"Well", Nikola looked at his new friends as the newly-wedded couple left. "Where do you all want to go? Does anybody know a good place nearby?"
"I know several", Jack offered. "You'd have to tell me what sort of places you like first." it seemed that whatever resentment Jack originally harbored towards Nikola dissipated quite quickly; his normal easygoing facade had almost completely returned.
"Ah, I'm not picky", Nikola shrugged.
"That's what I like to hear. Let me think about it." Jack scratched his head.
Nikola coughed. "It would also be worth noting that Amelija and I still have all of our things half-packed in my hotel. If we're really staying up all night - it would be wise if we packed and brought our suitcases with us. I can't trust myself with packing after a whole night of drinking. I can barely trust myself to find the ship in time."
Yana shrugged. "I also can't stay long. I have to go work and then I can come back later in evening."
"Ah, yes", Nikola scratched his head. "It's actually a normal workday here. I completely forgot, with everyone acting like it's some sort of holiday. Don't those two work as well?"
"Alina actually switched with other teachers and worked extra last week so she could be with us today, since it's our last day here", Amelija said. "As for Erik, I don't know, that's his business."
"I sent a letter to Olly - his colleague. It won't be a problem", Jack said, pointedly looking at Nikola so it wouldn't seem he was replying to Amelija by any means.
Nikola suddenly realized, with Yana gone, he might be left with only these two people, and felt an immediate flash of panic.
Jack must have had the same thought. He turned to Yana, saying "Who is staying with Piotr today?"
"Svetlana, probably."
"I can do it." he looked back at Nikola. "You two can pack and then go directly to their house."
"You're leaving the wedding? Don't you want to celebrate with us?"
"He wouldn't", Yana said firmly. "He wouldn't run away from his friends' wedding. We'll all meet at their house after my work is over."
"You're right, I wouldn't run away from my friends' wedding", Jack smiled at Piotr. "What about it, kid? Do you want to come with me while your mom works?"
"But- Nikola-"
"We'll come back to them, I promise. We're just giving them a few hours to pack and rest."
"Yeah, sure", Piotr replied and automatically took Jack's hand.
"We'll catch up with you then", Jack nodded politely to Nikola. "Yana? You're going the same way?"
"Right. We'll all meet later, at my house", Yana said, nodding to both Nikola and Amelija in a desperate attempt to make the situation a little less awkward. Nikola could see they were caught up in some conversation as they left, with Jack losing all of his standoffish attitude once Amelija was out of view. They seemed like old friends, and Jack suddenly seemed like a charming, likable man.
"Amelija, you have to tell him", Nikola demanded. "It doesn't look to me like he'll just wait around for you to make up your mind!"
"Well maybe he-"
"He's right, Amelija!"
"Oh, stop it! I need to go and pack, and I've - had enough advice! I just need to think for a minute!"
Nikola didn't have the heart to tell her the minute may have passed already.
"Krijesnice", Nikola nudged Amelija as they passed through the suburbs on their way to Yana's house. "Fireflies, over there in the bushes. Very nice." he paused and took a few steps off the road to look at them, leaving their baggage in Amelija's hands without any consideration. "Autumn is coming, they won't be here much longer."
"I never noticed them, I have to admit."
"They're shy", Nikola smiled, forcing himself to stop looking at cute bugs and return back onto the path.
Amelija didn't comment, growing quieter as they got closer. Nikola didn't ask.
Yana's house was the last one before Alina's, which was situated a little off the road and just a little bit further from the rest of them. Nikola made a note that he would have to ask one day how they acquired such a peculiar house with such a peculiar position.
Yana was already occupied with Piotr and chatting politely with Jack in her kitchen when they arrived; Jack regarded them with only a nod.
"I got some cakes from work", Yana remarked. "I told girls Alina got married, and they all rushed to pack so many cakes. It was very sweet."
"Oh, there's still food from earlier. Jack and I brought it. You didn't have to."
"They really wanted to give it."
"We brought wine", Nikola gestured. "Some last-minute gifts, too."
"I didn't bring anything", Jack admitted. "I was with the kid all afternoon. He wanted to stay and I couldn't say no."
The kid was currently eating his dinner in absolute peace and quiet, unbothered by the adults' conversation.
