Celeste's life is far from the enchanting fairy tale one might expect from a princess. Her father, a ruthless and self-absorbed king, leaves a trail of death and destruction in his wake. To seal alliances and maintain his power, he arranges for Cele...
'Everywhere and nowhere,' I reply, swallowing the other half. I put the glass back down on the bar and slide it to the woman. She looks from me to the glass and back, grinning.
'Another one,' I tell the woman. Still ignoring Novak's judgmental red eyes. He is not happy with this situation, I know that only too well by now. There will come a time when he stops complaining about it, I hope. The woman walks away.
'I got a letter from Alex. Asa is going to be a father.' I look at Novak and nod. Despite everything, Novak keeps in touch with several friends. Asa, Thimon, Alex, they all send letters from time to time. The only one who can't be added to that list is Alisha. I haven't heard from her despite our agreement to keep in touch. Not that I've made a big commitment to that. I have not kept the promise on my part either. Let's just say it didn't work out.
'Nice for him,' I reply. With my eyes I follow the woman who comes walking back with the bottle of whisky in her hand. Children, I'm glad I never had them and I never will. It's a crazy reality when you realise that I grew up with the idea that bringing children into the world was my most important task. Life has its crazy roads, but I will never walk down the children's road.
'How much is it?' asks Novak as soon as the woman has poured my second double whisky. I grab the glass from the bar again and take a sip.
'Three valtu,' the woman replies. She holds up her hand while Novak puts three coins in her hand. The woman smiles, nods and walks on to the next customer. Novak picks up his beer glass from the bar and takes his first sip.
'Have you ever wondered what our life will be like after all this?' I sigh deeply. He does this all the time, thinking sympathetically about the future. Fortunately, he doesn't do it very often, but the few times he asks these questions it gets on my nerves. Sometimes, reality seems to creep in and hit him like a slap on the head.
I have less of this. Sometimes it all seems like a crazy dream that lives on for a long time. Maybe I don't want to see it as reality. If I started thinking about it too hard, I wouldn't be able to do it. I have found my ways of escaping reality. Maybe not all of them are well thought out, but they are effective.
'No, and I don't want to,' I reply, slamming down half a glass of whisky. I put the empty glass back on the bar and take hold of Novak's hand. Slowly I pull him towards the empty dance floor. Most of the guests are too drunk, too busy or simply don't feel like dancing. I, on the other hand, do.
I look at the group of men sitting behind their instruments. A violin, flute, drum and tambourine have been playing quiet music for our entire visit. It is time to give that music a different twist. I make a gesture with my hands telling the men to increase the tempo. They start to grin and one gives a thumbs up.
I turn around and look at Novak with a smile. Slowly, I take a step back while he continues to look at me expectantly. I received enough dance lessons in my youth to be able to find my way around the dance floor. I make a small bow to Novak while the man puts his bow against the strings.
The next moment, a quick and cheerful tune echoes through the wooden room. Novak holds out his hand to me, I take it and I am spun around. I grasp the black skirt of my dress as I put one foot in front of the other. The cheerful music makes my feet slide over the wooden floor by themselves. In a circle, from left to right and from front to back. I glide across the dance floor while the music guides me.
The harsh reality fades away and gives way to the reality I choose. The dozens of eyes that follow us in amazement and amusement get no attention. They are: me, Novak and the music.
As soon as I take a moment to look around, I see that several men and women have stood up. Slowly, drunk and laughing, they make their way to the dance floor. They join us and start making their way across the dance floor. Everything is clumsy and not at all like I learned as a child. That is exactly the charm I have come to love. The lightness and the fun.
The alcohol begins to take hold of my body. Combined with Novak turning me on all sides, I forget the world around me. A smile graces my lips as the men continue to increase the tempo of the music. These are the moments when I forget the world around me, forget the list and smile. These are the memories that I cherish and love to think about. There is laughter, there is drinking and there is partying.
ओह! यह छवि हमारे सामग्री दिशानिर्देशों का पालन नहीं करती है। प्रकाशन जारी रखने के लिए, कृपया इसे हटा दें या कोई भिन्न छवि अपलोड करें।
