When he got to the hangar, around six in the morning, all the lights were off.

Only the lights in the common office were on. However, there was not even a soul at the offices, except for the presence of the empty black and blue chairs and the sound of the computers in sleep mode, that many forgot to turn off every day before leaving, a picture leaving a liminal space kind of feeling to him.

In January, especially in the first few weeks, almost everyone was absent from work. Now, as the month drew to a close, most of them had returned. So it was Carlos' turn.

He had gone to Portugal for New Year's, to see his family for a while. And from there, together with his girlfriend, Amelie, they had gone to see her family in France near Marseille, in a village, Mimet. Carlos had met Amelie's parents before; they had already been together for almost four years. Now in his thirties, they had both moved to Belgium together, and were living there.

“Good morning.”

Carlos left his jacket on the shared computer in the hangar office where the engineers usually sat to look at manuals. He turned his head and looked at the smiling gray-haired man behind him.

“Vitor!”

The man smiled and hugged him. Carlos returned the hug.

“How was your vacation?” Vitor asked and grabbed his ear.

“Fine,” Carlos replied and smiled. “You? How’s it going?” he tapped the older man lightly on the shoulder. “What’s up with the shit here?”

“Same,” Vitor replied and let go of the young man’s ear. “I need to look for a *flap repair. I have the materials and I can finally do it. And I don’t have anything to do on the weekends. I only talk to my son on video calls on Sundays.”

Carlos smiled and his mustache smiled too. “How old is your son now?”

“He’s sixteen now.”

“What are you saying now?”

“Yes. They grow up so fast, you can’t imagine!”

Carlos removed his hand from the man’s shoulder. “I’m going to change and I have to change an **EEC today and do some tests,” he grabbed the bag of ***Delhaize that he had brought with him and that contained his work clothes. “What time are you leaving today? Are you alone?”

“No,” Vitor replied. “The Bulgarians are here too. The two short ones. They’re doing some works in the cabin.”

“Anyway,” Carlos walked toward the door. “We’ll talk, Vitor,” he said and left, without looking back.

 The room they were changing in, was different from the women’s room and also different from the one for those in the combined company. They changed in a larger area, where they entered through the door to the left of the main one and even had several benches. Carlos and the rest of their company, Street, changed in a narrow area, with some tiny blue lockers with each person’s name on them, which could barely hold a change of clothes and a pair of safety shoes. Most of them brought bags or even backpacks to carry more things in there, which they left on the floor. Three wooden benches for almost thirty engineers were never enough.

The place was empty, but the lights were on. Probably Vitor or the Bulgarians had forgotten about them.

Carlos walked over to the lockers in the corner of the room, near the wall. He left Delhaize’s bag by the wall and looked around before he started to change.

Weekends were always strange. Usually this place was filled with noise and voices every day. Seeing it so empty, silent and quiet was something strange.

He put on his shirt, working pants and then his yellow fluorescent jacket and grabbed his safety shoes. He walked over to the wooden bench to his left and sat down in the corner. Then he took off his sneakers and put on his safety shoes, before locking them and tightening them.

He got up and walked towards the door.

Since he had work today, it would be a good day. But he was looking forward to seeing all the others.

* Flap: A flap on an aircraft is a movable surface on the wing that helps the plane fly safely at lower speeds, especially during takeoff and landing.

** EEC: Electronic Engine Control, is a digital engine control computer that manages and monitors many of the engine’s functions (referring to engine of Rolls Royce Trent 700).

*** Delhaize: Supermarket chain in Belgium.