Despite her casual demeanor, something about her expression is downcast. She seems hurt, and there's only one explanation for that. He's to blame.
"Let me see, I'm sure they're beautiful." I reach out my hand to her.
Immediately, she shakes her head. "They're bad. Seriously."
She sounds convinced. However, I'm sure this opinion didn't come from her. If it did, she would have asked for my help much earlier. Surely, Florian convinced her of this. And she let herself be convinced.
What kind of relationship are they in, anyway?
Until today, she hasn't mentioned him at all. And when she talked about him earlier, she seemed quite detached. It's strange. What binds them together? Could it even be love?
"So will you help me?" Hanna nudges me from the side.
I thoughtfully push my hair back. Helping her also means helping this Florian. It should be irrelevant to me, but everything in me resists.
Hanna's expectant gaze disappears, and she lowers her eyelids. "It was a dumb idea. I'm sorry."
"No," I suddenly hear myself croak, "I'll help you, of course." My voice fails, and I have to clear my throat several times. "That's no problem at all." Why am I doing this, dammit?
"Thank you," she breathes out in relief. "Can we start in Val D'Orcia tomorrow morning? It's supposed to be picturesque there." A faint smile appears on her face, and at that moment, I feel as if I'm looking at the rising sun.
My goodness, what is happening to me?
The estate. The memories. And now Hanna with her talk about family. All of it is slowly driving me crazy.
It has to stop now. "Sure. Do we continue here or call it a day?" I ask hastily, clapping my hands to dispel these absurd feelings even though I already sense that won't help either.
