Isobel and Emile (12 page)

She points to where the bedroom is.

Nicolas and Emile go into Agatha's bedroom. It is not a large room. There is a large bed in it. There are coats piled on top of the bed. The room smells like cigarette smoke and Agatha's perfume.

They look around the room. There is a vanity table in the room. It is a table with a mirror on it. Some of Agatha's makeup is still out on the table.

Nicolas puts his coat on the bed and then Emile puts his coat on the bed.

They leave the room.

Agatha is waiting for them. She walks towards them. She sways when she does. She puts her arms around Nicolas's shoulders.

She says: ‘Hello, Nicolas.'

Nicolas kisses her on the cheek. She says: ‘It's good to see you away from the bar.' She smiles. She says: ‘Now, if only we could get you painting again.'

She lets go of Nicolas. She turns towards Emile.

She says: ‘Hello, you.'

She reaches towards him. She puts her arms around him. She steps closer to him. She says: ‘I haven't seen you in ages.'

She kisses him on the cheek. She puts her cheek close to his mouth. She waits for him to kiss her.

Emile kisses her on the cheek.

She says: ‘Have you been keeping busy?'

Emile says: ‘Yes.'

She says: ‘You must tell me what you've been up to.'

She walks away.

Nicolas and Emile are standing in the door to Agatha's bedroom.

Nicolas is holding a bottle of wine. It was in the paper bag he had with him. There are people standing around them. They are talking. It is loud. Nicolas says: ‘Let's find some glasses.'

Nicolas and Emile go towards the kitchen.

The people standing around them are between them and the kitchen. The people are standing very close together. They are talking to each other. Some of them are wearing black. Some of them are dressed in very bright colours. Nicolas and Emile have to squeeze between them.

They squeeze between them. They get to the other side of the room. They go down a hallway. There is a door at the end of the hallway. They go through the door. They are in the kitchen.

There are more people in the kitchen. They are standing. They are dressed like the people in the other room. They are talking to each other.

Nicolas and Emile go to where the kitchen table is. There are glasses and bottles of wine on the table. Some of the glasses are wineglasses and others are ordinary glasses. They are empty.

There is a corkscrew on the table. It is with the glasses. Nicolas picks out two glasses. He opens the bottle of wine he is carrying. He pours wine into the two glasses.

He gives Emile one of the glasses. He takes the other one for himself. He says: ‘Cheers.'

Nicolas and Emile touch their glasses together. They move away from the table. They do not move very far. They cannot move very far. There are too many people in the kitchen. They are still standing near the table with the bottles of wine on it.

Agatha is also in the kitchen. She came in while Nicolas was opening the bottle.

She has a glass in her hand. It is half full of something. It is a dark liquid. She is talking to someone. He is wearing a black shirt. There are too many buttons undone on his shirt. He is trying to stand too close to her.

Agatha tips her glass up. She drinks what is left in it. She smiles to the man trying to talk to her. She walks away from him.

She walks over to the table with the bottles of wine on it.

Nicolas and Emile are still standing beside the table with the bottles of wine on it. Agatha leans up against Nicolas. She says: ‘Pour me a glass, bartender.'

Nicolas takes her glass. He fills it with wine. He gives it back to her.

She says: ‘Emile.' She rests her hand on his arm. She says: ‘Tell me what you're working on.'

Emile looks at Nicolas. Nicolas winks at him. He walks away from the table. There are other people in the kitchen. He goes to talk to them.

Agatha plucks at Emile's shirt with her fingers. She says: ‘Tell me, Emile.'

Emile is holding on to his glass of wine.

He clears his throat.

He says: ‘I have two puppets.' He clears his throat again. He is not looking at Agatha.

He says: ‘They are in my bedroom.'

He is holding on to his glass of wine. Agatha leans in closer. She smiles. She has a wolfish smile.

She says: ‘And?'

Emile holds on to his glass of wine. He says: ‘They are in a room.'

She says: ‘And?'

Agatha is wearing a short red dress. There is a pattern embroidered on it. The pattern looks Chinese. The dress has straps that go over her shoulders.

