Read Online The Flying Creatures of Fra Angelico by Antonio Tabucchi - Free Book Online

He finally settled on a dessert and waved tothe waiter. ‘And now I’ll tell you what’s next,’ he went on. ‘What’s next is, you apply for the place right now.’
    â€˜But we’ll have your philologist friend against us,’ she objected.
    â€˜Oh, him!’ exclaimed the man. ‘He’ll keep quiet, he will, or rather, he’ll be on our side, you’ll see.’ He left a pause that was full of mystery.
    â€˜When he walks down the corridor with his pipe and hair blowing about, you’d think he was God and Father himself,’ she said. ‘He can’t bear me, he doesn’t even say hello.’
    â€˜He’ll learn to say hello, sweetie.’
    â€˜I told you not to call me sweetie, it brings me out in a rash.’
    â€˜In any event he’ll learn to say hello,’ he interrupted. He smiled with a sly look and poured himself some wine. He was doing it on purpose to increase the mystery and wanted it to be obvious he was doing it on purpose. ‘I know all sorts of little things about him,’ he finally said, letting a glimmer of light into the darkness.
    â€˜Tell me about them.’
    â€˜Oh, little things,’ he muttered with affected casualness, ‘certain escapades, old friendships with people in this country when it was not exactly a paragon of democracy. If I was a novelist I could write a story about it.’
    â€˜Oh, come on,’ she said, ‘I don’t believe it. He’s always in the front row when it comes to petitions and meetings, he’s left-wing.’
    The man seemed to think over the adjective she’d used. ‘Left-handed, rather,’ he concluded.
    The girl laughed, shaking her head, which made her ponytail bob from side to side. ‘In any event, we’ll need support from someone from another university,’ she said. ‘We can’t keep everything in the family.’
    â€˜I’ve thought of that too.’
    â€˜You think of everything, do you?’
    â€˜In all modesty . . .’
    â€˜Who?’
    â€˜No names.’
    He smiled affably, took the girl’s hand and assumed apaternal manner. ‘Listen carefully, you have to analyse people’s motives, and that’s just what I do. Everybody runs a mile from him, have you ever asked yourself why?’
    The girl shook her head and he made a vague, mysterious gesture. ‘There must be a reason,’ he said.
    â€˜I’ve got a reason of my own,’ she said. ‘I’m pregnant.’
    â€˜Don’t be stupid,’ said the man with a cutting smile.
    â€˜Don’t be stupid yourself,’ the girl answered sharply.
    The man had frozen with a slice of pineapple just an inch from his mouth; his face betrayed the surprise of someone who has recognised the truth.
    â€˜Since when?’
    â€˜Two months.’
    â€˜Why wait till now to tell me?’
    â€˜Because I didn’t feel like it before,’ she said firmly. She made a broad gesture which included the sea, the sky and the waiter who was arriving with the coffee. ‘If it’s a girl I’m going to call her Felicity,’ she said with conviction.
    The man slipped the pineapple into his mouth and swallowed in haste. ‘A bit too passé and sentimental for my taste.’
    â€˜Okay, so Allegra, Joy, Serena, Hope, Letitia, Hilary, as you will. I don’t care what you say, I think names have an influence on a person’s character. Hear yourself called Hilary all the time and you begin to feel a bit hilarious, you laugh. I want a cheerful child.’
    The man didn’t answer. He turned to the waiter hovering patiently at a distance and made as if to write on his hand. The waiter understood and went into the restaurant to prepare the bill. There was a curtain of metal beads over the door which tinkled every time someone went in. The girl stood up and took hold of the man’s hand, pulling him