Cosmopolitan

Chapter 5

The four friends stood around somewhat indecisively in the entrance area until finally a girl with chequered stockings and an awful lot of make-up on her face came and took their coats and hats.
Clarence was the first to get a grip and hesitantly walked down the stairs leading to the dining hall. The others followed him slowly, only Alex stopped at the balustrade and looked dreamily at the sparkling scenery below him. He was so overwhelmed by the realisation of being in the place he had always wanted to be that it was impossible for him to move. Beauty, true beauty, was what he had always wanted and actually the only thing worth living for. This glittering world made him forget France for a moment and the scar on his neck seemed like a normal injury caused by a harmless accident. Here, he felt, he was among his own kind, the society of hopeless avant-gardists.

A shiver of splendour ran down his spine and he had to lean on the railing for a moment.

As if through fog he heard Ivy's voice from further down: "What's wrong with him? Hey, Alex, are you sick?"
"Daniel, would you be so kind as to bring our good Alexander down? Otherwise he'll stand there all night staring into space." said Clarence.
Daniel took Alex by the arm and led him carefully down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, Alex was himself again and Oscar Wilde's spirit had left him.

M. Poullier showed them to their table, which was right next to a specially tall houseplant.
"Oh, I feel like I could stay here forever!" Alex said fervently. "I feel - I don't know."
He broke off and stared at the tabletop. Without actually looking, he took out his cigarette case, but he didn't take out a cigarette, he just looked at it. Then he glanced up hesitantly and waved to a passing waiter. "A double whiskey," he said in a rough voice.
When he noticed the concerned looks of the others, he smiled a little. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll be fine."
He looked at Daniel and tapped him on the nose, laughing. "What's the matter with you? What's with the sad faces? We're here to have a good time!" The waiter brought the double whiskey and Alex threw it down in one go.

"Oh my God, look!" Clarence suddenly shouted and pointed up to the entrance. The others turned around. A woman they knew well had just entered the room and was walking down the stairs.
"Why, that's Lily Elsie!" gasped Ivy.
Alex laughed out loud. "What a great joint you've led us to here, Clarence!" he shouted.