The Grasshopper

Chapter 97

Pascal sat on the couch, waiting for Manami to check whether Peter and Eir had gone to sleep.

“Don’t turn around, sir,” said Manami, while entering the living room.

“Why?” Pascal asked with a surprised tone.

“Because I’m in my nightgown,” said Manami as she turned off the light. She walked over to Pascal in the dark, sat next to him and put her head on his shoulder.

“I could die right now,” Pascal thought. “Do you know that, my love? I don’t need anything else.”

Pascal took a deep breath. He simply slowly placed his cheek on her head. “Darling, I have to… just that… to touch your hair. To smell it. Only that.”

“You know, my husband had come already twice at night and found us sitting at the table. I mean to say that we weren’t sleeping. That is a bit odd, you must admit.”

“I’m aware of that ma’am. But I cannot leave first. I simply cannot. Until you go to bed.”

“That is why this is how we will do it from now on: I will be in my nightgown, and you will be dressed. When we hear the elevator, we will have enough time to run to our rooms in the darkness. Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

“And if Peter wakes up, we will hear the door to his room. I will run to my quarters and tell my son that I was in the kitchen, that I was getting something from the freezer. Some meat. To defrost it for lunch tomorrow. That I suddenly woke up and remembered it. That’s a logical explanation, isn’t it?”

Pascal occasionally moved his cheek across her hair.

“This cover means a lot to you, sir?” Manami asked after a while.

“A lot. It means a lot to me. You know, that day, when I was preparing to go into the square… I wondered… why isn’t there something…”

“What?”

“A room… our room… and now… it exists.”