changed my mind. I would tell her later, if we ever got to know each other better, which I really hoped we would.
The driver had seen to all the baggage and had locked the luggage compartment. We put out our cigarettes and climbed into the bus. I didnât expect to see Armann in thereâI hadnât noticed him come through customsâbut I looked around for him before I sat down. He would obviously have to wait for the next bus; somehow I couldnât imagine that he would be picked up in a private car.
It seemed natural that we sit together, the blonde one and I; the only seats that were vacant were near the front of the bus.
âMy name is Emil,â I said when we had sat down. I thought it was about time I introduced myself.
âGreta,â she replied, combing her hair back with her hands and tying it into a knot. âWhat were you doing in London?â
I told her that I had been shopping.
âFor some company?â
While I explained to her what kind of shopping trip I had been on, I took two cans of beer out of my duty-free bag and offered her one. I was pleasantly surprised when she said yes.
âBut what were you doing?â I asked.
âSmuggling dope,â she said with a grin. âNo, I was just visiting my sister who lives in London.â
I hadnât noticed how beautiful her smile was and how full her lips were when she smiled at me on the plane. Despite the fact that fifteen years had passed, I thought her face seemed younger now, and I secretly tried to imagine her with ruffled hair, as she was when she emerged from the childrenâs bedroom. There was something very sexy about her eyes, as if she was drowsy or, at least, not very wide awake, which, on the other hand, was a contradiction, because she seemed to me to be very smart and clearly had a sense of humor.
âWere you there for long?â I asked, just to say something.
âYes and no,â she answered. âI would have liked to stay longer but maybe not with my sister. I like being in London.â
âBut not at your sisterâs?â
âYes, of course itâs good to stay with oneâs sister in London. But I wouldnât have minded if she was sitting here now beside you instead of me.â
I didnât quite know what to say to this.
âI didnât mean it like that,â she said, as if she had read my thoughts. âI would just have liked to stay longer in her flat, that is without her being there as well. But, what did you say, were you just shopping? Not doing anything?â
âI was visiting a friend who is at university there,â I said. âJust disrupting his studies, heâs learning economics. But besides that, I was just wasting money. Or converting it into something else; one doesnât really waste money by buying something with it, of course it is still in circulation.â
âItâs still in circulation?â
âAt least it doesnât disappear,â I said, beginning to regret my stupid attempt to be clever. âI mean the money I took with me, itâs in London now,â I explained and tried to sound as if I was deliberately making a poor joke. âI didnât really waste it, I just exchanged it for something else.â
âI see,â Greta said with a good-natured smile.
âWell, I won the lottery a few weeks ago,â I was quick to add, trying to steer the conversation away from this silly remark about wasting money. I realized straight away that I had made matters worse; it was stupidly naive to tell a complete stranger that one had won the lottery. But her reaction didnât seem to indicate that I had made a fool of myself:
âMay I ask how much you won?â she asked keenly.
âA million.â
âA million?â
âYes, one million.â
âThen what? You went and wasted the lot in London? I mean, did you take it all with you to London?â
We both laughed. I