“There is no one… only you…”
“And the gentleman thinks that I’m to blame! He accuses me! Of course! It’s easier that way! Offense is the best defense!”
“Forgive me… forgive me…”
“And I’ve been waiting to see when you will tell my husband… there it is! My husband! My husband! And there’s nothing you can do about it! Nothing!!!”
“It’s alright… forgive me…”
“I’ve been waiting to see when you will tell him to bring your Svetlana here!”
“I won’t…”
“Your exceptional Svetlana! Isn’t that so, sir?! Exceptional, isn’t that right!?” she pushed him away again.
“Manami, my love… love… Love!!!” Pascal shouted overjoyed. “You silly, you’re jealous! I’m so overjoyed! Overjoyed!!!”
“I know that you’re overjoyed! I know! Because your Svetlana didn’t leave Megapolis! That’s why you’re overjoyed, sir! Now she can come to you here! To this dormitory of yours!” Manami spread her hands. “Because you cannot survive without her! Because the nights are too long!”
“My love! My Manami!” Pascal cried out, trying to hug her.
“Let me go!” Manami pushed his hands away. “You will tell him to bring her to you, because you’ve had enough of this prison with me!”
“I haven’t had enough, Manami! I will never have enough! That’s all I want, my love! Just to be locked up with you! Do you know how much I have suffered? I thought that you don’t love me anymore, but you were only jealous of Svetlana! You silly…”
“Don’t say that name any more!” she pushed him all the way to the wall. “I prohibit you! I prohibit!!!” she screamed.
“I won’t, Manami! I won’t! Anyone’s name! Only yours! Manami! Manami! Manami! Do you hear, Manami? My Manami! Are you mine? Tell me! Tell me that you’re mine!”
Pascal tried to hug her. Manami fought back wildly.
“What do you need me for, sir? She is yours! She is!”
“She is not mine, my love.” Pascal lowered his voice, realizing that he had to explain it to her, that he must calm her.
“She’s not?! And whose is she!? Whose!?”
“I don’t know… She knew from the first day how in love I was with you, Manami. From the first moment that I saw you. My love, my life… You cannot understand that; how much I love you. There is no me, Manami. There is only my love for you.”
Manami started crying aloud and ran out of Pascal’s quarters.
Chapter 106
“Peter, please wake Mr. Alexander. Tell him that lunch is ready,” Manami said the next day.
“Finally,” Peter shouted. “He can test me.”
He got up from the couch where he had been sitting with Eir, painting something on the tablet. He knocked on Pascal’s door.
“Pascal, wake up! Lunch!”
“I’m coming, Peter. Let me just wash my face.”
Pascal entered the living room area and stopped dead in his tracks. Then he rushed towards the couch which was covered in their red cover. He sat down next to Eir.
“What are you drawing?” he asked, passing his hands across the red silk.
“A bunny,” said Eir.
“What’s wrong with you, Pascal?” Peter was puzzled. “Sit at the table.”
“I will, Peter… in a moment…” He touched their cover as though he was touching her.
Manami placed a plate in front of her son, looked at Pascal and smiled.
“There, there, sir. You’ve been sleeping all day. Peter has been waiting for you to test him.”
“Mom saw that I know everything, and now she wants you to test me again, Pascal.”
“That’s good… Has Eir eaten, or…”
“She has. The child can’t wait for heavy sleepers,” Manami was radiant.
“I sincerely apologize. But I haven’t slept a wink in two weeks.”
“Why?” Peter asked.
“I had constant headaches,” Pascal got up from the couch, approached the table and stood behind Peter. He was looking at Manami. “And last night the pain went away. It disappeared. Never again to return. Isn’t that right, ma’am?”
“How would I know, sir? You have to take care of your own health,” Manami laughed.
“Come on, Peter,” Pascal tapped Peter on the shoulder.
“Come one, what?” Peter was surprised.
“Well… go to your seat.”
“What’s wrong with you, Pascal? This is my seat. You sit across the way.”
“That is where I sat while I had a headache. You’ve forgotten that I used to sit here before.”
“Whatever,” said Peter and moved. “I don’t care.”
“I do,” Pascal sat in his place, with a view of the kitchen.
“Bon appétit!” said Manami.
“Thank you,” answered Pascal, and started eating.
“Chili! Finally you’ve put it in, my love!” he said with his eyes. Manami didn’t touch the food. She just watched him and smiled.
Chapter 107
Peter did not leave the living room area the entire afternoon. Manami and Pascal were left alone only late in the evening, when Peter finally got tired. Pascal rushed to Manami, clutching her shoulders and feverishly whispering
“Do you love me, Manami? Tell me! Tell me that you love me!”
“Peter isn’t asleep, sir!” Manami was glowing.
“Tell me! Tell me, my love!”
“I was brought up in a conservative family, sir,” Pascal went silent and let go of her shoulders. “Where marriage is a sanctity.”
“I knew it! I knew it!” Pascal shouted and ran towards his room.
Manami rushed after him, grabbed his hand and turned him around.
“What is the matter with you, sir?” she laughed. “Why are you so impulsive? One cannot explain anything to you completely.”
“You love me! I know that you love me!” Pascal shouted, when he saw Manami looking at him lovingly and smiling.
“You fixate on something,” she ran her fingers through his long wavy hair, “and you don’t notice anything else. It took you two weeks to realize how jealous I am.”
“My love… My Manami…” Pascal whispered while hugging her.
“I was angry at you for two weeks, and you didn’t get it, my darling!”
“Well, I thought… alright, alright,” said Pascal holding her by the shoulders again and looking her in the eye, “you said yourself that you consider marriage a sanctity.”
“Yes, I did. And you only know how to go crazy. You didn’t let me say that I’m not a saint. And that I’m madly, madly in love with you!”
Pascal moved towards her lips. Manami pressed her head against his chest.
“Let me kiss you! I have to kiss your lips, Manami!”
“I won’t let you. We cannot. We have to behave like nothing has happened.”
“How, Manami, how? I can’t go on like that.”
“You have to… We have to. Promise me.”
“I can’t…”
“If you love me, promise me.”
“Alright… if you wish so. I don’t want to force you to do anything, my love. Everything will be as you wish.”
Manami wriggled out of his embrace and said
“I’m going to see whether Peter is asleep. And to put on my nightgown. I want us to sit on our cover until dawn. In our room. That’s all I’ve been dreaming of, Pascal.”
Chapter 108
“The generals have turned against me, Grasshopper,” Erivan moaned. “They say that they want no part in this and that they will not be held accountable for crimes against humanity and for gecide.”