One of the straps falls off her shoulder. It is halfway down her arm.

Agatha does not move it back to where it should be. She is standing close to Emile.

Her shoulder is bare. Emile can see her breasts move when she breathes.

Emile looks into his glass. He says: ‘I don't know.' He says: ‘They are in a room. That's all.'

Agatha smiles again. She moves closer to Emile. She says: ‘I'm sure it'll be brilliant.'

Agatha is almost touching Emile. She stumbles. She grabs Emile's shoulder to steady herself. She is drunk. She is very close to him. She does not take her hand away from his shoulder.

She says: ‘It'll be brilliant.'

Emile can smell Agatha's perfume. He holds on to his glass.

Nicolas and Emile are standing on the street. They are outside Agatha's apartment. The party is over. They are on their way home.

There are other people on the street. They are also on their way home.

It is late. The streetcars have stopped for the night.

Nicolas looks down the street. He is wearing a jacket and a scarf. He puts his hands in his pockets. He is looking for a taxi.

He does not see a taxi.

Nicolas says: ‘Do you want to walk?'

Emile shrugs.

They turn their collars up. It is cold out. Emile takes his tobacco out of his pocket. He rolls a cigarette and he lights it. He passes it to Nicolas.

Nicolas takes it. He smokes some of it. He passes it back to Emile.

Emile smokes some of the cigarette.

Nicolas says: ‘What were you and Agatha talking about?'

Emile shrugs. He says: ‘She asked me what I am working on.'

Nicolas says: ‘And?'

Emile says: ‘I told her what I am working on.'

Nicolas looks at Emile. He waits for him to say more.

Emile says: ‘That was all.'

He smokes a bit more of the cigarette. He passes it back to Nicolas. Nicolas is smiling at him.

Nicolas says: ‘You're sure that was all you talked about?'

Emile says: ‘It was.'

Nicolas is still smiling at him.

Emile looks away.

Nicolas smokes some of the cigarette. He passes it back to Emile. Emile finishes the cigarette. He drops it in the gutter.

They are walking down a street with houses on either side of it. There is no one else on the street. There is no one else awake. The street lights are on. There is garbage out on the streets. Trucks will come to take it away in the morning.

Nicolas and Emile are still a long way from home.

Nicolas says: ‘Have you heard from that girl you met?'

Emile says: ‘Her name is Isobel.'

Emile puts his hands in his pockets. It is cold. They come to the end of the block. They cross the street.

Emile sighs. He says: ‘No.'

Nicolas and Emile walk up the stairs to their apartment. They stand in front of the door. Nicolas takes his keys out of his pocket.

He opens the door.

They go inside. Nicolas turns on the light. They take their jackets off. They hang their jackets up. There are hooks on the wall. They hang their jackets on the hooks.

Emile stands by the door.He is tired. He does not want to go to bed.

He sits down at the table.

Nicolas takes two glasses out of the cupboard. He fills them with water. He puts one down in front of Emile and then he sits down across from Emile.

Emile picks up the glass. He drinks some of the water. He puts the glass back on the table.

Nicolas sits down at the table. He is sitting across from Emile. He drinks from his glass of water.

He waits for Emile to say something.

Emile does not speak.

Nicolas drinks from his glass of water. He puts it down on the table. It is empty.

Emile does not say anything. Nicolas shrugs.

He says: ‘I'm off to bed.'

He stands up. He goes into his room.

Emile sits at the table. The bowl of fruit is in the middle of the table. Emile's glass is on the table in front of him. The glass is not empty. The bowl of fruit is. Nicolas threw out the bruised fruit two days ago.

Emile sits at the table.

He wanted to say something. He did not know how to say it. If Nicolas had waited longer he might have said it.

He might not have said it.

Emile stands up. He takes the two glasses from the table. He puts them into the sink.

He goes into his room.

There is a dresser against one of the walls. It is where he should be keeping his clothes. His clothes are on the floor. There is a window on one of the walls. It does not have a curtain over it. There is light from the street coming in through the window.

