Vera

Slowly but surely, the trio reached the Boulevard from the side of Montreuil that served like an invisible border dividing Paris and the rest of France. Like Uroboros, the road was circling the city, yet anyone is welcomed to enter, the ones who are in search of opportunity and the ones who are in search of amusement. For Christopher, the scenery of the massive city was not a novelty, however, even he could not resist but smile upon the sight of the centuries old pieces of art. Oh, the history of blood and light, wars and prosperity which were witnessed by these walls and roads!

All the houses, despite bearing clearly different artistic designs, from classic gothic and renaissance to the most recent ones like art nouveau, their sizes were aligned perfectly for people to get easy access through the streets as well as for tourists to get a good view on every single detail of houses.

And aside all the people with heavy cameras and easels here and there, there are now 2 new yokels whose faces are pressed against the car window to get a better view of the city.

"Hey, you two will dirty the windows! Let me lower them."

And so they drove through the Montreal road, passed through Place de la Nation with complaints from Douglas, who wanted to get out for a walk. They had to drive through Boulevard Diderot to reach Christopher's home, but instead he turned to Boulevard Voltaire. Eugene did not know Paris quite as well, but the road to his brother's home was engraved in his head and so, the question formed relatively quick.

"Did not you turn too early?"

Christopher nodded and replied with a smile, "Well noticed, navigator. I have to give some papers to Marco. They are in gloves compartment."

Marco was a coworker as well as an old friend of Christopher. An Italian migrant that ran away from the fascist regime in his home country. Despite the hard circumstances, Marko never failed to cheer up people with his role as a soul of the company, which always contrasted with Christopher's serious demeanour. As some say - opposites attract.

Eugene immediately opened the compartment and took out a stack of papers. The top paper was signed with hospital logo, but he was not sure whether all papers were necessary. And so, Eugene looked at one at the bottom, which made Christopher raise his nervous voice.

"Eugene! These papers are confidential, do look at them without asking!"

"Oh, sorry, did not know about that."

At that, Eugene put this stack on his lap and waited until they arrived elsewhere. The outside look remained the same, although it was an unfamiliar kind for Eugene, since he rarely visits the northern part of Paris. Suddenly, someone waved at him and came closer to the car. It was Marco, Christopher's coworker, that greeted them energetically.

"Hello, hello, my friend! How are you doing Christopher, Eugene and… who are you?"

"Douglas, nice to meet you, Monsieur Marco."

Then, spoke Christopher with an intent glare, "Hello, Marko, we brought the papers for the work."

Eugene raised the stack of papers, made sure that nothing left resting on his lap, and gave it to Marco. He said, "It was nice to see you again. I will be staying in Paris for a few days, maybe we will meet again." to which Marko replied "Of course, my friend! Make sure to taste the coffee I gave to your brother. It is magnificent!"

Eugene raised his brow and at the same time the car moved. Before Marko could be seen in the distance, Christopher said his regards and sighed, "Magnificent, huh?"

Without wasting time, the three of them first returned the Place de la Nation. Finally, Christopher turned on the Boulevard Diderot and stopped at the corner of the block, not far away from Paris-Gare-de-Lyon.

"Oh god, we are finally here!" exclaimed Douglas and stretched a little, "Cars are great, but it is really inconvenient that you can't actually get up, have a walk to the toilet or at least stretch like on trains."

"Believe me, that's a small payment for having your own wheels. You might get it when you will get one yourself." explained Christopher with a wry smile.

Eugene was not actually too tired from the trip, likely because there was indeed more space on the front seat, but his thoughts were also occupied with the goal of coming to Paris. To be frank, when Eugene was still a toddler, he could call Paris his home, even though he was not able to speak yet. Long ago, his family had to move to the town he is living in now and in his situation as of now, he is not able to get back to his birthplace, despite having a great wish for it.

"Alright then, I did not see any clothes with you guys. I understand that you will stay here for a couple of days, but still are you planning on wearing the same attire?" raised Christopher his brow and rightfully so.

"I will just wear whatever old clothes you have."

"And what if I threw them away?"

"I know you did not."

"Fair point." nodded Christopher and faced Douglas.

"Do not worry about me, I was planning on buying a costume or 2." proudly announced the man. Dagaz brothers shrugged and marched inside the house without further interrogation. Douglas opened his mouth, but then just crossed his hands and tagged along.

Christopher was living on the first floor of the apartments, though there were only 3 floors in the entire building, so the choice was not great in the first place. He grabbed the key from his pocket and quickly opened the door with a slight creak.

"Welcome home, honey!" called the pleasant feminine voice from the deeper part of the apartment.

"Hello, hopefully you remember that we have guests today?"

