Authors: Elke Becker
Over the Fence
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2014 Elke Becker
Translation copyright © 2015 Terry Laster
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Previously published as
Der Mann in Nachbars Garten
by Amazon Publishing in Germany in 2014. Translated from German by Terry Laster. First published in English by AmazonCrossing in 2015.
Published by AmazonCrossing, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and AmazonCrossing are trademarks of
Amazon.com
, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781503944428
ISBN-10: 1503944425
Cover design by Jason Blackburn
Contents
One
Eva ran upstairs to her apartment. She could hardly wait to tell Sascha all about her project. He would be proud of her—she was sure of that. She threw her pocketbook on the living room armchair and grabbed the telephone. For the first time since arriving in London, she felt happy.
It seemed like forever before Sascha picked up.
“You won’t believe how great today was,” she said, bubbling with excitement. “My bosses loved my designs, and now I’ll finally be getting my own projects!”
“I’m so happy for you,” Sascha replied.
“Man, I’m playing at a whole new level here.” Eva paced the living room. “They guaranteed me that my temporary contract would be converted to a permanent position with a fat raise if the next project unfolds just as well. What do you say about that?”
“Sounds good.”
Somehow Sascha sounded a bit detached.
“Sweetheart, we’ve got to celebrate! When are you coming?”
“I’m not coming,” Sascha murmured almost inaudibly.
“What?” Eva stopped in the middle of the room. “But you wanted to book a flight for tomorrow morning. It’s Friday and you have the whole weekend free.”
Eva held the telephone away from her ear and stared at it. “Do you understand?” she asked, almost shouting into the phone when Sascha didn’t answer.
“Yes.”
“So, when are you coming?”
“Never.”
Eva thought she must have misheard. “What’s going on? We wanted to buy the new armoire this weekend.” Eva heard Sascha clearing his throat. “Are you sick?”
“No.”
“Could you please tell me what the hell is going on?” Eva’s stomach cramped up.
“I’m never coming again,” Sascha said.
“What?” Eva sat on the armchair. “What do you mean?”
“Come on, Eva. Don’t make this so hard.” Sascha’s voice sounded far away, and Eva pressed the receiver tighter to her ear. “It’s not working . . . with us, with London . . . with everything.”
Eva froze. She was too shocked to say anything.
“This whole plan with moving to London . . . It was a silly idea.”
“It was your idea,” Eva hissed.
“No, it wasn’t. London was your dream. I only suggested it because you loved it so much, and I thought the move would breathe new life into our relationship. Instead, I realized our relationship wasn’t working anymore at all. I’m staying in Berlin. London isn’t for me.” Sascha exhaled loudly.
Eva shook her head. “You can’t just . . .” She didn’t know how to finish.
“Eva. I . . . I’m so sorry. I wish you all the best. Besides, it sounds like you’re doing really well without me. You’ll see. Don’t be mad.”
Don’t be mad? What kind of drivel was he spewing?
“I need to hang up now. Take care, Eva.”
The next thing Eva heard was a click. He’d hung up.
She threw the telephone onto the sofa, furious. She stared at the boxes in the corner of the living room, where they’d been sitting for three months waiting to be unpacked. To make room for Sascha’s summer clothes, they’d needed a bigger armoire, which they had planned to buy this weekend. She’d already found the perfect one. Now who would help her put it together? Would she have to do it by herself? Eva hardly knew a soul in London, and it would be awkward to ask her new coworkers for this kind of favor. Did she even need it anymore? Now what? Her mind raced.
Sascha wasn’t coming now or ever. Eva was surprised that she felt such rage, such contempt. She should have felt sad more than anything else. She fell onto the sofa, wrapped her arms around her legs, and propped her chin on her knees. After a few minutes, her rage turned into a feeling of abandonment. She had pulled off her first big success at the agency today. And what did Sascha have to say about it? He wished her all the best, as if he were an old school chum whom she had just happened to bump into on the street.
