Borderless Deceit by Adrian de Hoog Page B

places her glass in an empty spot on the shelf, takes Eduardo’s and gets it out of the way as well.
    Rachel, is it happening?
    It is
.
    Rachel lifts her arms to take hold of the back of Eduardo’s head. He pulls her to him by the hips. A long kiss. Many long kisses. Rachel undoes a button on Eduardo’s shirt. He soon slips her pullover over her head and unhooks her bra. The rest of the undressing is done in parallel, taking no time at all. Hands run freely up and down backs, upand down, again and again, massaging buttocks, touching breasts. Voices murmur.
    I am so happy, Rachel
.
    I want to feel you
.
    Such bliss. You are truly beautiful
.
    Touch me
.
    Let’s go to my bed
    Do you have a condom?
    Oh yes. I did think of it. I did think…I did hope it would be like this
.
    In the following weeks, Rachel’s work prevents Eduardo seeing her as often as he wants. But the trip to Rome is a success. On following weekends, they visit Eduardo’s family connections, in Viennese mansions, or country villas surrounded by vineyards, on a yacht on the Danube, at a hunting estate in the Alps. Eduardo and Rachel. Each makes the other look yet more appealing. His circle, offspring of the super rich who live to exercise an ownership of beauty, accepts her, but only superficially. Yet, their heads turn when Eduardo leads Rachel from the room. They imagine two bodies slipping into bed; they imagine the coupling.
    This is Eduardo’s world – intricately connected monied elites who stick to themselves behind walls of wealth – and Rachel studies it.
    Eduardo likes fine dining, which is what they do on weekends when there are no invitations. And on Saturday afternoons in his apartment he instructs in Latin dance. They practise the moves for perhaps an hour before they samba their way to his bed. It’s like this for months. And then…
    Rachel, I must tell you, I would like us to spend more time together
.
    More?
    Yes. It is becoming awkward
.
    Haven’t we found a good balance?
    No. I have to say, it is not right for me. I do not feel well with you not by me. We spend not even all the weekends together. I know you have to have your work. But we must decide on a different way. As things are, I believe our relationship is too artificial. We must find a solution
.
    Eduardo, I’m happy with how things are
.
    Two weeks later, Eduardo controlling his fury, Rachel stayingreasonable, the affair ends. For several months Rachel dedicates herself to international negotiations, but change is in the air when at a large diplomatic dinner Rachel is seated at one end of a long table and a blond man with a taut frame and impassive face occupies a place far over on the other side. Afterwards, standing in the salon in a small group, balancing a demi-tasse, she is introduced to Pekka Svedlund. Pekka listens to the rapid-fire conversation surrounding Rachel. It isn’t long before he backs off and melts away.
    Weeks later there’s a going-away party for a Swedish councillor. Rachel is invited. Pekka, also at the party, orbits aimlessly before joining a lively cluster that has Rachel at its centre. He nods her a reserved greeting, says little, listens to the talk and once more disappears into the crowd.
    In the following weeks Rachel and Pekka sometimes spy one another in the hallways of the UN conference centre, usually heading in opposite directions, and nod distant hellos. At another large reception, he again seeks Rachel out, but the moment they begin talking, another chatty traveller of the diplomatic circuits breaks in, and once more Pekka slinks off. But now, during their hallway greetings, they stop to say hello. Sometimes they meet for a morning coffee before the committee work starts. Eventually Pekka asks Rachel if she would join him for a drink on Friday after work.
    Friday, says Rachel, I’m free.
    Pekka lives in a village a half hour’s drive outside Vienna. The house is nineteenth century