After that hour in the bistro, talking to his partners with his eyes closed so that he could almost imagine he was sitting opposite them in the office on Rue de l’Arbre-Sec in Paris, now here he was in full sunlight, as if he had just returned from some dark planet to find it was midsummer. The disjunction was stupefying. He walked aimlessly, ending up in the main square. The market was here again today, but it was smaller this time, with fewer vendors and fewer customers. He walked towards the stalls in the shade, feeling as though he were visiting a set before filming had started; everything seemed unreal and yet very concrete at the same time.

He was still angry with himself for not coming up with a biting retort to show that he wasn’t at all bothered. Often you only think of something to say afterwards, when it’s too late. But he must not let those two jerks get to him. He needed to regain control and throw them off balance with some kind of threat, though he didn’t know what yet. He had to force them out of their comfort zone, even if it meant getting them to come here, to this spot that had become his territory in just a few days. The idea quickly took shape in his mind: he would entice them here, somehow trap them and make them pay for their arrogance and plotting. He thought back to the dog savagely pursuing the hare and had a sudden vision of the dog going after them, simply because he had given the order … He was so on edge that he was trembling. The caffeine was making his head pound and he was sweating all over, so he moved into the shade of the stalls.