Impress Me Not: The Architect

Chapter 12

Nothing was right. His mind was a battle of conflicting thoughts and emotions. All he really wanted to do was move on. To start a new life with people and places that didn't remind him of her all the time. It was doing a great job when he was busy with work. He even seemed to find something to do at lunch. Valentino seemed like the loner type, but he couldn't help but try and talk to him whenever he saw him. He had turned out to be the highlight of his day now, as strange as that seemed.

But when night came, that was the moment when everything he had done to go back to normal life all fell apart. He didn't know how much longer he could take all of this. It was exhausting just trying to get up every day. The weight of everything that had happened in just a short year was too much on his warry soul.

"You know the bus isn't going to come," a voice interrupted his thoughts.

Casimir looked around. He hadn't noticed where he had wondered off to. Every downtown of every city always had a rundown area by it. Most of the time, it was due to age and a lack of upkeep. It seemed like he had wound up walking down the wrong streets this time. His body had been too lost, unsure of where to go with his mind giving it such mixed signals. In Miami, this wouldn't have been a problem. He could always remember the alleys that you didn't go to. But this was a completely new city. One that he wasn't fully acquainted with just yet.

"Pardon me?" he asked the man next to him. He was a gruff man with black, greying hair that was thinning out quite a lot. His shoulders were bulky, and his arms looked strong, although they didn't look like he worked out all the time. It was the kind of strength that was gained by whatever you did in your life rather than going to the gym all the time. It made him more than nervous about the old man.

His face looked ruff too. Casimir probably shouldn't be walking around here at night so much. He could defend himself if need be. But fists couldn't do much against a gun.

"The bus," the guy pointed at the sign. "You know it's not going to come until, like, five AM, right?"

"Oh," he shook his head. "My apologies, sir. I was just looking for a place to sit." He hadn't even realized that he had sat there. His mind was so occupied by everything else that it wasn't paying attention to the dark streets or what was lurking in them.

"Yeah," the man grunted and sat down next to him, favoring a specific knee as he settled. "You looked like you needed a seat."

"What do you mean?"

"You see those rundown apartments over there?" the man pointed. "The ones that look like they're one rainstorm away from caving in?"

"Yes," he nodded. The apartment complex looked old and rickety, but sturdy. There were a few warm lights on near some of the doors to the apartments, but most of them were dark. It was a small building with three floors.

"That's my home," the sound of a can popping and sizzling open filled his ears as he watched the old man take a sip of beer. "I saw you walking around a bit. The names Norman."

"Casimir," he shook his hand, more curious than ever. He was merely happy that the man was giving him some kind of reprieve of his thoughts. He didn't know how he was going to sort through them tonight.

"That's a nice name," he nodded. "You wanna beer?"

"Sure," he took a new can that the man handed to him. This was a strange encounter that he wasn't expecting. The man acted like this was as normal as going to the coffee shop every morning and reading the newspaper.

What a strange little town he had moved into.

"Had a feeling you would need it," the man took another drink of his beer. "You seem like you needed someone to talk to."