murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood

the other one was a dog. It seemed unfair to me. I got the pretty girl,
but Watanabe got stuck with the other one. That's why we swapped.
Right, Watanabe?"
"Yeah, I s'pose so," I said. But in fact, I had liked the not-pretty one.
She was fun to talk to and a nice person. After we had sex, we were
enjoying talking to each other in bed when Nagasawa showed up and
suggested we change partners. I asked the girl if she minded, and she
said it was OK with her if that's what we wanted. She probably
thought I wanted to do it with the pretty one.
"Was it fun?" Hatsumi asked me.
"Swapping, you mean?"
"The whole thing."
"Not especially. It's just something you do. Sleeping with girls that
way is not all that much fun."
"So why do you do it?"
"Because of me," said Nagasawa.
"I'm asking Toru," Hatsumi shot back at Nagasawa. "Why do you do
something like that?"
"Because sometimes I have this tremendous desire to sleep with a
girl."
"If you're in love with someone, can't you manage one way or another
with her?" Hatsumi asked after a few moments' thought.
"It's complicated."
Hatsumi sighed.
At that point the door opened and the food was carried in. Nagasawa
was presented with his roast duck, and Hatsumi and I received our sea
bass. The waiters heaped freshcooked vegetables on our plates and
dribbled sauce on them before withdrawing and leaving the three of us
alone again. Nagasawa cut a slice of duck and ate it with gusto,
followed by more whisky. I took a forkful of spinach. Hatsumi didn't
touch her food.
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