- What are you drawing...
At the feminine voice, and the small steps that had stopped just a few meters from him, Goren stopped what he was drawing, put down his pencil, and looked up at the person who had just spoken to him.
The teenager who hadn't stopped staring at him.
Her again...
But it wasn't possible.
Why was she there.
Had she planned to harass him during his stay.
First she hadn't stopped staring at him while he worked with his father and brothers, and now that he was taking some time off to be quiet and do some sketches, the teenager was there, in front of him, smiling.
A smile which, it had to be said, was very pleasant.
But that was no reason to bother him.
She had nothing better to do than come and see him.
Besides, he was far from interesting for a girl her age.
Then again, even girls his age shunned him because he was too serious, and spent three-quarters of his time with his head in his books.
So it was better that she should be interested in someone other than him.
Seeing that he wasn't answering her, Alex decided to move closer to him, and come and sit next to him on the bench.
From a distance, she'd seen him isolate himself, a drawing pad in his hands, and so she'd wanted to know what he intended to do with it.

She found it hard to understand why anyone would want to be alone.
Her father and brothers must have asked her to join them for tea, and he preferred to be alone.
It was a very strange reaction.
- I'm Alex...
Pardon.
Was he dreaming.
Or had she really just sat down next to him.
Yes, she had.
But she was intruding.
Good God.
Why couldn't she go back to her family and leave him alone?
He didn't need company.
He was a solitary person.
And was used to always being alone, so why should that change.
Because some kid was coming over to chat with him.
It was stupid.
- And you... you do have a name.
Of course he did.
And she had to know it.
So why ask her.
But she was really starting to annoy him.
But strangely enough...
When he turned his face to her, and she looked at him with her big hazel eyes shining with innocence, and that little smile on her lips, he didn't feel like scolding her.
She really did have delicate features, and one could sense a profound kindness in her.
Then all his annoyance evaporated.

- Robert Goren... But they call me Bobby.
Robert Goren...
My God.
How solemn he was.
Whereas Bobby...
So it was a diminutive, like her with Alexandra when we called her Alex.
She liked it a lot.
- That's nice... Bobby.
At her words, Goren blushed violently.
No one had ever said that to him.
And it was said with such innocence, it was embarrassing.
- But they call me Alex... and it's Alexandra. She clenched her hands against the skirt of her dress. It's not feminine at all.
Not feminine at all.
Alex...
But it was cute.
Admittedly it was more of a masculine diminutive, but it also fit a girl.
- Says Bobby... I can look...
She reached for her drawing pad.
Red-faced, one, because she'd called him so familiarly, and two, because she was so interested in his sketches, he put his hand to the back of his neck, looked away, embarrassed.
- They're just unimportant sketches...
Really.
Could they really be just unimportant sketches.
Then why was he embarrassed at the idea of her looking at them.
- I promise not to make fun...
Not laugh.

But he didn't care if she didn't care about his sketches.
Couldn't she see that she'd already been with him too long.
And that she'd better leave him be.
Why would a barely fifteen-year-old teenager be interested in his drawings.
It was stupid.
But on the one hand, the idea that she was interested in his sketches pleased her.
After all, she was the first person to take an interest in what he was doing.
So for once, and just once, he handed her the drawing pad, which she took gently into her hands.
She turned away from him to look with interest at each sketch, carefully turning the page so as not to risk creasing them.
- They're really nice sketches.
They really are.
Lovely sketches.
So she liked her sketches.
Well, that was a first.
He thought they were just drawings, borderline middle-school.
- But my favorite was this woman.
Alex raised the drawing pad, and showed him a woman depicted in it.
At his mother's face, Goren's heart sank.
Against his mother's advice, and after a great deal of patience and many fits and starts, he'd managed to get her to agree to draw her.
And it had been hard.
- This is my mother.
Oh…

His mother.
Alex had thought this woman might be an intimate of Bobby's, or even a girlfriend.
But she'd been wrong.
But the lines of the drawing were really delicate, and on closer inspection, the woman's eyes were the same as Bobby's. "You've got her eyes.
- You have her eyes...
Her eyes...
Alex was the only one who saw the resemblance.
- Would you tell me about her.
Tell her about her mother...
It was a sensitive subject.
But could he.
Wasn't she too young, too fragile, to hear that kind of conversation?
In addition, what would she think of him if she knew the truth?
That his mother had schizophrenia.
She'd run away from him as quickly as possible, thinking that he, too, might be afflicted.
The ones that many people thought about him, as soon as they found out about his mother's illness.
But not her father, who had given her a chance, and that he could never forget.
And the thought of her turning her back on him made his heart ache.
Because despite everything he'd thought, talking with Alex was good for him, and he enjoyed her company.

She was pleasant company and invigorating.
- It's not easy...
Not easy...
And for what reason.
Would there be a problem about her mother.
She's no longer with us.
- She's not dead... But she's suffering...
- Here's to you, little rascal.
Elizabeth rushed over to her little sister, put her hands on her arm and pulled her forcibly to her feet.
- Let go of me, Beth.
Beth nodded, and reluctantly Alex handed her drawing pad back to Bobby.
- You'll paint my portrait one day.
What.
Elizabeth had misheard.
Her sister wanted young Goren to paint her portrait.
What the hell.
Why not just ask her to pose nude.
No, she wasn't feeling well.
Forcibly, she pulled Alex along, forcing her to follow, as a puzzled Goren looked on.
And as soon as she was far enough away from Goren, Beth turned to her sister.
- You're not well..." she cried. Not only are you alone with him... Beth couldn't contain her anger. But you want him to draw you.
- And then.
And then.
Was she dreaming or was Alex rebelling.
- Don't tell me...
Pardon.
Oh no.
Her big sister wasn't about to start again.
She'd gone to see Bobby out of curiosity when she saw him holding the drawing pad.

And she'd just had a chat with him.
Where did her sister see the harm.
Besides, she'd enjoyed talking to him.
But strangely enough...
She remembered the sadness that had appeared on his face when he'd talked about his mother.
What made him so sad.
She'd like the evening.
And so she would go back and talk with him, whether Beth liked it or not.
- Don't even think about it... You're not going back to talk to him.
Don't think about it...
Don't go back and talk to him.
And why if she wanted to.
Nothing could stop her.
Especially not her older sister.
She had no orders to give her.
And who knows, maybe she'd make friends with Bobby.