The Office

"And what do you think?" I asked excitedly as I opened the door leading to one former doctor's office.

From what I found out, a dietitian worked there for many years, but in her old age, she could not find a replacement worthy of this place. After her death, the building was put up for sale, but no one could make up their mind because she scared off potential buyers. Fortunately, our coordinator, despite appearances, was quite a good diplomat, and thanks to this he managed to acquire this facility so that it could be used as Sebastian's office. Former 904 medium looked around for a moment and nodded contentedly.

Sebastian hesitantly stepped over the threshold and began pacing the room. He opened the door leading to the actual office since the part we were in was the waiting room. I regretted not having one. However, I was glad that the young one immediately got something good and spacious. The boy looked at me uncertainly, as if he did not understand why I brought him here.

"This is your office from now on," I said politely and tossed him the keys, which he barely managed to grab. "Of course, I'll help you freshen up and furnish this place a bit, but you won't start working until you're ready. I won't force you to do anything."

"And then will we stop seeing each other?" he asked with clear sadness in his voice.

"I'm sure there won't be any need for me to come over as often, but if you want, we can visit each other," I said. "Yeah, one more surprise actually. You're coming with me on a two-week shift at the library next week, and you're going to get sick of me there. Then we'll get to work on this place. What do you think?"

"I guess that suits me," Sebastian replied, sitting down on the floor and suddenly starting to cry.

I sat down next to him and tried to calm him down by rubbing circles on his back with my hand. I wasn't sure what it could be, but I preferred to wait to see if he would eventually tell me before drawing any conclusions. After a long moment, his breathing evened out and he looked at me embarrassed.

"Sorry," he muttered, hiding his face in his hands. "Just recently I thought my life was going to be hopeless, and then you came along and suddenly everything seems too good to be true." He smiled, sniffling.

"I'm glad I could help you, and I hope you'll find your way back to it soon," I said. “The life of a medium can be hard sometimes, but it also has its upsides and quite a few cool opportunities."

"I confirm," Sebastian's predecessor interjected. "I know it can be overwhelming at the moment, but with time everything will normalize and you will be able to carry out your plans and dreams for a life with peace of mind."

"I was just going to tell you from the coordinator so you wouldn't think he would get you a cleaner for the place." I cleared my throat, trying to speak a little lower and in the way, our supervisor used to do. As if he was tired, but impatient at the same time. "You have to take care of this place because it is not only your reputation on the line but also mine. Besides, you can use this place to study, as long as you don't bring me, girls, here."

Suddenly all three of us burst out laughing, and ex-904 congratulated me on a pretty good coordinator imitation. I was calmer seeing my student laugh, I wanted to believe that the whole vision of the good life we presented to him was really waiting for him. I clenched my fists I had to believe that. I started to see it that way myself just recently, but still, he deserved it from the beginning. I thought of Tristan as I did this, and felt a pang in my heart along with remorse for lying to him. I decided that I would tell him everything after the renovation was finished, and Sebastian would slowly cope with his duties on his own.

"So what, we will measure everything and during the trip, we will design and look for furniture?" I called, trying to focus my mind on something other than the lie I had gone a little too far with.