Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 47

VENICEBy ten that night, I've read the comments under that clip so many times I could recite them in my sleep, and every time I swear I'm done, my thumb sneaks back to the screen like a tongue to a broken tooth. I leave Grandma snoring with her mouth open and her braid across her chest, kiss her papery forehead, and go down the stairs because I can't stand to be shut in a lift with strangers.The rain has thinned to a drizzle. I push through the main doors with my coat half buttoned and my eyes on my shoes, and I'm three steps into the car park when my heart drops straight through the soles of my feet.He's standing by his car under the lamp.No umbrella. No coat. His shirt is plastered to his shoulders, his hair is flat across his forehead, and water runs off his chin in a thin, steady stream, and he's shivering so hard I can see it from here. He straightens when he sees me, but he doesn't come closer. He just stands there with his arms wrapped around himself like a kid who's been t

VENICEI answer Julian at six in the morning, before I can talk myself out of it. (Yes. Saturday at seven.) Then I sit on the edge of the bed with the phone in my lap and a ridiculous, nervous flutter in my stomach, because ever since I made the decision to leave, I've found that there's more outside this marriage, so much more. And the thought of it excites me more than anything else.When I get downstairs, Soren is already at the table.He should be in bed. Belle told him so twice, and I told him once, loudly, and he ignored us both. He's sitting there in a gray sweater with a blanket over his knees and a cup of tea going cold in front of him, his face as white as the tablecloth with his laptop up and running, and when I come in he tries to smile."Morning.""You should be upstairs." I can't help the chill in my voice, after last night, creating enough distance between us was neccesary. I couldn't let myself be swayed like I almost was."The fever's gone down. Belle took it twice

SORENLiz is still crying when I sit down beside her.It's the quiet kind now, and she's twisting my handkerchief into a rope between her fingers. I pour tea into a clean cup and push it across the table. Her hand shakes so badly the cup chatters on the saucer."Hey. Drink that.""I can't!" She presses the back of her wrist to her nose. "She hates me, Soren, and she's right to! Every time I come here I make it worse, and I still keep coming. What is wrong with me?""Nothing's wrong with you. You felt guilty about the rain, that's all.""You were sick!" Her voice splinters. "You were in this house with a fever, and I was in my apartment staring at my phone like an idiot, and I couldn't stand it! I just needed to see you were breathing!"It gets me, the way it always has. Her tears go straight through the part of me that's supposed to stay sensible, and I hate that I can't sit next to them and do nothing. I put my hand over hers until the shaking slows."I'm breathing, Liz. Look at me.

VENICEThe Alder Street Theatre smells like old velvet and floor polish, and I'd know that smell with my eyes closed. It goes straight into my chest and stays there.A man in a maroon vest blocks the door to the stalls with a flashlight he clearly doesn't need. He's about seventy, built like a wardrobe, with white eyebrows that look like they've been trained for combat."Tickets," he says.Julian hands them over. The man reads both stubs slowly, then lifts his eyes to Julian, then to me, then back to Julian. "Row F. You're early, kid.""Gus, this is Venice. Venice, this is Gus. He's been running this door since before I was born.""Since before your father was born," Gus corrects, and his eyebrows climb. "Phones off, miss. Last month a man took a call during the death scene. I removed him by the elbow.""What happened to him?" I ask."Banned until March." He jerks his head toward the aisle. "Seats are on the left. Don't cry in the second act. I mop that row myself."I laugh out loud,