Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Burnt Shoes

"Did I wake you up?" "Ha! Do you care?" came the half-asleep accusation on the other end of the phone, "Of course you woke me up, you bum!" "I'm sorry." Leon apologized to Anoka. Anoka is Natalie's best friend and is therefore second on the list of trusted contacts.It was almost nine o'clock in the morning, but Anoka was a famous night owl, basically, she would not appear in the gallery before lunch.Undoubtedly, Leon abruptly interrupted the sweet dream she was having, or, his phone call forced her to leave the arms beside her.She has a list of all the hot spots in the nightclubs in the city, and the one lying on the bed may be one of them.

Leon didn't quite understand that with Anuoka's beauty, he could make men fall under her pomegranate skirt?Maybe it's really different.Those guys who are infatuated with Anoka are mostly muscular men with listless looks and thick chest hair. They will stare at her artificial breasts as soon as Anoka enters the bar and linger; while the men who like Natalie are Usually attracted by her girlish figure, dark hair, and melancholy eyes.These are clearly two distinct groups. "Your voice sounds strange." Anoka noticed something strange.On the other end of the phone, Leon first heard the rustling of the sheets, and then the heavy sound of bare feet walking on the floor.

"Are you on drugs?" "Nonsense!" "What happened?" Leon hesitated. "I... I wish you could tell me..." "what?" "Is Natalie with you?" "Why do you think so?" If Leon is not mistaken, he heard the sound of running water through the microphone.Judging by how well he knew Anuoka, she was squatting in the toilet to urinate shamelessly while talking on the phone. "It's so complicated it's confusing me a bit. I don't want to talk about it right now, okay?" "You don't want to talk, but you call me in the middle of the night?" Anuoka asked angrily and angrily.At this moment, the loud sound of toilet flushing came from the microphone.

"Since Natalie left our residence yesterday, I can no longer contact her." Leon explained, then turned to face the door of the living room.While talking on the phone, he kept circling between the sofa and the window sill like a trapped animal. He felt his throat itchy when he didn't get any water, so he decided to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water to drink. "Did you quarrel?" Anoka asked. "I have no idea." "You don't know if you two had a fight?" I don't even know if anything worse happened than the innocuous altercation.But you will not understand.

"I know this all sounds weird, but could you do me a favor? If you see Natalie at the gallery today, would you please get in touch with me?" Natalie and Anoka were roommates when they were still studying at the Art Institute, and they lived in the same room at first, and later in the same room.Long before Natalie met Leon, the two of them agreed to realize a common dream together: to open their own photography gallery in the old town and exhibit their own photos and the works of other young artists.About a year ago, they realized this dream.Since the first press conference, the operation of the gallery has been very good.

"Impossible!" Anoka replied. "What can't you do?" "Please ask me to ask her to contact you, I can't do it!" "what?" Leon knew very well that since Natalie moved out of their common residence because of him, Anoka couldn't stand him anymore.Because she thinks that Leon, who is an architect, only works to make money, not to pursue art.To her, he is just a vulgar person in pursuit of material comforts.In the few chances he and Anokha met, their friendship was limited to a few pleasantries.In fact, this feeling of rejection is mutual, and Leon later found out that in the early days of Natalie's relationship with him, Anoka tried her best to dissuade Natalie from continuing to associate with Leon.But even though Anuoka hated him very much, he didn't regard him as an enemy, at least he never did so in public.

"You don't want to tell her that I once called her?" "No, I can't tell her. According to the current situation, I will not meet her." "What does it mean?" "It means that your dear Natalie hasn't come to work for two weeks, and I'm running the gallery all by myself!" Anoka's words made Leon feel dizzy for a while, as if he was almost hit in the temple.Standing on the porch, his eyes fell on the magnet message board, which was fastened behind the kitchen door and hung at about his head height.In the past, whether it was him or Natalie, the one who left the house first would leave sweet or sarcastic remarks on the board.Baby, did we have warmth last night?Sorry, I was exhausted, so forgive me if I snored during the process!Na.However, this last message was written several months ago, and now there is only an announcement from the building management committee on it, which reads: In a few days, the stairwell will be renovated.In other words, if you want to take the elevator, you have to wait a little longer.

