By Fleur Jaeggy, from I Am the Brother of XX, a collection of short stories that will be published next month by New Directions. Jaeggy is the author of several novels. Translated from the Italian by Gini Alhadeff.

In a restaurant with Oliver, not far from his house. First a visit to his freezing house. He loathes the heat. Or perhaps, for mental or clinical reasons I cannot know, the heat simply stifles him. It made an impression on me, the degree to which he detests the heat. Maybe because although I like the Nordic sky, ice, snow, I…