Red Wolf_ A Novel - Liza Marklund [37]
13
Anne Snapphane was breathing hard in the stairwell, looking up at its curved shape, slowly calmed by the gentle curves of the wall. It was so far to the second floor, and she felt unsteady.
She stopped on the next landing, peering out through the tinted glass at the courtyard. There was a light in Annika’s old window in the little house down there. So picturesque, and so cramped. She couldn’t put up with living in the city again, she realized, just as she realized that this hangover really wasn’t any fun.
The doors of Annika’s apartment were tall as church-doors, heavy as stone. She knocked cautiously, conscious that the children would only just have gone to bed.
‘Come in,’ Annika said quietly, backing into the hall. ‘I’ve just got to say goodnight to Kalle, then I’ll be with you.’
Anne sank onto the bench in the hall and pulled the too-tight shoes off her feet. She could hear Annika laugh and the boy giggle, and sat there with her outdoor clothes on until her forehead began to itch under her hat. Then she went into the living room with all the ornate plaster detailing, slumped onto the sofa and leaned her head back.
‘Do you want coffee?’ Annika said as she came into the room with a plate of macaroons.
The thought was enough to make Anne’s stomach churn.
‘Have you got any wine?’
Annika put the plate down.
‘Thomas has,’ she said, ‘but he’s so fussy about it. Don’t take any of the fancy stuff, it’s . . .’ She gestured towards the glass cabinet.
All of a sudden it was easy to stand up. Anne’s feet scarcely touched the floor as she glided towards the wine-rack. She turned the bottles, read the labels.
‘Villa Puccini,’ she said. ‘That costs eighty-two kronor a bottle and is completely wonderful. Can we have that?’
‘Why not?’ Annika said from the hall.
With a practised hand Anne soon had the foil off and pulled the cork out so hard that she splashed her top. Her hands trembled slightly as she took a crystal glass from the shelf below and poured out the dark-red liquid. The taste was divine; full-bodied and round and healthy all at the same time. She took several large gulps, filled the glass again, then stood the bottle back in the cupboard. Then she settled into a corner of the sofa, pulling out a table for her glass. Suddenly life seemed much simpler.
Annika walked into the living room, breathing out. Once the children were in bed it always felt as though a huge weight had lifted. She no longer had to rush around like a mad thing, but slowing down meant that everything caught up with her. Her thoughts came back, and she started to feel empty again. The apartment became a desert to wander aimlessly around, a stuccoed and ornately panelled prison.
She sank into the other corner of the sofa, her body light and her head empty, and became aware that she was cold. She pulled her knees up, forming a tight ball, and looked at her friend. She could see that Anne was a bundle of nerves, from her drawn features, and the fevered search for something that could put the world in its place again. She knew that Anne wouldn’t find it. In contrast, Annika had learned the trick of abstaining, of shutting off, of waiting for things to balance out again.
Anne was working her way through Thomas’s wine in deep gulps.
‘I can understand your frustration,’ she said, glancing at Annika as she put her glass down. ‘Even I don’t remember Paula from Pop Factory.’
Annika pointed at the biscuits, pushed a few stray crumbs around with her finger, wondering if she could manage a bite. She gave up, leaned back into the sofa and closed her eyes.
‘I have to choose my battles,’ she said, ‘otherwise I run out of energy. Going and making a fuss in front of Schyman would be shooting myself in the foot. No thanks, not this time.’
‘Trust me, you really wouldn’t want my job,’ Anne said. ‘I can promise you that much.’
They sat listening to the background sounds for a moment. Through the noise of the number three bus on the street below dark shadows crept across the corners, rising and falling.
‘I just need to check the news,’ Annika said, reaching