You, the writer
The weather forecast for that day was mostly clear with sudden showers. Emma said that a little further south there were several boats arriving. When Rodrigo wakes up, he'll take us to one of the beaches, so I can start feeling useful too. Emma smelled wonderful even that early in the morning: a subtle melange of jasmine and cinnamon.
He has an unsurpassed taste for perfumes and uses them liberally, as if he doesn't want to give away any of his scent. Eat, she said, nodding at the bacon and eggs on my plate. You will need energy. She sipped half a cup of American coffee. The food was mediocre. I know several Germans from whom that chef could learn a lot.
Emma then told me that she had forgotten to mention to me the night before – busy, you know, with Rodrigo – that she had seen you. At first I didn't understand what he was talking about.
"You know, that writer of yours," she said. "The Lebanese one. You sent me his book for Christmas, completely unreadable, never a worse present. Why should I care about an old woman who never leaves her apartment? It doesn't make any sense to me. It's no story, it's just plain nonsense. Anyway, he was here. Yes, yes, at Skala Sikamineas. The day before yesterday. He looked familiar, but I didn't immediately realize who he was. I couldn't remember where I saw him. So who else remembers the photos pisaca? Svakom bih normalnom prišla i upitala znamo li se, ali on nije normalan. Kao da oko vrata nosi natpis zatvoreno. Ni sa kim nije razgovarao. Hodao je s kraja na kraj plaže, tamo ‑ amo, šutio kao zaliven, i konstantno sve odmjeravao i procjenjivao. Da, da, baš procjenjivao. Išao je iz kafića u kafić. Šetao po kiši, za boga miloga! Pa zar to nije čudno? Ali naočale su mu senzacionalne. Onda je odjednom disappeared He had been here a little over twenty-four hours. I saw that he was having dinner all by himself, a little man who smiles nervously, and no one who knows him wants to meet him. And then he picked himself up and left. No, wait, I'm wrong. After all, he was talking to someone – that local in the dress. I saw them under the same tree where you were sitting with him this morning."
Translated from English by Mirjana Evtov