For the past week I have not seen either Clare or her friend.

On the eighth day, I accidentally hit little Ann in a bookstore in Monmartra. She was alone. She pretended not to notice me bydto, which, frankly speaking, didn’t surprise me at all. I remembered that last example of our evening in Bagatel. The rose must have fallen out from under her belt, when a young woman knelt under a huge double. Because when she rose again, stinging her face in her palms, I saw that the flower was a flesh-colored flower that lay on the loose foliage. A stripper has doused it too: droplets of moisture sparkled in the petals. The wok foliage was all wet, which only seemed to be darker and more sparkling. A large drop rolled down on the petal of vygnutomy, so that after that fall to one of the dry leaves. It was smooth and flat, and when moisture baked on it, it formed like a mirror, disappearing in a few seconds.

The girl turned to the seller. It was a strange thing for me to hear how she argues with this person in earnest and firmly. She asked for a book that sold out from under the floor, but the emphasis on her testimony indicated that she knew about the availability of the book in the store. The shopkeeper, too, quickly ceased to cast out from himself a man of ignorance and took a book from a shelf hidden under a water heater. She paid off, not haggling.

I have proclaimed her in the doorway. She was forced to look into my eyes. I said:

- You do not know me?

She looked at me coldly.

- Why, y know, of course. But not as you think.

Right now, I realized that today everything will be in a different way. Therefore, I assured that I did not think about anything at all, and I followed her on the side.

- What do you want from me? - Nedpy Friendly she asked.

- Nothing, actually ... So just talk.

- I have no desire to talk to anyone, to the same, I am busy. I must immediately take the books. “She showed me a small bundle in the wrapper made by her seller.

- And the same? - I was interested. - Clap? The expression of the green eyes has become even more robust: they glimpsed as I had never seen before.

- I'm carrying her tomy, want it. This does not concern you.

I decided to get out of the situation with a smile and apologized. She already went further.

I felt very dissatisfied with this meeting. I was aware that I had no authority over this woman, but it seemed to me completely natural to have some privileges even in the absence of Claire. After all, they were given to me so favorably, and I myself did not ask for them at all. But as soon as I pondered this, the question arose whether I was too much of myself. The answer should have been positive.

Now I understand my mistake. I laughed at my own luposti, because to me, it seemed to me that the recent behavior of little Anne was completely natural and in itself so obvious that I would regard any withdrawal from him as something beyond comprehension. Situation, if judged, was not at all the same as I had imagined. I was excited and greeted. I decided not to think any more about these two girls, or about this odd story. Three days I waited. On the fourth day I called Claire.

I was sure that she was waiting for my call, although her voice at the other end of the wire was quite imperceptible. In an ambitious tone, she inquired about how I lived "ever since." I replied that it was good. I pampered about her own health, and then about the health of her friends.

- But ... what kind of friends are you talking about?

- About Ann, of course! Are you pranking me?

- Ann! Ah, ny yes. I forgot completely! If you want to talk to Ann, you would say that. I lend it to you, my dear, this is all EPE. If you wish, sleep with her as you want! When should I send it to you?

These words were pronounced with vigor, which seemed suspicious to me. I spoke in an equal tone and pretended to reiterate what was said to her as a joke, then reversed the conversation with this delicate subject, not daring to say a word about a new day.

Having hanged a trumpet, I thought about this ridiculous refusal. I really wanted little Ann, it was obvious. But it was terrible for me to be face to face with that strange, cold girl who I met with a yogurt book and with which I was afraid to have a complete fiasco, the existing situation meant so little to her. With the same success, I could get Claire! Or maybe the attitude that has developed in me, in the strength of its simplicity, still gives me the fortunes of a more rare character? And didn’t my desire for this, leaving me in the dark, dictated my choice? However, in any case, it was with Claire, I agreed to come to her house on Ryu Jacob, under the pretext of looking at those model photos, which she promised me to show me on the first day.

I again thought of a girl in a white dress, kneeling before a dubby, about growing up a girlfriend, falling on dry leaves under a dress, and about a rose with curls of petals, which sparkled pearls ran.