"MADELEINE HOTEL, seems to offer the ideal job for Harry Volte, who moved by his need for change takes the first step towards the rise of his new path"
The guard on duty approached the entrance, seemed to be uncomfortable with the uniform that was quite tight, the buckle on the strap had it unbuttoned. A short fat man who surely had taken a nap, judging by how disheveled he was and his four-day beard, could also have been on vacation or on his return from a sabbatical year. The sleeves of the shirt exposed the beautiful of his forearm. While chewing a bite of "something", with one hand he took the radio transmitter and with the other signaled me to wait for me:
_ "Tower two-five, attention !, tower two-five ..." radiated the guard...
I took a final look at my documentation to verify that everything was still in order: Resume, personal reference, solvency of judicial records, my last payment receipt in the Intergovernmental Circuit ... for an amount of twenty dollars, _Upf , how lazy! _ three recent photographs, "two in front and one in profile".
The rest would depend on my image and how I defended my argument in the interview.
The guard entered the surveillance box, brought a bunch of keys and opened the pedestrian access gate. He came by shaking my hand, Nice to meet you, how can I help you! When I was close to him, I noticed a smell of celeri, celery or red onion, anything like it. The man's sweating along with his hibernation time in the command room made him smell mightily stale...
My pleasure! Harry Volte, I came for the press announcement. Is the Ecological Park building here? _Yes, you have arrived at the right place! _, you can go to the elevator, the secretary awaits you on the fifth floor. In spite of everything, the guard was nice, he accompanied me with pleasure to the elevator door, when he said goodbye he said: _I wish him the best of luck!_ and extended his hand again. I replied with a squeeze and said _Thank you, so be it!_ He turned his back smiling leaving behind a trail of characteristic smell. Then he took a "Snack" out of his pocket and taking a bite, he turned around; _Ah! Finally_, "Remember not to drown yourself too, ha ha ha!", just kidding... He took the radio near his ear:
_ Tower two-five, attention !, tower two-five, shipping on the way...
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The mark of my perspiration was visible in the mirror, the veins bulged in my temples and that strong Tun, tun, tun! in my chest I inserted a finger between my skin and the collar of the shirt, trying to loosen the knot of my tie that perhaps brought it too tight. I think that at the last minute my nerves attacked me when I felt that the hour of truth was approaching.
That sudden symptom and the heat in the elevator cubicle led me to completely untie my tie. Again I looked in the back mirror, smoothed my hair with my hand and adjusted the jacket closure. It was a claustrophobic episode, although I never suffered from these evils, to distract my mind I had to lean on the wooden frame and look at the numbers on the board. The green upward arrow indicated that it was traveling on floor two.
I had never felt so bad in my life. At forty-two, it may be high cholesterol, or maybe, _ "The sugar I put on coffee when I was sitting in the park?" _. I also thought, _ "The stressful pace of life I have led?". Worries Harry! Worries, I told myself. Surely the mixture of all the previous elements caused the time clock to pass my bill at that time. "But right now, when I have an important job interview!", How inconvenient, eh!...
I felt asphyxiation within those few minutes. I remembered, Ah, my lucky coin! She never fails me, in this moment of tension play with the eagle and the president smiled, I would surely relax. In my pants pocket I took the coin, but my astonishment was even greater, when in my open hand the strands of tangled brown hair told me something was wrong.
_ "It was during my retouching in front of the mirror! "_ I could not believe it, I looked again at the glass and my hair looked weak, with those two entrances that were not there before, I even had some gray hair. It was as if the image of my body had entered into another dimension, in a time machine. Actually that man did not resemble me, I did not want to accept him.
How was it possible that the good-looking Harry Volte, was ruined in just a second in front of the frame of that mirror?... The sunken eyes let see the orbit reddened by the rupture of the blood vessels, making them look like the eyes of a drug addict or a chronic patient. _ "No, that couldn't be me, this can't be happening to me!"_.
The feeling of empty in my stomach and the sound of the electronic bell announced the stop. The number five flashed on the board as the doors opened. _"Finally!"_, I wanted to run out into the hall, go away from the damn elevator. But even shocked by that of my appearance, I stopped to look in the mirror for the last time.
My face was panicked, the fear of facing that reality twice prevented me from looking back. With a slight bluish tone on the skin, detached hair, no longer support.
I tore off my jacket and ran into the hall, looking to get close to a window so I could breathe. Upon my arrival on the fifth floor of the MADELEINE HOTEL, I could only feel, how slowly I was drowning...
To be continue...
Author:
[Original Content]
Also published in Spanish, in my personal account of the Steemit.com platform. If you want to check the publication, here it is the link:
https://steemit.com/spanish/@nachomolina/madeleine-hotel-parte-ii-or-escrito-por-nachomolina-or-relato-original-or-suspenso-or-esp
