C3 Chapter 3

In Purgatory

“Well, you don’t need anyone to cheer up your place today ,” laughed Rick. “It’s more full than it’s been in a long time!”

“Live music is always a hit,” agreed Melly, casting a glance around the premises, in which a crush of dancing bodies surged. “It’s fun to see so many people having such a great time.”

“And it makes the cash register ring,” Rick observed. “That’s for sure.”

“Once the band has been paid, there isn’t all that much left over,” Melly qualified, “but it’s worth it, I would certainly agree with that.”

“ Saturday Night in the City

. . .” Rick sang to herself, smiling at Melly.

“Where’s Anita?” asked Melly quickly.

“At the book fair.” Rick grinned. “She was so excited, she took five outfits with her, even though she’s only going to be there for three days.”

“Well, you know, one must have something to change into,” Melly nodded understandingly. “You didn’t go with her?”

Rick shook her head doubtfully. “It’s really not my thing. I could’ve gone and looked at a few technical books, or some travel books, photos . . . but all that fuss, just over some books . . .”

“Anita’s happy there?” Melly went back behind the counter.

“Oh, yes.” Rick smiled. “She thinks it’s thrilling. All the authors and publishers . . . it’s like an adventure vacation for her.”

Melly laughed. “Presumably not the image that most people have of an adventure vacation.”

“Definitely not.” Rick sat down at the counter. “Would you give me a beer?”

Melly reached for a glass and started tapping the beer. “Hey, Carolin and Ina.” She nodded toward the door.

Rick turned around. Once again, Ina’s model-caliber beauty almost knocked her over, but Rick still didn’t like her. She grinned crookedly. Probably I’m just jealous, she thought. Carolin is my oldest friend, and I don’t begrudge her finally finding the woman of her dreams, but somehow, I can’t escape the feeling that no woman seems to be good enough for her. Not even if she looks like Ina.

“Hello, Rick,” Ina greeted her with one of her indefinable smiles, the meaning of which was always ambiguous.

“Hello, Ina,” replied Rick coolly. She turned with a much warmer look toward Carolin. “Well, Linchen?”

Carolin bridled. “Have you lost your marbles?”

Rick laughed and laid a friendly hand on Carolin’s shoulder. “You’re just so sweet, I can’t help it.”

“You shouldn’t tease Caro like that,” said Ina, still smiling.

Carolin sighed. “My name isn’t all that long. I wish someone would use the whole thing and not just parts of it. I don’t like that.”

“Well, then, we’ll just say Carolinchen ,” Ina suggested mischievously. “Then your whole name is definitely included.”

“Don’t you dare.” Carolin shook a playful finger at her. She snuggled up to Ina and looked at Rick. “Anita is representing me very well at the book fair, I hear. Thomas is very impressed with her.”

Rick made a face. “I believe that,” she said. When men get a load of Anita’s breasts, they’re always “impressed” with her, she thought.

Carolin understood. “Not just because of that, I think. She really is a good saleswoman; she has a knack for customers. She could sell refrigerators to polar bears, Thomas says.”

Rick nodded. “Yes, she has a very personable way with customers. I’ve noticed it in my shop, too. Whatever upholstery fabric she recommends to the customers, they buy it, no matter how expensive it is. Her consultations alone have already brought me a couple of new clients.”

“She is really nice,” said Carolin, with a look at Rick that had something quizzical about it.

“Yes.” Rick sipped at her beer. “She is really nice.”

Carolin looked at Rick for a moment longer, and turned to Ina. “Shall we dance? I’m surprised you could wait this long.”

“You just wore me out earlier. I’m still completely beat,” replied Ina with a wink.

Rick turned her head in the opposite direction. This was becoming a burden. Those kinds of references had never embarrassed her before, but imagining Carolin and Ina in bed together almost made her blush. She watched the mass of undulating bodies on the dance floor as Ina and Carolin went to join them. Those two were the absolute perfect couple.

“Have you seen Chris lately?” asked Melly. “You used to get together a lot.”

Rick shook her head slowly. “After she got back from Norway, I only happened to run into her once. But she didn’t want to – I mean, you know – talk.”

“So you don’t know what really happened, either? Why they split up?” Melly looked inquiringly at Rick.

