The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

‘Isn’t that how they do it?’ she said. ‘The first doses are free. Until they’re hooked.’
‘And then they have to pay,’ Harry said, blowing one large and one small ring towards the ceiling.
‘A lot,’ Rakel said.
‘You’re only here for sex,’ Harry said. ‘Aren’t you? Just so that I know.’
Rakel stroked his chest. ‘You’ve got so thin, Harry.’
He didn’t answer. He waited.
‘It’s not working so well with Mathias,’ she said. ‘That is, he works well. He works perfectly. It’s
me who doesn’t work.’
‘What’s the problem?’
‘If only I knew. I look at Mathias and I think, there’s your dream guy. And I think, he lights my
fire, and I try to light his, I almost attack him because I want some pleasure, do you understand? It
would be so good, so right. But I can’t do it ’
‘Mm. I have some difficulty imagining that, but I hear what you say.’
She pulled his earlobe hard. ‘The fact that we were always hungry for each other wasn’t necessarily
a hallmark of quality for our relationship, Harry.’
Harry watched as the smaller smoke ring caught up with the larger one and formed a figure eight.
Yes, it was, he thought.
‘I’ve started looking for pretexts,’ she said. ‘Take this amusing physical quirk that Mathias inherited
from his father, for example.’
‘Which one?’
‘It’s nothing special, but he’s a bit embarrassed about it.’
‘Come on, tell me.’
‘No, no, it has absolutely no significance, and to start with I thought his embarrassment was just
sweet. Now I’ve started to think it’s annoying. As if I’m trying to make a flaw out of this bagatelle
of Mathias’s, an excuse for for ’ She fell silent.
‘For being here,’ Harry completed.
She hugged him tight. Then she got up.
‘I’m not coming back,’ she said with a pout.
It was almost midnight when Rakel left Harry’s flat. Silent, fine drizzle made the tarmac shine
under the street lamps. She turned into Stensberggata where she had parked the car. She got inside
and was about to start the engine when she spotted a handwritten note placed under the windscreen
wiper. Opening the door a crack, she grabbed it and tried to read the writing that the rain had nearly