*****
Ten minutes later, up to our chests in warm water and foam, I fill the flutes, passing them across.
“’Scuse me a mo,” says Charlotte, then slides under the surface. She rises again a few seconds later, snorting bubbles.
“How do you feel now?” I ask.
James tips his glass to me, smiling, but he doesn’t speak. Then, his lids drooping, he looks away.
*****
Klempner - Twenty-Six Years Ago
I step out, feeling bright. Everything is going perfectly.
Bech’s done well…
Nothing like a little competition to get the prices up
Another shipment like that and I can open the east wing at Blessingmoors…
So Yakovlevski wants a mix...
A couple of leggy Russian types ought to fit in well…
Back to Helsinki…
But first I want to see the apartment. Keys jingling in my pocket, I head out.
Will she like it?
But as the lock turns smoothly and the door clicks open, my doubts settle.
What's not to like?
The space is bright and airy, morning sunshine spilling through panes and onto, as I requested, new flooring and walls painted in cool neutral colours.
Much better than what she has…
And she can soon put her own stamp on it…
The carpets are deep and thick. Nonetheless, my footsteps echo in the empty rooms.
To furnish or not to furnish…?
Let her choose from the start?
Or furnish first then she can change it to suit herself?
in the style she
Not easy…
No.
overlooks the harbour, the better part with the marina,
She’ll like that…
she’d like to
her
She’s artistic…
and talented…
Don’t get distracted.
the rest of the apartment,
How to play this…?
Bookshelves…
Definitely.
Double bed...?
me that I have never seen
take her clients
she has a
and head out for one
*****
Her phone rings.
“Hello?”
was wondering, are you free
Meet you at the
I want to show you something. I’ll send
“That’s great. What time?”
“About two?”
“I’ll see you then.”
*****
I cease from where my pacing is wearing a track in the carpet. I turn down
in a huge woollen shawl and with a scarf covering half her face.
be freezing. Come into the
you read the thermometer, but that damp breeze…” She shivers. “Hope you don’t mind…” She looks sheepish as she slips off the boots and fishes low-heeled court shoes from her bag. In a shade of teal-green which matches the dress she
take her wrap, she
would you like to
“Lovely.”
hands as she perches on a stool by
the owner’s stamp on it. On which subject, let's see this
enveloped in a towel and even before
as the cloth falls away, I
… extraordinary…
is one of yours, isn’t it? I recognise
it.” She moves around to look at it with me. “You like
yes.
sunset. I painted it to give it
hell does she
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