Excerpt
A few days later, he was called for an interview with
the Canadian Embassy officials. At the embassy, he met a clerk named
Paul Nicolich, who got excited when he found out that Hermes was
headed to Canada, because after Paul had graduated from the same
university faculty, he had travelled and spent time in Vancouver. He
helped Hermes a lot by fast-tracking his papers.
When Hermes returned home in the afternoon, he called
Magda, and they agreed to meet at the same coffee bar later in the
evening. Just as he got off the phone with Magda, Eleni called and
sounded upset, so he agreed to see her that afternoon. He left the
house and walked for a while until he reached their usual spot, where
he saw her waiting for him.
“Hey, how are you?” he asked and hugged her.
“I don’t know. I don’t feel well today,” she went on, “I haven’t
seen you for a couple of days. Why?”
“Eleni, I’ve been busy getting myself ready to leave the country.
Do not complain, please.”
She became silent. They sat down and had a couple of coffees
without exchanging any words.
Then Eleni opened her mouth, “I want us to get engaged, before
you go.” She sounded determined.
He was stunned, and he didn’t like the sharpness of her voice.
Her eyes slowly fill with tears.
“I am sorry,” he said to her, “but I can’t do this now. No, I won’t
do this now. I will not think of a commitment, any commitment,
until I come back from Canada.”
“You will never come back to me, Hermes. Why won’t you admit
it? You keep giving me excuses.”
“I don’t give you any kind of excuses. I don’t want to tie myself
down at this stage of my life before I can be happy with what I’ve
achieved. That’s all.”
“Then perhaps we should just go our different ways.” She didn’t
even believe herself saying that.
“Yes, perhaps it’d better this way,” Hermes sighed and got up.
Libros Libertad 