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It had been four years, 1519 days to be more precise, since he last saw him, and he remained the same. He hadn’t seen him face to face yet, but the way he unconsciously shrank, the waves of his hair, how his head was slightly inclined to the left betrayed him. He was listening to the man by his side, who was well-dressed, a watch hanging in the lapel of his suit, and his hands were well maintained. ‘Surgeon’ he thought.
He wanted to leave, to let him be, but the selfish part of him reminded him how much he missed him. He stood up and walked to bar.
¨Igor.¨ His shoulders tensed for a few seconds, and the man beside him stopped talking. After what seemed like an eternity, he turned around.
¨Victor?¨ the confusion was written all over his features. Nonetheless, he stood up and hugged him. If they stood like that more than what it was usual, no one mentioned it. When they parted, he remained close to Victor: ¨Victor, this is Vincent Crawford, he is a surgeon and works with me at the hospital. Vincent, this is Victor Frankenstein, an old friend.¨
¨Nice to meet you, sir.¨ Crawford extended his hand.
¨Likewise.¨ Victor observed him for a few seconds. He looked like a nice person, not as presumptuous as his father, nor his colleagues.
¨Well, I’ll leave you two to catch up. See you tomorrow.¨
When he stood up, Victor occupied his seat and ordered two glasses of whiskey when he noticed Igor had finished his.
¨What are you doing here?¨ Igor was the first one to talk. It didn’t sound like a question; it was like he was demanding answers.
¨I’ve heard there was a new electrical device and that there would be a presentation this weekend, and well…I thought it might benefit the project.¨ He lowered his voice when he pronounced the last sentence, the barman brought their drinks. Igor smiled and swallowed half of the glass.
¨Still with that, I see.¨
¨What can I say? Old habits die hard.¨ he smiled behind the glass and drank a sip. ¨What about you? Working at a hospital?¨ He was met with a strange glance that he couldn’t decipher.
¨Yes.¨
The silence stretched for a few seconds. Igor only looked at the bar, while Victor was trying to come up with something to say or do to make the other react. This encounter was not going like he thought it would.
¨Why didn’t you send a letter?¨ Igor suddenly asked. His eyes expressed hurt and bewilderment, but his voice…he sounded almost desperate.
He could have made up an excuse. He could have said that it was obvious that Igor would move out and he wouldn’t have his new address, but it wouldn’t have been what Igor needed. Instead, he just said the truth: ¨I thought you were going to start a new life with Lorelei. That if I sent you letters, I would have kept you tied to your past and…you deserved a normal life, even if it was only for a while.¨ He answered without taking his eyes from his drink.
¨Yes, for what it was worth…¨ Victor immediately looked at him, puzzled. ¨ I moved out with Lorelei, to Baron Bomine’s mansion. She became a ballet teacher, while I got a job at the hospital. Bomine took care that the board only evaluated my knowledge, and they hired me. Everything was perfect during the first year. We both worked all day and we saw each other during lunch. I would pick her up when I finished my shifts at the hospital and we would come back to the state together. We'd dine with Bomine, his partner and with guests, occasionally; then we would go to our room. We spent our free moments together, walking around the gardens, going to the city or simply talking. Good times.¨ He stopped, gulped the rest of his drink and ordered another. His previous smiled faded when he began talking again ¨One Saturday, Lorelei went to see one of her students. I think she was pregnant and she had invited her friends to celebrate it. I was working, so I couldn’t go. When her carriage was crossing the bridge, another one crashed into it and both fell to the river. According to what I was told, there was a big commotion and they wasted a few minutes before pulling all those who fell out of the water. They tried to revive her, but they couldn’t. I remember very little of that day, only parts: when I had to identify the body, when Bomine arrived to the hospital and told me, in tears, that he would take care of everything… The burial took place a few days after the incident. A month passed, and despite Bomine’s protests, I moved out of the state. I needed to get away from that place, to mourn properly…I go occasionally now, and I bring white roses to her grave, her favorites…¨ There were tears in his eyes when he finished and he downed his new glass in one go.
¨Oh…I didn’t know anything. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me.¨ Victor grabbed his hand and looked at him, hoping that one glance could convey how regretful he felt. What kind of friend was he that he wasn’t by his side during Igor’s worst moments? Igor watched him for an instant and he seemed to understand everything that was going through his mind. He sighed and put his hand over Victor’s. He thanked him and they remained like that until Igor cleared his throat and asked him how his life had been going.
¨Without inconveniences. I’d been working at different hospitals, depending on the city or village I was living at the moment. I spent my free time at the tavern or at the place where I lived, drawing, reading, investigating, same old.¨
¨Any Mrs. Frankenstein?¨ Victor laughed at the question.
¨Really, Igor? Don’t you think that if there was one, I would have invited you to my wedding? No, no Mrs. Frankenstein.¨ He made a small pause and said softly ¨No one caught my eye during these years.¨
¨Friends?¨
¨No. You know how I feel about people and socializing.¨
¨But you didn’t seem to have any problems with me.¨ Igor said, smiling, which made Victor blush. He tried to mask it, hiding behind his glass and taking a sip of it.
¨Because with you, it was different.¨
¨Hmm?¨
After thinking his answer for a few moments, he said ¨You weren’t worried about redundant things. You understood me clearly, I didn’t have to explain myself. You knew which things were really important and…Your mind is brilliant, talking to you is a pleasure.¨ This time, it was Igor’s turn to blush. They talked for a few more hours. They shared memories, the occasional joke, Frankenstein told him all the progress he’d made since they parted ways.
When Igor looked at his clock, he told Victor he had to go. It marked 2:30 am and he had to work the next day. Victor offered himself to walk with him to his house, and although Igor resisted at first (¨How will you go back to your place? It’s too dark outside.¨), he agreed once he found out Victor knew the city because he lived there for a few weeks, during the first year of his journey. Also, his house was a few blocks away from Igor’s.
The night air was chilly, the temperature had dropped since Victor arrived to the tavern. Both re-arranged their coats and walked side by side, brushing each other, without hurry. The fog that left their mouths while they talked made funny figures under the lights of the kerosene lamps.
¨Here's my house.¨ Igor said, pointing at a nice building with a clean front. Both climbed the porch. Igor started fishing for the keys and introduced them in the lock. When Victor was about to say goodbye, the other turned around and started looking at both sides of the street. Worried, Victor did the same, but it was empty, the only shadows he could see belonged to plants on balconies. He felt a hand on his nape and another on his coat’s lapel that urged him to turn. When he did, he found Igor a few centimeters of his face. He was standing on his tiptoes, looking straight into Victor’s eyes. Before he could react, the other drew him towards him and kissed him tenderly. Once they parted, Igor smiled and, biting his lower lip, told him:
¨Lunch. Tomorrow, 12:30pm. I’ll be waiting at the hospital’s main entrance.¨ Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and closed it behind him. Victor, whose mind reacted several seconds later, looked at the door and smiled, murmuring ¨Deal.¨