Turning my head, I saw a man in dark beige trousers and a white buttoned-up shirt with its sleeves rolled up. Hands in his pockets, shoulders relaxed, he was halfway turned towards me, facing the direction of the street parade. At first glance, he looked fairly simple, but the texture of his clothing told me otherwise. I did not immediately recognise who he was, but he felt oddly familiar. I had seen him at my shop before.
“Fancy seeing you here!”
Then I remembered. His broad chin and harmonic articulation jogged my memory. He was the investigator. The one that stopped by my shop a week or two ago. He was without his bowler and coat today. Not even a vest. He blended in well with the rest of the crowd.
“Good afternoon… Investigator.”
Faltering, my voice was lost in the crowd. Though, somehow, the man heard me. He simply laughed. “You can call me Charlie!”
“Sorry…” I felt myself blushing. That was a silly way to greet him. “I’d forgotten your name!”
“Well all right!” he tapped his head, smiling. “I had to think a bit as well! For yours.”
The man did not move towards me, standing at an awkward distance to be talking in a noisy street like this. I took a few awkward steps closer. Thankfully, he had turned his attention back to the spectacle. His eyes subtly darted around, as if he was scanning the crowd.
“Are you… on duty today?”
“Hm? Me?” He briefly turned, raising an eyebrow and chuckling. “There’s nothing for me to do here.”
As he nonchalantly waved himself off and stared back towards the street, the crowd roared, seemingly on cue with one of the soldiers on a tank. I murmured a reply, fidgeting with the basket handle, though my response was lost with the crowd.
“I’m just here… watch… parade as a citizen,” he sighed, his words getting lost as well.
“… I see.”
Quickly, and discreetly, I glanced at his face. No more than a second. His response felt out of place. Filled with some sort of melancholy. Unexpectedly muted for what is supposed to be a lively and prideful event. Then again, I did not know this man very much at all. I did not say a word.
“Sorry. Am I keeping you back?”
I looked at him. “Hm?”
“Are you off to see anybody?”
“Oh, no. I was going to stop by the market to see if it was open.”
“It is not, unfortunately,” he stated.
“Oh…”
“The mayor closed off that street for today. Didn’t want them discouraging people from attending the parade.”
I sighed a loud sigh, then bit my lips. “I suppose I should have expected as much.”
In a sudden uproar, the street became lively again. Through their cheers, a bravado of drum beats could be heard. The rest of the band followed shortly, playing one of the city’s many anthems. We fell silent and listened for some time. It was loud, and the band stayed at this particular spot, only marching down the street a bit before backtracking. After a few bouts, they finally moved down the street and stayed there, replaced by soldiers twirling their rifles.
“I visited the Langleigh district last weekend!” Charlie spoke again, dipping his head towards me to not shout too loud.
“Ah, did you?!”
“Lovely place, it is!”
“Unfortunate that it was storming during your visit!”
“Right! I imagine I looked a bit silly walking out in the rain!”
I laughed. “I’m certain it would have caught my eye!”
“For certain!”
Just then, there was a loud rally that drowned out the tail end of his reply.
“When was this?! When it was storming real hard on Saturday?!”
“No, this was after that! I was in town during that! Still working!”
“And did you not bring an umbrella?!”
“No, I had one!”
“Ah! I was about to say!”
“Still, you feel so small out in the countryside with nothing but your umbrella!”
I nodded. “You don’t see that quite often out in the country! At least, not for rain!”
“It was still raining fairly persistently, and the roads were drenched, so I didn’t get to venture too far out!”
“Ah, that’s a shame! You really picked a dreadful day to visit!”
Charlie shrugged a bit. “It was still a sight to see! Could see the misty mountains up close! Closer than what one could see from the city!”
“Well, that’s true!” I agreed, nodding some more. “That’s a good way to put it! I can’t think of many who would marvel at such a sight!”
“Nothing special for someone who lives in the country, is it?!”
“I still do, from time to time! I just—!”
My voice trailed off as the roar of the crowd overwhelmed my words. They were repeatedly rallying now to the beat of a bass drum.
“I just…!”
“Go ahead!” he shouted above the noise. “I can hear you!”
I really did not know how he could hear me over this ruckus. I couldn’t even hear my own voice. “I just don’t know of anyone else who would share the same sentiment!”
“Well! I’m sure they’re out there!”
I looked around, growing uncomfortable with how loud I had to speak in order to converse over this parade.
“I’ll give it another visit when it’s sunny!” he added. “See the full sight!”
“Sorry, but…!” I looked up at him just as I was drowned out again. My eyes crossed with his, as he was already gazing at me. Once again, his piercing eyes caught me off guard.
“But what?!”
“Could we speak elsewhere?!” I almost had to scream at him. I really could not talk over this crowd. “This…! This is…!”
Charlie nodded and dipped his head, moving away from the street. “Right! I understand!”
Turning my back to the parade, I followed him out. I realised we were no longer at the back of the crowd. We had to make our way through several rows of people.