Chapter 2: Dinner

The street was grey and thickly foggy

The coach must have been driving slowly, because due to the rain and the gusty wind, the olive lamps had started to go out and the yellow faint lights had started to fade even more. However, this did not prevent the professor from looking out of the carriage window to observe the houses where the lights were out. As they drove at a slow pace through the narrow streets, Blu was able to peer into the windows, which were glowing with a bright yellow light.

"Poor weather isn't it?" asked Blu when watching the beating house lights bored him and he decided to talk to his driver.

"And yes! It was promising to rain since early morning and there you go! It has started to rain. Fortunately, it's only a drizzle for the time being, but if it wants to rain so much, let it rain late at night so that people can go to bed in peace," said the carriage driver. He did not have the most comfortable place. He had no roof over his head, the only thing that protected him from the rain was a small umbrella which leaned against the frame of the carriage and covered his head, but so what if the wind changed its direction and caused the rain to fall straight into him now.

"Let's hope tomorrow is better" sighed Blu gazing out the window again, soon to be his home. After passing several smaller and more modest homes, the carriage stopped at one of the larger houses in the area. Admittedly, in these weather conditions, its entire stature and grandeur could not be seen, but Blu noticed that there was a light on in the kitchen, his wife surely already waiting with a warm and delicious dinner.

"Same time tomorrow ?"

"Yes, the same as always " replied the professor getting out of the coach. Before the horses set off again, Blu handed his large leather umbrella to the driver, which surprised the driver.

"You will give it back to me tomorrow," replied the professor with a smile, then said goodbye to the man walking down the stone path to his house. He stopped at a large green wooden door on which was carved the house number - 55.

The professor knocked on the door, then pressed lightly on the handle. The door was open. He went inside, where immediately in the hall he took off his shoes so that Jewel would not attach herself to him about it. She often did, complaining about the black shoe marks in the living room. The professor immediately headed towards the kitchen, where the delicious smell of roast chicken with roast potatoes and carrots (which Blu didn't like, but Jewel loved) beckoned him there.

"Hi honey" said Blu seeing his wife waiting for him at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Hi Professor" greeted Jewel hugging her husband, in the process she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"What smells so delicious mmm?" he asked letting out a light laugh as he already knew what he was going to eat.

"Your favourite dish, tasty" replied Jewel. Dinner was already served on the table. It lay on a decorated plate, lavender in colour, and next to it was exquisite cutlery that was custom forged from a nearby blacksmith. Blu sat down at the table, where the dish was already waiting for him. He immediately took the cutlery in his hands and then began to savour his dinner. It was a taste worth working all day for. The taste of the slightly browned meat and at the same time its juicy flavour with the baked potatoes made the taste buds have a feast they were not often supposed to experience. The carrots on the other hand were not even moved on the plate, they were in the same state all the time. This didn't surprise Jewel, Blu always did this when he saw carrots on his plate, but it appalled her a little. They were a tasty and very healthy vegetable. As the professor ate like this, savouring his dinner he saw that his wife was modestly watching him casting an innocent glance from time to time. This meant that she had something to say, but for some reason she dared not say it.

"Something wrong?" asked Blu seeing Jewel's behaviour. The woman sighed heavily. His husband was hard to surprise and deceive. His forte was human behavior and their psyche. He could read everyone from their movements and facial expressions, reading their emotions.

"It's about Tiago," began Jewel uncertainly.

"Again?" asked Blu interrupting his food setting it down on the right side of the table.

"Yes...he is not doing well when it comes to history" replied Jewel. Tiago was not the best student at school, nobody was hiding that, but it was surprising that he had such a bad head in history, comparing him to his sisters Bia and Carla, who were doing much better than him. It was an extremely strange coincidence, Blu was a professor of history at the French Museum of History and Jewel taught history (in another school where their children studied, of course). It was hard to find an answer as to why this was happening.

"Well, then you have to help him fix it," replied Blu after a brief reflection.

"But you're the professor..."

"And you a teacher and you should know how to impart knowledge to him"

You too, you studied philosophy"

"Ugh...okay...On Sunday I will take care of him and you on Monday, you are free then" replied Blu after a brief discussion with his wife. They both had a bit of a point, so the best solution was to find a suitable compromise that would satisfy them both.

"Agreed, let it be. Tomorrow you have to go to work first thing in the morning again?" asked Jewel. Blu had to answer a little later, he went back to his dinner again, which he was beginning to finish. As he swallowed the last bite he nodded affirmatively.

"Then come to bed already, looking at the increasing rain it could be a long night"

"I still have to go to the study for a while, write this and that" replied the Professor at which Jewel sighed as she left the kitchen. Sometimes she felt that her husband was a workaholic. I mean, it was his passion, history was something that gave him joy in life, but sometimes he could sit in his study until dawn because he was reading history books about ancient Rome. With this behavior, Jewel feared that Blu would eventually stop sleeping in favor of studying, which could completely consume him. When the professor heard Jewel's footsteps on the stairs, he got up from his chair and put his plate in the sink, washing it down with cold water to give him a little boost. He felt a little tired already, but he did not want to go to bed yet, he had to finish his description of a French revolver from 1830. He had recently received it as a gift for his many years of service to the museum and when he saw it, he immediately decided that it must go into the red display case so that no one would scratch or damage it. He wanted to describe it in order to deepen his knowledge about it. When he had finished washing the dishes, the man was about to go to his study when there was a knock at the front door. Who could it be at this hour?