“No.” Rick stared past Melly into space. “No one knows. I think Sabrina didn’t want to stay. The way Chris looked, anyway, she wasn’t the one who decided on breaking up. It must’ve been awful.” She sighed. “I can hardly imagine those two as single people, much less separate from each other. They were always such a . . . unit. You couldn’t slip so much as a sheet of paper between them. And now . . .”

“Yes.” Melly looked thoughtful. “Sometimes these things happen fast. And there’s nothing you can do to stop it. When she was in Norway, did Chris –?” She tilted her head slightly.

“Meet someone?” Rick shrugged. “I don’t know. No idea. She didn’t say anything. But somehow . . . no, I don’t think so.”

“What are you two talking about?” Carolin stepped up next to Rick. “A large glass of mineral water,” she tossed in Melly’s direction. “Admit it, you make the air in here extra dry so people will drink more.” She laughed.

Melly raised her eyebrows. “Of course I do. It’s my business.” She held up a one-liter mug. “Will this do?”

“For starters,” said Carolin.

“We were talking about Chris and Sabrina,” continued Melly as she let the mug slowly fill. “Sad story.”

“Yes, very sad.” Carolin took a deep breath. “But I suspected something like it. Sabrina’s been . . . funny lately.” She leaned on the counter.

“Sabrina?” asked Rick. “So it was her decision?”

“I don’t know exactly. I haven’t seen her again since . . . at any rate, since before Chris came back from Norway. And she was asking me questions – I mean, I really wouldn’t have expected it of her.”

“What wouldn’t you expect?” asked Melly, sliding the full mug across the counter to Carolin. “That she would ask you questions?”

“Questions like the ones she asked me,” replied Carolin, taking a large swallow from her mug. “I mean, whether one person could fall simultaneously for two people –” She broke off.

Melly grinned crookedly. “Maybe she just wanted to hear an expert opinion.”

Rick stared at Melly, then at Carolin, then back at Melly. Uncomprehendingly, she let her gaze turn back to Carolin’s face at last. “Carolin?”

“I have no idea what Melly is talking about,” Carolin responded defiantly, and hid her face behind the giant mug.

Another wave of customers arrived, and Melly had to attend to them.

Ina came up to her friends from behind. “I asked the band whether they’d like to come to Kassel some time,” she said, laughing softly, “but I don’t think they’re particularly tempted.”

“Understandable,” said Rick. “Even though I don’t know Kassel well.”

“Yes, understandable.” Ina laughed, greatly amused. “Precisely because I know Kassel well.” She took the mug from Carolin’s hand and downed half of it in one swallow.

Rick surveyed the newcomers jamming the entryway. There were quite a few people among them she didn’t know. Live music drew people who didn’t otherwise frequent Melly’s café, people who only came to dance. Two women in particular, who were paying the cover charge just then, caught Rick’s eye. One blonde, one dark; both tall, slender, elegant – and they looked like they hadn’t had to stint on their wardrobes whatsoever.

One of the two was gazing intently in their direction, as if she absolutely couldn’t tear herself away from what she was seeing. Rick wondered whether they might know each other, but she soon noticed that the woman wasn’t looking at her, she was staring at –

“Carolin? Do you know that woman over there?” Rick nodded toward the entrance.

Carolin turned around casually to see who Rick meant, and her relaxed attitude changed quickly. Rebekka , she thought. Oh, my God! “No, uh . . . yes,” she stuttered. “One time, we . . . rode our bicycles together.”

“Bicycle?” Ina gaped. “You ride a bicycle? Didn’t you tell me you haven’t used your bike in years? That it’s collecting dust in the basement?”

“Yes, pretty much.” Carolin swallowed. “With the one exception.” She no longer knew where to look. She couldn’t look at Rebekka, and she couldn’t look at Ina.

Rebekka averted her eyes as soon as she saw Carolin recognize her. Why had she let Svenja talk her into coming here? She almost never joined the lesbian scene, and she could’ve figured that Carolin –

She straightened her shoulders. No, she couldn’t blame Carolin. Carolin had told her the truth, she’d never held anything back, at least not knowingly, and the woman she was standing next to – Rebekka raised her eyebrows – she must’ve found her on a catwalk. No wonder no one else had a chance with her. If I’d known what she looked like, I might not have bought the rose for her , she thought. Suddenly, she had to smile at herself. I thought she was a man. Of all people . . .

“Do you know anyone here?” Svenja asked, looking around with interest.

Rebekka cleared her throat. “No,” she said. “No one.”

“Then let’s dance.” Svenja summoned her with wanton eyes. “That’s what we came here for, after all.”