"There's too much as it is", Nikola shrugged. "When is it, uh, polite to get there? Should we wait some more?"
"I think we don't have to", Jack replied. "But we can be a little late, just to make them jittery."
"On their wedding day?"
"Just a little bit, for fun. They've been getting on my nerves all summer."
"Alright. One smoke then we go, as they say back home", Nikola took out a cigarette, and Jack reached into his pocket, offering him a box of matches, then opened Yana's window. He rummaged through the cabinet to find a porcelain ashtray and joined Nikola with his own cigarette by the window. Yana didn't seem to mind him going through her kitchen cabinet, and took out several glasses as well as one of the wine bottles. Nikola couldn't help but notice they were all very intimate with each other in this strange bubble Alina had found herself in. He also couldn't help but regret what an amusing in-law Jack would have been.
"Hello, Alina", Nikola sang as he let himself in, waving a bottle of what looked like very expensive wine. Alina was sitting on the couch, listening to Erik who had been playing his harpsichord but stopped immediately after they arrived. Jack was obviously right: they were a little bit impatient, although they tried not to let it show. Nikola smiled. "We're a little late, but I'm calling the academic quarter1. Are you ready for your first dance? Or did you get that done already?"
"One more remark like that and you're banished from the wedding", Alina replied without missing a beat before Erik even had a chance to comprehend what he was actually saying.
Nikola laughed. "Aw, alright. I didn't want you to have this experience without at least one creepy double entendre from your extended family."
"Thank the Lord, that quota is filled now." Alina stood up and started pulling out plates, cutlery, glasses. Erik tried to help, but she shooed him off. Nikola sat down and watched it unfold as everyone tried to make their way around the tiny kitchen/living room. He looked at his host - now seemingly more relaxed than before, but still sort of stiff, as if he didn't know what to do with all of them there.
"How are you two doing? Did you miss us?" Nikola asked.
Erik thought for a moment before the uneasy look in his eyes relaxed with an apologetic smile. "Not really, no."
Nikola burst into laughter. "Well, that was a stupid question."
"Why is there so much cake?" Alina said behind him. "Are we going to eat cake all day long? What were you thinking?"
"Your friend Yana is to blame for that, not me. We also found some half-decent prosciutto and cheese. You have buns and pastries at the bottom, too, and some fruit."
"A fresh tomato or cucumber wouldn't kill-"
"Also with the fruit. Where they belong."
"We are not having this conversation again", Alina concluded as she unpacked everything onto her best plates and put it on the table as Amelija helped her. The rest of them were in a lazy, celebratory mood, but Amelija was eager to busy her hands in any way possible so she wouldn't have to sit down - especially next to someone - or think about anything at all. Nobody really understood what was going on with her, and why the sudden change in her behaviour, and so nobody dared to comment so openly.
"What does it mean?" Piotr asked as he climbed onto one of the chairs, then over it to the table and sat across from Erik looking into his eyes. "That you are married?"
"I'm really quite new at this", Erik smiled slightly. "I can tell you more in about ten years or so, when I get good at it."
"Ugh", Piotr rolled his eyes.
"Do you want to play a game?" Erik said, pulling out three small cups. "I'll put something in one of these three cups, and if you guess where it is, you can have it."
"Can I have three guesses?"
"You're a clever little prince, but no."
When they all finally settled down, sitting on the chairs, couch, and floor surrounded by plates upon plates of food and wine Nikola brought, Jack raised his glass and tapped a knife against it with mocked elegance.
"Always wanted to do that", he joked. "I don't know how you people do it, but we usually toast before we drink, and I propose we toast to the newlyweds; but not before the groom has said his speech."
"Come again?" Erik raised his head in alarm.
"I'm dying to hear wedding ceremony platitudes come out of your mouth specifically, buddy. If you rob me of this, I will leave disappointed and inconsolable."
Erik stared at him for a second. "I don't remember what I did to deserve this, but knowing myself, I probably did something."
"Everything", Yana whispered next to him, and Erik let out something resembling a chuckle. Then, to everyone's surprise, he actually took his own glass and raised it. He decided he wouldn't go so far as to actually stand up.
