He grasped his cigarette from the astray just to hold it an inch away from Sylvia’s eyes.
- I am quitting this shit.
- You should definitely do so, she said as she lit up hers.
They looked at each other without being able to speak for a while. After a long-suffering pause she muttered:
- It’s not working anymore for us isn’t it?
- Does it make any difference for you?
- No, not really.
- Then it’s all right. What time should I pick you up tomorrow? We are going to Martin’s house for dinner.
- Around six should be fine I think. I have some stuff to do first.
Her voice was distant so he hassled a bit. He kept looking at the ashtray till the waitress came to pick up their empty glasses.
Then, at the sound of their two glasses bouncing on each other between the waitress fingers, he asked her in a playful tone:
- What kind of stuff? Is it something I should know about?
- Well… We re going to Paris, dear. Next weekend. Everything is arranged. It’s on me this time. I meant it to be a surprise but you can always read me like a book.
- Like a book indeed. I had my suspicions long before you started obviously cheating on me but now its definite.
So who is he this time? A well-forgotten romance from high school? A colleague from the office that was transferred to France? An other sixteen-year-old boy you met online? Your previous lover?
But his last thoughts remained unspoken. His bitterness was obvious but he didn’t dare expose it. Instead he pretended that he was all the way excited about Paris. He even mentioned some good upcoming exhibitions that they should definitely visit together and later on he ordered some expensive wine to celebrate it.
Shortly after he went to the toilet. It was a long white shiny room covered with large mirrors. As soon as his eyes caught his reflection he stopped captured by his gaze.
His eyes were tired and his cheeks a bit red from the wine like a sad clown at the end of his carrier as a professional entertainer. He tried to smile but his facial characteristics refused to assist him. He tried again and this time a rather scary and grotesque expression appeared.
He looked behind him in case someone was observing him and then in a rather childish way he grinned. Still staring at the mirror he placed his fingers inside his open mouth pushing his cheeks up in a stretchy smile and stayed like this. He did not feel at all like going back inside.
- I am quitting this shit. The “her and I” kind of bullshit, drinks, dinners, a shared car, the social life of phony friends and escape from the city weekends. I am not happy. I never was and far more than certain I never will be.
With this though his whole body posture changed. His elbows touched the mirror’s marble white frame. As he was leaning closer and closer to his reflection his fingers were still stretching his mouth to some wildly supernatural grimace.
The door opened and a fat kid walked in. The boy stood by him on his toes so he could also half see himself in the mirror too. As soon as he got to see his face he formed an evil grin showing off his new teeth.
There was a pause before he and the kid returned to their tables. They occasionally gave conspiracy looks to each other like two partners in crime when they both ordered and enjoyed the desert paid by their guardians.
