“It’s not to smoke one of my special cigarettes, is it?”
“No, I’ll leave those to you.”
“Hmm, what could it be then?” His mother glanced over to her two armchairs. She chose the one on the left and invited him to sit down in the other.
“You look worn out. Would you like me to make you something to eat?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Is it a broken heart?”
“No, I don’t have even one woman on my radar ...”
“Thomas, you look exactly like your father, but other than that, you’re nothing like him. I don’t understand why you’re still single.”
“Why are you so obsessed with me settling down?”
“Because I’d like to be a grandmother.”
“There’s plenty of time for that.”
“Maybe foryou.”
“Let’s not spend the whole day sitting here chatting about baby clothes,” his father stage-whispered from the couch.
“Could you please just let me do things at my own speed!”
“There’s no need to speak to me in that tone,” his mother said.
Thomas apologized. Jeanne looked confused by the angry glance he shot at the couch.
“Back in the day, whenever you were going through a breakup or were falling in love, you would call me, and we’d spend whole nights talking about it. I miss that a lot.”
“Ever since things ended with Sophie, my life has been a blur, my work taking me from city to city. Not exactly ideal conditions for—”
“And now we get the complete history of your personal life?” Raymond sighed. “Did you love this Sophie or not?”
“Yes. Well ... I don’t know.”
“What don’t you know?” asked his mother.
“If I really loved Sophie.”
“In that case, you’re better off without her,” his parents both said, practically in unison.
“A smile at last!” rejoiced Jeanne. “I was beginning to think this was a funeral.”
“You have no idea!” Thomas blurted out without thinking.
“Really? Who died?” his mother asked, her curiosity obviously piqued.
“No one in particular. I mean, I imagine someone somewhere has died. Never mind. Let’s change the subject.”
“You’re acting very strange these days.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“Why are you walking around with that old shopping bag?”
