Wednesday.
4:18 P.M.
Blackthorn University.
The last lecture had finished twenty minutes ago.
Contrary to the usual mad dash to the buses and the train station…
Today, the students had been surprisingly unflustered.
They lounged on the grass.
They played guitars.
They studied under the old trees.
For once…
No one seemed to be in a hurry.
Sam walked out of the Psychology Building with his bag slung over one shoulder.
Inside it, Edward’s photograph waited.
He hadn’t looked at it since yesterday.
Not because he’d forgotten it.
Because he’d finally understood something.
That some mysteries were best left alone.
Some needed time.
“Oi!”
Ollie’s voice rang out over the courtyard.
“There he is!”
Sam looked up just in time to see Ollie charging toward him, Ethan not far behind.
Claire and Mehjabeen walked a few paces behind the two boys, chatting quietly.
Ollie came to a dramatic halt in front of Sam.
“I have an announcement.”
Claire sighed dramatically.
“I’m already exhausted.”I’ve decided…”
Ollie placed a hand over his heart.
“…to become a millionaire.”
Ethan blinked at him.
“You said that yesterday.”
“Yesterday, I didn’t have a business plan.”
Claire crossed her arms over her chest.
“…I’m afraid to ask.”
Ollie grinned.
“We buy coffee.”
“Right…”
“We sell coffee.”
“…Go on.”
“To students.”
Claire stared at him.
“They already buy coffee.”
Ollie’s grin slowly faded.
“…That’s a good point.”
Sam spoke for the first time.
“You’ve invented a cafe.”
There was a pause.
Then Ethan started laughing.
Claire buried her face in her hands.
Even Mehjabeen was chuckling softly.
Ollie shot Sam a look.
“You know…”
“…you’re becoming funnier.”
“I spend too much time around you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The five of them left the University grounds.
Instead of heading to the Underground, Ollie stopped outside a small cafe.
“Coffee?”
Claire raised an eyebrow.
“I thought you wanted to become rich.”
“I need market research.”
“You want free wifi.”
“…That too.”
The cafe was small and cozy, the inside buzzing with students who’d come to escape the autumn chill.
The smell of fresh coffee beans filled the air.
A waitress led them to a corner table, and as they settled down, Ollie gestured proudly at the establishment.
“I’ve chosen today’s meeting spot.”
Claire looked at the menu.
“You chose the closest cafe.”
“It saves energy.”
“It saves walking.”
“Exactly.”
Orders were placed.
Ethan got tea.
Claire ordered hot chocolate.
Mehjabeen asked for black coffee.
Ollie went for the largest possible size.
The waitress turned to Sam.
“And for you?”
“The same as always.”
“Black coffee?”
Sam nodded.
She smiled.
“I remembered.”
“Thank you.”
As she walked away, Mehjabeen gave him a strange look.
“You’ve been here before.”
“A few times.”
Claire looked surprised.
“I thought you lived almost an hour away.”
“I do.”
“So why this cafe?”
Sam stared out the window.
“…It’s quiet.”
Ollie leaned forward dramatically.
“I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
“He’s secretly an old man.”
Sam blinked.
“…What?”
“You drink black coffee.”You like quiet places.”You read newspapers.”
“You definitely complain about modern music.”
Claire nearly choked on her drink, she was laughing so hard.
Ethan shook his head.
“I can’t even argue.”
Sam looked completely serious.
“I don’t read newspapers.”
Ollie smiled triumphantly.
“Only old men defend themselves like that.”
Even Sam had to smile.
Their drinks arrived, and for a while, no one talked about psychology.
No one talked about assignments, or Edward, or photographs.
They talked about movies, and football, and embarrassing moments from their childhood.
Mostly Ollie’s embarrassing moments.
“I once got stuck inside a washing machine.”
Claire blinked.
“…How?”
“I was curious.”
“Were you six?”
“Nineteen.”
There was a pause.
Ethan slowly sipped his tea.
“I’m pretending I didn’t hear that.”
Mehjabeen smiled softly into her coffee.
Sam simply shook his head.
“I have questions.”
“I don’t.”
Claire said immediately.
“I’ve accepted that Ollie exists.”
As everyone laughed, Sam did something he hadn’t done in a long while.
He stopped analyzing.
Studying.
Observing.
He simply enjoyed the moment.
It felt…odd.
Comfortable.
Normal.
Perhaps Edward was right.
Perhaps some mysteries were best left alone.
Outside, it began to rain again.
Softly.
London was quiet, almost peaceful.
No one noticed the man standing across the street, under the black umbrella.
He wasn’t looking at the cafe.
He wasn’t looking at the students inside.
He appeared to be reading a book.
Every few seconds, he would turn a page.
Anyone walking past would think nothing of it.
No one would guess the man was watching the cafe through the rain.
No one would know that every time Sam laughed, he made a small mark in the margin of the book.
And then…
Without glancing at the cafe, he closed it.
Put it away.
And vanished into the night.
The cafe slowly emptied as the evening grew colder.
Outside, it had stopped raining.
Ollie stretched his arms in satisfaction.
“I’ve made another life decision.”
