he just wanted to take it away from me, my freedom and life. In himself, he is a nasty and narrow-minded person, influential. However, with small eyes that look like buttons from soldiers' uniforms. Oh, what a pity that power belongs to those who desire the death of others. He wanted to meet me and charmed me with his smile, but I was a fool and fell for it, and when I woke up from the spell it was too late to do anything, I had to run in one coat, onto a fast train and leave. But this man found me here too. — Do you want me to talk to him? — Martin said hesitantly? Pauline shook her head. You can’t drag Martin down; he doesn’t know a lot of things, and judges only from her words. In addition, there is a lot in life that a person must deal with himself, and also come to freedom himself. “Besides, all he gave me was just unrequited love,” Pauline whispered with sadness in her voice. — Only?! — Martin raised his voice slightly, placed a chair next to her and sat down very close and said quietly. — Darling, I know that I can say nonsense to you now, but believe me, unrequited love can give much more than nothing. She gives strength, she gives experience, and she gives brains. Believe me, I know many people and knew before our meeting who exchanged their intelligence for love, and believe me, in their cases it was not worth doing. They could move humanity forward, but they chose love and sank into the abyss. No, don’t get me wrong, I’m not against love, but only honest love, and love that’s right only for you. Love is another form of freedom and if you don’t get it, then answer me, why then do you need love at all? Unrequited love gives you freedom with power. Of course, you pay for it with your feelings, but believe me, this is the best for you. You will always meet a person who sees this strength in you and is not afraid of it. You can’t be with someone who fears you or tames your power, limits it, or tries to separate it from you. This is impossible. — But I didn’t get the power. Where is she show me — ABOUT! — Vladimir took her mirror, which Pauline kept in her bag, and showed her her face. — Here it is. There would not be so much nobility in your face, so much understanding of life and so much condescension if not for strength. Believe me, strength is not about pulling logs and not about breaking bridges and sitting alone sometimes, it is about breaking away from what the winds of life are blowing you towards. And go your own way. And let’s be honest, weak people cannot live among Tarot cards. And to believe in magic, in order to believe in what others do not believe in, you need to have strength. — He put the mirror aside and sat down again on the opposite side. Pauline leaned back in her chair, her head was heavy and she didn’t know what to talk about and how to make Vladimir leave. To tell the truth, she had known all this for a long time. He will persuade her to stay with him. Pauline would like to have the same cold-bloodedness and the same lack of emotionality at important moments as Martin. It was probably easy for him to say goodbye to Larry, even though he was pretending, but he did not depend on her like Pauline did on Vladimir. Seeing how the girl was lost in thought, Martin asked for the bill, poured the remaining wine into the glasses, and drained the glass in one gulp. He didn’t want to hesitate. — Okay, let’s go, I don’t want to drag this moment out for too long. There’s no point in waiting here anymore. He will come anyway. The hour will come when I need to look him in the eyes and tell him like it is. They got up and went to Pauline’s house, where the light was probably already on. For Vladimir is afraid of the dark. Pauline breathed quietly and evenly and slowly moved her feet, and Martin did not rush her. He knew they didn’t need to rush.