Rebekka nodded, and they gave themselves to the dance floor.

Carolin’s hooded gaze followed Rebekka. She hoped Ina didn’t notice, and that Rebekka wouldn’t approach her. But Rebekka didn’t. She went with her . . . girlfriend – Carolin swallowed once more – to the dance floor and disappeared among the other dancers. The crowd swallowed them like a fog.

Even though Carolin tried to hide it, Rick perceived her reaction to Rebekka’s appearance very clearly. Slowly, the puzzle pieces came together – first Melly’s comment, and now Carolin’s fright . . . “You should’ve gone to the book fair, after all,” she said, looking at Carolin.

Carolin tried to avoid her gaze. “Book fair?” she asked in a pointedly innocent way.

Rick reminded herself that Ina was standing next to them, so it wasn’t a very good time to speak of attractive brunettes who had piqued Carolin’s interest. “Oh, you know,” she answered. “Anita says there’s work enough for two.”

“There always is.” Carolin sighed. “Even just to make sure that the books don’t all get filched from the booth.” She grinned. “But then, Anita has much greater potential for distracting thieves and making them think about other things than I do.”

“Tsk, tsk, Carolin,” Rick admonished her with a playfully pointed index finger. “Weren’t you the one who reprimanded me for pointing out Anita’s assets?”

“There is a slight difference between a reference to particular assets and a certain kind of macho remark,” grinned Carolin. “Don’t you think?”

“Well, okay . . .” Rick shrugged somewhat guiltily. “That’s true. But I didn’t know her yet, then.”

“What kind of assets does she have?” Ina chimed in with interest. “You're making me awfully curious.” She grinned.

“Let’s just say,” Carolin explained, amused, “if one were to put together certain parts of the three of us, we’d still have quite a job filling out Anita’s bra.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Ina. She turned to Rick. “And she’s your girlfriend?”

“She’s living with me,” evaded Rick. “Temporarily.”

Carolin’s brows rose. So she’d guessed correctly. Anita was sweet, but not sweet enough for Rick. Or perhaps too sweet. Rick needed a woman who could stand up to her, someone who’d contradict her now and then. Anita certainly wouldn’t do that.

“That can be very nice,” Ina remarked casually. “I had a girlfriend once, who also . . . um . . .” She glanced at Carolin. “. . . Or not,” she ended the sentence, somewhat muddled.

“I didn’t know you were attracted to that sort of thing.” Carolin’s eyebrows rose even higher.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I know,” Ina said immediately, wrapping her arm around Carolin. “You know that.”

“Have you ever looked in a mirror?” was Carolin’s mildly witty reply.

“External appearances are unimportant,” said Ina. “It’s what’s inside that counts.”

Carolin smirked. “You hear that a lot, but funnily enough, the women whose worthy insides don’t show on the outside rarely have hundreds of admirers at their feet, whereas the women –” She broke off and looked at Ina. “I think I’m talking my way into hot water. I’d better quit now,” she said, laughing sheepishly.

“You two really have nothing to complain about,” Rick said with a slightly cocky smile. “You seem to have an endless stream of admirers.”

“Which is, of course, completely unfamiliar to you, right, Rick?” Carolin’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

“I didn’t know you were such a ladykiller, Rick,” Ina added with an interested expression.

“I’m here alone,” said Rick, twirling around slowly with her hands in the air, “and I don’t see hundreds of women scrambling to make my acquaintance.”

“You’re only alone because Anita isn’t here,” countered Carolin. “That doesn’t count.”

“Oh, my goodness . . . it’s Chris!” Rick didn’t hide her surprise.

Carolin turned around. “She doesn’t exactly look like she came here to enjoy herself,” she determined after a glance at Chris.

“Can you blame her?” Rick nodded to Carolin and Ina. “I’ll go take care of her,” and she went over to Chris.

“What do you think, shall we dance?” asked Ina. “Or should we go over to Chris, too –?”

“No, no.” Carolin watched Rick as she greeted Chris, and it didn’t look to her like Chris could handle any more company. “Let’s dance.”

Carolin let herself sink into Ina’s arms and, for a moment, forgot where she was. Ina’s roving hands turned the dance into sweet torture and nearly put her mentally back in her apartment . . . in bed.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have gone out at all,” Ina whispered into her hair, her breath full of desire. “Whose idea was that, anyway?”

