The lobby is almost empty and
the silence is almost eerie.
The soft melancholy tune of a whistle seems to
accompany the faltering steps of the newcomers.
They walk slowly, his arms
holding on to the woman’s; he looks as if he were her child.
When they reached the
corridor, the Janitor stopped mopping the floor, straightened up and looks at
them.
He cleans his mop on the pail
of sudsy water at his side, and then resumed his job, whistling a sad tune all
the time.
He is used to this sight, forlorn
looking old couples; they always walk slowly to that door at the end of the
corridor.
The couple walked past him
without any word.
When they reached the door,
they paused, then turned the knob.
The Secretary, quite
startled, look up from her desk and gave them a smile, they smiled back.
They sat on the visitor’s
chair and waited.
10, 20, 30, minutes, they
waited, their hands never unclasped.
Then the door to the inner
office opened. A well dressed woman came out, smiled at the secretary and left
the office.
The Secretary nodded at the
couple, stands up and held the door open for the couple. The couple stand up
and entered the inner office.
A bespectacled young man, much younger than
them was sitting on a big table.
When they entered, he looked
up and smiled at them. The couple smiled back.
Then he read the paper that
the secretary handed him.
He stared at it for a long
time and then looked at the old man, and nodded.
They spent almost an hour
inside the inner office.
When they came out, they were
more forlorn looking than when they came in.
The lobby is empty and the silence is almost eerie, the
Janitor has finished his job, the hallway to the Oncologist clinic is again
spotlessly clean.
BACK TO HOME;
https://grandmastalking.blogspot.com/