M+E: Snowflakes and flames (Book 1)

Chapter 2

- Emma? - Danny's voice reaches me and throws me back to the real life, digging me out of my deep thoughts.
- Yes?
- Are you writing again?
- No, I'm just randomly surfing the Net.
- Oh, yes. And there's this yellow raccoon wrapping chocolate in tin foil.
- And what if I'm writing?
- I told you - it's a waste of time. Come with me tonight and see for yourself how you can become a worldwide superstar.

Danny reaches me quietly from behind and looks at the text I'm typing on my laptop. I don't turn around and face him, but I swear I can feel him frowning behind my back. Again.

- You have become unbelievably boring old lady since you started working in this library, you know?
- I love my job.
- I thought you liked better being a waitress at Paolo's restaurant?
- I like this as well.
- But you like the library better?
- I do.
- Because...?
- Are we going to talk about this again, Danny?

I can't stand the following wave of objurgations coming out of my best friend despite he's the only one showing some kind of support in everything I've been doing for the last several months. Right after my graduation I found a great job, even though it wasn't paid as well as my parents have expected it to be (it was absolutely excellent paid, according to my humble opinion). I graduated English literature with excellent marks on my final exams and the day after I graduated I filled in for a job interview as a librarian at the British Library in London (which is the second biggest library in the world, after Library of Congress). It occurred to be really hard to get this job, but I managed to get it quite spectacularly after all the tasks and interviews I had to do. I was beyond happy when I received the last e-mail consisting my detailed schedule, paid days off, bonuses and other nice things and how I could possibly achieve them. Back then, Danny just nodded half-affirmative, half-frown, but I am really thankful to him that he didn't yell at me, like my parents did. My mom went crazy when she found about my "librarian madness", as she calls it - how I dared doing this, instead of following her steps into showbusiness and blah-blah. My dad was really pissed off, but I think he handled it a little bit better than her. He said he had the power to give me a job as a bank manager at I-don't-remember-the-name-of-the-bank-he-mentioned IF I go back to live with him in Bulgaria. Honestly, his idea gave me a lot to think about and it had nothing to do with his promise to work as a bank manager but because of the fact I would go back to his beautiful country. I must say it again - I'm really thankful to Danny who is such a realist and brought me back to reality. He said I wouldn't get a second chance at the British Library if I say "No" to them now. He also said that I MUST follow my dreams, no matter what. He is right, I think, however I am still not quite sure what exactly my dreams are...

And, to cap it all, I decided that I wanted another job. Not new but, but a second one. I have never complained of my salary as a librarian, not at all. It was even better - I have always been able (since I started working there, of course) to afford anything I wanted. My parents furiously insisted on paying my rent. I mean - my mom and my dad, my stepfather was not allowed to interfere here, despite his will to. My parents had come to one and only agreement after the divorce - they agreed to split all the financial issues around my comfortable living in London. Besides from rent, Danny had insisted on paying the bills. It was his way to thank me for letting him live with me rent-free. He moved in with me about six months ago. My second job didn't turn out to be a full time job. I was offered to work it only at weekends, including Friday. Always after 6 p.m. Paolo's restaurant turned out to be such a lovely place in the heart of London and it served different kinds of food every single day. Seven days a week - seven different types of different traditional food. Mexican, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Chinese, German... You could never eat the same food for two days in a row. Paolo, himself, happened to be a really close friend to Danny. The thing that surprised me the most was that my mom didn't moan this time. Not at all. She knew Paolo pretty well. I forced myself not to think how they met, although I had my reasons to believe that Paolo was gay. He had agreed to pay me double the money the other waiters had for all the hours I spent at the restaurant, because most of his people often had to work until they faint. I agreed without any further hesitation - working has never scared me.

Yep, that's the kind of life I live, my dear friend, reading my story. I am a librarian by day and a waitress by night. Both jobs I work at two of the most famous places in London - the British Library and "Paolo Abbiati".

- No, we aren't.

That's why I love Danny so much. Because, despite his own weirdness, he happens to be the best choice of a best friend. Ever. And the fact that he was into men doesn't bother me at all.

- Would you like to join me to a revue this Friday evening? - Danny asks me as he makes some coffee.
- What revue?
- New underwear lines of Lorieta Rosselini and Kevin Schmidt.
- I'm at work at the restaurant, remember? - I remind him as I close my laptop.
- And how long is this going to last for? - I sense a horrible moaning in his voice. And when he starts moaning, Danny was capable of ... I'd rather not say. It's horrible, really.
- How long... what?
- Well, like that... - me, always going alone to revues and premieres, and you - working like a slave at the restaurant. At WEEKENDS. The best days of the week.
- Danny, you know very well that I don't feel like a slave at the restaurant.
- You didn't answer my questions - how long is this going to last for?
- I don't know. It won't be forever, I know that for sure. It's just... that now I feel...
- Don't say "perfect"!
- No... I feel distracted enough not to think about bullshit.

May be I acted a little foully. I realize it. I shouldn't have raised this subject, because it's my biggest weakness. I know how painful is this for Danny, too, not only for me. And he knows, better than anyone else, that my least favourite subject to talk about is Kevin Logan. My ex-boyfriend, who I caught cheating on me and after I decided to split up, he thought it would be a good idea to "punish" me - and by "punish" you are free to understand "rape". I have to admit - he had almost done it if it wasn't for Danny. Instead of me being raped, Danny got a broken jaw and collar bone. Thank God, now Logan is in jail in Berlin. I think he has more than ten years left of his sentence. Beside my case, it turned out that Logan had some more crimes done in the past, behind my back, with other poor girls and old ladies.

- My dear pumpkin, you know it's a waste of time thinking about Logan, right?
- My dear cheesecake, I know. I've been thankful every day since...
- I didn't mean this. And it was foully of you to use it as a weapon.
- I know. I'm sorry.

Danny's phone starts to ring and it happens to be at the most awkward moment. I know him pretty well and he is definitely not a person who shows emotions and feelings in front of other people, even in front of me. But still, I feel lucky enough be the only human being he feels free to let his feeling pour in front of. I almost curse the person calling him and ruining the moment of pure hug he was giving me. A minute later, he seems like he's freaking out, like he is about to go completely crazy, out of his mind and whatsoever. All of this out of unbelievable happiness.

- Who was that and what did they say to you? - I ask him as I take the coffee out of his hands before he spills all of it all over his body.
- Rosselini and Schmidt are uniting their companies... - His voice sounds so squeaky and I can barely understand what he is talking about. I can bet soon enough only dogs could be able to hear him. I still don't understand why this phone call made him so happy. Two of the best clothing lines in the world which have the best and most expensive underwear are uniting. Big deal...
- Danny boy, please... calm down and tell me what's going on.
- They want me ... for their next commercial!...
- You are still not telling me why this made you so... high.
Yeah, really... what has made him so overexcited? He's been in lots of other popular commercials before - on TV, in magazines and everywhere, and that's not only for clothes but also for food, toothpastes (yeeah, he has amazing teeth)... But his biggest achievement, the diamond in his crown, as he calls it, was a really great and luxurious commercial for Lamborghini he shot in Egypt last year.
- I'm not going to be the only one the commercial...
- DANIEL!
- Michael Sheridan has also been invited and he has said YES!