The cleaner of human souls

After work, Maya, as usual, dropped into a huge shopping center, where her favorite puff pastry croissants were sold at the entrance. The girl was crazy about them – delicious, crispy and very fragrant.

It would seem that what is so unusual about these croissants? A bun is like a bun. A small confection in the shape of a crescent. Bagels, as Maya called them. But no morning coffee or evening tea party was complete without these bagels.

Maya could not imagine that she, being in her right mind, would deny herself such a small pleasure as dreaming over a cup of hot drink and guessing what she would get a fragrant bagel with today. That's why the way home passed through a small bakery. As a regular customer, she was known here for a long time and was always expected with a warm muffin in a bag: there was always one extra croissant from Tom, the owner of the bakery. This time the gift was with chocolate.

"Maya, good evening!" Tom held out his hand with a branded bag, which had a coffee mug with an image of the Eiffel Tower on the side and a croissant on a plate.

"Good afternoon," the girl replied, looked into the bag and took a deep breath. "You spoil me, Tom."

"Well, what are you, what are you... " the man smiled a snow-white smile. "Such a beautiful girl always wants to do something nice. I have known you for several years, and all these years you are probably the only customer who has not deceived our pizza establishment!"

The baker nodded towards the pizzeria, which was located opposite the bakery.

"But, but, but!" The pizza vendor's voice rang out, and the chubby man behind the cash register waved a warning finger at him.

"Well, what about that? He beat off half of my customers with his pepperoni. And no thanks!"

Tom smiled at Maya, turned to face his opponent and comically furrowed his eyebrows. Maya wanted to say something to the men, but a cleaning lady drove by in a washing machine next to her, and she took two steps to the side so as not to interfere with him.

"Oh, do you have a new cleaner?"

"Yes, they took him a week ago," Tom nodded affirmatively. "A little strange, doesn't talk to anyone. However, he does his job conscientiously. After him, probably, there will not be a single spot – he is scrupulous to the last degree. I would say he has obsessive-compulsive disorder."

"Wow! Yes, can you also make a diagnosis?" Maya smiled.

"Now I am a baker, and by my first education I am a certified psychologist. It's just that at some point the soul asked for another occupation, and not to talk to mentally ill people..."

"Wait, Tom. Are you saying he's a maniac? Did I understand everything correctly?"

"Well, a maniac is a big word," Tom was already not happy that he started this conversation. "But there's something strange about him. I emphasize, innocuously strange."

"Well, okay, okay, I understand. Thanks again for the bagels, have a nice evening!"

Maya put her phone to the reader and, after receiving a soft signal confirming the payment, quickly headed for the exit.

But before the girl could get to the glass door, a new cleaner drove in front of her again. The girl thought for a second and, taking another step towards the exit, stopped, turned around and followed the man who was slowly driving on the black and white tile and leaving a wet trail behind him: like a snail - a layer of mucus.

But Maya didn't have to watch for long. One of the visitors to the shopping center, a two-meter man in a poisonous yellow jacket, suddenly slipped and fell right behind the cleaner. Spewing curses, the clumsy giant caught up with the man and, like a piece of fluff, picked him up in his arms and threw him on the floor.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Maya's indignation knew no bounds. "Are you completely crazy? Safety!"

But, to the surprise of the girl, in a constantly crowded building, as luck would have it, there was no one around at all at the right moment. The criminal, proudly straightening his jacket, quickly disappeared behind the pavilion, and the cleaner remained motionless on the floor.

"Are you all right?" Maya looked at the pizzeria and bakery, hoping that men she knew would help her, but, as luck would have it, there was no one near the cash registers at that moment.

The girl gently lifted the head of the injured cleaner, and after a second he opened his eyes. Two black pupils stared at Maya. The girl almost screamed in surprise, but the man blinked several times, and the blackness completely disappeared from his eyes. The stranger groaned slightly and tried to sit up. Maya helped him up again and did not notice how blood dripped from the cleaner's nose onto her hand – black as coal. It was immediately absorbed into the girl's body, like a drop of rain into dry earth.

"Thank you, dear child," the man looked at Maya from under his brows. "How can I repay you for your kindness?"

"The world has gone crazy," the girl sighed. "People are ready to kill each other for some trifle. I'm so sorry about what happened to you..."

"Don't worry. That's why I came back here to clean up the mess. A lot of dirt has accumulated during my absence..."

"What are you talking about?" Maya listened to the man with fascination and could not understand why his face was so familiar to her. "Couldn't we have seen each other before? I feel like I know you..."

"One day everyone will see me," the janitor replied and climbed back into the car. "A lot of dirt, a lot..."

The man, without thanking the girl, drove on, and Maya stood for a while in confusion, looked at the croissants that had fallen out of the bag, silently collected them and thoughtfully went home.

"This is exactly what I was missing today!"Maya saw drunk young people near the entrance, who often hung out here and constantly touched her at every opportunity.

The girl took a deep breath and resolutely went to the intercom.

"And where are we in such a hurry today? " Deliberately casually pronouncing every word, said one of the guys.

"Chris, have you been to her house yet? It's not good..." the other guy echoed his friend.

"Now we will fix this mistake!" Chris grabbed the girl's wrist and looked into her eyes.

The girl from fright did not understand what happened next, but for a moment she saw horror bordering on madness in the guy's eyes. Chris quickly pulled his hand free and swallowed convulsively.

"Please, please… I'm sorry!.. I won't do it anymore! I swear..."

The guy took a few steps back and, under the surprised looks of his drinking buddies, quickly ran away.

"What's wrong with him? Is the roof gone, or what?"

The rest of the guys also suddenly lost the mood to joke, and they hurried after the guy.

Maya, pleased with such an unusual outcome of the case, entered the entrance and quickly went up to her apartment.

"Well, it's a crazy day!" The girl turned on the electric kettle and TV at the same time. "Then they kick the janitor in front of me, then these idiots sniff something. In the end, this man was right: now there is a lot of dirt, a lot of dirt..."

Thinking, the girl missed the TV news about today's accident that occurred in the city: a tall man in a bright yellow jacket ran out onto the road and was immediately hit by an oncoming car. What news! The girl still did not realize that her appearance had undergone significant changes: a hooked nose, sharp cheekbones, black eyes.

It was because of them that Chris almost went crazy.

However, when Maya calmed down, her eyes turned blue again, and her face acquired its former beautiful outlines. A demon from a reproduction of Vrubel was looking at her from the wall: the "Sitting demon" looked very suspiciously like a cleaner from a shopping center...