Las Vegas, «Caesars Palace»
Scene 18: Sunset Boulevard
How Hektor Maille yearned, within the framework of a spontaneous excitement, for the great blessing from Rome, the «Tripa a la Romana» – and, for a moment, no longer knew where he really was.
One Day in the Life of Odette Sissay
13.20: Port-Louis, Vieux Port, Aquarium
They were in the habit of meeting each other at the Aquarium – the place was like a park in which it was always night, an ideal rendezvous for lovers.
Wordlessly, Odette stepped close to him in front of a large glass tank through the blue light of which the jellyfish gleamed like endless delicate umbbrellas. Their bodies were so transparent that they seemed to be composed of water themselves. They looked like veils that shielded none other than themselves – and it seemed to be a wonder that they did not constantly collide into each another. Godet did not know whether he should kiss Odette or not – and he resisted the impulse to grip her by the hand. Primarily because he had no idea what he ought to say. Words such as: «I love you still – can't you sense it?» did not quite fit into their relationship – Odette was too pragmatic for sweet nothings and it would have offended the poet in the president. Instead he stood before the jellyfish and asked: «Did you ever eat some of them?»
Odette nodded mutely.
«What gave you the idea that I don't take you seriously?» he asked after a pause, stumbling in his agitation against the glass tank, within which the jellyfish carried on with their floating, undisturbed.