After Love Read Online Free

gazed out the window. He followed my glance and we both saw a fountain, its round stony basin full of snow and a couple of pigeons having a snow-bath. Suddenly I felt a slight movement from his hand. Come on, don’t be afraid , I wanted to tell him, but his hand remained where it was.
    â€˜Do you love playing the cello?’ he asked abruptly.
    â€˜Of course,’ I answered, still watching the pigeons. ‘You know, I think I knew you were ill. Something strange happened to me one night when I couldn’t sleep. I got up, picked up my cello and started playing. I sat near the window, looking out. And I felt I saw you. You were lying in a hospital bed. Your face was pale and resting on a raised pillow, illuminated by a cold white moon.’
    He didn’t say anything. I looked at my watch. I was late for the rehearsal. ‘I have to go,’ I said, and got up.
    We left the café and walked to the Metro station. On the escalator I asked if he would like to come to the concert. ‘I’d love to,’ he replied and I quickly scribbled down the address. I told him that the concert was free and that I would wait for him in the main entrance hall.
    My train arrived first and I rushed on. Didn’t look back, didn’t wave.
    Vasu
    I stood near the cloakroom watching the audience leave. Slowly the lights were turned off and the cleaners arrived with brooms, pans and brushes. Anna had told me to wait for her.
    The concert had been wonderful. At least that’s what I would have told Natasha, but the music I had enjoyed wasn’t the most important part. As soon as it started and I saw Anna onstage I not only lost track of what I was hearing but failed to take in a single note.
    I had read the programme beforehand and been ready to enjoy it all, especially the second piece, Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 12, because in it the cello took the lead. But my desire to keep watching Anna, every tiny movement she made, was so strong that I was forced to look away. I searched for something else on the stage to distract myself, but failed. Anna, beautiful and intense, was all I wanted to watch.
    As I waited for her near the cloakroom I knew I had to calm down before she reappeared. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to talk to her properly and my stupid smile would make her angry and spoil the evening.
    Perhaps I should just walk away? I even turned towards the door. Then I heard her call: ‘Wait for me.’ She was rushing down the stairs, her cello bobbing up and down. ‘Sorry!’ she said. ‘I had to say goodbye to my friends. They’ve gone to the café. Would you like to meet them?’‘I really don’t know,’ I said and Anna quickly saw my hesitation and changed her mind. She said she would phone them later.
    It was already late on a cold and windy night. There was not a sniff of snow in the air nor a speck of star in the sky. She let me carry her cello, put her arm through mine and spoke very softly. ‘Let’s walk together. I know you walk slowly. You do everything slowly; but I like your slow ways. I should slow down as well. “Don’t rush”, my Aunty Olga is always scolding me. She’s my father’s sister. Strict, but deep down very kind. She loves me very much and I love her too. She taught me the cello, you know.’
    She peered at me closely. ‘I hope she likes you. I know Papa will.’ She paused and glanced in my direction.
    â€˜I liked your playing,’ I said
    â€˜Why?’
    I didn’t know how to explain it.
    â€˜Come on – you should know. Give me at least one reason.’
    â€˜Maybe because of the way you were holding it, tucked between your knees and thighs, embracing it, and—’
    â€˜And?’
    â€˜The way you stretched your neck, then bent it to one side, smiled and—’
    â€˜And?’
    â€˜Breathed in. I could feel the breath go in and out