"Right. I will say something. I frankly didn't expect Alina to agree to this at all, let alone that you would all be so kind to indulge me, so I have nothing planned. You are all very good people, I'm grateful to you all, and I won't forget it. I intend to make my wife as happy as I possibly can, for the rest of my life." he lingered for a moment, looking unsure, then put his glass down.
"No, that is all", Erik concluded when he felt Alina tugging on his sleeve. "Yes, darling? If you want to, you can do it yourself, you know?"
"Actually I wouldn't mind that at all", Alina smiled, adjusted her dress, and stood up raising her glass.
"When I moved here, I thought I was on my own. I was fully prepared to succeed on my own, and fully convinced I didn't need anybody. I was fully prepared to build others' lives and make them happy, never asking for anything for myself.
But then, a strange thing happened - I fell in love for the first time in my life. I fell in love so many times, over and over again each day. I learned to see love everywhere I go, and accept it, where I was until now saving it for others. I'm glad I had the chance to marry for love, and not for money or my elders' expectations, or social class. I'm glad my family can be here on my wedding day, even though none of you had to come through pressures of societal convention. I'm glad we're all here because of love. I'm glad we did all of this so completely backwards, because all I wanted from my wedding - when I even thought about it - was love, bared from all pretense and tradition and all the other things so painfully boring, exhausting, and unimaginative. Thank you all for coming and making it come true. I truly love you all."
"That was beautiful, cousin", Nikola clapped.
"It was!" Yana smiled.
"Yes, now sit down", Amelija pulled her down.
"You're embarrassing yourself", Nikola added.
"No, I'm convinced", Jack said, raising his glass again. "To these two, Erik and Alina, may they live happily and never change. Or maybe change a little."
After roughly half an hour of silence interrupted only by the clanking of dishes, Nikola turned to Alina. "So, you must be quite valued at work for them to allow you to take days off like this?"
"Oh?" Alina raised her eyebrows. "Yes, I suppose so. I'd say I'm useful."
"I always thought you'd be good at it."
"Well, it is my life's calling."
"What's next?" Nikola smiled. "Are you going to stay in that school? I'm sure you could move up in the world, with your zest and attitude."
"For now, definitely. I like it here. I don't know how long I'll stay there- maybe one day I'll have my own school, I don't know."
"You could always go to college", Nikola pointed out. "I mean, if you're eager to keep your streak of big life changes."
"I-" Alina stopped with her mouth open. "I-"
"New York does have women's colleges. Things are not the same as they were in London ten years ago - not to mention, you don't need your father's signature anymore, now that you're married."
"I- I mean- that is- I haven't thought about it before", Alina blushed, looking completely befuddled.
"Right, but it wouldn't be a problem, I think?" Nikola looked at Erik. Nikola witnessed years of Alina bumping into obstacles on her way to making a career and fighting for her own independence; if he could do something to help her with it, even if causing an uncomfortable situation, he'd do it.
"What?" Erik looked back with unease. "Why are you asking me?"
"In case she needs her husband's signature."
"And you think I am the one who won't let her-" Erik started, his voice increasing in both pitch and speed, and Alina interrupted.
"Leave it, Nikola. I haven't decided yet what I want, and that's it. And I won't decide today, that's for sure."
"Alright", Nikola smiled at Erik apologetically. "I just wanted to ask."
Erik said nothing, fury still flashing from his eyes.
"Did you know there's a lot of fireflies around your house?" Nikola tried again.
"I did", he replied. "I've been out at night quite a lot."
"They're adorable."
Erik took a deep breath. This wasn't a good moment to settle this matter. Nikola had been incredibly kind to him until now, and he didn't want to lose that. Why are these people so good at faking things? Friends one moment, threat another. What do you really think of me?
"I'm sorry", Nikola said again later, after Piotr was already asleep and alcohol sparkled the eyes of Erik's companions. He could feel his own blood warming up, and his own mind quieting down; it took him a moment to realize what Nikola was apologizing for.
"I didn't actually think you'd forbid her", Nikola said, leaning on the wall of Erik's house. "Or I would not have come to the wedding. I realize now I've offended you."
"It's fine", Erik said. Alina and Amelija were teaching Yana how to play some sort of game on the street outside their house. Erik didn't fully understand it, but it involved throwing balls to roll towards a significantly smaller ball. He was too drunk to follow who was winning, but then, so were they. Jack was appointed to be the judge, but he seemed more interested in making them all bicker and forget what was going on whenever he could.