Claire didn’t look up from her drink.
“No.”
“I haven’t told you yet.”
“You don’t need to.”
“It’s important.”
Ethan smiled.
“Let’s hear it.”
Ollie cleared his throat.
“I’m adopting the cafe.”
The waitress, who just happened to be walking by, blinked at him.
“…Excuse me?”
“I mean emotionally.”
She blinked twice more before walking away.
Claire buried her face in her hands.
“I’ve known you for two months.”
“It feels like twenty years.”
The five of them stepped back out onto the street.
It was rush hour, the sidewalks filled with businessmen and women.
Cars crawled along the street.
Street musicians played their songs.
For most people, it was just another evening.
“Which way?” Ethan asked.
“The Underground?”
Sam nodded.
“Same as always.”
They began walking, Ollie somehow managing to draw attention to himself without trying.
“So…”
“I’ve been thinking.”
Claire groaned.
“That sentence should be illegal.”
“I think we’d survive a zombie apocalypse.”
Ethan laughed.
“Based on what?”
“Based on us.”
He gestured at the group.
“Sam notices everything.”
“Claire would keep us alive because she’s terrifying.”
Claire readily agreed.
“I’ll allow it.”
“Ethan would negotiate peace.”
“And Mehjabeen…”
He paused.
“…Actually, what would you do?”
Mehjabeen looked completely serious.
“I’d leave.”
There was a pause.
Then everyone started laughing.
“Smartest answer.”
Sam said.
As they reached Westminster Bridge, the city stretched out before them.
The Thames sparkled with the evening lights, the tourist boats weaving in and out of the city.
For a while, no one said anything.
Sometimes silence between friends wasn’t uncomfortable.
It was peaceful.
Mehjabeen walked beside Sam.
“You’ve changed.”
Sam looked at her.
“In what way?”
“I’m not sure that’s true.”
“It is.”
She looked out over the city.
“The first week we met…”
“I thought you were analysing everyone.”
“I was.”
“And now?”
Sam thought about it.
“…Now I think I was trying too hard.”
She nodded.
“My grandfather used to say…”
“‘People aren’t puzzles.'”
“They’re stories.”
Sam smiled faintly.
“Your grandfather sounds wise.”
“He also believed pigeons were government spies.”
“…Perhaps not always.”
She laughed.
“A broken clock.”
“…Twice a day.”
Sam finished.
They shared a small smile.
For the first time, their conversations didn’t feel like arguments.
The group reached the Underground, and Claire looked at her watch.
“My train leaves in six minutes.”
“I’ll miss mine.”
Ollie said confidently.
“You always miss yours.”Consistency builds character.”
“No.”
Claire said.
“It builds bad habits.”
They began saying their goodbyes.
Nothing special.
Just friends parting ways at the end of another day.
“See you tomorrow.”
“Don’t oversleep.”I’m not making promises.”Bring your wallet.”
“I’ll try.”
One by one, they disappeared into the different platforms, until only Sam was left.
He stood there for a moment, listening.
Not analysing.
Just listening.
The distant sounds of the trains, the chatter of the people, the announcements echoing through the station.
Then he heard something else.
Not a sound.
An absence.
He slowly turned his head toward Platform Three.
Dozens of people stood there, waiting for their trains.
All of them were hurrying, rushing, in a mad panic to get where they were going.
Except for one man.
Who stood motionless next to the newspaper stand, reading.
Sam narrowed his eyes at him.
The man turned a page.
Nothing special.
Completely ordinary.
And yet…
Sam didn’t approach him.
Instead, he simply walked on by, as Edward had taught him.
Never look directly.
Always observe from a distance.
He glanced at the large ad space on the opposite wall.
Using the reflection, he watched the man.
Still reading.
Still motionless.
Then the train arrived, and people began flooding between the platforms.
The reflection vanished.
Three seconds later, the platform was empty.
Sam turned around.
“…Interesting.”
He wasn’t surprised to see the man gone.
No one was.
For the first time, he understood what Edward had meant.
The first observer wasn’t always the most important one.
Sometimes…
The most important person was the one who knew when to stop observing.
Across the city, inside the Valecroft Estate, Arthur walked into Edward’s study.
On a small silver tray, there was one envelope.
No stamp.
No address.
Only one word written neatly on the front.
Edward.
Arthur placed it on the desk.
“It arrived ten minutes ago, sir.”
Edward looked at it.
“Who delivered it?”
“No one.”
Arthur hesitated.
“It was already lying outside the front gate.”
Edward said nothing.
After Arthur left the room, he opened the envelope.
Inside, there was only one sheet of white paper.
__He has reached the second layer.__
That was all.
No other words.
No signature.
No mark of any kind.
Edward stared at the message for a long time.
Then he slowly got up from his chair.
He walked to the fireplace and held the paper over the flames.
Watched it turn to ash.
For the first time in years, the mask of indifference slipped from Edward Valecroft’s face.
He whispered only four words to the burning paper.
“…So you’ve returned.”
Outside, it began to rain again.
Far beyond the gates of the Estate, a black umbrella slowly disappeared into the night.
End of Chapter 17.
TO BE CONTINUE…….