(Note: Iâve written âPamela.â So Iâm expecting an equally serious answer.)
One minute later
Re:
Nothing!
Two minutes later
Re:
What, nothing at all? Are you being serious?
Ten minutes later
Subject: (no subject)
Dear Leo,
I hope you agree that âNothing!â canât be everything, I mean, that canât be your whole answer. My question was an attempt to establish WHY it is that âPamâ knows what she knows about us, and if itâs the case that she knows nothing, WHY in the world does she not? Well, thatâs obvious: because you havenât told her anything. But WHY NOT? Thatâs my question for today. (No, not tomorrowâs, todayâs!) And Iâm telling you now: if you donât volunteer the answer, Iâll fly up to flat 15 and extract it from you personally. I need it, I need to know, and I need to go and share it with my therapist first thing tomorrow.
One minute later
Re:
I have you here before me, Emmi! Whenever you demand something (from me) with such urgency, you look me straight in the face and your eyes are transformed into greenish yellow arrows. You could stab somebody to death with a look like that.
Forty seconds later
Re:
Thatâs a good observation! And before I leap at you with bared teeth, Iâll blink three times. One. Two. Two and a quarter. Two and a half ⦠Iâm waiting, Leo!
Ten minutes later
Re:
I didnât tell Pamela anything about us in Boston because I considered our âusâ to be a closed matter. And after Boston I didnât tell her anything about us because I hadnât told her anything about us in Boston. I couldnât start in the middle. Either you tell crazy stories like ours from the beginning or not at all.
One minute later
Re:
You could have brought her up to speed.
Forty seconds later
Re:
True.
Fifty seconds later
Re:
But it wouldnât have been worth it, because you wanted to bring this whole âcrazyâ business with me to an end (or rather, not begin it all over again) as quickly as possible.
Thirty seconds later
Re:
No.
Twenty seconds later
Re:
What do you mean, âNoâ?
Thirty seconds later
Re:
Your conclusion is wrong.
Forty seconds later
Re:
Then please give me a correct one!
Two minutes later
Subject: (no subject)
No, Leo, not tomorrow! (Watch out, Iâm about to leap!)
Three minutes later
Re:
I didnât tell her anything about us because she wouldnât have understood. And if she had understood, then it wouldnât have been the truth. Itâs impossible to understand the truth about us, you see. I basically donât understand it myself.
Thirty seconds later
Re:
Come on, Leo, of course you understand it. In fact you understand it extremely well. You understand it well enough to keep it to yourself. You donât want to make âPamâ feel insecure.
Forty seconds later
Re:
Perhaps.
One minute later
Re:
But it wouldnât be a good idea to begin a relationship with a woman carrying a secret about a crazy story with someone else, Leo my love.
Fifty seconds later
Re:
The secret is safely hidden away, Emmi dear.
Two minutes later
Re:
Of course, your closets full of feelings. Stuff Emmi into one of them. Shut the door. Turn the key as far as it goes. Set the temperature inside to minus twenty. Done. And make sure you defrost it every few months. Good night. Itâs cold, Iâm getting under the covers.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The following evening
Subject: My question
Dear Emmi,
Are we not going to ask each other a question today? Is the game over? Are you pissed off? (Three question marks, one questionârules as interpreted by Emmi Rothner.)
Two hours later
Subject: My question
What is the truth about us, Leo?
Fifteen minutes later
Re:
The truth about us? Youâve got a family that youâre very fond of, a husband who loves you, and a marriage thatâs still salvageable. And
One minute later
Re:
Nothing!
Two minutes later
Re:
What, nothing at all? Are you being serious?
Ten minutes later
Subject: (no subject)
Dear Leo,
I hope you agree that âNothing!â canât be everything, I mean, that canât be your whole answer. My question was an attempt to establish WHY it is that âPamâ knows what she knows about us, and if itâs the case that she knows nothing, WHY in the world does she not? Well, thatâs obvious: because you havenât told her anything. But WHY NOT? Thatâs my question for today. (No, not tomorrowâs, todayâs!) And Iâm telling you now: if you donât volunteer the answer, Iâll fly up to flat 15 and extract it from you personally. I need it, I need to know, and I need to go and share it with my therapist first thing tomorrow.
One minute later
Re:
I have you here before me, Emmi! Whenever you demand something (from me) with such urgency, you look me straight in the face and your eyes are transformed into greenish yellow arrows. You could stab somebody to death with a look like that.
Forty seconds later
Re:
Thatâs a good observation! And before I leap at you with bared teeth, Iâll blink three times. One. Two. Two and a quarter. Two and a half ⦠Iâm waiting, Leo!
Ten minutes later
Re:
I didnât tell Pamela anything about us in Boston because I considered our âusâ to be a closed matter. And after Boston I didnât tell her anything about us because I hadnât told her anything about us in Boston. I couldnât start in the middle. Either you tell crazy stories like ours from the beginning or not at all.
One minute later
Re:
You could have brought her up to speed.
Forty seconds later
Re:
True.
Fifty seconds later
Re:
But it wouldnât have been worth it, because you wanted to bring this whole âcrazyâ business with me to an end (or rather, not begin it all over again) as quickly as possible.
Thirty seconds later
Re:
No.
Twenty seconds later
Re:
What do you mean, âNoâ?
Thirty seconds later
Re:
Your conclusion is wrong.
Forty seconds later
Re:
Then please give me a correct one!
Two minutes later
Subject: (no subject)
No, Leo, not tomorrow! (Watch out, Iâm about to leap!)
Three minutes later
Re:
I didnât tell her anything about us because she wouldnât have understood. And if she had understood, then it wouldnât have been the truth. Itâs impossible to understand the truth about us, you see. I basically donât understand it myself.
Thirty seconds later
Re:
Come on, Leo, of course you understand it. In fact you understand it extremely well. You understand it well enough to keep it to yourself. You donât want to make âPamâ feel insecure.
Forty seconds later
Re:
Perhaps.
One minute later
Re:
But it wouldnât be a good idea to begin a relationship with a woman carrying a secret about a crazy story with someone else, Leo my love.
Fifty seconds later
Re:
The secret is safely hidden away, Emmi dear.
Two minutes later
Re:
Of course, your closets full of feelings. Stuff Emmi into one of them. Shut the door. Turn the key as far as it goes. Set the temperature inside to minus twenty. Done. And make sure you defrost it every few months. Good night. Itâs cold, Iâm getting under the covers.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The following evening
Subject: My question
Dear Emmi,
Are we not going to ask each other a question today? Is the game over? Are you pissed off? (Three question marks, one questionârules as interpreted by Emmi Rothner.)
Two hours later
Subject: My question
What is the truth about us, Leo?
Fifteen minutes later
Re:
The truth about us? Youâve got a family that youâre very fond of, a husband who loves you, and a marriage thatâs still salvageable. And
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