Intimacies

The narrator moves out of Adriaan’s apartment but is not sure what to do with the keys, so she keeps them. Initially, she struggles to reacclimate to living in her own apartment and must become reacquainted with its impersonal nature. Meanwhile, she tries again to contact Adriaan, telling him that she has moved out of his apartment, but he still doesn’t respond.

Eline invites the narrator to dinner with just her and Anton; Eline’s children are visiting their father, and Anton’s wife, Miriam, is out of town. When the narrator first arrives at their building, she peers inside the apartment window, and the visibility strikes her as she thinks they would be more private people. Eline lives in the top portion of the building behind securely locked doors and covered windows. Anton answers the door, and his appearance shocks the narrator because his face still bears the marks of the attack. He walks with a limp and uses a cane, which she later learns is not a result of the attack. The narrator tells him that she has been to his store and has purchased a gift for someone. He complains about being absent from the store, and says that Vincent (who is in charge in his stead) isn’t running it properly.