4. A maybe.
December 8, 2023 at 2:13 PM
“…yeah…” The girl sighed, going over the events of the past few days in her head. “These days really are a mess, this isn’t how I pictured it.”
Nemi sat down on the couch opposite the fireplace. It was well past midnight, but she had her laptop on her lap and a cup of coffee on the small table. She had only recently returned from her internship to an empty house. Argus turned out to be a rather pleasant young man. He was reserved, some would probably say cold, but it didn’t seem that way to Nemi. Such a trait should be characteristic of a man in charge of something or someone. He explained how to write reports, fill out various paperwork, and write out recommendations. Who to go to if something happened that was outside of her competence and what that competence included. Showed the office at Iparzis and several bases in the mountains. Introduced me to the other staff and told me a bit about my role and Iparzis in general. It had been a long and exhausting day, but it was essential.
Nemi had long ago imagined what it would be like. A new first day in a different country, in a different city, at her first job. How she would stay in a hotel for the first while until she found a suitable rented flat or room. How she will charm everyone, make new acquaintances quickly, and make a couple of good friends. How she’ll finally enter that adult independent life she’s heard so much about. Maybe she’ll start a new romance, which maybe will spill over into a solid relationship. Or maybe she should have never left Azumamiyo. Graduated from the local university, helped her parents, saw her friends, and lived a completely predictable quiet life. Maybe things would have been different then, less pain, less grief, more peace. Maybe.
“Sorry, did you say something? I wondered for a moment.”
“I said 'didn’t you once have something that wasn’t a shambles? ' And actually, maybe the shambles is your new reality. Nothing bad has happened. On the contrary, everything seems to be working out in your favour.”
“Well, you’re probably right.” Nemi took a moment to consider his words, but there was definitely a point to them. “What would I do without you, Alex.”
“I don’t know, it’s too scary to think about,” the boy’s cheerful and upbeat voice echoed pleasantly in the phone, making this empty house feel less lonely.
“How are you doing yourself? Where are you now?”
“I came to Azumamiyo yesterday for about a week. I need to check on the bank… I’ve got other things to take care of. Jacques isn’t breathing at all, so I should take a holiday. That’s right! I can drop by your place, I haven’t been to Iparraldeco for ages.”
“Really? That’d be great, I miss you. It’s been so long.”
“Me too.” Alex was silent for a few seconds. “It’s all your degree, breeding people, squeezing the life out of them.”
Smiling, Nemi involuntarily rolled her eyes. She does miss her friends indescribably.
“At least I’ll be able to give you a treat now.”
“Okay, accepted, a worthy cause for graduation.”
The girl almost laughs at the top of her voice, but restrains the outburst:
“I won’t say anything, they seem like nice people. Okay, before you get all riled up, I’m hanging up, I have a lot of paperwork to go through.”
“Okay, well, don’t stay up too late. It’s already late as it is.”
“Sure, I’ll see you later.”
“See ya.”
Nemi puts the phone aside and leans back on the back of the couch, rubbing her eyes. I guess Ajax is right. Nothing bad has happened, things just didn’t go according to plan. She has a roof over her head, she pays less for a room than she would for a suite, and she lives in a big house. The internship seems to promise to be interesting, though not easy. The people here seem nice, too. The car’s a bit of a mess, but it’s not a total loss. Everything’s… okay? After all, Nemi deserves a break right now.
Gotta get to work.
An unintelligible noise, bright light reaching my eyes through my closed eyelids, a very uncomfortable posture, sweet sleep.
It’s about seven in the morning, and Einar is standing in front of his couch, with his girlfriend asleep on it, trying to figure out what to do in a situation like this. It had been a long time since he had lived with anyone other than his maids, and people in general thought him dry and overly reserved. Nemi was a great interruption to the normal flow of life for him. He didn’t know how to treat her to the same degree that she didn’t know how to behave with Einar… Mr Brandt.
Should he wake her up by pointing out that she had fallen asleep on the sofa in the living room? Just leave to her room, pretending he hadn’t noticed? Set the alarm for 7:02 and quickly run off to another room so she wakes up on her own? Take Nemi to her room…? Ask Atala to carry her? All of the options seemed rather awkward, but standing like this over a sleeping girl for several minutes now and just watching… was even weirder.
“Oh shit!” Nemi jumped up suddenly, banging her head on the armrest. “Why scare like that?!” She rubbed the bruised back of her head, squeezing her eyes shut.
“I didn’t mean to scare you! I… thought I’d wake you up. Thought maybe you had somewhere you needed to be going…”
Nemi opened her eyes and saw an outstretched hand in front of her. She took it, leaning slightly to sit up.
“It’s okay, at least I’m awake for sure,” she smiled with just the corners of her lips. “What time is it now?”
It was already light outside the window, and the gardener was walking slowly through the garden, inspecting the withering vines, but there was no sound of the maids scurrying about. Must it be early morning?
“It’s 7:03 am.”
Einar sat down next to her, and even such a mundane action seemed a little awkward. How could you scare a person on the third day of acquaintance, after all? The already uncomfortable presence of a stranger nearby was getting worse by the minute.
Nemi ran her gaze over the desk — her nightly workstation — and froze for a second. Two mugs dirty from coffee, scattered papers, crumpled napkins, and some kind of oily smudge. Uncomfortable.
“Oh, I’ll clean that up, Mr Brandt. Stayed up late last night, didn’t even realise I’d fallen asleep.”
Einar grinned, tilting his head and shaking it slightly while the girl scooted up from the couch to clear all the excess from the table.
“Please, just Einar. Let’s not compound the whole awkwardness of the atmosphere any further. And on a first-name basis. If you don’t mind, Nemi.”
Nemi exhaled in relief. She’d finally figured out how to address Einar for sure.
“Okay, … Einar,” Nemi turned around to look at him and smiled.”
“And don’t make such a fuss, Hilda and Mitsi are working today, they should be here soon.”
“It’s okay, it’s not a problem for me. I live here now too.”
Nemi carefully wiped the stain with one of the crumpled napkins, then threw it into the cup, with no coffee left in the bottom. She set about assembling the papers as the cups disappeared: Einar stood up from the couch, heading for the kitchen. Nemi glanced at him, noticing the slightly dishevelled red hair gathered in a high, but already a little loose, ponytail. Only now did she realise that he had only come home in the morning, otherwise he would have startled her in the middle of the night. He hadn’t been home for almost twenty-four hours.
Nemi picked up the stack of papers in her hands and went into the kitchen as well.
“I can cook something if you… you haven’t eaten yet,” she put the papers on the countertop and walked over to the fridge. “I think you might want to change your clothes.”
Einar looked caught off guard by that remark but nodded approvingly.
“To be honest, yes, that would be nice.”
“Tea or coffee?”
“Tea, thank you.”
Nemi put the kettle on and took some eggs out of the fridge, Einar watched her for a few more seconds, mulling over her observation before heading to his room. But after taking a few steps, he turned around:
“You could use a change of clothes too, I think.”
Nemi laughed, looking back at Einar.
“Yeah, right.”
