It's Getting Dark by Peter Stamm

Author:Peter Stamm [Stamm, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Other Press
Published: 2021-12-07T00:00:00+00:00

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That same day, Sabrina sent Robert Lang an email, and got a reply immediately. His secretary wrote to say Mr. Lang was away on a business trip. We will get in touch with you on his return, she wrote. A week later, she got an email from the collector in person, in the ironic but respectful tone he’d used with her at the opening. He wrote to say that the sculpture was now in his home, he had found a nice place for it, and of course he would be as good as his word, and offered Sabrina visiting rights. Perhaps she could come on Friday at 8 p.m. His secretary would write with the address and instructions how to get there.

Robert Lang lived on the right shore of the lake, the house was one of a group of villas high up on the slope with views of half the lake across to the mountains in the distance. Sabrina had dressed up again, this time she was wearing a short denim skirt and a sheer top. She had had her hair cut short and was wearing dark brown nail varnish. An elderly lady admitted her, greeted her amiably, and told her Mr. Lang was expecting her. She led Sabrina into a large open-plan living room, outside whose enormous windows was a well-kept garden with a pool. Mr. Lang had come to meet them, he shook Sabrina by the hand and asked if she would like a drink. The elderly lady disappeared without a word. You look quite different from the way you looked on the occasion of our first meeting, Robert said, more grown-up, somehow. Have you had your hair cut?

It was strange that the collector seemed less comfortable in his own house than he was in the gallery. After Robert fetched a couple of glasses of wine from the kitchen, handing one to Sabrina and toasting her, there ensued an embarrassing silence. Robert began talking about his visit to Japan, but broke off in midsentence, saying that surely didn’t interest her. You’re right, she said, and laughed. And you really weren’t paid anything for modeling? Sabrina shook her head. I was happy to do it. But that’s no reason not to pay someone, said Robert. How much time did it cost you? A day, said Sabrina, a little more than half a day, to be exact. I’d like to give you something for it, said Robert, pulling out his wallet. Sabrina laughed. I’m certainly not taking money from you. What would that look like? No one’s watching, he said, laughing as well. No, said Sabrina so firmly that he put his wallet away. Again, there was silence for a while, then Robert said, It’s a strange thing for me too, owning this sculpture. If it was molded by hand, or cut out of stone, that would be something else, but it’s really as though it was formed directly from your body. There isn’t the artist’s hand, which is what makes the figure so lifelike.

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