It is enough light to see by.

His bed is in a corner. There are two puppets lying on the bed.

They are lying with their arms around each other and their legs together.

Emile picks the puppets up. Their arms and their legs dangle. He takes them over to the window. He props them up on the windowsill.

They are sitting opposite each other. Their heads are lolling. Emile adjusts their heads so that they are looking into the room.

Emile goes back to the bed. He sits down on it. He takes his clothes off. He drops them on the floor.

He puts his hands in his lap.

He sits on his bed. He looks at the puppets on the windowsill. He looks at them like he is waiting for them to do something.

They do not do something.

Emile sighs. He gets into his bed. He goes to sleep.

10

Isobel is in the room at the back of the grocery store. There is no one here. It is early in the morning. It is before anyone is here. She goes to the door that goes outside. She opens it.

There is a brick that Mr. Koch leaves beside the door. She props the door open with it.

She goes outside.

It is early in the morning. It is cold out. Isobel does up the buttons on her sweater. She is wearing a sweater. It is new. She is not cold.

She is carrying a pack of cigarettes. It is in her hand. She takes a cigarette out of the pack.

She puts the cigarette between her lips. She lights it with a match.

She shakes the match out. She draws on the cigarette.

She looks down the alley. There is no one in the alley. It is too early. The light is too bright. It is always too bright this early in the morning.

She sits down on the steps. She puts the cigarette between her lips. She draws on it. She exhales. She shifts so that she is more comfortable sitting on the steps.

She looks like she is looking at something. She is not looking at something. There is nothing in the alley to look at.

She is sitting on the steps at the back of the grocery store. She is smoking a cigarette. She is waiting.

That is all.

There is a noise in the store behind her. A door opens and closes. Mr. Koch is here.

She draws on her cigarette. She exhales. She waits while Mr. Koch walks through the store. She hears him on the steps behind her.

She turns around. She looks up at Mr. Koch.

Mr. Koch is wearing an overcoat and a hat and a scarf. The scarf is wrapped loosely around his neck. He has his keys in his hand.

He smiles. He says: ‘Good morning, Isobel.'

Isobel says: ‘Good morning, Mr. Koch.'

Mr. Koch goes into his office. He takes off his hat and his scarf and his overcoat. He fills his coffee-making machine with water and ground coffee beans.

Isobel is still sitting on the steps behind the store. She puts her cigarette between her lips. She draws on it. She exhales.

The water dribbles through the coffee machine. Mr. Koch takes off his jacket. He loosens his tie. Mr. Koch always wears a tie to the store. He always loosens it when he arrives. He undoes the top button of his shirt.

Mr. Koch looks at the coffee machine. He wipes his forehead with his handkerchief. The coffee-making machine is not done. Mr. Koch waits for it to be done.

The coffee is done. Mr. Koch pours it into two cups. He takes the two cups and he goes out of his office.

The cups are plain cups. They are not fancy. They are for drinking from.

He goes out to the alley.

Isobel is still sitting on the steps. Mr. Koch is standing behind her. He hands Isobel one of the cups.

She turns around. She takes the cup.

Mr. Koch breathes in deeply. He says: ‘It is a good morning.'

Isobel does not speak. She moves her hair with her hand. She nods her head.

Mr. Koch stands on the steps. He drinks from his cup of coffee.

He makes a noise in his throat. He reaches into one of the pockets of his waistcoat. He takes a pack of cigarettes out. He takes a cigarette out of it.

He puts the cigarette in his mouth. He takes a lighter from another pocket and he lights the cigarette. He draws on it. Smoke comes out of his mouth.

He makes a contented noise. It comes from deep in his throat.

He puts his cigarette to his mouth again. He draws on it. He drinks from his cup of coffee.

Mr. Koch says: ‘It will be too cold soon.' He says: ‘Best enjoy the mornings while we can.'

He drinks from his cup of coffee again.

Isobel flicks her cigarette away. She holds her cup with both hands. She drinks from it.

They have their cups of coffee. They do not say anything. They do not need to say anything. They have their cups of coffee.