Change of Heart

Chapter 8

I sit and staring at nothing in particular. It takes me a few moments to realize there's a golden Labrador, sniffing at my hand. All of a sudden, someone crouches down and blocks my view. A few seconds pass before I focus on his face.

"Jason, what happened?" the guy questions me. "What are you doing out here?" His voice is so comforting.

"Calvin?" My reddened eyes search his. "I-I didn't really... I had to go." I mumble with all I can manage. He studies me like a wounded animal and I guess it's not hard to figure out something's wrong. The dog nudges my hand for a pat.

"This is Mango. He normally doesn't like people." Calvin comments. I run my hand along the side of Mango's head, and he nudges into my palm. "Come on, come with us." Calvin makes a notion with his head. I don't think, I oblige and follow them.

We walk through the park and cross the street. Calvin continues up the path a little, then turns to enter a huge high-rise. The doorman hands him a newspaper and a small parcel.

"How did Mr. Mango enjoy his walk this morning?" The doorman questions the dog more so than Calvin, as he's looking at Mango while he speaks.

"He made a friend, this is Jason," Calvin informs him. His gold-plated name tag reads, Mansfred. My brain instantly wanders to Batman. I mean, Calvin Casburn, A superhero? He certainly has the initials for one.

"Well, enjoy your day sir," Mansfred replies, holding the door open.

We continue into the building, which opens into an oversized foyer. There're 2 sets of elevators, either side of a central water feature. The fountain's square and looks like it's made of a light grey marble; there's even a dolphin statue spraying water out.

This's where he lives? It's one of those places you see on the TV shows, where rich people pay ridiculous amounts to stay. We continue through the foyer, past the elevators. I can't help but wonder where we are going. He clearly lives here as the doorman knew him.

We walk down a few steps to a single elevator. There's a gold keypad to the side, that has C.C, engraved above it. Calvin pulls out silver key tag and swipes it, causing it to beep and open the door. Calvin and Mango both enter. He turns around, looks up from his paper and calmly says, "you coming?"

Yep defiantly a superhero.

We ride the elevator up and when the doors reopen, Mango runs over and flops onto a huge dog's bed. There's a kennel and a bunch of toys scattered around it. The area's the size of my living room, and that is just Mango's stuff. I scan around the rest of the space; the place is huge. As Calvin disappears around a corner, I wander around. The glossy, black tiles, oddly feel warm against my cold feet. Most of the furniture and appliances are shades of silver and chrome. The ceiling's extremely high and a darker grey than the wallpaper. The entire back wall consists of huge panes of glass. I walk over and look out at the city. We must be on one of the top floors as you can see the roofs of most of the surrounding buildings.

"Beautiful view," Calvin states, as he walks over to me. He's holding 2 glasses of water and hands me one.

"Thanks." I reply. "Yes, it's stunning."

He turns and takes a seat on a black, leather lounge, which could easily cater to a dozen people. I automatically follow him and sit a few spaces away. "Your place is amazing," I add, still in awe of this room. I use this as a temporary distraction of my thoughts.

"Thank you, I designed it myself actually." He looks at me intently, trying to figure something out in his head. I lean back into the cushion and it's ridiculously soft. Almost like being cradled by a giant fluffy hand. My body sinks back and the effects of being deprived of sleep in over 24 hours forcefully overwhelms me. I'm comfortable being here with him right now. I realize that it makes me want to try and explain why I was sitting alone in Central Park.