Chapter 3: Everlong

Hiyori was standing in the rain, right before a multi storey building stretching before her. It was made out from dark, red bricks, standing at the shore, right between the railway running through the city and the sea itself. There were no indicators as to what it was or who used it or if it was even occupied by anyone or anything now. Standing in the rain, in the middle of the empty parking space, before the pretty big building complex, watching its closed windows, their shutters rolled down, she was no longer as confident as before in coming here. 

 

“The site itself looks like something from the time when my parents were born…” sighed to herself, walking up to the entrance, checking if she could see anything inside. To her surprise the door itself was not locked and as soon as she pressed her hands against the windows on the door, trying to look inside, it was pushed in by the force of her palms. “Oh!” exclaimed loudly, almost stumbling inside “It is open!” blinked, finding her footing just barely. After she literally stumbled inside, she finally could pull back the already soaked hoodie of hers, letting the rainwater drip down onto the hard floor below her feet. 

 

The inside of it was unlit but not unkept and there was little if any dust on any of the furniture or in the air, making her doubt this place was abandoned. Walking past the empty greeting desk it was clear, this was some kind of warehouse, at least back in the day, evident from the old map still hanging on the wall, depicting the building’s blueprint. Going by the off-blue paint of the wall and the old, stylized writings on it, the last time it was repainted was in the 60s or so. It was peeled off already here and there but she could still make out that it was not just a warehouse but in fact the old archives for the City Council! 

 

“Hmmm… why isn’t it closed?” mumbled as she walked further, checking the ground floor corridors for anyone present. Soon she realized the answer to her own question as every other door was closed and barred off with a second door, made out of steel bars, having to open two sets of doors by anyone who wanted to go into the separate areas. “Well… at least I can’t get anywhere they don’t want me…” joked but it was followed by a weak sigh as even she was not sure what the hell she was doing here. Alone, in an abandoned, old building, looking for something that may have been only the work of her own imagination in desperation. Nothing made sense anymore, she just did not want to admit it to herself.

 

“Can I help you?” arrived a sudden voice, making her flinch, almost fall backwards as she spun around, quickly gasping for air as her heart was jumping up and down inside of her chest. “Are you okay? I’m not against junkies, but please if you are high, don’t soil the floor here, the stain is one thing but to get rid of the smell! Oh my! I don’t want to deal with that!” shook his head, the owner of the voice, coming down from the steps, arriving from the second or third floor. His voice was immediately recognized by Hiyori, being the same as the one that was in the advert. 

 

She was silently watching as from the unlit shadows, he walked forward and some light finally fell on his figure, coming in from outside. He was somewhere between his 30s or 40s and clearly of European descent, even though he was speaking perfect japanese. His short, black hair was combed backwards and he was wearing a white shirt, unbuttoned at the top with a dark-blue trouser accompanying it. His figure was completely average, except his height, reaching a bit above 2 meters.

 

“Are you okay? Hey!” waved his hand, watching Hiyori with raised eyebrows “Kids start doing shit young eh?” shook his head “But I should not blame you for it…” whispered, looking at her yet not really “You have that thing attached to you…” continued under his breath unheard by Hiyori. 

 

“I’m not on drugs!” answered, finally recovering herself from her shock. “I came for… for…” faltered, searching for the right words.

 

“Oh?” tilted his head, now watching her with a more interested look.

 

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“I heard the advert and… well… I came…” tried to explain herself but was afraid she would be looked upon as a freak, before finally remembering his words from it “Because I had no other options left!”

 

“I see… Wait… what advert?” furrowed his brows but in the end his unnaturally blue eyes flashed with an understanding glint, clicking his tongue “I don’t know if you are lucky or not… probably the latter…” chuckled, confusing Hiyori but he just continued “I am usually closed and only open on a few days of the week! I just came back from a trip and had to put things off here, that is why the lights are off! But, oh well, it is on me, not closing the front door!” laughed.

 

“But the website…” tried to say something, not wanting to look like a madwoman. 

 

“That old thing? Shit… I totally forgot about it, I don’t use the internet at all!” smacked his forehead “I made it decades ago when it was a new thing but found it useless! Haaaah… Well, well, well! Maybe I should rethink it, huh? Come! It is not ideal to talk in the dark lobby of this warehouse!” laughed, inviting her up to the stairs and she subconsciously followed him, without questioning him about it.

 

Reaching the second floor, he led her into an office room that had the lights on, bathing the room in a warm, orange tinted color. The main piece of the room was a wide and heavy mahogany table and an antique typewriter placed right in the middle of it. On the left, multiple stacks of well organized documents were laid down while on the right a glass rested on a croak coaster, still having a sip of whiskey in it and a half-melted ice cube. Looking to the left of hers, she saw rows of filing cabinets, organized in multiple rows, going by the latin alphabet. To her right a small fireplace greeted her, still having orange embers inside of it, cracking occasionally. Before its warmth giving mouth stretched a long, brown, leather sofa while on it she could see a simple, fluffy, cotton blanket, probably used by the man before him when he slept on it. The whole room, with the walls painted in a creamy color, the wooden floor, the rain splattering on the only window, behind the big table, gave it all an atmosphere of a mix between being someone’s home and workplace at the same time.

 

“By the way, my name is Maxwell Everlong, but most people call me only by my last name, Everlong.” said, smiling at Hiyori, standing behind his big, comfy looking armchair, holding its backrest with his two hands.

 

“Hiyori… Tenmei Hiyori, but Hiyori is just fine as it is.” replied, with a little bow, already forgetting when was the last time she introduced herself like this.

 

“Well Hiyori, come, have a seat!” nodded at one of the two, big chairs before his table “Have a seat and we can have a chat about your problem!”

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