Taxi

A man in his thirties got into Azriel’s car, quickly and abruptly called the desired address and squirmed in the back seat. The cab driver sighed heavily. It would be hard to get him to talk. - Are you upset about something? — Asriel asked. The man looked at the driver with a strange look, then stared at the floor again. - Is something wrong? The man no longer reacted. Asriel grimaced. Customers like that came along sometimes, and he didn’t like them. They didn’t say anything about themselves, so it was impossible to understand who they were and what they had done. But the cab driver decided not to give up. - If you don’t like to talk, it’s your business, of course, but you can tell me about any problem. The man finally looked up, and in the rearview mirror the driver saw rage, irritation and some kind of fatigue…. - I… I’m fed up with life… I wanted to climb the tower and jump off… I don’t know how I ended up in the cab…. - Why did you take that step? — Asriel asked, glad to have gotten at least a sentence out of his client. - My girlfriend left me… - And because of that you decided to leave your life? That’s stupid! She wasn’t worth it! - You can’t imagine how much I loved her… She was more precious to me than life… She was the meaning of it…. - Why did she leave you? - I’m not a very rich man, although I always looked after her… She met a businessman, they fell in love…. - That’s no reason to be upset! You had your whole life ahead of you! You’re a good man. I’m sure a better girl would have noticed you. - You know, I feel better after talking to you. - You just needed to talk. - Yeah, I guess I did. I’m so happy I met you! - We’re here. - Goodbye. The man jumped out of the car and strode off toward a low, obviously residential building. And Asriel, wiping a tear with his sleeve, whispered: - Me too, me too…