'Katrine.'
'Hm?'Her blue eyes were innocent-blue and glazed, a child's eyes, ready for a fight.
'Isit safe to work here?'
Katrinegave a slow nod.
'BecauseI'm over fifty and would like to imagine I will be here until I'm sixty-seven. Ilike travel agency work. I like the fringe benefits. I like flying to Sydneyfor next to nothing. And I'm not interested in taking early retirement becauseyou're incapable of distinguishing between old friends and old lovers.'
'Elise
'Ihate to have to say what I'm going to say now,' Elise continued. 'I don't knowif I can express myself in a befitting manner, either. I thought we were goingto be robbed. I'm all shaky and my stomach hurts.'
Katrinetilted her head. 'I'm sorry,' she said. 'But I had no idea…'
'Theman who was here,' Elise interrupted with force. 'He's the nearest I have cometo what I would describe as a thug.' She didn't give Katrine, who had raisedboth palms in defence, a chance. 'You and I have never talked about the past,'Elise persisted, but she was full of regret when she saw the effect her wordswere having. 'We don't need to talk about the past, not even now, but I wouldlike to know whether I can feel safe working here. If not, I'll have to takefurther steps. Has this roughneck got anything to do with your past?'
Katrinesmiled with the same glazed, light blue, childlike eyes. And Elise could havebitten off her tongue. She should never have asked in that way. Katrine laugheda nervous, artificial laugh and reassured her: 'No, Elise, he has nothing to dowith my so-called past.' And Elise knew Katrine had lied. That was why sheblamed herself. Katrine had lied and now they were moving into terrain whereshe had no wish to be with this young woman. She felt she lacked words andcould see Katrine was aware of this shortcoming; from Katrine's face it wasclear she realized Elise had seen through the lie. Silence hung in the room.Katrine made no attempt to retract the lie, and Elise did not want to wait forthe sound of cars and trams to penetrate the window, making the situationworkaday and wearisome – for that reason she interposed: 'So next time he couldjust as easily come in and attack me?'
'Ofcourse not.'
Elisebreathed in. 'So he's only interested in you?'
Katrinelooked away. Elise waited.
'Yes.He is someone from my past,' she conceded at last.
Elisebreathed out and closed her eyes. In a way this admission was the mostimportant thing that had happened so far today; the admission was moreimportant than the incident with the man. The admission made it possible forthe balance between them to be re-established. More than that, the relationshipbetween them was no longer threatened by lies. 'Thank God,' she mumbled,unlocking the door and strolling back to her chair. 'Thank God.'
Thedoor jangled. The two women were startled. They looked at each other and Elisefelt her mouth go dry.
Butit was not the man returning. The customer who opened the door turned out to bea young woman wanting Mediterranean travel brochures.
Thenext few hours were hectic, and even though it was a quite normal Saturday withquite normal Saturday tasks, sluggish computers and indecisive customers, Elisefelt a little shudder go down her back every time the door opened. Every timethe familiar jangle sounded, she peered up at the customer and glanced over atKatrine who, irrespective of whether she was busy or not, was sitting ready tomeet her gaze with neutral, light blue eyes.
Itwas almost two o' clock before the room was quiet again. Elise swung her chairround to face Katrine, took a deep breath, but then paused.
'Iknow what you're going to say,' Katrine said, massaging her temples. 'You wantme to ring the police.'
'Don'tyou think you should?' Elise said in a low voice. 'He threatened you.'
Katrinenodded. 'I need to think a bit,' she said.
'Katrine…'Elise started.
'Please,'Katrine retorted. 'Let me have a think!'
'Whatdid he want?'
Katrinewent quiet.
'Ishe an ex-boyfriend?'
'Hemight have considered himself one once, a long time ago.'
'Sohe's jealous?'
'Believeme, this has nothing to do with love.' Katrine sighed. 'He and a load of otherpeople are just shadows for me now. It's funny, but until he walked throughthat door I had forgotten what he looked like.'
'What'shis name?'
Katrinehad to puzzle for a few seconds. 'Raymond,' she said at length. 'Just imagine,I had even forgotten that.'
'Butwhat did he want?'
Katrinestood up. 'I promise I'll tell you,' she said. 'But not this minute. I need tothink; I'll have to ask for some help to know how to tackle this. Then Ipromise I'll tell you.'
Elisenodded slowly. 'Fine,' she said. 'What are you going to do this evening?'
'I'mgoing to do something I have next to no interest in doing.'
Elisesmiled and at once pictured Katrine's skinhead boyfriend. 'Are you going tofinish with him?'
Katrinesmiled and shook her head. 'With Ole? It'll be him who does that with me, Isuppose. But he's accompanying me at any rate.'
'Whereto?'
'To aparty.'
'Itmust be quite a party if you're that keen to go.'
'That'sthe point,' Katrine said with a heavy sigh. 'I have absolutely no interest ingoing, but I have to.'
Chapter Two
Olehad eased his body from a recumbent into a sedentary position on the sofa. It wasa terrible sofa to sit on, one Katrine had bought at a flea market, a 70s sofabed, with a solid, uncomfortable pine frame and a seat that was so deep it wasimpossible to sit with your back supported; you either had to lie you had tosit with your legs beneath you. It irritated him that she had this sofa. Itirritated him to think that all her visitors had to confront the same problem:Shall I lie down or what? When Katrine sat on the sofa she always drew her legsup beneath her – she invited a physical intimacy in everything she did. Hecould feel his irritation growing as he thought about this too, that Katrinewas a woman who invited a physicality in all situations. A pling sounded on theTV. Someone had put Stavanger Viking ahead. But he was watching Molde playingagainst Stabæk. Crap match. Frode Olsen, the goalkeeper, might just aswell have started doing gymnastics on the crossbar, and the cameramen seemed tobe more interested in the trainers on the Molde bench than the ball. Katrinesauntered by, not wearing clothes of course, her hair wet from the shower. Sheturned down the volume without a word to him.
'Whatis it now?' he asked.
'Nothing.'
'Butwhy can't I watch TV?'
'MyGod, you can watch TV. But you can manage with the volume down can't you? Ihave to make a call.'
Withthat she was gone, slamming the hall door behind her. The contours of her bodybecame a blurred, pale shadow behind the door's frosted glass. He could see hersitting beside the telephone. This was Katrine in a nutshelclass="underline" sitting naked,phoning and making sure he couldn't hear. A form of behaviour and secrecy hecould not stand. But now he didn't know what provoked him more, her nonchalantnakedness or her slamming the door, as though he had no right to know what shewas doing. He felt a sudden fury surge up inside him; he got up and tore openthe door. 'You're the one who's loud!'
Shepeered up at him with the telephone receiver tucked under her chin. He stoodfollowing the line of the cable coiled around one of her breasts. It lookedlike a pose for a men's magazine.
'Andwhy aren't you dressed?' he barked.
'Mydear Ole, I've just had a shower.'
'Butyou could get dressed, couldn't you?'
'Ole,I live here. I do as I like.'
'ButI'm here now.'
Sheput down the telephone and leered. 'You're not usually that bothered whetherI'm dressed or not.' She rose to her feet, took the towel hanging from a hookon the wall, made a big show of wrapping it around herself, so that it half-coveredher breasts and reached mid-thigh.