My louved one (ENG) Part 5

“Of course Lix, no problem. And it won’t affect your hours or your salary. But it's not like you to not be able to work on a weekend day. If it's not prying, what are you going to do?” M.Rascal asked.

“No problem!? And nothing will change!? You kidding!?”

The pet shop had just closed for public and M.Rascal had gathered Jeff and I to discuss about time tables for the coming week. I never understood why he did that on Thursday. Nor why all information about a coming unavailability was ignored every other time of the week. When I interrogated him, he reacted the same way as when I talked about his out-of-place smirk.

“I met a girl I like a lot and I used the fact that she has no cellphone as an excuse to see her again, and this Saturday was the best possible time.”

“Oooh, would little Felicien be fallen in love by the greatest chance?” He replied with a knowing smile.

I could not help but blush a bit and look away. I am not very shy, far from that even, but I was still embarrassed that he understood so quickly.

After a few moments of awkward silence, I began to find their lack of reaction strange and raised my head. His satisfied expression had been replaced by the manifestation of the purest shock. Even Jeff's default frown and pouting face expressed only surprise.

“Why are you looking shocked? Why is it so surprising?”

“So it's true? You have a girlfriend? You?”

“It's still a bit early to say that she is my girlfriend, we barely know each other and I don’t even know if she likes me.” I corrected. “But I sure hope to change that this weekend. But seriously, why are you both looking so shocked?”

“Uh, well you see, I always thought that ... you were...” M.Rascal began.

“We were sure you were gay.” Jeff ended.

“Jeff!”

“Me? Gay? What could have put this idea in your minds? I never brought a man to the apartment. Nor anyone before her by the way...”

“Well, put this way...” M.Rascal looked ashamed for not noticing it.

“Yeah but you never brought a girl either. So yes it's gossip mater.” Of course Jeff was not the least embarrassed the world.

“Because what more everyone talk about it? Well, I didn't know I was so popular. And I kinda have an idea as to the source of these rumors.” I said looking accusingly at my colleague.

I was not upset, actually I totally did not care, but it was an opportunity to show him that I was more mature than him.

“You accusing me?” Jeff said.

“Yes, but do not worry, actually it's not so bad nowadays. I hadn't even noticed I was thought about this way. At least it's not because of something I do and nobody thinks I am a womanizer who brings a different girl twice a week and have his picture on the blacklist of half the nightclubs and bars of the city and who is probably a closet homosexual.”

There were also many rumors about him, and he usually made them himself trying to be cool. As if doing this kind of thing made people cool. But the last part, I just made it up.

All right, not more mature. More cunning?

His eyes widened big when I said this, but he quickly resumed:

“True enough, but I wonder how this girl will react hearing this rumor.” He said with a voice full of innuendo.

I shrugged.

“I would say she will ask me right away if it's true. This is what she did when she thought I was a furry. A misunderstanding quickly resolved by outspokenness.”

“You’re a furry? Darn, I should have thought about it!”

“No I’m not a furry.”

“You'll finish this talk later; finish your work while I finish to prepare your time tables.”

Jeff had begun to get angry but M.Rascal called us back to order before he had time to reply something that would hinder him even more.

“And don’t worry about Saturday Lix; I rarely ask you to come this day, so I cannot blame you for being unavailable.

“Thank you, sir. And rumors always have a bit of truth, so I cannot blame you for believing it.”

He took an ashamed face again. It was kind of cute. Scary coming from him; but cute too, in a certain way.

“I forgot! Why can he say “no” when he feels like it and not me? And just for a girl too! It's unfair, I when I'm away for something important it’s deducted from my wages and I have to catch up by working overtime! I’m the eldest, it should be the opposite!”

“Because for Lix, unlike you, it rarely happens and when he's here, unlike you, he is effective enough to be able to be told he has already caught up his hours.”

The serious and impatient face of M.Rascal refrained Jeff from replying.

"Also, "I have a hangover” and “my girlfriend dumped me” are not good reasons; he is almost never late even if his campus is in the middle of the city and he never asked me for an advance to pay a game debt. Is it enough reasons or do I need to continue?"