"I must admit this is one of the sweetest weddings I've been to", Nikola said, smoking as he watched Alina loudly accuse her sister of cheating. "It's been about twelve hours since you two were married, and there's six more to go before we leave. Why are you not celebrating with us?"
"I am celebrating", Erik felt his ears get hot with anger again. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, you don't seem to be particularly relaxed with all of us here."
"I'm not", Erik said, not sober enough to bother lying. "But, to be fair, that has nothing to do with you."
"I want to see those fireflies again before I leave", Nikola suddenly said, straightening up and turning to leave without preamble. "Come with me."
Erik followed without question.
"Fireflies were one of the many animals I was obsessed with as a child", Nikola rambled. "I loved them so much, I caught several of them into a jar I filled with sticks and leaves. They all died within a day."
Erik nodded, following silently.
"These things happened several times when I was a kid, until I grew older and realized if I love something so much, I shouldn't keep killing it in my attempts to keep it near me. So, I decided I would be the one to get close to nature, instead of ripping parts of it away to bring home with me."
"That's interesting."
"Do you have any other family, aside from Antoinette Giry?" Nikola asked carefully. They were now walking through waist-high bushes as he stopped to look at fireflies every now and then. He was uncharacteristically silent, and even put out his cigarette so as not to upset the insects.
"No. Only her. She's my adoptive mother; we don't share any blood ties."
"And before she adopted you?"
"Before that, I was nothing."
Nikola stopped and turned. "You mean to say, nobody? I'm sure that's normal. We're all nobodies as children."
"No, I know what I said." Erik said, turning around him. They were still fairly close to the road, but streetlights were not very bright in this part of the suburbs. They were now in near-complete silence, no longer hearing the voices of the rest of their friends. Fireflies buzzed quietly and happily around them, illuminating little round bubbles in otherwise near-complete darkness. "Yes, you were right. I doubt you could ever get something like this if you kept them in a jar."
"It's because they're happy", Nikola smiled, barely visible, with a slight childish drunkenness still in his voice. "We came to them."
Erik sat on his chair, alone and awake, as the others drifted off into sleep around him. He pondered the thought that there were so many people in his house now, peacefully asleep and relaxed as he listened to the sound of their deep breathing. He wouldn't be able to sleep with all of them here, and he mourned for a moment the fact he may never feel as much at ease as they seemed to be with each other. But they were all here for him - for Alina, primarily, but they were here to celebrate his wedding as well, which was a thought almost impossible to fathom. All of these people were given to him on a silver platter and he wondered if he would ever be able to fully process the immensity of the change that happened to him in the past few years.
In the silent hours of the night as everyone else was sleeping, Erik sat down by candlelight and the dim outside light of streetlamps, and wrote a letter to his mother.
Dear Antoinette,
I don't quite know how to start with this. We got married yesterday. It was unreal, and I haven't been able to sleep. To be fair, there's all these people - Alina's sister and cousin, and Piotr - still sleeping in my house, so it's not really that I even have somewhere to sleep. To my surprise, I'm glad they're all here.
I miss you. I've been thinking about you all day. I wish you could have been here to see it. I know we haven't always been on best of terms, I know I wasn't a pleasant young man to manage, and I haven't always made your life easier. I resented you for things you couldn't give me and things I never even told you I needed; I held it against you for not knowing any better than to let me live five floors underground and spend my days in frightened isolation rather than force me to face the world. I know you did the best you could, and with some distance now I can tell you I don't think any of this is your fault - I never did; but still, for a long time I resented you for abandoning me and, eventually, sending me away. This was unfair of me, I know, because it was me in the end who insisted to keep the distance and lock myself away, but I wanted to say it nevertheless. Now that I have some clarity, it seems to me more that you and I have kept each other at a distance for eleven years: I kept you at arm's length out of fear I might lose you forever if you ever get too close. I can only guess what made you act the same; perhaps I never really let you know how important you were to me and how much I wanted to join you upstairs, in your daylight-tinted world. Perhaps I was wrong and you really forgot about me through my decade in Paris, but it's my wedding day and I'm feeling sentimental, betting on the possibility that you will meet me halfway when you read this very embarrassing vomit of words and feelings.
