Faust

Prometheus

The carpet silenced our footsteps but the man in green still turns around to greet us with white teeth.

"Please take a seat. I'll let you know when all the details are confirmed." Maurizio raises his arm to point all five fingers at the couches in front of the fireplace. The tone and smile reminded me of when he spoke to Enzo.

After receiving a nod from me he took a step left to his desk, sat down, and brought up his notebook from his pocket.

         I picked the spot in front of fireplace, vertical to both Italians. My left hand on the handle, right arm stretched back behind the sofa, the side of my jacket was dragged to the right as well. Zipper close to my holster that it poses no obstacles if I'm to use it.

         I sat. Leather made a small squeak from materials kneading. A chill ran up my spine to the back of my brain and it made me put a smile on my face. A believable one, as little as it means to act.

         If that wop takes longer than five minutes I might start shooting.
***

"It's been what? 2 years since last time?" Left leg crossed on another, Enzo asks.
"Might be longer, might be shorter."
"Either way, a long time. So how've you been?" Taping a three-note play on his knee with the slim fingers of his left hand. "Up your head in the thick of it all as usual?"
Two light, three rapid taps on the knee.

"Ain't got the slightest clue who you took me for." I grin a deprecating smile and wave my head in the smallest motion. "All I do is booze and some harmless favors lately, nothing major."
Three heavy taps.

"Ha. And did you drink yourself to AA for the past months?......" The edge of his eyes trails into two straws of crow's feet that tilt in the opposite direction of the edge of his mouth.

"Which part of me conveys the message of 'I want to get sober'? No, I was off town for some...... simpler pleasure." He mouths an O shape, with his brows tilted.
Two rapid taps.

"Which is?"
"Vacation. Day off. Escape the concrete jungle. See the rest of the fucking world. That kind of thing." His blue eyes seem bleaker than normal, with a plain border and a bit of annoyance in them. They swirl inside of his eye sockets before he tilts his head and lets out a hum in response.
One rapid, four heavy taps.

"And did you take pleasure in that?" He asks in a voice like timber on sawmill. I shrug and lean back into my seat.
"Sure did. A bit of relaxation never fails to lubricant the soul."

"Than......." One heavy tap. "Why did you come back?"
***

Her eyes filled with life and beaming a contagious brown like the shell is not enough to hold the weight of her soul. No matter how the world treated her, no matter how she treated herself. Their eyes never failed to convince me she resent no one and blames nothing.

         And now. Filled with fear and a certain level of confusion, I don't see any of them.
                                      ***

         Did I let it slip? Or was it a lucky guess? Either way, the blue oceans in his eye socket now reflect glints of mild interest as he spotted the faintest sign of reaction from me.

        "Some old friend reach out, asking where the fuck I've been and if I'm interested in some honest work." I shrug and collect my composure. "Plus, whatever kind of......exotic scenery you fancy." Letting out a chuckle, I scratch the edge of my face with my right hand. "Sooner or later will get dull since there ain't nothing you haven't seen in Faust."