Trafika Europe 5 - Slovenian Interlude

7. A Fair Wind, A Following Sea

Yes, it was truly shocking. He said he needed to go to the loo in the middle of what seemed to me the most important conversation we had ever had. Like any good lover on the brink of abandonment, I waited dutifully outside the Gents. The distaste on his face as he came out screamed that I should have left, that he was hoping I would be erased from the world while he was gone. To save myself some pride, I said I had only waited to say goodbye. The sentence hung in the air for a moment, renewing my hopes, but then dropped away like a dead leaf from one of the plane trees outside. I shook my head and said, “There’s no need. I’ll walk a bit and take a taxi.” With that, I turned and walked away from him. It worked. (It always does.) He caught up quickly as I stepped out of the building. He was mumbling something about meeting up when he is back in Istanbul the following week. I uh-huhed noncommitally. We reached the top of the cobbled path that led from the conference center to the busy street. I stopped briskly and shook his hand as if the last two months had not happened. Something that resembled doubt passed through his face, pleasing me enormously. I turned and marched away, heels against the cobblestones. It was a cold autumn He said, “I’d drive you, but —”

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