Petite Mort by Beatrice Hitchman

Author:Beatrice Hitchman
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
Published: 2013-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

‘My grandmother used to say a bird trapped in a room was an omen.’

Adèle says: ‘No, the locked room itself was the omen.’

She leans inwards. Then she says: ‘But you still haven’t told me about Phantom Boyfriend.’

I feel my lips pursing.

‘Let me guess,’ she says, ‘he was from a rich family, and he wanted you to settle down, and when you said you wanted to carry on working, have your career, he cooled it off.’

I say: ‘He wasn’t from a rich family. We met at university. We were involved in student politics together.’

‘Politics,’ she says, ‘and what was his name?’

‘Is this relevant?’

‘Oh, because you’re the one interviewing me?’ She leans back, arms folded.

I tell her how he left my apartment in the middle of my deadline without saying goodbye, took his coat, and never came back. How I’d seen him at the cinema last week with another girl, who was wearing a cashmere sweater.

Adèle listens intently.

When I’ve finished, I find I’m looking down at my notepad, blinking. Tears of embarrassment, mostly.

She watches me for a moment. Then she leans forward and says: ‘Why are you crying? It can’t be because you think he is worth crying over.’

I shake my head, my lips pressed together.

She says: ‘But there’s not a thing wrong with you. Nothing at all.’

Juliette, iv.

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