Strangers: A Novel(8)
I push the thought from my mind; it’s ridiculous, after all. But I don’t want anyone to see Joanna in this state. Could she have called the police?
“Please! Please help me!” Joanna’s mouth is just a few inches away from my ear. Her screams leave a high-pitched, painful ringing in my head.
“Be quiet, damn it,” I hiss at her and resist the impulse of putting my hand over her mouth. In the same moment, I realize I’m going to have to act quickly if I don’t want the situation to escalate. I turn onto my side and release Joanna. She jumps up and is at the door, tears it open, and leaps outside, all before I’ve even managed to fully get to my feet. “Thank goodness,” she gasps. “I’ve been assaulted; this man broke into my house.”
My heart is pounding in my throat. The open door is obstructing my view. I take two steps to the side, then find myself face-to-face with Bernhard Morbach. He looks at me, surprised. Joanna is cowering behind him.
Bernhard is a department manager at Gabor Energy Engineering. He’s never been to my house, but the laptop bag hanging from his shoulder suggests the reason for this first-ever visit. Why now, of all times? Today at work was strange enough, not that I could describe exactly why. And if tomorrow Bernhard starts telling everyone about what he’s witnessing here …
“Erik…” Bernhard, clearly confused, turns around to face Joanna, who’s pulling her bathrobe together at the collar. He looks her up and down, then looks over at me. “I don’t understand. What’s going on here?”
Joanna’s eyes widen as she hears my name. I can tell she’s confused, see her taking a step back, and I realize what’s going to happen next. I have no choice. As she turns to run, I’ve already taken a couple of strides past Bernhard. I fling my arm around Joanna’s upper body from behind. “Jo, please,” I hiss at her as she tries to free herself from my grip. “You have to come back inside.”
“No way! You’re conspiring together, the two of you. Let me go.” Joanna’s rib cage expands as she takes a deep breath, but I press my hand over her mouth before she can scream. I take a quick look around and note Bernhard’s incredulous expression, but now isn’t the time for long-winded explanations.
“Come on,” I pant, and drag Joanna, twisting and turning and kicking at me, back into the house, using all the strength I have. She tries to bite my hand, but I don’t let go.
Finally I make it into the hall. Bernhard, to my surprise, actually follows us into the house. I let Joanna go, rush to the door, and slam it shut. Moving quickly, I turn the key and remove it from the lock, while somewhere behind me another door is slammed shut with a dull thud. I slowly turn around and take a deep breath.
“She … she went in there,” Bernhard stutters, pointing toward the kitchen. “Can you tell me what’s going on? I mean … that is the Joanna you’ve told us about, isn’t it?”
I indicate to him that he needs to wait.
The kitchen is empty. Either Joanna ran into the living room or she’s hiding in the pantry. A few steps and I’m at the door. I reach for the handle. It’s locked. So Joanna, in all her confusion, went and hid in the only room on the ground floor that doesn’t have any windows.
I turn away from the door and walk back to Bernhard, who’s nervously pacing up and down the hall.
“She’s locked herself in the pantry,” I start to explain. “I don’t know what’s going on, but Jo’s all over the place. She doesn’t recognize me anymore, not since I got home tonight. I don’t want anyone to see her like this, so…” I hesitate, thinking that this attempt at an explanation must seem strange to Bernhard. He stands there and looks at me, perplexed.
I shake my head. “I’m sorry that this is how you’re getting to meet Jo. She’s not normally like this. I don’t get it either. You know she’s Australian, right, and she’s meant to be going back soon, but she doesn’t want to because we … And I really want her to stay as well. But if anyone sees her in this state, they’ll think she’s crazy. Then everything will get a lot more complicated, you see? That’s why I held … That’s why I don’t want her running around outside and screaming.”
Bernhard finally takes his bag off his shoulder and sets it down against the wall next to him. “I see…” But his face says the exact opposite. “Has she ever been like this before?”
“No. I’ve never seen her like this.” I look over toward the kitchen. From where I’m standing, I can see a narrow section of the door to the storeroom. What’s Joanna doing in there now? What’s going on inside her head? Is she sitting on the floor, trembling in fright, thinking about how she can escape the madman who’s invaded her house and who claims to be living with her?
I turn away and swiftly wipe my eyes before I look at Bernhard again. “Everything was perfectly all right this morning. She was in a good mood when I set off for work. Something must have happened during the day, something that triggered this … confusion. I hope it’ll sort itself out again, otherwise I don’t know what I’m going to do.” I pull myself together; those kinds of thoughts aren’t going to help anyone right now. My eyes wander over the laptop bag on the floor. I nod toward it. “Is that the reason you stopped by?”