The Door

  ***

  The first thing Selena did after opening the appartment door was kicking off her shoes. The girl collapsed on a couch and placed her feet onto the coffee table. Her body was so delighted with long-awaited rest that she even forgot about the hunger. Selena would've sat for a while without thinking of anything, but suddenly the pager beeped. Silver lazily took it out of a purse. A message was glimmering on the small green screen:

  “So, you've decided to run away after all? Albert.”

  Dammit, she completely forgot about him. But Albert isn't a bad man, and he deserves some explanation. She dialed his number:

  “Hello...”

  “Selena?” he instantly recognized her voice, but it didn't sound like he was glad to hear it.

  “I'm sorry it turned out like that... I didn't run away, it's just... It wasn't up to me,” she didn't know how to manage not saying blatant lies and not sounding like crazy at the same time.

  “But what happened? I already thought you got out of the toilet window, like in one of those spy movies,” Albert warmed up a bit.

  “Let's just say that there's a huge difference between slipping away and being flushed away, “ the girl answered somberly. Spy novels just won't cut it – the events were straight ouf of science fiction. And life itself started resembling some horror movie... She didn't like any of those genres. “I don't watch spy movies, I prefer romantic ones.”

  “Shall we meet again, then?” he proposed. “I think it'll go better this time...”

  “You know what... I guess we shouldn't,” Selena replied after some hesitation. “I think it won't work out.”

  “But how can you know? We barely know each other yet...”

  “Yes, but I can see that already. I told you I'm easy to ignite, but there has to be a sparkle... And there's none. You're a good guy – otherwise I wouldn't have explained you anything. But if I'm not being swept off my feet right away, I know it won't get anywhere. It's not you, it's me,” as she was saying that, she was getting more and more certain that nothing is going to work.

  “It's you indeed,” Albert said in clear disappointment. “I know that I'm a good guy. And a clearheaded girl wouldn't have brushed me off without even talking for five minutes. Either you know exactly what you want... Or, rather, you have no idea. I knew people like that – they were wandering their lives and complaining about the wicked destiny, even though some of them started quite posh. A bit of advice for the future. Before blaming destiny for slipping you unsuitable options all the time, take a minute to realize what you actually want. Grow up. And until then – farewell,” busy signal followed.

  “Thanks a lot!” Selena yelled, slamming down the receiver. Advices from another know-it-all is exactly what she needed right now! And at her expense at that – calling mobile phones isn't cheap. She has to put something in her stomach to subdue the hunger and anger, or else someone is going to get hurt...

  After finishing off some leftovers in the fridge, the girl returned to the living room. Thoughts were a bit more clear now, but it didn't do any good. Selena took the book. Now, when there was noone to fight, she didn't feel herself so self-confident. Silver cautiously opened “The Door”. Everything remained as it was a couple of hours ago. She slowly leafed through the pages and wasn't too surprised when noticing a pencil writing on the margin... But what it actually said made her feel uneasy:

  “You're gonna blow it. I'll win!”

  Letters were big and very crooked. This sentence took all the vertical of the margin. Who cold've written it? Is it addressed to her? Selena glanced at the printed text – nonsense, just a bunch of words. After some thought she closed the book. It's probably not the best time for exploring it... Silver didn't want to confess even to herself that she just got scared. Nevertheless, she might need the book at any minute, so it's better to have it around. It won't fit into the purse, and she didn't like carrying bags in her hands. So, she'll have to take a bigger purse. Selena didn't fancy that option as well – she had her reasons to dislike bags that can fit something more than her make-up. But it seemed that there was no other choice.

  She took a black leather bag from the depths of the closet, put it on a couch and shook the contents of her handbag out. Suddenly a photograph flew out. Well of course, how could she forget... Selena took the second photo and froze. A human shape could be discerned on the background of the frame. A man, half-buried in metal parts, was pressing something to his mouth. So he was speaking into a microphone, and the sound was distributed through speakers... But who is he? The girl examined his blurry face, recalling the basics of physiognomics that she took back in the first semester. But she couldn't distinguish any maniac features, or anything distinctive, for that matter. Just a regular guy.

  It was the dead end. Selena realized that she won't manage to do anything else today – she has to take her mind off those abnormal events. Otherwise she'll get crazy, and crazy people can't solve riddles like that. It's a good idea to call friends, go out somewhere... Anywhere but the bar. Movies will do.

  The girl wanted to put pictures into the book to keep everything together, but immediately figured that it's a stupid idea. Silver put the book and the pictures into the purse and tried to forget about them.