Chapter 15: Three Women, One Room

The invitation came from Clara’s side.

A private evening in a Berlin loft, linked to people from her professional circle. Not a loud party. Maybe twenty-five or thirty guests. Soft lighting. Careful conversations. The kind of room where money and reputation moved quietly. She asked me to come with her. I said yes.

What I did not tell her was that Lena had also been invited through a university contact who moved in the same loose network. And Sophie, through a photographer she sometimes worked with, had ended up on the guest list as well. Three separate doors had opened onto the same night.

I told myself it would be simpler to keep them in one place. If I could see everyone, I could control the setting. Controlling the setting, I thought, would prevent complications.

That decision was the complication.

I arrived later than I should have. I wanted them already inside before I entered. The loft was on the fourth floor of an old industrial building that had been cleaned up and made expensive. When I stepped out of the lift I could already hear low music and the soft murmur of voices.

I walked in.

The main room was wide, with large windows looking out over the city. People stood in small groups holding wine glasses. A few sat on low sofas. The air smelled faintly of perfume and expensive candles. I saw Clara first. She stood near the far wall, elegant in a dark dress, speaking to a man I recognised from one of her foundation events. She looked completely at ease.

Sophie was by the open kitchen area, leaning against the counter with a drink in her hand. She wore black, as usual, and her posture was restless. Even from a distance I could see she was already scanning the room for something to push against.

Lena had taken a quieter position near a tall bookshelf. She held a glass but was not drinking much. Her eyes moved carefully across the space, observing.

I saw the recognition before anyone spoke to me.

Sophie and Clara were already looking at each other. Not with simple surprise. With the slow, uncomfortable memory of people who had met once and not liked what they found. Kreuzberg. Two years earlier. A loud night of art, music, and too many people. Clara had been there with friends from her circle. Sophie had been there in her usual chaotic way. They had exchanged enough words that night to leave a mark.

Clara remembered Sophie as reckless and provocative. Sophie remembered Clara as judgmental and protected by money and manners.

Neither had expected to see the other here.

Lena noticed it immediately. I watched her eyes move from Sophie to Clara and back again. She understood, in that single look, that something existed between them that she had not been told. Her expression barely changed, but the air around her cooled.