‘No,’ said the man, who’d called himself Prim. He steered the car between new, modern commercial buildings dotting the flat, open landscape on both sides of the road towards the tip of Snarøya. ‘I live in the city centre, but I used to walk my dog here in the evenings after the airport closed. There was no one here then, and I could let my dog run free. Out there.’ He pointed towards the sea in the west and ate some more from the packet of crisps or whatever it was; he hadn’t offered any to her at any rate.
‘But that’s the marshlands preserve,’ Helene said. ‘You weren’t afraid the dog would attack birds nesting there?’
‘Sure, and it happened a couple of times. I tried to find comfort by telling myself it was the natural order of things and that we can’t stand in the way of that. But of course, that’s not true.’
‘It’s not?’
‘No. Mankind is also a product of nature, and we aren’t the only organism doing our utmost to destroy the planet as we know it. But just as Mother Nature has granted us the intelligence to commit collective suicide, she has also gifted us self-reflection. Perhaps that can save us. I hope so. In any case, I stood in the way of nature and began to use this.’
He pointed towards the grab handle above her door, and Helene became aware of a retractable dog lead with a clasp collar dangling from the end.
‘He was a good dog,’ he said. ‘I could sit in the car reading with the courtesy light on and the window open while he ran free, fifty metres in every direction. Dogs — and people — don’t need more. Many people don’t
Helene nodded. ‘All the same, some day they might want more and want to get away. What does the dog owner do then?’
‘I’ve no idea. My dog never wanted more.’ He had swung off the main road and onto a forest track. ‘What would you have done?’
‘Set it free,’ Helene said.
‘Even if you knew it wouldn’t survive alone out there?’
‘None of us survive.’
‘True,’ he said.
He slowed down. The road had ended. He switched off the engine and the headlights, and it turned pitch-black around them. She could hear the wind rustling through reeds, and between the trees they could see the sea and lights from the islands and headland further out.
‘Where are we?’
‘Just by the marshlands,’ he said. ‘That foreland there is Høvikodden, and the two islands are Borøya and Ostøya. Since they built houses out here this has become a popular place to walk. In the daytime it’s swarming with families. But at the moment, you and I have it completely to ourselves, Helene.’
He released his seat belt and turned to her.
Helene took a deep breath, closed her eyes and waited. ‘This is crazy,’ she said.
‘Crazy?’
‘I’m a married woman. This... is extremely bad timing.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I’m in the process of leaving my husband.’
‘Sounds to me like excellent timing.’
‘No.’ She shook her head without opening her eyes. ‘No, you don’t understand. If Markus found out about this before we discuss terms...’
‘Then you’ll get a few million less from him.’
‘Yes. What I’m doing now is plain stupid.’
‘So why are you doing it, do you think?’
‘I don’t know.’ She pressed her palms to her temples. ‘It’s like someone or something has taken over my mind.’ Just then she was struck by another thought. ‘What makes you think he has millions?’ She opened her eyes and looked at him. Yes, there was something familiar about him. Something in his eyes. ‘Were you at the party? Do you know him?’
He didn’t answer. Just smiled a little as he turned up the music. A theatrical vibrato singing something about scary monsters; she’d heard the song before but wasn’t able to place it.
‘The martini,’ she said with sudden certainty. ‘You were at Danielle’s. It was you who sent over that drink, wasn’t it?’
‘And what makes you think that?’
‘Standing behind me in the queue, coming over and sitting down, that’s not something you do during the interval at a play. That wasn’t by chance.’
He ran a hand through his hair and glanced in the mirror.
‘I confess,’ he said. ‘I’ve been watching you for a while. I’ve wanted to be alone with you. And now I am. So, what will we do?’
She drew a deep breath and unbuckled her own seat belt. ‘We’ll fuck,’ she said.
‘Unfair, isn’t it?’ Alexandra said. They had finished their meal and withdrawn to the restaurant bar. ‘I’ve always wanted a child but never had one. While you, who never wanted one...’ She snapped her fingers over her White Russian cocktail.
Harry took a sip of his water. ‘Life is rarely fair.’
‘And so
‘Gert.’
Alexandra could see by Harry’s face this was not something he wanted to talk about. Nevertheless — perhaps because she had drunk a little more than she should have — she continued.