“Yours,” said Carolin. “You wanted to dance.”

“Why can’t we do both?” breathed Ina. “Dance and –?”

“We could, at home,” whispered Carolin. “But here . . .” She opened her eyes, which she’d closed as she rested in Ina’s arms, and recognized a few faces in the light flashing from the stage spots. She wanted to look over toward Rick, but her gaze caught on a couple she’d forgotten – or suppressed, more likely.

Rebekka danced in a tight embrace with her companion, the blonde nestled blissfully against her. When the music stopped, both remained there, and the blonde, slightly shorter than Rebekka, slid up along Rebekka’s body and kissed her passionately. She thrust her hips against Rebekka’s, and it was obvious that she wanted to do more than just dance. What Ina and Carolin had just been discussing was being put into practice, live, by Rebekka and her blonde angel.

Carolin noticed herself feeling the blonde woman becoming progressively more unlikeable. I have no right, she thought. I, of all people . . . I turned Rebekka down, and so she found herself someone else. Or – had the other woman been there already?

Carolin had always assumed that Rebekka was single, but that hadn’t necessarily been the case. After all, Carolin wasn’t single, and yet she’d still found Rebekka attractive. There was no reason for her to assume that Rebekka couldn’t have been exactly the same way. Dating two people at once was hardly a rarity these days; lots of people considered it normal.

But somehow . . . somehow, Rebekka hadn’t left that impression. But they didn’t just meet yesterday , thought Carolin, and became more sure of that the longer she observed Rebekka and her companion. She didn’t realize how intently she was staring at them. The sight sucked her in like an undertow from which she simply could not pull free.

Suddenly, Rebekka looked up and stared at Carolin. It was too dark to recognize the expression on Rebekka’s face, but Carolin imagined a certain spark of triumph in Rebekka’s eyes, a kind of this is what you get now .

So what was I supposed to have done? thought Carolin. Why didn’t you turn up a couple of weeks earlier? Then everything would have been simple. Or not, when she considered Rebekka’s girlfriend. She didn’t look like the type who shared gladly.

Fortunately, Ina didn’t notice any of Carolin’s attention to Rebekka; she’d only stopped briefly when one song ended, then started dancing again as soon as the next song began. Ina’s hands caressed Carolin, so what Rebekka was seeing must have been comparable to what Carolin had observed of Rebekka’s girlfriend. It was downright perverse. The two of them stared at each other while their girlfriends toiled away on them.

Carolin felt like she was in West Side Story, when Tony and Maria met for the first time at the dance in the gym, and the world ceased to exist, except for the two of them. Everything around them blurred, and they had eyes only for each other, caught up in a private world that had nothing to do with anything else. Others danced and enjoyed themselves loudly, while Tony and Maria approached one another slowly, music playing softly in the background, completely different music from what was playing for the other dancers. Finally, they stopped in front of each other, looking deep into each other’s eyes.

Exactly like Rebekka was looking into her eyes now.

Carolin was no longer hearing the music; she only moved because Ina led her, while she tried not to lose sight of Rebekka.

Rebekka and her girlfriend kept moving to a blues beat so mellow that it was almost possible to stay fixed in one spot.

But the music changed suddenly, and a large proportion of the audience shouted out. A popular dance club song began, turning the dance floor into a seething cauldron. Everyone jumped in the air, their delight increasing the more hectic the music became, their movements increasingly athletic.

“Hey, sweetie, what’s up with you?” Svenja bounced around like a rubber ball, beaming at Rebekka. “This is your favorite song!” Once more, she threw her arms in the air and whooped in delight.

Rebekka felt like she had just woken from a dream – or perhaps she hadn’t quite. She was still trying not to lose sight of Carolin, even though it hurt her so. In the arms of another woman, and obviously happy.

Yes, Carolin had looked over at her, yes, she’d been watching her and Svenja, but surely just out of curiosity. Only because they happened to know each other and because she’d never seen Svenja before. They all did that. Who’s the new woman at her side? It was one of the reasons that Rebekka didn’t like to make the scene. She always felt like a visitor to an incestuous village.

Since their last phone call, she’d thought about Carolin a lot; sometimes it felt like she was thinking about her constantly. Staring at Carolin, she saw how her girlfriend’s fingers kneaded her bottom – and couldn’t stand it anymore. “I’ll be back in a sec –” She nodded to Svenja and disappeared in the direction of the bathroom.

