Bucharest, September 1931

Dear Camil,

How are you, old friend? It’s hard to imagine that so much time has passed since we were
colleagues…15 years, yet you are still the same man I used to know. I do not think that you
even remember my voice, but I still wish that you, while you reading this letter, may be able
to reproduce it in my manner, just as I would be there to read it, right next to you, face to
face.

Love…what is love? Love is the primordial feeling, dictating every action of ours. Therefore,
every thought, word and act is a sign of love or the lack of it. It also depends on what love
you are talking about. The Greeks(such a wonderful civilisation…their whole history, ended
in a tragedy, just like all empires…so poetic) had 4 classifications of love: 1) agape, the
principal love, a moral one; 2) philia, a deep sense of affection, observed most of the time in
friendships ; 3) storge, the innate love for your family and 4) eros, romantic love. Remember
this conversation, along with the others we had? Justice, moral virtues, time, social
interactions, politics and, in the end, love? So many moments we shared together, only to be
forgotten and lost in this continuous flow of time and space. In this context, I shall continue
our last discussion, the one that chains my heart and watches over me as I recognise my
blindness and ignorance.

I have never expected such a classy book from you Camil(and with such a long title too).
However, ‘The Last night of love and the first night of war’ catches your zeitgeist, everything
that defines you(the War was such a horrifying experience, shaping each in unprecedented
ways. I really hope that someday, humanity will get rid of this disease). I shall come back
with my analysis over the book. And, I must confess, you have created a character that left
me powerless. I have never thought that a human(imaginary in this case)could express what I
hardly even conceive…because the woman I have loved all of my life, left me.

Unlike you, I have talked about my love life and you, like the exquisite critic that you are,
analysed every bit of my relationships. I guess that, before you fall in love, you need to
understand love, just like you and Ștefan did. You remember that when I was not talking
about something serious, I would talk about her, don’t you? That she had such beautiful eyes,
a charming smile, and…everything I wish I could have back, but I cannot. You are the only
one that knows that I have loved her since we were just some children making our way
through this jungle we call it ‘life’. And maybe she loved me back then…(thank you at least
for your letter that made it in time for our wedding).

As time passed on, I grew closer to her, while she became more and more distant, leading to a
somewhat curve that would go on and on, transforming itself into a vicious circle where the
more I tried, the more futile my effort seemed to be. From little disagreements to fights, I
have always tried to keep her right next to me. I trusted her(not like Ștefan that was kind of
paranoid, such an interesting take on the failed romantic relationship), only to have my world
shattered when she told me that she hated me…that I was a nobody…and loved someone
else.

And now, Camil, I have tried my best. If I could, I would have brought the Moon, the Sun
and every star in the sky. Then why do I feel so guilty? I know a normal human being is sad
in these scenarios, but why guilty? What are my sins? Please, Camil, just like you gave
Ștefan life and a conscious mind, being able to make such sharp decisions and think so
deeply, please help me. I know I have said that love is an easy game, but I regret these words
so much now as I stand alone in front of a world that is even more empty than me. Please,
Camil, enlighten me…you are my last chance to experience joy in life. I just hope that, even
if you cannot or do not want to help me, you will be alright. I wish you the best.

With desperation in his soul, your old friend