The Room by Jonas Karlsson Read Free Book Online Page A

was talking at the same time. Once the whole team had gathered Karl knocked on his desk.
    “Okay, everyone. Right, Ann, there was something you wanted to discuss?”
    “Yes,” Ann said, blushing. “Not just me. I think I can speak for the whole department…”
    She fell silent, as if she were waiting for some show of agreement from the others.
    “Well?” Karl said, looking around at the others. It was clear that he found this situation uncomfortable. Never previously had we all had cause to gather inside his office. Something was obviously going on. He turned toward Ann again.
    “Maybe you’d like to start, then?”
    Ann cleared her throat, and it looked like she was standing on tiptoe as she talked. It made her look a bit like a schoolgirl. Even though she was over fifty.
    “I…we think this business is all getting a bit unpleasant, Björn,” she said, looking at me.
    Everyone turned toward me.
    “What’s unpleasant?” I said.
    “Shall we let Ann finish without interrupting?” Karl said, completely unnecessarily, because obviously I was going to let her finish. But all of a sudden it was as if his supposition that I had interrupted her were true. I could feel everyone’s attention focus on me even more intently.
    “Yes,” Ann went on. “We’re all getting worried. About you.”
    “Why would you be getting worried?”
    “Well, when you stand there like that.”
    —
    The room was silent for a long while. It was as if everyone had suddenly realized how absurd the situation was. They were looking at me, and I realized that I was supposed to say something. I stood there without speaking for a few more seconds, trying to look as many of them as possible in the eye. Then I lowered my gaze and sighed.
    “Didn’t we deal with this yesterday?” I said, raising my head and looking from face to face. No one said anything.
    “Didn’t I tell you it was pointless trying to conduct psychological warfare against me? I don’t fall for that sort of thing. No matter how well you synchronize your stories.”
    Karl cleared his throat.
    “What are you talking about, Björn?”
    “I’m talking about systematic bullying,” I said in a fairly loud voice, so everyone could hear, while I pushed my way through toward Karl’s desk.
    “Bullying that has evidently been going on for several weeks.”
    I twisted round so that the others could see me properly. I touched the collar of my jacket so that a little of the lining became visible. I thought it made a good impression.
    “To start with, I’ve noticed that some people in here have adopted an unnecessarily harsh tone, and have demonstrated a rather unpleasant attitude toward me and not made any great effort to make me feel welcome. This is probably because you’re unsettled by me. There’s nothing strange about that, creative people have always encountered resistance. It’s perfectly natural for more straightforward individuals to feel alarmed by someone of talent. I would imagine that this has its origins in the fact that one or more of you have observed that I have taken the liberty on two or three occasions to take myself aside and gather my strength alone, having a short rest in that little room beside the lift. To some extent I can understand that this might strike some people as annoying. Obviously, we need to do our work and not take breaks whenever we feel like it, but I can assure you all that I have always taken care to make up for any concomitant loss of efficiency. And if it is the case that you have any secrets in there which for some reason you don’t want me to see, you’re welcome to tell me. Right here.”
    “As I understand it,” Karl began, but now it was my turn to speak.
    “You haven’t understood anything,” I said. “On the contrary, you’ve kept your distance. And in the meantime one or more individuals have taken it upon themselves to play some sort of psychological trick on me. Instead of coming straight out and having a normal