Arthur. Part two.

When several clouds appeared in the sky, everything around was plunged into darkness.

Now, it was the most ordinary night.

"Do I need a brother, a friend or someone else?" Adelard asked him the same question and feeling the coolness, got up and began to look down at the water, which was quietly sleeping.

Now, the whole city fell asleep.

"I have a house nearby. Would you like to go there?!" Arthur suddenly asked.

Adelard, with the naivete of a child, still did not know much about people and could not read between the lines. But what could be strange about the fact that his new friend invited him to his house?

So he said, "It's getting late. I think Nicholas is waiting for me."

"And Nicholas, who is he?!"

"He works for me. For everyone he is a servant, but for me he is a dear person who spent all his youth on me. His best years."

"Well, let's go then?! I'll cook something for you. And at the same time, we'll learn more about each other."

In fact, apart from Jean, Adelard had no friends. And since childhood, Nicholas was his friend. Therefore, he was interested in what all this would lead to.

Walking under the lanterns that were too romantic, Adelard never stopped thinking about Celeste. That she would suddenly appear on his way. Right now. And he imagined how happy he would be. Imagination was on his side.

"Judging by your smile, you must be in love. Am I right?"

Passing brightly colored houses that stood in a straight line along the beach, Adelard replied, "Yes. But I just can't find her."

"Women always behave like this, as if men have time to chase after them. If she wants to play hide and seek, then leave her. Forget and move on."

"You say things like you've seen a lot of women."

Arthur smiled nervously and pointed ahead, said, "This is my house."

It was a small brick house surrounded by fountains and flowers.

And entering the house, Adelard first of all went to the phone to inform Nicholas that he would come late today.

"Do you always so kind to your servants?!" Arthur asked, standing right behind him and not thinking about the need to turn on the lights in this house.

"Yes."

"Well then, I'll go get us some food."

When the candles and the fire in the fireplace lit up a small room, Adelard was able to see in front of him many paintings depicting angels.

This whole house, every wall, everything around was covered with paintings of angels. And only a small kitchen, where Arthur was cooking something, was too ordinary. Like a distant island that doesn't belong to this place.

Nicholas'voice died away, and Adelard sat down in a small chair with a calm spirit and felt a slight headache. And experiencing strange feelings that made him want to sleep, eat and be afraid, he could not understand what was happening to him. Clutching the corners of wooden table, he took a deep breath and when Arthur returned to him, he was ready to fall, but did not fall.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes. It's just a bit of a headache."

"I will bring you something which can cure it."

Trying to hold on to the reality that surrounded him, Adelard began to examine every object that was around.

A green vase with only one rose, several books in Japanese, a round wooden table, thousands of paintings of angels, a dark red sofa that was filled with round pillows, and Arthur!

Unaware of the way he returned to him, Adelard flinched slightly.

"You don't look good. Maybe you better lie down for a bit?"

"I'm fine."

"Probably because of the heat."

"Yes."

The bitter taste of the pill melted among his senses and trying not to pay attention to the urge to vomit, Adelard straightened his shoulders and said, "You have an unusual home. It is cozy here and there are so many angels."

Arthur, nevertheless, continued to fear for Adelard, who was getting paler and paler with every second.

"Yes. This house belonged to my grandmother. She lived here all her life and since then, I have not changed anything here. These pictures, she painted all of them. Strange, yes?! Sometimes they scare me too. These smiles. You know, Suzanne always says that you are an angel. But now I saw you and you are not an angel at all. Look at their smiles. And your smile is beautiful. Your smile is just kind. And their smiles are too scary."

When the headache slowly began to leave him alone, Adelar took off his jacket and caught the curious look of his new friend. Now, he wanted to say everything that was bothering him. And he didn't know why, but he felt comfortable next to this man. So he said, "I have so many things to do. But somehow I feel like I do not have time for anything. My life is gray and I do not feel my life. I know, I have known you for only a few hours, but nevertheless, I want to tell you something."

He paused for a second, and then continued, “I don’t feel my life. My life just goes away, leaving me in the hands of time, which just leads me to the far end. And in order not to believe it, I try to be like my mom and my dad. I support people who work in my factory, I watch how soap gets into stores and count how many people bought my soap per day. I follow perfume stores that serve hundreds of customers in day. And yet, I try to use all the inheritance for good. I try to be useful and do as much kindness as possible. But all the same, at the end of any day, I do not feel life. Sometimes I even have such a feeling, like my heart doesn't beat. And that scares me."

Arthur lightly touched his hand, which continued to grip the surface of the wooden table. Having completely forgotten about the chicken and potatoes, he knelt down, as if he wanted to pray, and without taking his eyes off Adelard, said, “Sometimes, in order to feel life, you need to start living for yourself. Just living for yourself, for the sake of your interests and what you want. If you live just to please society or your parents, or just be useful to everyone, then of course you will lose all connection with your life. You will simply become nothing. Just a star, which burns for the sake of life on the planet nearby. Just the Sun, which burns all its resources. Adelard, I know what kind of person you are. And I would not want you to continue to be this person. There is happiness in this world. And you need to find your happiness, well, or create it. But you cannot be just the Sun for all your life. You need to learn to be just yourself. Just someone who is hiding in your consciousness, waiting for you to notice him."

And like children and kind people, Adelard immediately realized that he was getting used to this stranger. Feeling affection and having already noticed the beauty of a new friendship, and already making a vow that he would never leave this man in trouble, Adelard said, "Will you leave with Suzanne?!"

"Why? You don't want me to leave?"

"I would like to invite you to dinner. I have the best chef at home. You should try all of his dishes."

"I can stay here. But I still have to leave. My atelier is waiting for me."

"In that case, my carriage will come for you tomorrow."

"You look at me like you know me for a hundred years. What if I'm not who I am? What if I'm a dangerous person? And you look at me like this and believe," Arthur suddenly said. And at the same time, his gaze just screamed, longing for more, for Adelard's attention. After all, there was a hero in front of him, the one who always motivated him. From the very beginning.

Now, feeling hungry, Adelard got up and walked towards the kitchen.

He replied, "I see what kind of person you are."

And Arthur just laughed, because he had no choice but to laugh. Namely, over the fact that Suzanne was right in saying that Adelard still does not know people and life.