I'm mature enough now to tell you that I miss you and I never thought all this distance would bring us closer together. I hope we'll meet again. I've been focused on surviving all this time, and only today I realized I'm here to stay; and I had always sort of assumed our goodbye, as well as my runaway status, was to be forever. But seeing these people, Alina's family, scattered across the world and always waiting to meet again nevertheless, has made me realize that things may not be as clear-cut in black and white as I tend to see them. Maybe one day, we'll meet out in the open, and there will be no reason to hide. Maybe you'll come to see a concert or opera of mine. Maybe I'll come and visit you in your house and bring presents as these people do, instead of hiding in your room and refusing to talk.
I hope you knew, even though I never said it, I really loved you all these years from the moment I met you, even though I avoided you half the time.
I don't know what's gotten into me. If you get this letter, it means I sent it before I had a chance to get some sleep and know better.
Until we meet again someday,
Erik
Approximately one hour before dawn, Erik realized that they wouldn't be waking up. They were all tired, slightly drunk and had gone to bed very late; there was nothing to wake them on time for the ship. He would have to be the one waking them all up, which he wasn't looking forward to, but he had a feeling they wouldn't really prefer getting stranded in a strange land because of his own social awkwardness.
Alina was sleeping soundly and Erik wasn't eager to wake her up and make it her problem again. He walked over directly to Nikola, standing over the man's slightly-curled up form, and wondered what the most painless way to wake a man up might be. Erik suddenly had a thought: Alina had been in this situation back when they first met, trying to wake him up from various unpleasant dreams and terrors, and he wondered if she felt like this while she thought about how to go about it, and before he'd wake up either screaming in terror or cursing at her to leave him alone.
It never occurred to him before how strange it had to be for her, but it occurred to him now when he realized he'd be mortified if this man woke up and cursed at him to leave him alone.
"Nikola", he tried optimistically, keeping his voice soft. "Wake up."
Nikola showed absolutely no sign that he heard him.
Erik tried again, poking Nikola's shoulder with a finger as he whispered. "Wake up?"
Nikola flinched a little, but kept sleeping.
"Nikola", Erik gripped the man's shoulder firmly with his hand, trying to shake him a little. He had a feeling that would work. "Wake up."
Nikola's head shot up, and his eyes found Erik with the immediate alertness of someone used to sleeping somewhere not entirely safe.
The whole thing was uncanny.
"Your ship", Erik managed, quickly pulling his hand away. "You have to catch your ship."
Nikola straightened in his spot on the couch with remarkable grace for someone so sleepy. "Ah. I thought you were waking me up to tell me I need to grab my gun and run for the bushes."
"Sorry", Erik mumbled.
"Well, it worked." Nikola rubbed his eyes.
"I'm not the most pleasant sight to wake up to, but I was the only one awake, so-"
"Whatever are you talking about?" Nikola yawned. "What time is it?"
"Five thirty."
"How much do we have to hurry?"
"You're fine. Just wake up Amelija and get ready. The dock is not that far - you can catch a carriage nearby."
"Alright", Nikola stood up and automatically looked for his cigarettes, then stopped. "I should probably smoke less, now that the festivities are over. Do you happen to have any coffee?"
"I can make some."
"Where's the rest of them?" Nikola looked around.
"Alina and Amelija are sleeping in Alina's room. Yana left home after you fell asleep - I think Jack stayed with her; he lives further down the island - Piotr fell asleep on my bed, we left him there. He wanted to see Amelija leave."
"Is that kid so advanced that he can wake up at six just to wave at a big boat?"
"I don't know. The point is that we let him know, I suppose."
Nikola sat at the kitchen table, trying to clear his head. "It's a whole little family, the lot of you. All very close together. All practically living together."
Erik wondered if he should ask him what he meant by it. "Is that bad?"
"No, on the contrary. I think it's very sweet. I no longer have such a tight-knit group of friends", Nikola admitted. "I'm… away too often for too long. At least I think that's why."
