The Thursday Night Men by Benacquista Tonino

Author:Benacquista, Tonino [Benacquista, Tonino]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Europa
Published: 2012-09-25T00:00:00+00:00

Philippe Saint-Jean took a hasty leave of his companions at the intersection at the Avenue de Friedland, jumped in a taxi, pulled a bow tie from his pocket, and knotted it over his wing collar, thus adding the final touch to his brand new tuxedo, which no one had noticed during the session. In their usual bistro, no sooner had Yves sat down than Kris called him at last and accepted his invitation to dine after one last appointment—Yves imagined her trying to get her client to climax as quickly as possible so she’d be on time at the restaurant. Before long Denis was alone with his drink, and as he did not feel like going home, he ordered another one, at the risk of exacerbating the waitress’s bad mood—he himself knew how to cast black looks at customers who delayed closing time by twenty minutes with their last orders. Denis noticed from her quick, precise gestures that she was a professional, not one of those dilettantes who condescended to wait tables while waiting for their exceptional destinies. If he indeed had a talent for decrypting women, then this woman—thanks to their shared profession—seemed far more legible than any other.

After she’s set the table, tidied up the sidewalk seating area, done the register and mopped the floor, she’ll go back to her studio, where no one is waiting. She’ll take a shower to wash off the smell of burnt fat, and she’ll stretch out, her legs heavy, in front of the television, which has place of prominence at the foot of her bed. All her emotions transit through that box. It makes her laugh and dream, sometimes cry, it gives rhythm to her life, wakes her up but above all puts her to sleep, otherwise she’s good for a bout of insomnia, and that would be tragic, because sleep is her second passion. She says so herself: my bed is my life raft. Occasionally on a Sunday she’ll let herself drift on it all day, eyes on the screen, ready to doze off between two series. Sometimes she tells herself that there isn’t room for two on her raft, that no man would cast himself adrift with her. Sometimes she’s glad, too, that she has no children, all she has to do is watch the news to find ten good reasons for not conceiving. Her choices came naturally, as a matter of course. And they haven’t been such bad choices, have they?

Denis’s daydreaming was interrupted by a sudden revelation: how could he ever have imagined that Marie-Jeanne Pereyres might be driven by noble sentiments? Only her dread of living alone, getting old, and ending up alone could explain her determination. Plagued by an identical despair, he’d merely sunk into depression, with dignity, without harming a soul! Marie-Jeanne Pereyres had preferred to get ahead of her sad destiny and abandon a raft that was taking on water, to end up on someone else’s; and now, she was clinging to that raft like a survivor.

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.