"But Natalie told me you're busy preparing a big exhibition?" The theme is Children of the Stars. An exhibition on miscarriage and stillbirth will feature many moving and disturbing photographs. It is because of this exhibition that Natalie has been leaving early and returning late for the past few days. That was the case the day before yesterday! Leon bought a bottle of wine and planned to reconnect with Natalie.He waited in the restaurant for hours, then somehow opened the wine and drank it down to the last drop. As a result, he was so drunk that he fell into a deep sleep on the bed, not knowing when Natalie would return home.

"Natalie told me that you are working at full capacity and at peak efficiency in order to get everything done in time." "It's full fire, yes, Leon, but it's just me doing everything with maximum efficiency. I don't know what's going on between you two, I just know that Natalie is a bit unreliable. I left a voicemail She didn’t even answer a phone call after a bunch of messages, it’s really too much. The theme of this exhibition was originally her idea, but maybe it’s too early for her.” No, I don't believe it! Indeed, last summer's miscarriage left Natalie devastated, yet she got back on her feet with astonishing speed.Maybe it was because the miscarriage happened in the tenth week, which coincided with her menstrual period, so the formed fetus flowed away with the menstrual blood, and even hysterectomy was omitted.

A child of the stars. How happy Leon had been when Natalie found out that her period hadn't come!At first, when Natalie noticed the first signs of pregnancy, such as swollen breasts and morning sickness, she didn't let Leon know right away, because she was worried that the joy might be in vain.Later, Leon bought a pregnancy test stick and came back. The few days after confirming that the test result was positive, can be said to be the best time in Leon's life. Until that morning comes.Natalie found blood stains in her panties, and all the joy of expecting a new life disappeared in the air.That's really scary!However, after a brief and unforgettable period of grief, the miscarriage only brought the two of them closer together.If it weren't for this feeling, Leon would not have proposed to Natalie two months ago.

And she agreed to his proposal! Their wedding was completely unconventional: there were no wedding witnesses, photographers, or flower girls.As for the wedding day, they directly picked the day when the marriage notary office was available.Many friends were taken aback by their sudden decision, and some were even angry.But why not?They were obviously all overwhelmed by love. "She should be fine, right?" It was more like he was talking to himself than talking to Anuoka. Then he remembered the need for water.He opened the kitchen door and coughed a few times. There seemed to be something in the air that made it difficult for him to walk, like a thick smoke that irritated his throat and made him cry instantly, but he couldn't see any smoke. "What did you just say?" Anokka asked. "It's nothing." Leon said while coughing.In order to avoid inhaling the thick smoke, he quickly covered his mouth and nose with his hands, then rushed to the kitchen window and swung it open.Only then did Leon take a deep breath of the cold but clean air with relief. "Anyway, Leon, whatever happened between the two of you has nothing to do with me. I just hoped that you could call me and explain why Natalie was always loose and flustered a while ago." Leon rubbed his eyes, turned around and tried to find the source of the disaster that made him burst into tears.Then his eyes fell on the microwave, whose light was blinking on and off. "I mean, Natalie gave up just at the very moment when it was about to start. We just got on the starting line and made some progress until last month, but Natalie chose to back down at this time. I really don't understand!" I don't understand either, Leon thought.He turned on the microwave, coughing violently from the smoke again.He finally found the source of the pungent smell. "Are you okay?" Anokka asked. not good!I'm not good at all! Leon tried to grab the sneakers inside the microwave, but couldn't because the plastic soles of the sneakers had been firmly stuck to the bottom of the microwave.This scene evokes a long memory of Leon, for him, it was almost the bleakest years of his life. Leon hung up the phone without saying goodbye to Anuoka.He quickly left the kitchen, ran across the corridor, and into the studio.To open the top drawer of his desk, he had to elevate slightly the cardboard model of the Children's Hospital building that the architectural firm he co-founded with a friend was bidding on.After rummaging in the drawer for a while, he finally found the old notebook.There were many important phone numbers recorded in this notebook. He secretly prayed that the phone number would not change. The last time he dialed this number was fifteen years ago. The phone rang for a long time before anyone answered. "Doctor Wowalt?" "Yes, I am. Who are you?" "I'm Leon Nader. I think I've had a relapse."