I look in the mirror and I make the knot at the tie. I take off my napkin and I wipe my face and my neck. I am sweaty as a pig even if it is winter. I did not think that I would still have emotions after two failed marriages and a heart attack. There are people who admit that I am an incurable romantic, others who say that I am an ox. The truth is always in between. I climb down the stairs and I look at her. She is beautiful and cold as a chunk of ice. She endeavours to look at me fondly, but she cannot. I know she does this for fortune, and it is fine. I lost all my money.
(Translated by Teodora Stoian / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficţiuni Reale.