For Chester it was fantastic to have a big house. Of course; during the past 5 years he had lived in such a small house… he couldn’t even invite anyone to his former home. Not even his parent’s house was half as large as this one. He could buy more furniture as money would start coming in.

The house had a wonderful view and he spent his spare time often playing the guitar in his garden. He even got a new hobby: painting. As he got more skilled, his paintings were bought by a shop owner and some extra money came in.

He didn’t have any problems on his work and with his colleagues. He was a shy young man who had received so much sorrow in his short life that he was kind of allergic to making girlfriends.

He had met a girl as he stepped out of the town hall. She had come to him spontaneously and she seemed a nice girl but he forgot about her soon.

Then he met Jamie. She worked as well in the Hospital although in another department as his. One day when they met she started to gossip: “Have you heard what happened to Mr. Koffi?”

He answered: “No, I don’t even know him”.

Then she told him that Koffi was an elder man who never had been married because he never ran into the right woman for him. He had a good job, a good salary and a modern house.

“Well, Koffi has quite a lot of work so he hired somebody to organize his household. It was a woman who little by little got his esteem and they say that she even slept there now and again.
The other day he came home from work and he found that all the furniture had been stolen….all of it. The strange thing is that the alarm hadn’t gone off. Off course, he called the Police but the only fingerprints were Koffi’s and the assistant’s.

They say that the assistant came back the day after while Koffi was working and she left him a note saying that if he hadn’t anything to clean up, she wasn’t necessary anymore but, she wanted him to transfer her a 2 months’ salary because she needed that time to find another job.”

Chester asked Jamie: “Who told you this?” and she answered that it was the common gossip in the fast food restaurant and added “As the assistant hasn’t been seen around lately, they suppose that she might have been the burglar.

Chester asked: “What is that ladies’ name?”

Jamie: “We don’t know… we only know that the police have closed the case due to the lack of evidence”.

Jamie started laughing about the whole case but Chester didn’t like that at all. He found nothing to laugh about. He though that, if he ever would run into Mr. Koffi, he would offer him his friendship.

After this gossip, Chester tried to avoid meeting Jamie and when she called him, he just didn’t pick up the phone. He thought can it be true, that all women are the same?

With his work everything was fine. He was adapting very well to his new life. He had even been able to buy more furniture and his house started looking fine. He had bought a new bike and did not want to leave it outside, so he parked it in the hall.

He wanted to keep his good condition so he went everywhere on his bike and people saw him often while he was footing.

Chester was really very pleased with the house he rented but then he received that certified letter. It said that somebody was interested to buy the house so… if he wanted to stay he had to buy it or leave it. He still did not have enough to buy it so his only option was… find something else.

There was quite an old house he could afford but it was much smaller.

“Well all right, I won’t have so much work doing the cleaning up”. He bought the house. Trying to be positive and thinking that he wouldn’t under any circumstances have anybody there for the household. One mistake had been enough.

He stored his furniture again in a container and bought smaller furniture, more adapted to his new house. He wondered if he could ever consider it as a home.

It was in a street, quite far away from the center and there were only two more houses: one very rural with fruit trees was definitely not inhabited but the house next to it was inhabited. Though he hadn’t seen anybody there but while footing he had seen furniture in the house. Anyway, it wasn’t that important!

He kept going to the Bistro for dinner. Food was very good there, as a matter of fact better than the fast food restaurant. He used to eat on the terrace. Many people ate there or had a drink or just sat down reading some book. Most of the people were commoners. There was a very nice atmosphere and music that made you think of France.

He often saw a young woman eating there, like himself, alone and he wondered why she was alone because she looked pretty but not interested in finding company.

He used to go home after dinner but a certain afternoon he went inside the bistro for a drink at the bar. He asked the waitress if she knew the lonely lady but she told him that nobody knew her. She knew for sure that she was a foreigner and that she was a common client. Oh yes, she uses to give a good tip.

Now look at that! Chester liked that because he himself was a generous person.

It was Thursday afternoon. Chester was reading a book recommended by his boss, when somebody rang the front door bell.

He opened the door and there she was… the young woman of the bistro. She came to make acquaintance because she said: “I live in the same street but I didn’t have time to welcome you before today”.

“Hm…. I’ve seen you very often at the bistro” he said to her.

“Really? Yes, I use to have dinner there but I’ve never seen you, however I must admit that I’m not the observing kind of person and after dinner I always go home straight away”.

Of course, he invited her in.

She really was a nice person. Chester had the impression that she looked through him if though she knew exactly what kind of a person he was.

She told him that she liked the way he had furnished the house and after that she asked what kind of a job he had.
They chatted a bit about anything and then she said she had to go home. Before she left, Chester said: “Excuse me, I don’t remember your name”.

She answered: “My name is Picasso…, Ilona Picasso.

For some mysterious reason, Chester couldn’t concentrate on his book anymore thinking of Ilona. There was something special about her… She was contradictory. She was sociable; otherwise she wouldn’t have come to welcome him in this street. But on the other hand she was hiding in her shell. It looked if though life hadn’t been too nice to her either.

He went to bed thinking of her and he had a dream. He saw his mother looking at him and smiling. She said: “My boy, it’s about time to change your look. Buy other cloths more suitable to your age. You’re a young man”.

He woke up and had forgotten his dream.

One thing is true, he woke up with a very nice feeling and his mother’s advice did the work. Though he did not remember, his sub conscience did.

While bathing he thought: “I should have a nice shave to look a bit younger”. Afterwards he bought some new cloths and looking in the mirror, he was pleased with the result. He was thinking that he never had been interested in his appearance.

To be continued…