Return to Business (The End – Chapter 1, Part 3)

The End

Chapter 1 – Part 3

“And here you are! A large coffee for my favorite French customer!”
“Thank you very much. Have a great day.”
“Always. You too.”

The young barista with purple-tipped hair winked at the man, who winked back at her.

It was time to get back to things. Quickly. Not easy with a… a glance at the date on the newspaper stand… April 8th, 2005… A gap of four months. Not to mention almost two decades of memories that were now useless and would take too long to fade. Leaving the Java Lounge and going home was a good start. He hoped he hadn’t moved in the last four months.

Twenty minutes later, he arrived at 307 NW 2nd Street. There was no unfamiliar car parked out front. The key in his pocket opened the door. The house was in pretty much the same condition as he remembered it. Things were starting out easy. He didn’t know if he should be happy about that or take it as a bad omen. He knew from experience that “easy” was rarely good news.

As soon as he got in, he turned on the computer and jumped in the shower while the machine booted up. Someday he would have to deal with this. Sure, the computer was old, but almost five minutes to start up was not normal.

A few minutes later, he opened the walk-in closet. He stopped in front of a cabinet in the back. He took a deep breath – as dramatic as it was useless – and opened the cabinet.
Inside were memories, emotions and his old “uniform”.
The Doc Martens still needed a good polish. He knew that some of his old colleagues would laugh when they’d see him in these leather pants. He didn’t care. He needed them to get back into business. It wasn’t really a superstition, but… Pfff… Of course it was superstition, who was he trying to fool? Why else would he be wearing such a garment in the middle of the 2000s? He’d have plenty of time to change into something more appropriate later.
When the T-shirt appeared under his pants, it was like seeing an old friend for the first time in years. It was still in good shape, just needed a little ironing. Many confused the symbol on the chest with a target, and the few who recognized it often mistook Bond for a mod or a Who fan. Wasn’t it the same? He wasn’t sure and didn’t care. Even if he liked the band, it wasn’t enough to pay homage to them with his clothes. This t-shirt was like the pants, a necessary element for his return.

The second bag in the closet contained all his tools and equipment. He’d have to ask the Taulier to get him the proper documentation to take them on the plane.

After getting dressed, he sat down in front of the computer. He only took the time to answer three emails and send a few more.

He had just gotten home, but he had to leave his house and Gainesville again. What he didn’t know was that he would never come back.

(to be continued)

Author(s)

DavidB

Frenchman, exiled on the other side of the planet, DavidB writes. It's not always very good, but who cares, the goal is to write. Sometimes, he also does other things.

MetaStructure is one of his longest-running projects. It was started in the early 2000s. Stopped many times. Started over a few times. Let's hope this time is the right one.