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James Houg.”

      An approving whistle came from Ernest’s lips: “The banker?” he questioned.

      “ That's him in person. So, what do you think?”

      “ Tell me something, Roni, but how do you know Houg?”

      “ He is a fan of antiques and he often comes to my shop. That’s how we met,” Roni said and continued “recently, he got a problem to solve and needs a hand with it. I told him about you and he said you're exactly the right man he’s looking for.”

      “ I thought you said earlier that you did not know what it was about?” Ernest asked, looking at his friend in the eye.

      “ Yes... yes... I know nothing, but a little advertising never hurts; then you are on the ball and I just told him the truth. I’ll tell you one last thing: if you decide to accept Houg’s proposal you would earn a lot of money.”

      “ Listen, Roni, I think you know more than just what you say, my friend, and I frankly don’t understand why you do not want to tell me the truth. However, at this moment I want to do something and above all I need money and therefore I am willing to talk to Houg and understand what it is about.”

      “ Then, do you agree?” Roni said almost yelling with joy. “Don’t worry, I'll talk to Houg and I will set an appointment; you instead try to put you on track and look better.”

      “ This will be very difficult, since Mother Nature has been very little generous with me,” Ernest answered laughing.

      “ You are joking, my friend. Now I really have to run away because I have many things to do,” and Roni went out after having greeted his friend.

      Ernest remained alone again, but Roni’s optimism got him so much that he was considering the possibility of calling Luisa to invite her out for dinner.

      After various second thoughts he called her, but Luisa did not answer and Ernest remembered that she was working at that time.

      He did not know what to do and having all day to fill up in some way, he decided to go and meet Luisa at the shop where she worked. Along the way he was puzzling on how she would react to his invitation, since lately she decided to avoid meetings with him. But then he thought that he had nothing to fear, since they had been married for two years.

      While thinking, he did not even notice he had already arrived at the shop where Luisa worked. He stayed outside for a while, but then he gathered up his forces and went inside.

      He quickly spotted her, she was there, more beautiful than ever, and Ernest understood that he loved her like he had never loved any another woman in his whole life. He could stay still there for hours and hours just looking at her, and he would’ve never gotten tired of it. For a moment he wanted to go back and let sit all, but then he gathered up his courage and approached.

      “ Hi Luisa,” he said.

      Luisa seemed glad to see him and that made him feel good.

      “ Hello, Ernest, what a nice surprise; what brings you here?” she asked.

      “ I wanted to apologize for last night.”

      “ To apologize? For what?” Luisa asked as she truly could not understand.

      “ Well ... last night I wanted to invite you out to dinner, but I did not and so I would like to fix it tonight, what do you say?”

      “ I was afraid it was something much more serious,” Luisa replied, relieved by Ernest’s response. “Unfortunately tonight I can’t because I have already made plans with a friend. I’m really sorry, maybe next time,” Luisa concluded, but Ernest had no intention of giving up.

      “ So, let’s do tomorrow night,” he tried to insist. “You choose the restaurant, I don’t really...”

      “ I can’t tomorrow as well,” she interrupted him and continued, “unfortunately, I have other plans, but I promise that as soon as I’m freer I'll call you and we’ll spend an evening together.”

      “ Okay, no problem. I just wanted to spend some time with you. That’s all. I’ll wait for your call then,” Ernest said, trying to sound calm, but in reality he was a mess.

      “ Well...” Luisa said “I certainly didn’t want to disappoint you, but...”

      “ No, no disappointment at all, I assure you,” Ernest interrupted her and continued “I’d better go now. You have to work. See you soon, darling.”

      Ernest was sure that Luisa was not that busy as she said, but he could not understand why she did not want dating him. Without thinking about it, he stopped at a pub, went in and chugged down various bottles of beer.

      Chapter 2

      It had been three days and Roni had not showed up. Ernest was in a confused state; he could not remember how many liters of beer he had been drinking, but certainly it had to be many, since he was feeling awful. He was sitting, his eyes stared into space and he did not want to do anything, he did not even want to move, and he remained motionless even when the door opened and Roni came in.

      “ For Christ's sake! I had never seen so many empty beer bottles in one single room!” Roni exclaimed, impressed by the scene in front of his eyes.

      “ Finally my friend Roni showed up! But where the hell have you been all this time?” Ernest asked, trying to tidy up a little bit the mess surrounding him.

      “ I had things to do, but I can see that you did not waste any time and you tried to give your life an aim.”

      “ I beg you, Roni, I'm ashamed enough and I don’t think I deserve your stupid comments. These three days I have been alone just like a dog and I thought...”

      “ You have seen fit to drink until losing consciousness.” Roni interrupted him, and, without giving him time to answer, he continued, “Anyway, I'm not here to judge you, but to tell you that in less than two hours we must be over Houg. Now get up and firstly get a shave and then take a good shower. Is that clear?”

      Ernest obeyed without saying a word.

      While he was in the shower he could hear Roni’s upset voice.

      “ And yet I remember perfectly well I told you to improve your appearance. When I saw you, you've looked like a zombie, and you made me a very bad impression. Luckily I know you, but if a stranger had seen you, he would have thought you were a suspicious individual escaped from an asylum.”

      Ernest was slowly and quietly dressing up, not caring about what Roni was saying because he didn’t want to argue with him. When he was done, he simply said he was ready. Even Roni looked calmer; besides he worried about his friend and he felt bad when he saw him in that state.

      They both went out silently and only when they got in the car Roni said: “Houg lives out of town, on the hills where he has his family residence. Please, Ernest, listen to him carefully and in the end you’ll be the one to decide if you want to accept it or not.”

      “ Don't worry; I won’t ever make you look bad. Firstly I’ll listen carefully to your friend Houg and then we’ll see what happens.”

      In Ernest’s words there was a bit of irony and Roni decided that it probably was better not to speak anymore, at least not until the arrival at Houg’s house.

      Ernest had tried to imagine how the house of a millionaire could be, but as soon as he saw it he was amazed. That house looked like a castle and all around there was a green well-maintained lawn. Ernest noticed how Roni wasn’t impressed at all and that’s why he thought that he had been in that house several times. They got through the opened main gate and headed towards the house. From the gate to the house there was a distance of about half a mile and the two friends were walking on a small street which was the only paved part among all that green. When they arrived in front of the door, Roni rang the bell and someone

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