Eva had noticed recently that Sascha hardly ever spoke about his move to London, but she would have never guessed that after three years together, he would leave her in the lurch like this. Eva had moved to London before him, because Sascha’s transfer hadn’t come through yet, and her income wasn’t enough to support both of them. Now he’d suddenly noticed after a few months’ separation that their relationship had fizzled out? That it would be better if he didn’t move to London after all?
Eva dialed her best friend’s number. Now that Sascha wasn’t coming, Lena wouldn’t be able to take over their apartment in Berlin. Lena had been so happy about it.
“This damned shit—” She choked back the rest of her curse as Lena answered the phone.
“Hi, Eva!” Lena said. “What’s going on that you’re calling me on a Friday evening? Isn’t Sascha with you?”
“No. And he’s not coming,” Eva mumbled. She blinked away the tears welling up in her eyes.
“Uh-oh, sounds like stormy weather,” Lena said. “What’s going on?”
Eva bristled. “The idiot just told me over the phone that he isn’t moving to London after all.”
“What?” Lena’s voice was filled with disbelief.
“Yeah, you heard right.” Eva pressed her lips together for a moment. “You know what that means for the apartment . . .”
“Oh, Eva, the apartment doesn’t matter. What does this mean for you two?”
Eva shrugged helplessly. “It means it’s over.”
“But the move to London was his idea.”
“Yes, it was, and now he doesn’t want to do it anymore. It probably occurred to him during one of his visits that he didn’t actually like London.” Eva could have just howled in rage when she thought about their conversation. “Do you know what he said?”
“What?”
“He only suggested moving to London because I was always talking about it.” Eva’s eyes filled with tears, which she wiped away with her sleeve. “He thought London would breathe life into our relationship.”
“How did he come up with that? I thought everything was going well with you two.”
“That’s what I thought, too.” Eva sniffled. “But the way he was talking today . . .” Eva choked up and could barely speak. “Sascha has basically exiled me on this island.”
“He should have at least had this conversation with you in person,” Lena said. “That miserable coward!”
Eva’s tears spilled over, and she sobbed softly into the telephone.
“You know what? I’m booking the next flight over,” Lena said.
“What about Peter? You already don’t see him enough,” Eva argued. “I can’t ask you to do this.”
“You didn’t. I’ll call you in a couple minutes, OK? Let’s see whether I can catch a flight for tonight. Back in a second.”
Eva curled up in a fetal position on the sofa. Was Sascha right? Had their relationship really not been working? Granted, the humdrum of day-to-day life had crept over them and that wonderful tingling feeling had disappeared somewhere along the way. But she had always believed they were happy.
Was her move to London an escape for him? And from what? Everyday life? Their relationship? Even if Sascha was right, why had he encouraged her to accept the job? Had he actually wanted to get rid of her?
The ring of her cell phone ripped her from her brooding. Lena. Eva pressed the “Answer” button.
“The earliest flight is tomorrow morning, unfortunately, but I’ll be at your place by nine thirty. I’ll take a taxi.”
Eva’s tears began anew. “You are the best friend anyone could ever imagine,” she whispered.
“Bull! You’d do the same for me,” Lena said. “Now, get busy distracting yourself. Go to the gym and take your anger out on the machines.”
“I’ll think about it. In any case, thanks for coming.”
After she hung up, Eva headed to the bathroom. As she entered, she stumbled over a dirty hand towel. Her stupid habit of leaving laundry on the floor was going to cause her to break her neck one day. Quietly cursing, she stuffed the towel into the laundry basket under the sink before deciding she had enough laundry to do a full load. Instead of going to the gym, she meticulously cleaned her apartment, even washing the windows, though it was a hopeless undertaking since it was already dark. After six hours, she’d done all the laundry; cleaned the windows; sifted through, sorted out, and organized assorted paperwork; and scrubbed the floor. When she glanced at the clock, she was surprised to see that it was three in the morning. Her place had never been this clean, but she couldn’t take any joy in it. There were photos of her and Sascha everywhere, and looking at them made her stomach hurt and the pressure on her chest increase. She stuffed them all into Sascha’s boxes, unable to endure them one second longer.
Finally she went to the bedroom, lay on the bed, and turned off the light. She pushed her conscience aside when she realized she hadn’t showered or brushed her teeth. Eva pulled the covers over her head and hoped this had been a terrible dream. But in her heart, she knew this was the kind of dream she wouldn’t wake up from.
Eva awoke to the repeated ringing of her doorbell. At first, she wanted to cover her ears with her pillow. Then she sprang out of bed and ran to the door. Lena! Who else could it be? She swung open the door and stared into the astounded face of her best friend.
“Wow, you need stronger coffee!” Lena said, grinning.
Eva threw herself into Lena’s arms and hugged her tightly. “Do I look that bad?”
Lena pried herself from the hug and pushed Eva back into the apartment, then set her suitcase in the hall. “Terrible! A beautiful woman should never let herself go!”
Eva smiled and pulled Lena into the living room. “I actually wanted to surprise you with breakfast.” She flopped onto the sofa and tapped the cushion next to her. “Sit down.”
Lena surveyed the apartment and nodded. “Nice place you have here. And so clean. I’ve never known you to be so keen on housework.”
“The big cleaning was Sascha’s fault.”
“So you didn’t go to the gym?”
Eva shook her head and looked at the floor. “No.”
Lena sat next to her. “Why don’t you go clean yourself up while I make some breakfast?”
Eva shrugged. Her motivation to do anything had plummeted to a big fat zero.
“It’s OK if you want to stay like that. I just thought it couldn’t hurt.” Lena leaned back and examined her. “I mean, in that worn-out jogging outfit, you look like a sleepy panda bear that stuck its paw in an electric socket. But if it doesn’t bother you . . .”
“Very funny,” Eva muttered. She stood and padded over to the hall mirror. Her eyes looked small and warped; her eyeliner and mascara had run down her face. Her dark brown hair stood up in all directions. With her black-and-white jogging outfit and smeared makeup, she actually did look like a panda. “OK, you win. I’ll take a shower.”
“Can I take a photo of you first?”
“If you want to die a painful death today, sure, go ahead,” she answered over her shoulder.
Lena’s laugh accompanied her down the hall, and even though Eva felt miserable, she laughed, too. It was great to have her friend here. She had missed her so much.
Eva stood under the shower, letting the hot water run over her head. As she washed the makeup away and shampooed her hair, she wondered whether she would be able to make it in this big city by herself. She’d finally gotten her wish and was now living in London, but at the same time, she’d never felt more alone. What was the point if she didn’t feel like she belonged here?
But when she thought about going back to Holzhausen, she shuddered. She definitely didn’t want to return to her hometown. Did she really want to be in London, though? Especially now that she’d be living alone?
As she left the bathroom, the comforting aroma of coffee, fresh toast, and cooked eggs greeted her. Lena had already set the table in the living room, and Eva watched as she spooned the scrambled eggs onto two plates in the adjoining kitchen.
Lena looked up. “I looted your kitchen. Your refrigerator is completely empty now. I’m so hungry and a good healthy breakfast wouldn’t hurt you either. You’ve gotten so thin.”
Eva looked down at herself. “Do you think?”
Lena nodded. “Now sit down and tell me everything. And I don’t just mean yesterday’s conversation with Sascha.”
Lena set the plate down and bit into her toast.
Eva took a sip of coffee and shrugged. “It’s been a stressful time, but that’s normal when a person moves to another country, right?”
“Sure, but on the phone, you always talk about your work and all the stress. It doesn’t exactly sound like you’re living the dream. Are you sure that you really want to live here?” Lena shoved a forkful of scrambled eggs into her mouth.
“It’s always been my dream!”
“Is it still?”
Eva thought it over for a moment. “Yes, even though it’s harder than I thought it would be. I’ve never had problems making connections and I’m responsible, but I relied on Sascha way too much.” Eva pressed her lips together. “And now he’s left me.”
“Why?” Lena asked.
“I don’t know.” Eva set her toast back on the plate. Her appetite was gone. “We did have some friction in our relationship, but that’s normal when you live together. Anyway, I really thought we both had the same dream. But it turns out London was only my dream. Maybe I should have noticed that a long time ago.” Eva shrugged again. “I don’t know.”