“It’s not that hard to start a new life,” Bernard said gently. “It’s just really scary.”
“Until you’re actually in it, you can’t really know if it is or not…” Pauline replied.
They fell silent. The wind eased. The moonlight, like a dim stage lamp, illuminated the two figures huddled on their loungers. Bernard turned his whole body toward Pauline.
“I’m not even forty, and I’m already burned out. I don’t even know who I am anymore. I’m exhausted by all of it—and still craving a fresh start. I don’t even care where.”
Pauline cleared her throat to hold back her tears.
“I don’t want to leave this place. I know no one would miss me if I took the kids and disappeared… and yet this is where I want to stay. This is where I want to start over.”
Bernard hummed thoughtfully.
“I don’t know who feels what for whom in this complex, but look—we had a shared Christmas tree, we welcomed the New Year together. One way or another, we’re a community, and everyone is connected to at least one other person. And Carlos does everything he can to hold this group together.”
“And you?” Pauline asked. “Where would you start over?”
Bernard took a deep breath.
“Honestly? Right now, this is where I’d begin again.”
“With Noud?”
“With him or without him. I don’t know. The past few years have worn him down far more than me. I keep piling mistake on mistake, and he just stands there helplessly, watching everything fall apart under him.”
“At least your life is one big secret to everyone else,” Pauline said softly. “Not like mine.”
A short, quiet, mocking laugh escaped Bernard.
“Just wait. Soon, far more will come out than you ever imagined.”
Pauline slipped her hand out from under the blanket, opened her palm, and cast a meaningful glance toward Bernard’s waist. Bernard smiled. He reached into his pocket and took out the small flask again. Pauline took it. This time she drank a deeper swallow of rum, then looked into her neighbor’s eyes.
“Honestly,” she whispered, “I don’t care about other people’s secrets. We all have our little ones—things we carry from our past, or things we’re weaving right now. Everyone has a good reason for being here. I think what matters is that when we step out of our homes and live our lives together—one way or another—we’re in harmony with each other.”
“But there are already too many secrets and misunderstandings here,” Bernard continued. “It would be good to start everything with a clean slate. To stop and say: what happened before doesn’t count. That was just a kind of test run of living together. This is where the real living begins.”
Pauline gave a barely audible chuckle.
“Fine—but then Rob shouldn’t be here when the shared story of the people of Calle la Rosa 22 begins.”
Bernard tilted his head to the side.
“As you wish. I want Noud to stay. I just want to be free of the burden that’s about to crush me in a matter of days—along with four other people.”
Pauline raised an eyebrow.
“Noud, Ted, and Viktoria—I’ve got those,” she said in a suggestive tone. “But who’s the fourth?”
Bernard let out a mocking laugh.
“That’s exactly what I’d like to finally find out myself.”