Erik thought about it. "I don't think it happened on purpose - I certainly wasn't giving my best, back then, to keep them all around me. I think we had to be like this to survive. It was winter when we arrived - we had nothing, and it was so cold that Alina's eyelashes froze on her face. We had to do something, and so Yana let us stay in her kitchen. Otherwise, I don't know, if it had been summer, perhaps I would have left them all and gone to find my own luck. And then none of this would have happened; if only we'd waited until spring, as they usually advise you to do with cross-Atlantic trips."
"That makes perfect sense", Nikola remarked. "A lone wolf will become a pack animal when winter hits. When nature periodically tries to kill us, we turn to each other. It's a simple evolutionary truth which we romanticize because it's nicer, it's nicer to think in terms of love and friendship than to admit we'd soon all be dead without each other. As if love itself was some sort of mysterious spiritual choice between the right and the sinful, and not a biological imperative that we feel every second of our lives? But that's always how it starts, and there's no shame in admitting it. The complicated - and more romantic - part starts when you're already in a pack and start to wonder: what now? Sorry if I'm rambling."
"I see," Erik took Alina's coffee pot off the fire and put it on the table, as well as some cups. "Here you go."
"Ah, thank you." Nikola poured himself the biggest amount of coffee Erik had seen someone pour in his life. Aside from Alina.
"I think Alina will be very sad about you leaving", he started carefully.
"We will all be; Amelija will be devastated. I'm sorry we don't get to see each other more often - we were all so close as kids."
"I didn't really understand it before, but now I do", Erik continued. "If… your travels lead you somewhere on this continent again, you're very welcome to visit."
"Amelija and me?" Nikola asked. He was surprised by this sudden invitation from his withdrawn host.
"I meant you specifically. I know I couldn't stop Amelija from coming again even if I wanted to." he paused. "It's all a joke. I didn't mind having her here. I know - Alina has told me - people tend to think I'm cold and distant, and it's sometimes - well, mostly - true, but not this time. So, I just wanted to make that clear."
"Well, thank you", Nikola smiled, sipping his coffee. "I'll be sure to bother you again, then."
As Nikola went to wake up his cousins, Erik decided to hold his promise and made his way to his own bedroom.
"Piotr", he said softly. "Piotr, they're leaving. If you want to say goodbye, you can."
"Где мама?" Piotr asked in Russian, stirring and still half-asleep.
Erik sighed. "Дома. ты хочешь пойти домой?"
"Да."
"Alright", he lifted the child up gently. "Home to mom it is. Say goodbye to your friends on the way."
Erik carried Piotr, who waved sleepily over his shoulder to Amelija and Nikola, off to Yana's house. Yana, also half asleep, took him and disappeared into the bedroom.
Erik looked around. Jack was sleeping in Yana's kitchen, covered in the same blankets she once gave to Erik, curled up into himself in a way Erik had not seen from him before.
"Jack", Erik called, shaking him gently. "Jack. They are leaving. I just thought you might want to know."
"I don't", Jack remarked, not even opening his eyes.
"Alright. I'll be off then. You know where we'll be."
"Duly noted."
Alina and Amelija both sat in their own corners as the carriage drove them to the dock, sulking silently and looking dejected. Nikola gave his best to chat his way out of the awkward situation, but none of his fellow passengers in the carriage seemed interested.
Amelija and Nikola offered their hands to Erik politely as they walked the short way to the docks, commenting on how much they enjoyed their stay, how glad they are to have met him and how he simply must come visit them at some other time. It rang a bit hollow in the chilly autumn morning.
"Maybe someday", he said. "You're welcome to come again, in any case."
"And thenwe'll hear your concerts?" Nikola asked.
"Speak for yourself", Amelija smirked as she carried the least heavy of her bags. "I heard him already."
"I'm so jealous! Is he good?" Nikola asked, obviously trying to brighten up the mood.
"Yes, he's fantastic. You should be jealous."
"I'm going to miss you so much", Alina finally said when they were already stopping on the docks. "Both of you. Be sure to visit again."
"Of course we will", Nikola took her hand in his. "We're family. Even though you decided to run away and abandon us."
"I didn't-"
"I'm joking, dear cousin. We'll see you again, don't worry."
"Amelija-" Alina started, but Amelija interrupted her.
"Enough. I know what you're going to say, and I don't want a scene. I will miss you too. I hope we can do this again next summer."
