5 The pas

Tick-tock, tick-tock. The silence in the office made the ticking of these annoying clock, which Greg had not even noticed before, just unbearable. He had to spend a lot of time just to locate them on one of the decorative shelves, filled with books, vases and other unnecessary trash, which seemed so wildly important to his designer. Now, this small wooden box stood right in front of Greg and was tickling, and Greg did not know how to stop it. So he just sat there and tried to set it aflame by his stare, hoping that it would magically ignite or explode, or simply stop TICKING.

At last, the door to his office opened, first Frank's imposing figure has appeared, and then the silhouette of Tony waltzed inside.

"Are you busy?" - Frank asked stopping at Greg's desk and with interest looked at the cause of his friend's irritation. Although everyone in the room already understood that Greg annoyance was not at all because of the clock in the first place.

"No," Greg gritted his teeth, gesturing for his friends to sit down.

"You look somewhat not very cheerful," Tony said worriedly, although the smile did not slip from his face even for a second, so Greg only lifted one eyebrow and stared at his friend, showing him that he was not in a good mood for his jokes. Tony immediately raised his hands in a sign of surrender.

Frank stepped forward and tried to pacify the both of them.

" Okay, okay, let's not dump on each other our negative energy. The night was hard for everyone ... - But Frank's words were interrupted by half sob half laugh that Tony diligently tried to disguise as a cough.

Greg took a long breath, trying to extinguish the irritation caused by Tony's luminous face. He could not calm down since the morning. Since about the time they found Greg half-naked, sleeping on the floor of some utility room. As soon as Tony entered the sagging building and saw the friend in such an embracing state, his face started to shine like a supernova. Rising his hands to the haven he proclaiming, "Oh My God! Is today my birthday or something?!", Ignoring the vicious curses of Greg who was still trying to understand where he is and what happened.

"Well, I'm sorry, honey," Tony finally decided to let his friend off. "But you should understand me, too. Not often I have the opportunity to see my ever-righteous and serious friend who is very fond of reading morals about relationships with women, in this state. I'm burning with impatience, tell us about your nightly adventures!" - Tony leaned forward, his whole appearance showing that he was more than ready to hear this epic story.

"It was Lana," - Greg answered simply.

"Mmm ... Ok ?! Wonderful name. Go on..." - apparently, this piece of information did not make a special impression on Tony. But Frank's eyes became big like two bowls.

" Heck! Really?" - he asked in surprise. Greg only nodded, looking for something on the opposite wall with a diffused look. Tony stared at his friends confusedly.

"May I ask for details?" he finally said in a serious tone, realizing that the situation was more complicated than it seemed at first. Greg fell silent, so Frank decided to explain everything himself.

"Lana is Greg's ex-girlfriend." he started, carefully choosing the words.

"Which one?" - decided to clarify Tony, remembering the eternal parade of faceless ladies in the life of Greg.

"No, Tony, not which one, but ... that Lana, the one and only Lana!" - Frank answered him with meaning. Tony wrinkled his forehead, trying to remember who he was talking about, then his face lit up with understanding and Tony exhaled: "Oooh!"

- That's right. OH! So what happened? " - Confirmed Tony 's guess Frank turned to Greg for clarification.

"No, wait," Tony interrupted him. "I remember that you mentioned Lana, who broke Greg's heart and trampled upon his manhood, and smashed his ego ..."

"Shut it, Tony, we got it," Greg interrupted irritably.

" Oh, Ok. So, you mentioned this girl once or twice, when you got dead drunk. But I still do not know the details. I need details! All the dirty little one ..."

Greg rolled his eyes seeing Tony's expectant stare, he impatiently moved his eyes from Frank to Greg and back almost buzzing from the excitement. Gossips and love life of his friends for Tony were like a sugar bone for a dog. Seeing the degree of Greg's irritation Frank sighed and decided to take this burden upon himself, began the story.

"It was our first year in college. I and Greg, as you know, have received full scholarships for college tuition. Greg was in the engineering department, but the scholarship was for his sports achievements. Even then, he was a big deal in the local football team and many people had predicted a great career for him. Of course, many girls were flocking to him like a zombie to the fresh brain. Even if we came from a poor background, the future looked more than bright. We met Lana only a couple of months after the start of the school year. She worked in a diner across the street from our dorm. As soon as Greg entered the door of that restaurant, that was it, he was a goner. After that, like a devoted dog, he followed her around, dripping saliva and licking her with his eyes. I wanted to die from embracement when he tried to conquer her with his: "Something's wrong with my eyes because I can not tear them away from you all day" and another thousand and one lines of a true pickup artist. - Frank stuck out his tongue, making a puking sound. Tony was just ecstatic, he did not even know what to say, Greg's face became blacker than the coil with each word.