Jeff did not answer and started his share of the job, feeding the animals and cleaning their cages while I filled and cleaned the other rays, but when our boss had his back turned he gave me a look that indicated unambiguously that he would make me regret. I did not know for what exactly, either for being told off by the boss, either for having a free day when I was not meant to work, either for having undermined his plan to make me pass of as homosexual.

I ignored him and continued my work. After a moment, I heard the animals panic and a large series of expletives and I went to see what was going on although I already had a good idea.

Jeff had goofed up again. Of course.

He had his eyes closed and was trying to repel with great screams and large arm movements into nothing a parakeet that attacked. Business as usual.

It was not difficult to understand what had happened. He had been bitten or scratched when cleaning one of the bird cages because of his clumsiness and/or of his bad mood; had lost his temper and had withdrawn his hand in a big move while shouting the first swears I had heard; taking the bird out with his hand; the bird got scared and had attacked with beak and talons. And Jeff had panicked in turn. And all the animals were agitated because of the noise and restlessness they witnessed.

Although he had been explained him several times what to do when an animal was coming out of a cage; keep calm and talk to him in a calm and steady voice, making slow and small movements to not frighten the animal and draw it to himself.

The easiest way being of course to not provoke the animal when its cage was cleaned or if it did not work to not move too fast when he attacked.

Sometimes I pitied him. Being as little gifted with animals, especially animals you are close of almost every day, it was not natural. To think that all animals hated him to guts just by seeing his face. Then I wondered if he did not do it on purpose. Although he was not the kind to want to attract attention. Usually he even made big efforts to go away from people, M.Rascal being the only exception I knew.

I could have amused myself by staying put to watch him struggle; I knew it would last for a while, but I decided against it. I took advantage of their attention focused on themselves to catch the parakeet by pinning its wings against its body and I stepped back to avoid being hit by the waving idiot.

“It's good I have it, you can calm down.”

Jeff slowed down and slowly opened his eyes. Seeing parakeet pressed against me, he calmed down and said:

“You didn't have to come; I'd 've managed alone.”

Always equal to himself. I stifled a sigh.

“If you want I can still let go.”

“No, no, that's good!” He replied hastily.

He finished cleaning the cage and I put the parakeet back in place, then I calmed the other animals. Once the cause of agitation ended it was not difficult. Then I noticed:

“You know, I think you are improving. Earlier incidents began much quicker. Besides now that I think about it, it's been a while that there have been no more than two per week, you’re really improving.”

I was not sarcastic at all, I was actually impressed. Weary of his repeated stunts for sure, but impressed. Maybe he did not do it on purpose after all.

“Thank you...”

To say that his answer surprised me would have been like comparing a wet firecracker to Chicago's conflagration in 1871. And equally surprising was the humility I heard in this word. I turned and he really seemed glad and embarrassed by my compliment.

Not knowing what to think, I kept my mouth shut. I noticed the Boss in the corner of my eye, a raised eyebrow and two paper sheets in a hand. He must have been alerted by the noise too.

“Ah, Sir, I didn't hear you coming. Our tables are ready?”

“Yes, here they are.” He handed them to us. “What was that noise?”

“Panicked pets, but everything is back to normal now. Funny, since I didn't seen you coming I would sworn you arrived before me and you had seen everything.”

He did not answer but Jeff chuckled for some unknown reason.

We finished our jobs in silence and returned home. Jeff lived in a close neighborhood .

Before going, I remembered something else and turned to see M.Rascal.

“By the way sir, I forgot to ask you, did you felt or heard something in the night yesterday?

“... No, I don't think so, why? What kind of thing?”

“I was awoken by an explosion that shook my whole room, and probably the whole building, but when I went to see everything was quiet. As if no one heard, not even you or your family. And there was nothing in the street, everything was intact.

“It doesn't talk to me; I think I would have heard it. You probably dreamed it.” He concluded with a wave hand gesture.

“No, I thought about it too but it can’t be that. I know I would have realized if I had dreamed it. And I saw some marks on the ground.”

