Circles

The gambling rooms are divided into two circles. The outer is an ordered salon, sprinkled with tables, airy, quiet but for a buzz that penetrates by intensity rather than volume. The inner circle is a set of dark, clamorous rooms, where the croupier’s role is more that of a bouncer and the atmosphere gives the idea that the stakes are more than money.
The girl from the theatre is waiting in the outer rooms, but the adventurer has the feeling that for some time now she has belonged in the inner. She approaches, and says:
“It was difficult for me to get away. It is you, isn’t it?”