Читать книгу If anything, I’m in the next room (Book about the Holocaust). English edition - Gertcel Davydov, Gertz (Gertcel) Davydov, Gertz Davydov - Страница 4

– Josef, why don’t you dance, but sit and be sad on such an important day for me? Your best friend is getting married today! – said a man of about thirty, patting a friend on the back sitting at one of the tables in a luxurious restaurant.

“Klaus, I’m not in the mood for dancing right now.” “I must have fallen in love,” the thin young man answered thoughtfully.

– What got into you? asked the groom, dressed in an expensive white suit with a red bow tie. – Let’s go have fun!

– I’m quite serious. Tell me please, who is this beautiful girl?

– Which? – not understanding who exactly we were talking about, Klaus asked.

“A slender brunette with big eyes, sitting alone over there,” Josef nodded towards the table against the wall.

Looking in the indicated direction, Klaus saw his young wife’s childhood friend.

– This is Leah. She works as a teacher at school. By the way, she’s Jewish, like you… but you’d better forget about her, since she’s not alone here.

– And with whom?

– With Paul. He must have gone out somewhere. Although he usually doesn’t leave her side for a second. A terrible bore… By the way, they are going to get married soon, so look for other girls to meet. Do you see how many of them there are?

“Tell me about Leah,” Josef asked.

Sitting down next to him, Klaus Nolde poured a glass of water to quench his thirst and at least take a little break from dancing, and said:

– She moved to Mainz with her parents in early childhood, I can also say that she does not like noisy companies and prefers a quiet pastime.

– Who is this Paul?

“I met him at Leah’s twenty-fifth birthday, where Tilda and I were invited back in the spring, and since then I’ve been avoiding him. – Looking around and making sure that none of the guests of the celebration could hear him, Klaus continued: – Paul is a mathematics teacher at the school where Leah works. It is simply impossible to be in his company: he constantly lectures her, finds fault with everything, even the little things. It comes to the point that he teaches how to behave, how to stand, how to sit, even how to pour water into a glass… But since Leah endures all this, it means he suits her. So find yourself another girl. You are unlikely to meet another Leah at a German wedding, but there are plenty of beautiful girls here…

– I want to meet her. I will never forgive myself if I don’t do this… Klaus, my friend, you understand: this girl is exactly my type. Calm, beautiful, gentle, with good manners and also a teacher. She will be a wonderful wife and mother. Do you agree?

– Josef, I now understand why you and I have been friends for so many years. The thing is, we like different girls,’ Klaus smiled. ‘Even at the university, we always chose different ones and never conflicted on this issue. I’ll tell you straight, Leah is not my type: I like more relaxed girls, like Tilda, slender blondes with blue eyes. Well, you understand me…

“No, I don’t understand,” Josef interrupted his friend. “I don’t understand anything now and I can’t think about anything.” All my thoughts are only about her.

– And mine are only about how this will all end as soon as possible, and Tilda and I will be left alone. And if she sees that I have approached another… You know what this could threaten me with.

– That’s what you’ll definitely be in danger of – if Tilda finds out about the affair with that blonde in Hamburg last summer. What was her name? Martha, right? And if you do not fulfill my request right now, then this night you will definitely be left alone, but with yourself.

– Stop blackmailing me with that story! – Klaus muttered dissatisfied. “You know that I was drunk… and if Tilda finds out anything about this, I’ll be in trouble.”

“I give you my word that I will stop – from the very minute you introduce me to Leah.” Please, Klaus, do this for me, I beg you.

– Have you decided to get married? – the friend grinned.

“I don’t know yet, but nothing like this has ever happened to me before.” I feel like I met the girl from my dreams. – Josef rolled his eyes dreamily. “I need to get to know her, and you can help me with this.”

– How?

– You know her! You come up and introduce: “This is Joseph Schwartz, my friend and colleague, also a doctor, he wants to meet you.”

– What if this bore appears? – Klaus asked.

“Then let’s walk by and just say hello.” Do it for the sake of our friendship.

“You always knew how to find compelling arguments,” Klaus sighed, getting up from his chair and gathering his resolve.

“Thank you, friend,” Josef said, stood up, buttoned the top button of his jacket and smoothed his hair.

“Just let me think about how to do it without ruining my relationship with the bore.” – Klaus wrinkled his brow. “If they get married and we become friends as families, then Paul will remind me until he’s old that I introduced you to his fiancée.”

“Don’t worry in advance,” Josef chuckled. “She can change her mind at any moment.”

– Let’s go before I change my mind. “I’ll try to help you, but remember that I’m doing this only for your sake, since you are my best friend, and not because of your vile blackmail,” Klaus emphasized.

They approached Leah and Klaus introduced them to each other. Joseph looked at the girl carefully and, hearing a gentle voice, thought: “Up close, she is even more beautiful, gentle and graceful… She is exactly the one I always dreamed of meeting.”

* * *

Having woken up early, Julie thought for a long time about what she had seen in her dream. She rolled up the canvas and put it on the cabinet in the hallway, deciding that today she would take the canvases to the framing workshop. For this she is ready to part with even the thirty pounds remaining in her wallet.