CHAPTER 1: THE BOY WITH THE ROUND GLASSES
Thomas Wilson, or simply Tom, was a nineteen-year-old British boy. Not just an ordinary young man, but a delicate and complex being; extremely handsome, with a heart that sometimes beat in an irregular rhythm and an exceptionally intelligent mind that seemed perpetually lost in its own world.
He was a true introvert; with piercing blue eyes, pale skin, and light brown hair. He always wore a pair of round black glasses; glasses that were no longer merely an accessory, but a part of his very existence; something through which he viewed the outside world.
Paris, the city of art, had drawn Tom toward École des Beaux-Arts, where he was supposed to learn the world of colors, lines, and forms. But real life, as always, had its own plans. Living in a dormitory, with all its noise and forced intimacy, felt more like a refuge than a home to Tom.
His parents, Catherine and Gerald Wilson, lived in London. Catherine was a kind woman; a mother who gave her son unconditional love and was always worried about him. But Gerald, a retired army general, was a man who seemed to have been born with a frown; stern, strict, and often cruel.
The arguments between Tom and his father, which resembled interrogations more than conversations, had become an inseparable part of his life. Gerald believed his son should “suffer hardship” and stand on his own feet, despite the fact that the family lacked nothing financially. For that reason, almost no money ever reached Tom.
To survive, Tom worked nights in a restaurant as a cleaner.
His body grew more exhausted every day, but his imagination lived elsewhere—inside a small leather notebook no one was allowed to see.
And that notebook was his world.
