*****
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?
it in the
Not easy…
No.
larger of the bedrooms. The window overlooks the harbour, the better part with the marina, small shops selling souvenirs
She’ll like that…
like to run
her
She’s artistic…
talented… Easily good
Don’t get distracted.
the rest of the apartment, the room is yet
How to play this…?
Bookshelves…
Definitely.
Double bed...?
to me that I have
take her
has a
head out for one of the large local furniture
*****
Her phone rings.
“Hello?”
it’s Larry. I was wondering, are you free this
you at the
want to show you something. I’ll
“That’s great. What time?”
“About two?”
“I’ll see you then.”
*****
cease from where my pacing is wearing a track in the carpet. I turn down the music
in Finland, enfolded in a huge woollen shawl and with a scarf covering half her face. Poking out from under the shawl is one of the
be freezing. Come into the warm. Here, let me take your
sheepish as she slips off the boots and fishes low-heeled court shoes
wrap, she offers the bag.
What would you like to
“Lovely.”
cradled in both hands as she perches on a stool by the flames, she looks around. “Have you
new. Waiting to have the owner’s stamp on it.
bulky, enveloped in a towel and even before I
the cloth falls away, I see it
… extraordinary…
isn’t it? I recognise your style from that mural in your
to look at it with
yes.
Helsinki Harbour at sunset. I painted it to give it back
hell does she do
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