Alina's cheeks were streaked with tears. She gave her best to hold it back, sniffing as she nodded.
"I can't take it, Alina", Amelija sighed. "Hold it together. I promise to be back soon."
"You better be", Alina sniffed. "Or I'm coming to get you", she laughed as they hugged one more time.
Erik watched the whole scene unfolding from the side, feeling at the same time overwhelmed and excluded. Overwhelmed by their free display of emotions in such a public space, and excluded from the lifetime of history they had between them, when to his surprise, Nikola looked at him one more time before he left. Amelija was distracted taking out their tickets and climbing the narrow steps, and he turned around taking care not to lose his balance with the heavy bags.
"It was good meeting you, brother-in-law", he said, his smile wrinkling the fine lines around his dark eyes and mouth. His eyes darted between Erik and something just to his left, and he would probably have realized there was someone standing next to him if he was more focused.
Erik stared after him for a second in stunned silence. "Likewise", he finally managed.
"That has to be the most likable man I've ever met", Jack commented quietly next to him. "What a goddamn bastard. Couldn't hate him even if you tried."
Erik turned to him, pondering if he should ask what the hell Jack was doing, hiding next to him instead of going after Amelija.
"What did you drag me out here for?" Jack asked, looking at Amelija as she boarded the ship. "What are we hoping to achieve?"
Erik didn't want to point out he didn't exactly drag him, but… "I don't know. I thought you might have an idea."
Jack shrugged. "I don't. Hard as it is to imagine, I have something called self-respect, and I know how to quit when someone isn't interested. I'm here, hell knows why, but I got my closure and I'm leaving now."
"Alright", Erik managed. He didn't see the point in it anymore. Amelija was already on the boat, waving at Alina; Jack was already turned with his back to it and ready to leave. Torn between meddling too much and not meddling at all, he managed not to achieve anything other than annoy both of his friends involved; perhaps, he thought, he should have picked one approach and stuck to it with conviction.
At that moment, Amelija must have finally seen the outline of Jack's messy brown hair in the crowd as Erik leaned in towards him to say something - he didn't know what, perhaps that he was sorry, that he'd misjudged everything completely, and that he really wanted to help -
Amelija, possessed by some sudden hysteria, straightened out like a broom when she saw him and jumped on the fence, leaning over as she kept herself steady with her hands on the rails.
"JACK!" Amelija screamed from the top of her lungs. "Jack! I love you! Come see me in Zagreb!"
Jack jolted, and turned halfway around to look at Erik first with a look of pure fury on his face. Erik didn't have the time to even process it as Jack stared him down. Jack turned all the way to face the boat, and Amelija who was still shouting from it.
"I love you! Come with me to Zagreb!"
"I don't want to anymore", he shouted back, putting his hands around his mouth.
Amelija went silent for a moment, then slowly climbed down from the fence.
"Unless you marry me when I arrive", he added.
Amelija's face was now reflecting his own annoyance.
"You've brought me to the brink of sanity! You need to get your head out of the clouds and start considering me as well!" he shouted. "You expect me to cross the Atlantic and then half of Europe just to be a guest in the swamps and cornfields?"
People around, amused by the exchange, were starting to giggle. The ship, after a few blaring signals from its horn, was starting to inch away from the dock.
"Fine!" she screamed one more time. "Fine! I'll marry you when you arrive! If you stop being such a child about it!"
The people listening were still thoroughly amused, with a few of them clapping and whistling when she said it.
"I'll be there by New Years' day", Jack replied, smiling with obvious self-satisfaction. He waved at her, turned to wink at Erik, and walked back with a slight skip in his step, not turning back once.
Nikola waved back at him, trying not to burst into laughter at Amelija obviously equally touched and mortified by what had just happened.
For better or worse, at least Alina looked happy for the first time that day. Slight breeze ruffled their hair as they went back, picking off the first falling leaves and bringing with it the smell of firewood.
1 I don't know if this is a general rule in academia, but in Croatian universities there used to be a tradition of "academic quarter" or akademska četvrt (some older professors still hold it). Both the professor and the students can be up to a quarter hour late (15 minutes) to the class without questions and students will be allowed in. This is true for ex-cathedra class, but not for seminars, exams or practical exercises as those last only 1-1.5 hours and require punctuality.