He says we are finished, we never agree on anything now.

When she was about to go, I said: 'I love you,' in that fast, routine way you say it at the end of a call with a spouse. There was a silence of a few seconds, then she said it back, in the same routine way. Then she was gone.

Story: Nocturnes

Book: Nocturnes

By Kazuo Ishiguro

Let's go for a walk, he says. You will feel better then. So we come out here. And he says, Sonja, look at these hills, aren't they so beautiful? Aren´t we fortunate to come to such a place as this for our vacation? These hills are even more wonderful than he imagined them when we listen to Elgar. He ask me, isn't this so? Perhaps I become angry again. I tell him, these hills are not so wonderful. It is not how I imagine then when I hear Elgar's music. Elgar's hills are majestic and mysterious. Here, this is just like a park. This is what I say to him, and then it is his turn to be cross. He says in that case, he will walk by himself. He says we are finished, we never agree on anything now. Yes, he says, Sonja, you and me, we are finished.

Story: Malvern Hills 

Book: Nocturnes

By Kazuo Ishiguro