Lunchtime read: Aimez-vous Brahms...

This post should really have been spread over two days but it is not always easy at the weekend to stick to a reading regime that you follow in the week buttressed by lunch hours and workplace boredom. Poor old Simon…

Chapter twelve
Paule and Simon spend the night in each others arms but Simon is so happy that he almost ceases to function and moons about the place failing to go to work just filling in the hours until he can see her again

Chapter thirteen
Roger returns from a two week business trip and asks to see Paule and she reveals that she cares about Simon and then they hurt each other, with her referring to the lack of love he shows for her and him using her age as a weapon and they agree not to see each other

Chapter fourteen
Roger splits with the film star wannabe Maisy and meanwhile Paule is having problems getting a heavily drinking Simon to take life seriously but after threatening to kick him out he applies himself and gets back to work

Chapter fifteen
Roger asks Paule to go with him on their usual break in the mountains but she turns him down and comes home to find Simon waiting to take her out but her evening is ruined after two women criticise her for her age and Simon steps into be her comforter

Chapter sixteen
Paule realises that she depends on Roger in much the same way Simon depends on her and ultimately she will hurt Simon because she has the power to do so and because she will return to Roger

Chapter seventeen
In a three-page chapter it is clear that Roger misses Paule and is lost without her

Chapter eighteen
The final chapter starts with all three characters in a restaurant and Paule realising that she loves Roger when he walks in and they meet and agree to get back together but no sooner has Simon left her life than the phones rings and Roger is there with the same old excuses

A review will come later…