Dead Men (Marie and Lotte Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

scientist to work out why; he hardly ever left the apartment. But in her usual ‘don’t-rock-the-boat’ style, she failed to point that out to him. Lotte also stayed quiet because she was not self-employed and, therefore, he would think she couldn’t possibly have an opinion about it.
    They talked less and less to each other and their home became a silent and cold mausoleum for a relationship that should never have evolved beyond the kissing stage. But she had been so blinded by the way he had seemed to really want her. It was like a magic potion and completely irresistible - to feel so wanted and coveted. That feeling had nourished and sustained her for a long time, and even when it disappeared, she stayed with him, hoping that it would reappear if only she loved him enough.
    As time went by, it didn’t seem as if he was particularly interested in the few customers that he did have. When he talked about his sessions with them it sounded as though he had a number of standard questions that he always used, whether they fit the customer’s situation or not. She had initially thought she could benefit from some coaching from him, but he seemed annoyed when she asked questions and didn’t understand what his coaching terms meant. Soon she stopped asking for his help. It was as if he had a special language he expected her to understand and even in everyday conversation, he would throw words around like projection, deflection, retrospective, and egotistic. At first, she had thought that it was probably because she was just too stupid to understand his magnificence, but as she got to know him she was not so sure it was her who had the problem.
    Now, it had come to the point where she paid virtually all the bills and expenses, even if they were no longer lovers. She knew that the bank did not care whether he had money or not; they would just take the money for the mortgage when there was any. She had given up all hope of escape.
    They had not been intimate for a long time, and she missed it about as much as she missed the smell of dog shit on a hot summer´s day. The last time he had opened up to anything was when he was lying on the couch with a hand on his cock and said he wanted her, and if only she would come and sit on him. He would never win any awards for being this year’s romantic.
    At one point she had demanded that he get a job that brought in some money, but he was full of excuses for why that was not realistic.
    “I’ve just had a meeting with this guy who works at Novo. He was really positive about coaching, and the effect it can have on the bottom line. It looks really promising!”
    His face was earnest, and he looked like a school teacher who wants his students to listen carefully.
    “He´s going to present it to his boss. Honey, you have to understand - it wouldn’t be fair, to say yes to a crappy nine to five job, and then quit when I get the really good job at Novo. You see? This is going to be huge. I can feel it in my gut. Don’t ask me how, but ‘huge, will it be!’”
    Lotte forced herself to smile at his Yoda-esque sentence. She had never seen Star Wars, but he had patiently explained all about the character, the little green man who was very wise and always spoke backwards. She didn´t think it was funny and you probably had to have seen the movie to get it, she thought.
    “You just wait and see. This is it!” He had a big smile on his face and tried to look very convincing.
    Yeah, right, Lotte thought, but she didn’t say anything.
    But weeks passed and when she presented him with the reality that the meetings he had with people actually didn’t lead to jobs, he argued—as she had expected him to—that she couldn’t possibly understand it because she didn’t have her own business. Furthermore, he said, the simple fact that it takes time for a firm to get established, and a coach needs time to build a reputation, so people will want his help, seemed totally lost on her. So what it came