"... ein gewisses Lächeln"

More about the book

Young girls often discover love with men in their forties. Dominique was preparing for her exams and was gently bored with a boy when she met Luc. In that instant, she thought, "I like him. He’s a bit older, and I like him." Luc was married, handsome, and already somewhat weary of life. Later, he proposed that she spend two weeks with him in Cannes, "to teach her about the sea, money, and a certain form of freedom." "What do you risk? Getting attached to me, suffering afterward? But so what? It's better than being bored. You’d rather be happy and unhappy than nothing, right?" And Dominique replied, "Of course." Yet, already in the anticipation of pleasures, imaginations, and regrets, she was no longer bored at all.