The Winter War by Philip Teir Page B

more of a hurry than Max. She wore the same chic black coat she’d had on when he saw her for the first time in the café, and a purple scarf. They watched the people walking past on the street, and Max lit a cigar.
    â€˜So where are you headed now?’ he asked.
    â€˜I suppose I should be getting back home. I have to write up this interview for Monday. It’ll be published next week. Could you read through it for me?’
    â€˜Sure, I’d be happy to. Unless there’s someone else who could do that.’
    â€˜Someone else?’
    â€˜A boyfriend, maybe?’
    Laura laughed. ‘Nope. No boyfriend. And even if I did have one, I think I can write my own articles without any help. I meant that you might want to read it to make sure all the facts are correct.’
    â€˜Oh, of course. I can do that.’
    She smiled at him. Max took her smile to mean that she didn’t think he was a total idiot. He earnestly wanted to stay right where he was.
    â€˜Actually, my wife is organising some kind of party for me, it’ll probably be awfully boring, but apparently I can’t get out of celebrating my birthday. You could come, if you like. I told her that I didn’t want any big production, but if I know my wife, she’s going to invite half the city. So it won’t matter if you don’t know anyone.’
    â€˜Maybe. But thanks for inviting me.’
    â€˜It would be really nice if you came. Something for me to look forward to. To be perfectly honest, I hate these kinds of social functions. You could offer me some moral support.’
    â€˜It’s nice of you to have such faith in me.’
    She gave him another smile. She had beautiful teeth. It was something he’d thought about all during lunch. If they hadn’t been standing outside on the street, he would have leaned down and kissed her.
    â€˜Strangely enough, that’s exactly how it feels. Like I have faith in you, I mean.’
    She shrugged. ‘That’s sweet of you. But now I’d really better get going.’
    She held out her hand, and Max took it, at the same time leaning down, as if to kiss her on the cheek.
    â€˜All right, see you!’ she said, stepping out of reach. He managed to catch the scent of her perfume.
    Then she was gone. For a moment Max didn’t move, hardly aware of the snow falling all around him. Suddenly Pekka Kantokorpi appeared half a metre away, along with the woman who was his lunch companion. Max greeted them with some reluctance.
    â€˜So, that was the journalist from Helsingin Sanomat ?’ queried Kantokorpi. ‘Nice-looking girl.’

eight
    EVA COULD HAVE STAYED IN London, saying that she couldn’t afford the expense or take the time to fly home until Christmas (which was true), but then her parents would have started worrying about her finances, and she didn’t want that. So when her mother phoned – Eva could hear Helen’s kids in the background – she promised to book a ticket on Norwegian Air so she could be home for her father’s birthday.
    â€˜Only two days? Can’t you stay a little longer?’ said her mother.
    â€˜I don’t know, Mum. I’ve got a lot of work to do.’
    â€˜Just tell me that you’re happy over there.’
    â€˜Yes, I’m happy.’
    â€˜Okay, okay. It’s your life. By the way, to change the subject … Don’t worry about getting a present. We’re going to buy him something from all of us. I was thinking of having a party here at home, nothing big, just a few colleagues and you girls, and maybe some of our friends.’
    When Katriina started talking like this, Eva would sometimes put the phone down on the table and pick it up again only when she could hear that the flood of words had stopped. She pictured Katriina lying on the sofa, wearing her reading glasses and paging through some women’s magazine as she talked, with her thoughts leaping from