After the crowded dinner, Deyardí took command again to organize the tasks of clearing and cleaning the used dishes and the kitchen, and everything related to after-dinner matters.
I had not been so wrong when I asked Alexander about it: although many preferred to go to their rooms (mostly those who had children, and Richie who insisted on taking Nika to sleep), others gathered in the wide fireplace lounge to drink something hot. In the absence of alcohol, the aromas of freshly ground coffee and tea subtly dispersed through the air. When I finished accompanying Sasha and Andre and returned to the ground floor, everyone was settled and well attended, talking. Those who were still up were Illya and his wife, Mikhail and Christian (their girlfriends had withdrawn), and Rahmed and his partner
