The Watcher (part 2)

-- read part 1 here --


In the end, my plan worked out perfectly. Oskar never realized Elena was inside the cafe while I was out there. We always had to hurry to get the switch done in time, but it was possible. And we got better at it every time.

On my third day as "watcher", about halfway during Oskar's training I'd say, I startled when someone suddenly shouted "Clara!" right next to me, loud enough to get through my hoods. I slowly turned to the right, until I recognized Yvonne's face in my tiny view. She grinned at me.

"So how did you end up in there?" she laughed. She knew, of course, Elena had told her about it. Although I suppose my sudden burst of altruism must have surprised her.
"Not too cold in there?" she joked.
"It's okay," I answered with some difficulty, "it's actually really cold if you're standing here all the time. I'm glad of these clothes."
"Don't tell me you're cold in all that," smiled Yvonne.
"Not really, but... it's not that warm, either."
"Shall I fetch your coat and put you into that as well?" Yvonne asked. It was a joke, I knew, but I answered it seriously anyway.
"That'd be a good idea."
Yvonne looked at me incredulously. "Really?" She laughed. "Why not? One second." And she was gone.

My heart was hammering in my chest. Was she really going to put me into my purple down jacket as well? I peered out of my hood and kept the door of the cafe in view. And indeed, Yvonne returned, carrying my jacket.
"Okay. Right arm first," she said. It was good that she gave instructions, because I couldn't see what she was doing. I could only see straight ahead.
"Left arm. Okay." She zipped the coat and put the hood up. With some effort she managed to close the collar, and pulled the hood tight. The fur inside its opening was squashed together, and now I couldn't see anything at all.
"There you go. Keep warm!" Yvonne laughed, and she ran off.

For some reason, being blind made me lose all sense of time. I just stood there in my warm cocoon until finally Elena opened my hoods.
"Why did you ask for another jacket?" she complained. Admittedly, that was a bit selfish of me. I hadn't thought about the fact that Elena had to be put into it as well now.
"I'm sorry," I said. "It was just a silly idea. It's only for this one time, though."

Later, however, when we were in the cafe, I realized there might be consequences to my actions when I overheard part of the conversation between Oskar and Elena.
"I saw Yvonne put you into another coat," Oskar said, "were you cold?"
"Um, a little, yes," Elena said.
"I'll order another coat for you today. I've found something that will do the job just fine. It will take some time to arrive though. Will you be fine meanwhile?"
"Oh yes, that won't be a problem. Thank you Oskar."

It was some weeks later, in December, when I got to see what Oskar had meant. That morning, Elena was wearing a dark blue down mantle from Parkasite. It came down right to the top of her Moonboots, and as I soon learned once I had her out of it, she was still wearing both other down jackets underneath. Of course, that meant it was me who would remain dressed like that for three hours every day...

But then it went wrong. It must have taken Elena too long to get me into the extra coat. She had just finished dressing me and disappeared from my limited view when -
"Oh!"
"Elena! What is this?" Oskar sounded really angry.
"I... I..."
"Who is this wearing your jackets?"
"It's Clara. She just wants to help me."
"You mean she has been standing here every day, all that time?"
"Yes, well, for a while, we..."
"Come here! We're going home! Right now!"
"Oskar! I'm sorry! It's just... please, wait..."
By that time I had managed to turn into their direction, just in time to see them walking off towards the parking lot. Oskar took big angry steps, Elena tried to keep up. She was still wearing my purple jacket. Me, I was of course trapped in Elena's clothes. Yvonne would only arrive in about two hours, and she might not realize something was wrong... And what would happen to Elena now?

I stood there, alone, brooding about what might happen.

---

Finally, Oskar and Elena were coming back. Since I was still turned towards the parking lot, I could see them approach. With trepidation I waited until they reached me. I saw Elena was still wearing my purple down jacket. The hood was up and tied so tight only her eyes were showing. I tried to make eye contact with her, but she stayed behind Oskar. I realized I couldn’t do that anyway, since my eyes were hidden way too deep in the hoods.

“Hello Clara,” Oskar said. He sounded calm and quite friendly. “Elena has explained me what has happened. It’s nice of you that you offered to take Elena’s place. I am disappointed in her for accepting your offer. Elena and I have talked about it, and she understands that I need to see her here.”
I struggled to make myself heard through my three hoods. “I’m sorry about what happened. I didn’t want to cause any trouble between you and Elena, mister –“
“Please, call me Oskar. And I know you had only good intentions. If you want to, you can keep Elena company. I’d like to make you an offer, Clara. You come here every day like you’ve done for the last few weeks, and I’ll provide you with warm clothes just like Elena’s. Afterwards, you can keep those clothes. See it as a token of my gratitude for supporting me.”
“I’d like that, Oskar.”
“Excellent. I’ll see you tomorrow at 7 then. Let’s go to the cafe and I’ll help you out.”



-- on to part 3 --







Overview