Right after Christopher finished the sentence, the footsteps spread through the place and were growing closer, and soon enough a figure of a tall and pleasantly dressed woman appeared in the room.

"Welcome boys! How are you doing today?" the woman smiled, but was still stirring the dough in the bowl that was still in her hands. Eugene smiled back and answered, "Everything is great, Vera. And you, as I can see, are as busy as ever."

"I was not expecting you to return to Paris so fast, I just started making pastries!" she switched her attention from Eugene to Douglas, who until now was enveloped in silence.

"Pleased to meet you, Ma'am. My name is Douglas, I am Eugene's friend. Hopefully, my presence will not bother you too much." after speaking, Douglas bowed a little. Made a step further, but upon glancing over her, dirtied by the dough, hand, he stopped and simply smiled.

"Not at all, Eugene's friends are always welcomed in our household. Right, honey?" Vera caught Christopher's eyes, which were not shining with hospitality, but he nodded regardless. Simply to make her smile again.

Vera and Christopher became acquainted only about a year ago and got married 5 months after. From the very beginning these two had great chemistry and Eugene always enjoyed her company. Her bright and caring nature reminded him of his mother, even though he remembers her only vaguely. Perhaps it as well was the reason for Christopher to engage with her.

Men put aside their coats and jackets, and without wasting a second, rushed into the vast dining hall. It was perfect for meeting with colleagues from the hospital Christopher is working in, but he does not enjoy inviting even the closest friends to his household. Only family and some exceptions are welcomed at any time. For dinner, Vera brought in the duck baked with apples and salmon tart. The dessert was not yet ready.

"Oh, brilliant! The duck is perfect as always, Vera!" exclaimed Christopher, whose mood drastically changed throughout the course. His gloomy expression was finally fixed with a light smirk.

"The tart is also magnificent, I can feel rosemary well, but it is not overpowering at all, how did you do it?" asked exciting Eugene. Vera giggled, "The trick is simple, just add more salt!"

Eugene took another bite, "I bet even Arnold would love this."

"I would not rise my hopes so much, but I actually agree. Though he has more of a sweet tooth."

"No wonder his teeth are golden." caustically said Eugene, which resulted in Christopher coughing from laughter, "Please, do not dare you say it to him."

"He has the golden tooth, though?" inquired Douglas, to which Eugene only washed his hands and continued eating.

"Your manager Arnold. I hear quite a lot of nasty things about him whenever you two talk. Do you hate him this much?" wondered Vera, making Dagaz brothers exchange their gazes.

"No, of course I do not hate him! Arnold's personality is just too sassy to not make fun of him, right?" explained Eugene and Christopher followed, "You are actually the lucky one, because he became more gentle with the years."

"I beg your pardon? He is such a creaker now! You are not allowed to even have a little pause while the café is empty!" opposed Christopher's words Eugene, but his brother only cackled and elaborated further his stance.

"Please, I bet he did not once make you count the grains of grounded coffee from the full jar for whatever reason!"

"Alright, I got it, can you stop, please. The dish will become cool." Vera got into the argument and her words were authoritarian enough for them to actually listen. In the end, you would not want to make the cook angry, which was learnt the hard way by the brothers from a particular cook and barista.

Meanwhile, Douglas already finished the meal, "Thank you, madam Vera. By the way, this coffee has quite strange taste, is it flavoured?"

Eugene was surprised by his friend's observation. The coffee was indeed flavoured, but Eugene was not quite capable of determining the origin of it. But Vera immediately enlightened the two.

"This is indeed a flavoured coffee! It has some licorice, a very small amount, though."

Eugene widened his eyes, he rarely even heard of this spice and the idea of using it for coffee was bizarre yet fascinating! He was not even sure where he could get it in the first place, thus he turned to his brother, who noticed Eugene's curiosity and spoke.

"My friend from work gave it to us as a present from Holland. Hector, if this name says anything to you. Unfortunately, I am not really fond of it, it has been a month and I still was not able to get used to it. Luckily, Vera quite enjoyed it and we practically ran out of it."

"Will we ask for another portion next time he goes to Holland?" wondered Vera with a cheeky smile.

"I feel dizzy from it, Vera!" exclaimed Christopher, and Vera showed him her tongue.

Douglas received his answer to the mystery of this coffee and was about to leave, but suddenly he was stopped by Eugene, "We will go together, I will finish with my dish shortly, can you wait for a little?"

"The pastries are ready, you can take some, Doug." added Vera.

"Well, how can I refuse pastries from a fine lady? But I will ask you to hurry up, I do not want to walk around in the dusk."

"Where are you guys planning to go?" asked Christopher, but Douglas only shrugged, "I do not know, but certainly to some place in Paris."