In the following days, maybe weeks, Youri was bored. Not that he wasn't doing anything; he was doing a lot of things, quite a lot. But whatever he was doing, his mind always wandered elsewhere. He was thinking about something he didn't know himself.
So one of those days, he had to leave, not for too long, just for a few hours, for a very important business. He took all the sheets and documents he needed, and upon reaching the place, he heard the following conversation between two men, both of which were, of course, much younger than him:
"Has everything been closed on time?"
"No, I'm sorry. We couldn't get to check it".
"How come? What happened?"
"Mark has left. He had barely any time".
"When will he come back?"
"He didn't say. Or, at least, I didn't hear".
All of this conversation embarrassed Youri quite a lot. First, he didn't really know what were they talking about. In particular, he didn't really understand what they were supposed to close on time, nor who Mark was (he had randomly found that place just a few days before, and he wasn't sure how good it was). But he thought that Mark was probably holding a very important position there if they couldn't do it without him. And if he was away, then, probably, it was better for Youri to go home. But he didn't want it. He didn't know what to do.
For a moment, he thought that probably someone else was replacing Mark — and someone had to be replacing Mark, otherwise what sense would all of this make? But fearing he would have to waste minutes explaining to them what he wanted, and not wanting to risk his fragile nerves, he decided to do something else instead, but he didn't know what.
But the conflict raging inside him got even sharper when he realized that what he had come for was very important and he would have to do it anyway — even if he decided to postpone it to another day. This lost him completely.
He sat on the first chair on his left (the chairs were all desert, and he didn't know why), bending his head down.
Something that I'd rather avoid mentioning would happen to him if a man who looked in his fifties hadn't arrived just on time and hadn't asked Youri:
"Sir, what happened? Are you alright?"
"Are you a doctor?" Youri asked him in turn. He felt like he was dreaming, or had somehow gotten into a different world, which i the same, more or less.
"Well, I used to be. But what does it have to do now?"
Youri raised his head up. Maybe he was tired of being in that position, maybe he was getting uncomfortable. He asked the man:
"Who's Mark?"
"Mark?" the man was embarrassed. "Where did you hear this name?"
And Youri told him about the conversation he had overheard earlier on that day.
"Oh", the man exclaimed, and a beam of hope started shining in Youri's eyes. However, it faded just as quickly when the man added:
"I'm sure they were talking about something else".
"They were talking about their own stuff?"
"Yes. I often come here, almost every month, sometimes twice a month. If that conversation was related to this place, I would have to know".
"Okay. Is all the staff at work now? Because, you know, I'm here for the first time and..."
"Well, they have shifts, but I think everyone who has to be here at this time, is here".
"Oh, that's fine".
Suddenly the man noticed Youri's paper bag, which had a stack of sheets inside. He asked Youri:
"Is that all yours?"
"Yes, and I have to... to... you know..."
He forgot the word, but the man realized without thinking too long that Youri was hinting at scanning.
"I can do that for you, if you want. Just go home. Don't waste your forces, you need them".
"Thank you. I should thank you at least a thousand times, otherwise it wouldn't be polite of me".
"However, you have to write a proxy first. I'm going to ask for a sheet now, and here's my pen", he took out a pen which looked really interesting, at least for Youri, which had been using a different kind all his life.
After just two minutes' time, he came back with the sheet, gave it to Youri and he started filling the proxy. He asked the man:
"What's your name?"
When the man answered, Youri wrote the first few letters, then asked him to repeat and possibly spell the whole thing letter by letter. The man did that too, and Youri had the proxy ready in like three minutes. After that, each of the two put his own signature on it.
When Youri's turn came, he told the man:
"Don't forget about it".
"Of course I won't", the man smiled and went to the room with the scanner. Behind it, there was a beautiful girl who didn't even look like she was thirty, and whose black hair matched the color of her suit very well.
"Hello", he told her. "Here, I would like to have those papers scanned", and put them on the table.
The girl took a quick look at the stack and said:
"I'm sorry, but it will take me a while to do all of them, I could ask my partner for help, of course, but even then it would take me a lot of time, not as much, of course, but still".
She was speaking slowly, like each word mattered in the same way.
"How long have you been working here?"
"Actually, just for sixth months, and I haven't learned everything yet", she laughed pleasantly, meaning that she was not afraid to admit her own flaws, regardless of whether there were any. "If you want to check if the scans are fine, you can come back for them tomorrow or any of the next days".
"But the scans aren't for me. Look", and he showed her the form.
"Oh", the girl exclaimed, "do you know him?"
"Actually, no. I just saw him today and decided to help him. He was looking like he was in need of help".
"I see. Okay, tell him to come back tomorrow. There's really much to scan here".
"Thank you, I will tell him. Do you want me to pay now or..."
"If you prefer, of course". And she told him the amount.
The man gave her the money and left. Youri was waiting of him.
"So?" he asked.
"The girl said that it will take her a while. If you want to double-check the scans, you can come back tomorrow".
"Okay", Youri said in a low and shy voice, as he was unsure if he really wanted to double-check them. But what he knew for sure is that he couldn't stay out for much longer, so he thanked the man, said goodbye and went to the station to wait for the next bus and get back home.
Now, I'd like to talk about Youri's eldest grandson, who had the same family name, while his first name was Robrecht. He worked as a stockbroker, but that day was his first day off. Why? Because the boss liked what he had done and thought that Robrecht deserved a little vacation.
To have some fun, he hired a little ship (he had always wanted to have one, but he still didn't have enough money for it). On that ship, he met a guy who looked about his age.
"Do you enjoy here?" he asked Robrecht.
"Do I enjoy here? Yes, I think so. Is anything wrong?"
"Oh, don't mind it", his new friend (yes, they were having a rather friendly conversation) laughed. "I was just asking".
"I see".
"By the way, I have a younger brother who used to work on this ship. He was the boatswain or something like that, I don't remember clearly now".
"And then what happened?" Robrecht asked, pulling something out of the edge of his eye.
"He lost his job".
"Yes, I figured that out, but why?"
"I will tell you, but promise you won't tell anyone".
"Of course I won't".
"Fine. One day, the whole crew were telling each other jokes, and my brother told one as well. But the captain recognized himself in the main character and got really mad at him. That's how the whole thing happened".