Special Envoy by Jean Echenoz

Author:Jean Echenoz
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
ISBN: 9781620973134
Publisher: The New Press
Published: 2017-09-14T00:00:00+00:00

21

HE WAS A NERVOUS WRECK by the time he turned into Rue de la Chine. As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by the smell of an onion omelet—and also by a dog, which—standing on its hind legs, panting and drooling, its forelegs resting on the silent partner’s knees—guided him toward the kitchen, where a woman in a flower-patterned apron stood in front of the gas stove and refrained from smiling at him. Oh, it’s you, she observed. We didn’t see much of you last night. I had things to do, claimed the silent partner, removing the dog’s paws from his pant legs before dusting them off. Well, I have a few things to tell you about yesterday, she told him. I had a strange kind of day. This news came as a relief to the silent partner, who, having no desire to describe his own day, was able simply to listen instead. Turning off the gas cooktop, at the risk of letting the omelet (currently being ogled by the quadruped) congeal, the woman sat down and looked at the silent partner with an expression on her face that meant that he, too, should sit down. Which he did.

They stayed like that for a moment, in the kitchen, sitting on either side of the red Formica table with its black metal tube legs, looking at each other. Well, first of all, said the woman at last, with a tense smile, guess who I saw again in the salon, yesterday? That guy. What guy? the silent partner asked, mechanically, still feeling soothed by the beginning of what seemed like a distractingly banal conversation. You know, she said, the guy who’s a pop star, Lou something, I can’t remember now if I’ve told you about him already. That was the third time he’s come, and we’re starting to tell each other things. I remember, said the silent partner, stiffening. So? So he said that he used to know you, back in the old days! That’s pretty funny, don’t you think? And when I say back in the old days, I get the feeling it was a long time ago. Yeah, that’s funny, the silent partner forced himself to reply, without seeming very keen to go into further details.

At that, the woman stood up and carefully poured the omelet onto a plate, gradually increasing the angle of the frying pan until the omelet curled elegantly over itself. As for the tense, vexed silent partner, he started nervously scratching at an imaginary stain on the tabletop. As for the dog, torn between its desire for the omelet, which was urging it to stay in the kitchen, and its perception of the oppressive atmosphere, which was urging it to flee, it no longer knew what to do with itself. As for any readers who have not yet understood that the silent partner’s name is Clément Pognel, we are happy to inform them of that fact now.

Marie-Odile sat down again and her expression changed.

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