It was a green sofa that brought them together. Stella was living alone with her daughter, Amanda. An aunt had left her some money, and with this money she decided to buy a sofa. Martin worked for an exclusive furniture store in Oslo; it was his job to deliver goods to customers' homes. That was how they met. If I had been in Stella's shoes I would have spent the money on other things - music or wine, or, had I been younger, a trip to London to try out the new Ferris wheel there, the London Eye. But Stella spent her money on a green sofa. it so ahppens that I have sat onthat sofa. it was not to my taste at all, a long hard modern piece of furniture that resembled nothing so much as a tight green female mouth.