Carolin had to follow Ina, who whipped her around enthusiastically since the beginning of the new song. In the process she lost sight of Rebekka. When she looked back over, Rebekka had vanished. Only her blonde girlfriend with the wildly flying hair was still dancing, with – if Carolin saw rightly – three other women at the same time, all of whom were vying for her attentions. She seemed to enjoy it a great deal.

Oh, Rebekka , thought Carolin. Is that the right woman for you? She looked around for Rebekka, to the extent that was possible while dancing with Ina, but she couldn’t spot Rebekka. Maybe she left , she thought. Because of me? I hope not.

The energetic tune sapped the dancers so much in a few minutes that they all seemed happy when it ended, and they could take themselves to the bar or to the drinks at their tables. The dance floor emptied, except for Rebekka’s girlfriend and a couple of other obviously athletic diehards who were kicking it up another notch with the next song.

“Are you as thirsty as I am?” asked Ina. She turned halfway toward the bar.

“Oh . . . oh, yeah,” nodded Carolin. “Definitely. But just water. Otherwise I’ll collapse.”

“Okay.” Ina bounded off toward the oasis and spoke to the bartender.

Carolin continued to scan the crowd for Rebekka, but it seemed that she had indeed left. With a sigh, Carolin went to the ladies’ room, to get rid of the old water before letting the new in.

In the back of the pub, it was very dark. As always, a few necking couples had ducked back there, to pursue activities that wouldn’t tolerate even the limited illumination of the dance floor. Carolin heard sighing and moaning sounds, as well as a zipper’s rasp.

Feeling herself getting hot, she smiled. Maybe later, she and Ina would step back here, too, if the way home seemed too far – quite probably, in fact. She got in line for the bathroom. It took a while for her to get in and back out again. Ina would be expecting her by now. She tried to hurry, but was distracted by a drop of water on her shoe. She hadn’t paid attention when washing her hands. Oh, well, it was only –

“Oops, excuse me.” She had just bumped into someone leaning against the pay phone alcove. The next moment, her knees started to shake. “Rebekka . . .” she whispered. She didn’t need to see her; she could smell her. Her scent was unmistakable.

Rebekka turned around slowly. “Carolin . . .” Her voice sounded toneless.

Carolin swallowed, cleared her throat. “Nice . . . nice to see you here.”

“You can see me?” This time, Rebekka’s voice sounded amused.

No, I can feel you, I can smell you , Carolin thought with a pounding heart. It was pounding all the way up in her throat. She laughed a bit bashfully. “Obviously, you don’t always have to see someone to recognize them,” she replied offhandedly, as though it were nothing but an innocent remark.

“So it seems,” said Rebekka. She indicated the dance floor, a blur of barely perceptible motion. “The music’s started up again.”

“Yes.” Carolin stayed where she was. “Rebekka, I –”

Rebekka’s shape, still just a black silhouette in front of flickering lights, moved slightly.

“I . . .” Carolin stretched out a hand to touch Rebekka. She felt the soft fabric of Rebekka’s jacket. Despite the sweat-inducing activities of the dance floor, Rebekka hadn’t taken it off.

Rebekka seemed to hover before her like an apparition, without a distinct form, almost without a body. But under that jacket was an arm, Rebekka’s warm, pulsing arm, which now moved toward Carolin, reached her, stroked gently along her side.

Carolin jerked as if electrocuted, as though the fabric was insufficient to insulate her from the force of the dangerous current.

Rebekka bent forward, and, as if in slow motion, their lips met.

Carolin felt herself approaching a swoon, could prevent it only because she was holding tight to Rebekka. Rebekka’s soft, satin lips were like the irresistible call of the sirens, rendering her defenseless and obedient, obedient and – insane.

Insanity , Carolin thought in earnest. This is insane. It really was insane to stand here with Rebekka while Ina was out there waiting for her with a drink, completely innocent and suspecting nothing amiss.

For an eternity, they seemed to hover outside of time, in the universe of love, completely uncoupled from earthly obligations. Earth – did that even exist anymore?

They barely touched one another. Only their lips, and one hand each, softly stroking the other’s side.

A silence only they shared, a stillness blocking out anything else, was broken by a shout.

Rebekka straightened with a jolt, all contact ended at a stroke. Carolin felt Rebekka’s hip slip away beneath her hand, like sand that couldn’t be held. The empty feeling left in its wake was real.

A woman near them shrieked. It was lust or hysterical laughter, impossible to tell which, but it had torn them from their castle in the clouds, from their space outside of space.

“Rebekka, please . . .” whispered Carolin. It was as if her umbilical cord was being cut, what it must have felt like at her birth, only this time she felt and remembered it. She remembered that singular feeling of togetherness that had bound her and Rebekka for one moment, that had been so calming, as soothing as a sweet dream from which she never wanted to wake. Yet wake she did, and what remained was a vague sense of loss.

Rebekka cleared her throat. “Your girlfriend must be expecting you back by now.”

Carolin shut her eyes and opened them again. Rebekka must have returned to Earth faster than she had. They were no longer alone, no longer unbound, no longer free of all commitments. “Yours, too,” she replied, composed.

Rebekka had no answer.

Carolin turned around, which cost her more effort than she would ever have believed herself capable of, and went back to the dance floor.

“Well, I thought I was going to have to post a want ad.” Svenja greeted Rebekka cheerfully, visibly flushed and not particularly displeased with Rebekka’s absence. “Where were you hiding all that time?”

Rebekka nodded toward the restroom.

“Line a mile long, hmm?” Svenja surmised. “That’s always the worst thing about these events. Guys can just disappear around the corner, but us?” She laughed. “Or we could just go right home. What do you think?”

Rebekka’s eyebrows rose. “That’s what you’ve been begging me for, for two weeks? To dance for barely five minutes?”

Svenja screwed up her mouth mischievously. “Do you think it was really the dancing I was begging you for? And it’s been more than five minutes. You were gone quite a while.” She cast a glance around, and several women seemed to wink back at her.

“I don’t think you were too bored,” Rebekka remarked dryly.

“You’d hardly expect that of me, would you?” Svenja’s eyes twinkled. “After all, I’m known for not boring people, not myself or anyone else. Or would you disagree?” Her hips pressed against Rebekka’s, who stood inert, motionless, staring into space.

Svenja’s hand stroked Rebekka’s hip, then over her groin toward her center. “If only I knew what you were thinking about,” she murmured curiously. “Or should I say, who you were thinking about?”

Rebekka jerked as Svenja reached her middle and tried to caress her between her legs. She stepped to the side. “I’m just tired,” she said. “I was at work until an hour ago.”

Svenja rolled her eyes. “That’s your excuse for everything. If you can’t come up with a better defense . . .”

“It’s not an excuse or a defense. I was working, as you know perfectly well,” Rebekka replied angrily.

“Sure, sure, darling.” Svenja seemed not to want to blow it with Rebekka, and backed down. She was still hoping to get a thing or two out of the evening, and calculated that it wasn’t a good idea to upset Rebekka. She rose slightly up on tiptoe and breathed a kiss onto Rebekka’s closed lips. “Have something to drink, you’ll feel better.”

“I’m not thirsty,” said Rebekka, and her voice sounded forbidding.

Svenja’s expression changed from one of playful teasing to the curiosity of a hunting dog. There was most definitely something going on, and she wanted to find out what. “Then maybe something different?” she whispered seductively. “Something more fun?” Again, she pressed her hips so close against Rebekka’s that an onlooker could have been forgiven for thinking they were one person.

“I –” Rebekka broke off as she saw two women disappearing into the back room, where she’d just come from. Back where the woman had cried out . . . in lust, Rebekka was quite certain of that. And soon, a similar cry might find its way out of there, from Carolin, who had just melted into the darkness on the arm of her girlfriend. Rebekka closed her eyes briefly and opened them again. “Yes.” She looked at Svenja. “Your place or mine?”

The corners of Svenja’s mouth seemed to do a suppressed little dance, because she didn’t want to show too clearly how much she enjoyed her triumph. She’d save that for later. “My place, if you don’t mind. I don’t find much pleasure in your spartan amenities, as you know. You really could stand to get yourself a bigger apartment – and I’d be happy to help you pick out the furniture.” She curled her lips wryly.

“My apartment’s big enough,” said Rebekka, “and I’m hardly ever home, anyway. The furniture I have is plenty for me.”

Svenja sighed. “For you, but not for me. So –?” She looked inquiringly at Rebekka.

Rebekka nodded. “Let’s go.”

At the door, she glanced back one more time, but the darkness had swallowed everything; nothing in the back of the café was visible from that distance.

Briefly, she hesitated, but really, there was no point.

She pulled herself together and followed Svenja out.