The strange thing is that after exchanging a few phrases, Alexander’s attitude changed.
He became very tense. I had already finished tending to him, and I bent down to get rid of what was no longer useful, but I didn’t leave right away. That gave me a bad feeling. I pretended I was going to put the coffee maker on, and I kept listening to them talk (Alexander’s Japanese was a bit rough compared to his companion’s way of speaking; it carried a lot of his Russian accent, but his fluency was good and he spoke quickly, with emphasis). The tone of the conversation became increasingly heated; the intention in their voices was very clear even though I didn’t understand what they were saying.
In the end, I started to get scared. It was obvious they were talking about something very serious. I im
