The Cracks in Our Armor by Anna Gavalda

Author:Anna Gavalda
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Europa Editions
Published: 2019-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

I stretch my legs out into the aisle. I don’t know where to begin. I already want to leave. There’s nothing I like about these little parcels. A boy with a nose-ring is joined by two other loudmouths. I fold my legs under the table to let this strange herd go by.

I have a moment’s doubt. What am I doing here? With my vast love and my tweed jacket? I feel a ridiculous urge to go and get a knife and fork.

She is worried:

“Is something wrong?”

“No, no. Everything’s fine.”

“Then eat!”

I do as she says. She delicately opens her box of nuggets as if it were a jewelry box. I look at her nails. A bluish polish. Dragonfly wing polish. I’m telling you, I don’t know anything about nail polish colors, but as it happens she also has two little dragonflies in her hair. Tiny barrettes that just barely hold a few blonde strands in place. I feel a surge of emotion. I know, I’m repeating myself, but I cannot help but wonder: was it for my sake, as she thought about our lunch together, that she painted her nails this morning?

I picture her in her bathroom, concentrating, and already dreaming of her caramel sundae. And of me at the same time. Oh yes. Of me. Inevitably.

She dips her pieces of defrosted chicken into their plastic sauce.

She’s relishing it.

“You really like that?”

“I love it.”

“But why?”

A triumphant smile.

“Because it’s good!”

She’s implying that I’m an old-fashioned killjoy, I can see it in her eyes. But at least she shows it tenderly.

Pray God it lasts, this tenderness. Pray God it lasts.

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