14

She quietly tapped her thin finger to the beat of the music on the strap of the bag folded on her lap. And with a detached gaze she glanced at the landscape passing by outside the car window. I had to try to impose my company on her. But even when she agreed, as soon as they entered the city, she again began to ask to be dropped off at the nearest metro entrance.

It was exciting, pleasing, and at the same time a little frustrating at the coolness with which Annalia reacted to him. She did not devour him with her eyes, like other women, did not respond to attempts to flirt with her. And the more indifferent she behaved, the more she scattered his interest.

“Turn right here, please,” she said laconically, as usual, emphatically polite and strictly to the point.

“What a dense area,” Kurt said, his gaze sweeping over the empty sidewalks near the old, repeatedly restored houses. — Isn’t it scary to live here?

- Against. I find this place very cozy and, thanks to its decent neighbors, safe.