Inventing Love by José Ovejero

Author:José Ovejero
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

I arrive home with Carina. I went to meet her at the metro station. Two Chinese men are sitting on the steps at the entrance. I almost always see them outside their wholesale clothes shops, which had already invaded the street before I considered it mine, smoking, calling out from shop to shop, spitting. Whenever I see them I never know whether I’ve seen them before or if they’re different men. Nor do I know if the ones sitting on the steps were sitting there yesterday or the day before or if they are their cousins or brothers. At first I didn’t say hello; they seemed to come from an alien world with which any attempt at communication would be impossible. And none of them ever looked me in the eye or smiled or gave any sign of greeting. Anyway, if they were in my way they would move aside a few centimetres without interrupting their conversation and without showing that they were aware of my presence in any way. Until one day I tried saying hello, and from then on we always use the same greeting, which I try to pronounce the same way they do, in a slightly higher pitch than I would usually use, hello, hello, hello, just that one word, and it seems right to me, like when we say ‘uh-huh’ on the phone so the other person knows that we’re still there while they chunter on. ‘Hello,’ I say, and they both respond in unison. Carina and I go into the entrance hall. Samuel’s letterbox is open, with a small pile of cement dust spilling out. There’s also cement dust on the floor. I open mine without making any comment and Carina doesn’t say anything either, although she stares for a moment at Samuel’s and then goes to call the lift.

As I’m about to close the lift door I hear hurried footsteps.

‘Hang on a second!’

Carina and I have to flatten ourselves against the side of the lift because despite the little metal sign saying ‘Three persons, 250 kilos’ it’s difficult to squeeze in more than two unless they’ve attained a certain degree of intimacy. I turn sideways, because I think the three of us will fit in better that way, so that Carina’s beside me and I’m face to face with a stranger. We nod at each other.

‘Which floor?’

‘Fifth.’

He presses the buttons for fourth and fifth and turns towards Carina for the first time. Obviously, I suspect straight away and my suspicion is confirmed by the perplexed, uneasy expression he pulls when he looks at Carina. There’s something, isn’t there, Samuel, something about that girl that seems familiar. And so even though you try, although you do your best not to be too indiscreet, you have to keep turning to look at her, even just a bit, as if you were looking somewhere else, but really it’s her face you’re studying. Who does she remind you of, Samuel? Is the penny going to drop any

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