Meant to be...

**

- Where is he? Where the hell can he be? Lucian wondered, inch by inch rummaging through the desk he was sitting in. The things scattered all around him made him even more annoyed, making him grit his teeth, forgetting the obligations of that evening, and look further. The phone was buzzing like a madman, but who would pay any attention to it? God forbid, I wouldn't answer it!

- If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd think I was crazy... But he wasn't. Not when it came to something vital to him. What if you relaxed? Why don't you just drop everything for a few days? Well, at least a few hours. After all, what can happen? He didn't even want to think about what would happen if someone beat him to it, dashing all his efforts and hopes.

- After all, the only one who's falling apart is you! Lucian mused aloud, overcome by a hopeless pessimism and... cold. Under piles of...

His thoughts were interrupted by the screech of wheels and the sound of a door slamming with all its force, causing him to run to the window.

- Hm! That's all I needed, the man muttered. Scratching his chin and twisting on his heels, he considered turning off the light and locking the door. No, he changed his mind. It would give him away, and that was the last thing he wanted. So he stepped out of the office, closed the door, and then settled relaxedly into the wide, dimly lit living room. The old furniture seemed almost ghostly and complicit.

With whom?

- Good evening, he heard the baritone voice that irritated him every time. The rustle of the raincoat hanging on the nail didn't calm him in the slightest, but he answered in an even tone.

- Good evening. What have you been fishing today?

- As always, the smallest fish, said the man with his small stature, but incredibly sharp and scathing gaze. The tie around his neck landed in the blink of an eye on the arm of the armchair to the left of the sofa.

- Although... he added evasively, going to pour himself a whisky, I don't think I've fared as badly as you.

- Like me? the other one wondered, grimacing and wincing involuntarily. This fellow's double-talk had never pleased him, but now it got on his nerves. I've had a dull day, but by no means... a bad one," he said, trying his best to appear unconcerned.

- What are you so hot about, cousin? I thought, as I followed the drooping corners of your mouth...

Lucian was already in a daze, his fists clenched, but he restrained himself, saying in a nonchalant tone:

- Better tell me where he is... But don't forget to pour me a drink. He'd thrown out the words like bait and now he waited for the effect.

- Where... is it?" repeated the "cousin", hurrying to put two fingers of whisky into the second glass in which the liquid glittered diamonds. Forgive me," he said, almost appeasingly, "but I don't understand why... The hand that offered him the glass seemed to Lucian far too uncertain.

- Come on, stop pretending! Everyone knows you keep your trophies well hidden, but even so... Didn't we share almost everything in college, including...

- I've changed," said the caller, taking a seat in the armchair and shaking the liquid in the glass before tasting it. That time is... dead to me, you know? So you and Mara aren't right.

- In what respect?" asked Lucian curiously, forgetting that the "cousin" had to leave as soon as possible. His statement had changed his intentions, so he sharpened his hearing, trying to pick out the weak spot in the man in front of him. A point he absolutely needed.

- A... Weren't you talking about youth? Of our wild nights when even Zeus seemed no more conquering and powerful than we in the arms of the little girls swarming around us? Those times now seem but a beautiful reverie to the lawman who damned well knows what he's after... What a disgusting time we live in! Just yesterday, I had a controversy with one of my subordinates over...

- What's Mara got to do with this? Lucian interjected, puzzled.

- Mara?

- You said he wasn't right. About what?

- With something personal, it doesn't matter," his friend beat a retreat, knocking back the last of the whisky and slamming the thick-bottomed glass on the coffee table.

- Is he still accusing you of infidelity? Lucian asked nonchalantly, leaving the glass, from which he hadn't drunk a drop, on the coffee table and lighting a cigarette.

- It's Valeria.

- Who?

- A, sorry... From Claudiu. He wants to go on some humanitarian mission... What do you mean "and now"? the man suddenly gets angry, looking at him like he's a dangerous and cowardly criminal.

- There was a rumour that you'd split up," Lucian defends himself just as nonchalantly, without raising his voice. I suppose because of a woman, right?