The Liar's Room by Simon Lelic

Author:Simon Lelic [Lelic, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller, Mystery
ISBN: 9780440000433
Google: v_NrtgEACAAJ
Amazon: B07CKPBT1W
Barnesnoble: B07CKPBT1W
Goodreads: 40000144
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2018-08-02T05:00:00+00:00

13.

They are seated back in front of the fireplace. The room feels even smaller now than it did before, the air stale and fetid. The shadows are beginning to lengthen, like a crowd of figures closing in. Adam holds out the can of Diet Coke in the space between them—closer to Susanna than to him—with his fingertip curled around the ring pull.

“Brace yourself . . .”

He pops it open, and the Coke bubbles up and over. He is hoping Susanna will flinch but all she does is watch.

Adam laughs even so, leans to slurp up the froth, then noisily sips from the can.

He makes a face.

“Eurgh.” He sips again, grimaces again. “Seriously, what’s the point of Coke without the sugar? I’m probably going to need some of that water after all, just to wash away the taste.”

He sets the can down beside the jug of water and dangles his Coke-covered hand as he checks around for some way to clean it. He looks at Susanna, then proceeds to dunk his hand in the water jug. It comes out dripping, and he wipes it on the fabric of his armchair.

This time Susanna cannot help showing her disgust. Adam has grown in confidence since Ruth left, and though his antics have been juvenile at best, they have also felt surprisingly intimidating. It occurred to Susanna before that Adam’s upbringing had damaged him and the thing she wonders about now is how badly. Maybe there is no getting through to him. Maybe the knife tucked up her sleeve really is Susanna’s best chance of getting out of this.

“Your father . . .” she ventures, even so. Because to abandon hope like that would be to abandon the beliefs she’s fostered for the past fifteen years. It would be to deny the single positive legacy left over from the life of her son. “Is it possible you misinterpreted his feelings toward you?”

Adam is immediately on edge. “What do you mean?”

It is a dangerous topic for Susanna to address and normally she would not attempt to do so this directly. She would come at it obliquely, attempting to steer the discussion so that the client raised the subject himself. But that would be in a normal session, with a normal client. Here, now, normal isn’t a restriction that applies.

“You were very young, Adam. You said as much yourself. And your father . . . Grief does very strange things to people. More than strange. It’s one of the most powerful emotions there is. Emotion, in fact, doesn’t begin to cover it.”

Adam is listening. At the very least, Susanna has got his attention.

“Believe me, I’ve experienced it myself,” Susanna goes on. “When you lose someone . . . it’s not that you change. It’s that the world does. Your senses, your feelings—everything warps, becomes distorted. Colors seem tarnished, smells curdle, taste becomes almost nonexistent. Grief: it’s like a drug. It’s so powerful it’s almost . . . hallucinogenic.”

Up until this point Adam has been wearing the mask atop his head but he reaches up and slips it off.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.