Erik Pethersen - The Ball

«So, he is not doing anything?» she asks a bit dazed, «does he spend the days waiting for customers who never come?»

«That’s right. I tried to suggest that the world doesn’t end there, that he might try to sell other properties too, but it’s like talking to the wall now: he doesn’t tell me anything, at the most he insults me and little else.»

«What do you mean he insults you?» Serena asks, opening her eyes wide.

«Sure, he’s got paranoia, he thinks I go around all day to meet other people. In my opinion he is going crazy, because this jealousy has come out of nowhere. I think it may be related to his job. Perhaps, having lost control over his job, he tries to have it on me.»

«You’re good at trying to psychoanalyze him» Serena remarks. «I guess you don’t see any other man, other people.»

«What are you saying, Sere? Of course not: you know what I am like and the way I think about the whole thing» I reply a little abruptly.

«Yes, I know, it was a rhetorical question, just to confirm it.»

The voices in the bar are quite low and the whole room is almost silent.

«Your octopus and your carpaccio, there you go» says the waiter, placing the two plates in front of us. «Here’s the water. When you are ready for coffee, give me a sign and I’ll bring them over.»

The octopus is really hot, as indicated on the menu: when I chew it, it seems a bit rubbery but its texture and taste are almost pleasant. The quantity of chopped pieces, lined with small suckers, is however rather scarce, as well as the boiled potato wedges, which I believe would not be able to make up half of a small potato. Between the slices of fish and the little yellow pieces of potato, I see four pitted and slightly sad olives. Also, the amount of food of the chosen dish is not enough to satisfy the hunger I had during the morning because of all the walking I did around the city: I finish the dish in a minute and a half and put the cutlery inside the white crockery.

«Was the octopus good, Lavi?» Serena asks amused.

«Yes, not too bad after all. Not plenty, though» I reply. «How is your carpaccio?»

«It looks quite edible, but I’m still on my first slice. When I finish the other four I’ll have a more precise idea.»

«What are you implying?» I reply with a grin. I grab the bottle and pour the water into my glass first and then into Serena’s. I move the chair away from the table and cross my legs, stretching them a little towards the window on my right. «This table is very uncomfortable: it’s low and you can’t move your legs; if you cross them, the wood underneath shears the thigh: in order to move them you would have to straighten your legs, hitting the person in front of you.»

«It’s my case» Serena suggests, biting into an artichoke. «I feel a bit stiff too.»

I glance under the table: Serena’s heels are perpendicular to the wooden boards and her knees are bent at ninety degrees. Her feet, arched in the unnatural posture forced by wearing high heels, force the lower leg muscles to stretch, stretching the fabric of the jeans: her calves look really sensual.

I keep staring while I can hear that the voices have lowered down in the room; now I also hear the music in the background which was covered by the sounds of the hall.

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I look up and notice that Serena seems to be staring at me with a strange smile, then looking away from me to skewer another artichoke. «By the way: we didn’t finish off...» she tries to say.

«Finish your nice, lovely carpaccio» I interrupt her. «Actually, it’s true, we left that question unanswered, funny girl.»

«Now I’m just enjoying my carpaccio and I can’t speak» she replies, cutting a slice.

«Good. I could also take advantage of this situation» I add, grinning. I stretch my hands towards the knee of the crossed leg and interlace my fingers pulling it a little towards my torso. Serena raises her eyebrows to express indifference and keeps on eating.

«So, you go on online dating sites...»

She shakes her head.

«You go on online dating sites sometimes, looking for people to meet.»

She shakes her head again as her hair swings around her shoulders.

«You sometimes look at online dating sites out of curiosity, fantasizing about unlikely encounters with other people.»

Serena swings her right hand in which she holds the knife as if to confirm that some part of what I said is true and she begins to cut the last slice of carpaccio.

«With your husband’s joint participation»

She moves her head up and down smiling as she chews the meat.

«But maybe you don’t look at the profiles of other couples, that is, the announcements of other husbands and wives who want to meet other husbands and wives together; no, this morning you said you are interested in these things. The whole issue is twisted in another way, so it seems. Maybe you are looking into other groups, perhaps in groups of single people looking for couples... It would be better not to investigate any further, however, even if the matter intrigues me a little.»

Serena bites into the last artichoke, arranges the cutlery on the plate and wipes her lips with the napkin.

«Do you know that the table is actually very low?» You have to hunch over quite a bit even when you are eating: it’s nice, but it’s low.» She straightens her back against the chair and stretches her legs towards me, tilting one foot towards the floor and crossing the other one on top: the jeans stretch lengthwise, revealing another ten centimetres of the underlying nylon.

«Are you trying to change subject?»

«No, you said it was better not to investigate any further.»

«Yes, but I was saying that because maybe you don’t really want to talk about it.»

«And why wouldn’t I want to talk about something with you, Lavi?» she asks with an amused expression. «You are the person I confide in the most. I was just playing. Please go ahead and ask me.»

Serena lifts her chin up and waves a hand in the direction of the room behind me. Then I see her smile and lower her hand again.

«So, it would arouse you to meet a man and have sex with him along with your husband.»

«It sounds a bit brutal to me. And by the way, it’s not entirely true.»

«Sorry, I didn’t mean to be brutal, but I thought I was right.»

«Not quite» she replies with a serious expression. «Sure, it would be arousing, but I don’t think Luca would like it. So, it’s just a remote fantasy.»

«Just a fantasy, remote» I repeat, hesitant. «Is there anything else you are thinking of or would you really like to actually do it?»

«Could be. It is an idea that came about talking with Luca, some time ago: you know when you talk over dinner, drinking wine, those moments when the world seems not to exist and you are all focused on him who is in front of you and is watching you with lustful eyes, and you can only think about what might happen when dinner is over» says Serena, then pauses and stares at me. «Those situations there, you know.» She slips the heel of her right foot from the shoe folded towards the floor, places it on the wooden floor and crosses her fingers, sliding them between her thighs.

«Yes, nice picture: tender and pleasant, I would say. If you describe it this way, then, it only reminds me of situations which go back a long time ago.»

«Your two coffees, girls.» «Thanks Gigi, very fast.»

«I’ll leave the sugar here for you, this is brown sugar, this is...»

«We don’t take sugar, Gigi, thanks» Serena interrupts him.

«Ah, ok» he replies, taking back the ceramic container with the sachets of sugar and placing it in the tray he is holding in his hands. He also fits our empty plates on it and disappears behind me.