Hearing that he took a very serious look.

“What marks?”

“Marks left by furniture with time. Here, I took a picture of them.” For my diary. I displayed them on my phone and showed him. “See? And that's this way throughout the entire apartment; it is as if all the furniture had been moved. And it may not be clear in the pictures but they all shifted in the same direction and the heavier moved the least. What do you think?”

“I don't know, I wasn't awake. But it makes me curious; I will look if there is not something like that in my place.

“It would surprise me; your wife is very... thorough when it comes to housework.”

“You can say maniac, I know it's true.” He paused, then pursued. “Anyway, I don’t know what it is but I won't worry. And it only happened once isn't it? Nothing foretells that it will resume.”

“Nothing foretold the first either, but you're right. And it would have to be much more violent to become threatening. As long as it doesn't throw the furniture at me...” I added with a voice that could seem like a joke for someone that could not identify innuendo.

M.Rascal just smiled.

I didn't dwell on this topic with him. His expression during his hesitation at the beginning of the conversation indicated clearly that he knew a lot about the shake, its cause and all potential danger that would be linked to it. And it was obvious he did not want to talk about it with me.

I returned to my apartment and crossed Mrs. Rascal and Yumi who just left their place.

“Hello madam, Hello Yumi. Out again this evening?”

It was not visible from outside, maybe safe for her extremely black hair, but apparently the Rascal family sprang from a Japanese family and it had influenced the choice of Yumi's name, and a big part of her education. Her parents were proud of this legacy and want her to be too. Why both? Mystery, but not that surprising. It may be what had get them closer to each other.

They turned around and saw me. Yumi gave me a big smile while Mrs. Rascal tensed like a violin string and gave me an equally tensed smile.

She reacted this way every time she saw me. She was clearly terrified of me, sometimes she even looked terrorized at the idea that I touch her. I never understood why, it was so since her husband had introduced us. She was on her guard as if I was a dangerous animal that might attack her by surprise at the littlest second of inattention. It was really strange, usually I had to force a little for people to act this way. Yet apart from this tension to cut with a knife she acted normally; she would say hello and goodbye and she was very obliging. Without this distance she put between us, she could be the ideal neighbor and the perfect wife's owner.

And she acted this way only with me; I had already seen her in public, she was very comfortable with people. But she tensed as soon as she was aware of my presence.

I tried to calm her and to understand her, but in vain.

“Hey Lix! Hi. Yes this time we are going to the park to feed fishes.” Yumi said pointing to the plastic bag full of pieces of stale bread she held in her hand.

They often did this kind of trip, probably to establish a sort of special mother-daughter relationship. Like dad and I when we went to his hunting trips.

“Oh, good evening Lix. You just finished?” Mrs. Rascal said.

“Yes, just now.”

“My husband told me that you agreed to watch Yumi while we were leaving, thank you for that, it helps us a lot.” She said with one of those rare sincere smiles she did when I was around.

It was another quirk of this family. The husband kept for no reason an employee who did not get along with animals and dealt a jolt that shook an entire floor of his house without anyone noticing as a minor and trivial incident. The woman did not hesitate and was even happy to entrust her ten year old daughter she loved for several days without any monitoring, I had checked, to a young student she was cautious with like the plague and did not want to touch under any circumstances. It was even she who had suggested that I keep Yumi the first time.

Their way to esteem people and values ​​always puzzled me.

“No problem, she's not a hard child.”

“I like when we are together.” Said child exclaimed.

“Me too, it makes me feel like I have a little sister.”

“You coming Yumi? We will arrive late if we continue. It was a pleasure Felicien.” Mrs. Rascal interrupted.

“Goodbye Yumi. You still lie as badly Madam. Good evening between girls!” I answered in a casual tone.

“Bye Lix! Until next time!” Yumi finished.

We parted on these courtesies and I went back in my place.

Like the day before, I just laid dormant this night. I slept surprisingly easily and the night passed without incident. In fact, I slept so well that even a true earthquake would probably not have wakened me.

And that despite three alarms I woke up late for my last day of class before seeing Sylvear.