Roachville

The next morning was a Tuesday and I had the feeling that all sorts of things could happen after my evening with Ely. But until then I had to get on with my life, as if it was a day just like any other. After breakfast, I did a final proof of the accessories for pets translation. I went through the document, changing formulas, correcting the grammar and running the final spell-check. Before emailing the translation back, I prepared the invoice and sent it, too, along with a polite message.

Ely and I had agreed to meet up later in the evening and I had some time to kill until then. I tried not to obsess about him, his eyes, his mouth, his hands, his chest, his shoulders, etc.

I checked my account – not looking good, so I spent some time sending reminders to customers who had forgotten to pay me. A gigantic pain, which I executed like a Ninja on a mission with Anna Calvi playing very loud in the background. Once that was done, I whizzed around the house and by 11 o’clock I had vacuumed and mopped, put a wash on and tidied up. Last but not least, I sorted out the pile of paperwork that had accumulated over the last few weeks. With the patience of a Buddhist monk, I paid bills and replied to administrative letters; on a small, green square of sticky paper, I wrote a note underlined in vibrant yellow reminding myself to get my taxes in order before it was too late and stuck it to the corner of the monitor.

It was with a sense of immense relief and achievement that I exited my office and closed the door behind me.

At that very moment the phone rang. I engaged in a staring competition with the unknown number. I lost and accepted the call.

A pleasant, masculine voice came through.

‘Hello, Annika, this is Kenneth Tann. Do you remember me?’

I closed my eyes and tried hard to put aside the very realistic dream-images of me sitting on his lap.

‘Sure, Mr Tann, I remember you.’

‘Please, call me Kenneth.’

‘Okay.’ I cleared my throat.

‘Annika, is there any chance we could meet at Hotel Blue in about forty-five minutes?’

‘Well, I don’t know...’ Should I go? Would he know something was up if I didn’t?

‘It would be very helpful if you could make it.’

‘Well… okay…’

‘Wonderful!’ He cut me off. ‘I’ll see you then. Same place.’

‘But…’

My words faltered at the impatient click. I blew air out of my mouth for the longest time. I could choose to stay home and hope it would all go away. Kenneth Tann hadn’t told me what he wanted, but I knew. Did he know that I knew? I had to go. I would act cool and innocent, as if I were just going to your typical interpreting assignment.

I didn’t dress smart this time, but as I had last week, I opted for the bus. Funny how my green principles were stronger at the beginning of the week but evaporated like water after a long hot spell as I got closer to the weekend.

I took my mp3 player, the mobile bug, the mini pepper spray and an array of plastic cards. What could go wrong? It was early summer and the sun was getting hotter. Still, I felt a slight chill in the air – in my own personal air. As I waited for the bus, I mulled over Phuong’s warning. Under his dashing camouflage, Kenneth Tann was a nasty piece of work… but he did seem so charming… although he hadn’t been able to disguise his frosty attitude towards Phuong. Those two were not going to leave me be and soon I would have to choose a side. But for the moment, I needed to remain on high paranoia.

The bus turned up and I found a seat at the back. I put on my headphones, rested my head against the window and let the music fill the void. On the other side of the dirty glass, tiny tufts of weeds pushed their way out of the pavement through cracks in the concrete. I indulged in a brief end-of-the-world scenario and once again made sure that the pepper spray in my handbag was easy to reach.