Isobel and Emile by Alan Reed Page B

the feeling of my body sinking into this place. But I’m so tired. I need to sleep.
    Where are you?

9
    Nicolas and Emile are sitting on a streetcar.
    Emile is sitting next to the window. He is looking at the window.
    He does not see the things going by. He is not looking at them. There are cracks in the window. He is looking at them.
    Nicolas is sitting beside him. He is looking at the people in the streetcar. He is trying to catch someone’s eye. He does not care whose. He looks at the other people in the streetcar. He tries to make one of them look at him.
    No one in the streetcar wants to look at him. He tries anyway. He thinks it is fun. The other people in the streetcar do not. The streetcar is moving. It rocks from side to side as it moves.
    Nicolas and Emile are sitting beside each other. The streetcar is moving. Nicolas taps Emile’s leg. Emile looks at Nicolas.
    Nicolas says: ‘Come on.’
    Nicolas stands up. He walks through the streetcar to where the doors are. There are other people standing in the streetcar. Nicolas walks past them. He goes to where the doors are.
    Emile follows him. Emile holds on to the backs of the seats as he walks. The streetcar is still moving. He is afraid he will stumble.
    The streetcar stops. Nicolas and Emile get off the streetcar.
    They are standing on a corner. They walk down the street and then they turn onto another street. They walk down this street.
    They stop.
    Nicolas looks at Emile. He smiles. He says: ‘Are you ready?’
    Emile nods his head.
    They are standing in front of a door. It is between two shops. On one side is a shop that sells magazines. On the other side is a tailor’s shop.
    Both of the shops are closed. There are bars over their windows. It is late in the evening. They will be open again in the morning.
    There is a doorbell beside the door. Nicolas presses the doorbell. He presses it and then he leans against the door frame.
    He puts one of his hands in his pockets. He cannot put his other hand in his pocket. He is carrying something in a paper bag.
    Emile’s hands are already in his pockets. They stand in front of the door.
    They wait.
    They hear someone coming down the stairs on the other side of the door. Emile fidgets with his cap. The door opens. Agatha is standing in the doorway.
    She says: ‘Well. Hello.’
    She moves so that she is leaning against the door. She says: ‘Come in.’
    Nicolas and Emile squeeze past Agatha. She is wearing a red dress. It is a short red dress. Her legs are bare.
    Agatha closes the door. Nicolas and Emile are standing with her at the bottom of a staircase.
    She touches the small of Emile’s back with her hand. She presses there.
    She says: ‘Come on up, you two.’
    Emile moves forward when Agatha touches him. He starts to walk up the stairs. Agatha is behind him. She guides him with her hand.
    Nicolas smiles. He shakes his head. He follows them up the stairs.
    Agatha’s apartment is at the top of the stairs.
    Agatha is at the top of the stairs. Nicolas and Emile are standing with her. She smiles to them. It is a wolfish smile. She opens the door. Nicolas and Emile go in.
    There are other people in the apartment. There are a lot of other people in the apartment. There is music playing.
    Agatha is having a party.
    Nicolas and Emile take their jackets off. They look for a place to put them.
    They are standing by the door. Someone bumps into Nicolas. She almost spills her drink on him. She says: ‘Excuse me.’
    Agatha looks at Nicolas and Emile. They are holding their jackets in their hands. They look like they do not know what to do with them. Agatha says: ‘Put them in the bedroom.’
    She points to where the bedroom is.
    Nicolas and Emile go into Agatha’s bedroom. It is not a large room. There is a large bed in it. There are coats piled on top of the bed. The room smells like cigarette smoke and Agatha’s perfume.
    They look around the room.