"So," Frank continued, catching his breath a little, "Fortunately, it didn't take too long for me to wonder where Greg hid his brains and blush. Lana herself was a very shy girl but quickly began to give up her defenses under such pressure. And finally, the wall has fallen. Then everything became even worse. Such a disgustingly sweet couple I have not seen ever. They cooed to each other, were holding hands everywhere and talked exclusively with cheesy phrases. I thought I would have diabetes from these two."

"God, how could I have missed this," Tony finally exclaimed. - "I beg you, tell me that you have filmed it."

"I destroyed everything after she dumped me in the hospital and never even turned back." Greg snapped, unable to stand it. The temperature in the room instantly dropped.

"What happened?" Tony asked cautiously.

"Someone attacked me. I was going home after our date. I do not even remember how it happened. In the back alley, someone knocked me off my feet. I was sure that it was a person because I clearly felt how someone grabbed my back and hit me hard against the wall. The blow fell on my shoulder and head. Then darkness. I woke up in the hospital. Fortunately, I was spotted by a passerby, out cold and all covered in blood, who called an ambulance. In addition to a couple of bruises and cuts, the whole right leg was torn to pieces. Doctors said that it was some kind of animal, maybe a stray dog, because the traces of teeth were clearly visible. The tendons were torn, and the tibia fractured in two places, the kneecap had to be replaced with a prosthesis. Lana came to visit me only once. She stood and mumbled something like: "It's not you, it's me. We can not be together. We are too different. "At first I even thought that she was joking. Until the end, I could not believe that she can be so cruel to me. I thought she was an angel, really followed her like a dumb dog. And she turned out to be just a sl*te, a gold digger. As soon as I lost all my value, became the same as everything, she immediately showed what she was made of."

Tony was silent for a while, digesting the story and giving the friend a chance to cool down a bit. The story was generally as old as the world, it's strange that Greg still reacted so bad to it even after so many years. Frank's reaction to the friend's story was also quite unusual. The man looked rather embarrassed rather than angry at his friend misfortune. As if he wanted to say something, but he did not dare.

" Okay, that's understandable. But what happened yesterday?" Tony finally broke the silence. Greg sighed as if emerging from memories and raised his blurred glance at him.

"To be honest, I do not understand it myself," - Greg began, carefully choosing words. "Do you remember, she rushed to the toilet past us when we approached?"

" Yes."

" After that, I don't know exactly why, but I kept waiting for her to come out. Everyone else was already asleep, but that girl did not show up. I was worried."

"And rushed to the rescue, like a real knight in the shining ... Brioni suit!?" Tony finished for him, trying to lighten the situation a bit. Greg shook his head but continued.

" In short. I found her in the booth. Rather then, I did not yet know that it was Lana. She refused to go out and I thought ... well, who knows what she's doing there? I left the toilet and waited outside. Just to make sure... And then I heard a strange noise and a creak. At first, I thought it was the wind. But then I realized that it was the sound of a slamming window in the toilet. I darted back. The window was really open, and the girl was nowhere to be found. I thought that she had some kind of break down, maybe she lost her nerves. Luckily, while I was standing in the corridor, I saw a jacket of someone from the staff. I grabbed it and rushed after her. I don't have a clue how I found her in this blizzard. I did not even see my feet through the snow. I stumbled upon her by accident, a nearby building loomed close by. I grabbed her and ran there. The fact that it's Lana - I realized when we were already inside. And then some madness began. I was like possessed. At first, I was rude to her and she tried to leave. I stopped her. And that's it ... One hug and my brain took a long vacation. We clung to each other like crazy. I hope you can guess what happened next ... In the morning, she apparently left while I was still sleeping."

Tony nodded with a thoughtful look, analyzing the whole story, then shrugged and said:

"Then I do not understand why you are so upset!" - Two pairs of surprised eyes stared at him.

"Think about it," - he continued, not letting his friends say a word. - "You met your old flame, tussled with her in the snow, then tussled a little more with her in that back room, and in the morning she rolled up her pantyhose and dissolved into the morning haze. What there to whine about?"

"What's your point?" Frank asked him, confused.

" I mean, the girl did you a huge favor. Treat this as a farewell sex, which you did not get before. Imagine what would have happened if she had not run out at the first light. This would be one of the most awkward moments in your life."

Greg understood with his mind that Tony was right. Then why did he felt so nasty now, as if he had missed the deal of the year? Why instead of gratitude for support, he wanted to knock out all Tony's teeth for this patronizing look. And why the first thing he did after pulled his pants on was to search for Lana? What would he tell her then? It would be strange to blame her or try to clear anything after what happened at night. What then? Come back to me, now I have... Brioni suit?! ...