25.5.2009
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The next evening she came down to him. She knocked lightly on the door. He opened and she went in.
"Could I offer you a drink," he said.
"Yes, please," she said, sitting down.
He went out to the kitchen and mixed two drinks. Then he came back and sat down facing her.
"I knew you would come," she said.
He remained silent. She took a sip from her glass. She waited for eye contact with him, and when he looked up, she said: "I'll welcome you tonight."
He looked at her and said: "I should have just come straight out with it, talked to you, not just come to you like that."
She looked at him while he spoke.
"I regret this; in fact, I despise myself for it and want to apologize."
"That's unnecessary," she said. "You have no need to apologize for anything." Then she stood up.
"I want you to do the same thing again," she said.
He stood up and looked at her. Then she left. Before she closed the door, he said: "Just like before?" She smiled and closed the door.
John actually did not tell Violet this story in detail. The heart of the matter, on the other hand, was that John had never known a woman like Merilyn. The women he had slept with until then paled in comparison with Merilyn. And it was not just that one night when John had crept up to Merilyn's apartment the second time and slipped under the covers. No, not at all. All that spring and on into the summer, they continued their affair whenever there was an opportunity, even after Tom was back home.