*****
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 already
Not easy…
No.
part with the marina, small shops selling souvenirs and knick-knacks and bars that play host to
She’ll like that…
like to run a
her own
She’s artistic…
talented… Easily good
Don’t get distracted.
apartment, the
How to play this…?
Bookshelves…
Definitely.
Double bed...?
to me that I have never seen her
doesn’t take her clients
has
decision and head out for one
*****
Her phone rings.
“Hello?”
was wondering, are you free
Meet you at the
show you something. I’ll send a cab
“That’s great. What time?”
“About two?”
“I’ll see you then.”
*****
track in
woollen shawl and with a scarf covering half her face. Poking out from under the shawl is one
the warm. Here, let
“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
she offers the
What would you
“Lovely.”
a stool by the flames, she looks around. “Have you moved
the owner’s stamp on it. On which subject,
a towel and even before I unwrap it, fairly obviously
the cloth falls away, I
… extraordinary…
of yours, isn’t it? I recognise your style from that mural in
She moves around to look at it
do, yes. Very
gave me Helsinki Harbour at sunset. I painted it to
hell does she do
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