Chapter 107

The hotel where we had dinner was near the Thames; one street away you could see the lights of the bank. We started walking in that direction, and I couldn’t contain myself; I had to ask him how he knew I would be there.

“It’s not that I have someone following you, don’t worry. Mirko is very interested in knowing what you do,” he explained to me. “Our dates coincided here, and I thought it would be a good idea to bring them so they could spend some time with you. They miss you, you know? It’s natural, given the situation we were in. And Mirko wanted to read your books, but I don’t know what to tell him; he is only eight years old. I promised him that I would consult with you. What do you recommend?”

That was a lot of information to process in such a short moment, but I went with the obvious:

“Keep reading about airplanes,” I joked, with a somewhat apathetic smile. “I don’t think he likes what I do; it’s not designed for someone his age.”

We looked at each oth