[Their love] had burned itself out, like a forgotten candle in an empty room, leaving behind a ravenous discontent.

but his eyes were too dark for her to make out any spark in them

All opening moves were the same, like in chess. You don't have to come up with anything new, there's no point, because you're both after the same thing anyway. The game soon finds its own way and it's only at that point that you need a strategy.

In fact, they didn't talk much at all, but they spent time together, each in his own abyss, held safe and tight by the other's silence.

Why did you choose to stay here?" (...) "I don't know," he said. "It's as if there's more oxygen here.

Mattia's voice no longer stirred anything in his stomach, but he was aware of the idea of him and always would be, as the only true benchmark for everything that had come afterward.

Choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains