Twisty

I

The journey was coming to an end and C. was not adding anything. He was smitten, unable to understand how he had thought his former but spirited colleague hadn't left before everyone else for a taxi. More than likely she couldn't stay too close to him considering he hadn't forgotten her since his first delegation and for more than three years had probably prayed he was just a sighing fool.

She seemed happy, he repeated to himself, had only frowned in passing at breakfast, but a roommate's confirmation had ruined his whole day.

Even if they didn't know each other, by the evening hours, she had assured him that she would hear with her own ears what had happened. She'd never been anxious to hide the truth or keep up appearances so as not to shock those close to her.

In that second, he was trying to control his impatience and his heartbeat, but he didn't wonder how he would react if she was determined to slip through his fingers.

He'd formed a sensational duo with L. at the cabin party, and just now he'd watched her barefoot through the rain-soaked grass and thought he'd turn his head to hurry her along, just as he'd spotted her the night before, relaxing in a high chair after L. had kissed her.

He admired her undressed in the pale light of a lantern, beyond which he would have liked to lie with open arms, but L.'s ardent accent woke him from his reverie:

- Why, isn't that our girl?

After the first thunder of rain the voices were lost in the coach. It didn't make him sad, on the contrary, it made him even more interested, but he needed clarification.

One by one they disappeared past him and pushed him forward, and some of them even scolded him, saying he was not made of wood.

After the last of his colleagues had got on, they were stuck a stone's throw from the coach and, feeling that he belonged to no-one, he asked the driver to leave him on his right, where he could pretend to be interested in the scenery, with his ear to the two lovers.

*

The horns in the intersection didn't buzz the man who had signed a new contract. He knew what he had to do once the new collaboration was no longer just his project.

He and a few of his friends were also boasting, as no one had ever promised such a runaway success. Only the commercials at the end of the year, when entertainment was looking for familiar faces.

But he knew someone who had noticed his bohemianism and had lost it hours before he took the plunge. He had been late getting out of the car as elegance demanded, where he had been spotted lingering behind the wheel.

He lingered in the doorway and was pulled inside by the middle-aged woman who gave him no time to think. At her nod towards the terrace, he only shrugged in the direction of the first bedroom. The curly-haired woman with the cyclamen lipstick winked at Proseco, urging him to go ahead.

He wouldn't have imagined that she had been the one who had "sidelined" him already, but he tried to swallow his words in the bed where he ended up only half dazed. He mimicked a solicitude that no doubt caught him. Stroking her he thought the "mistress" would come back to the subject afterwards, but no way.

He left nothing to chance the moment her secretary appeared from upstairs and urged him to recount the newsroom's trivia.

- You flatter me, but I'm short-sighted when it comes to bosses, he dodged, pouring wine into glasses.

Enough to earn a lashing of the eyelashes from the blonde-white host who had drained his energy. He pretended to admire himself in the huge glass of the terrace with undertones, but the effect didn't cool him.

He counted the minutes precisely until he had to excuse himself to make a phone call. His wish came true when he offered to take a plate to the office. It was as big as a studio apartment, and a big surprise awaited him there. He stared at it self-possessed, but smiled tightly.

R S. didn't shy away and assured him that they preferred not to pretend to each other.

He somehow jumped past him and suddenly seemed to be stalking a word in his footsteps to turn back, and at the second "bump" leave no room for doubt.

- I can see you're settling in quickly, just like at home.

- Anything's possible, but the reason may escape you anyway.

- I don't need a very rich imagination," replied R S. She and I are famous for our flair.

- There's always something that fascinates me about this house.

He watched him jokingly measure her secretary, and because he was silent, he wanted to "play it safe".

- "Fascinating" is too much, you're right.

- Did I not make myself clear, in other words?

- I neglected not to go that far.

- Therefore, you neglected to consider "someone else", correct?

- No... you.

His friend's body becomes a furnace on the verge of exploding, but he deftly gathers himself, drawing the conclusion:

- In short, it's understandable why you're more "in private" than live...