D and H. ( Chapter Three. ) ( Part Two ).

At around six o' clock Sean and I were comfortably sipping the champagne he had bought to celebrate ' a day of advance ' as he put it and as he raised his glass.
" Do you want to try the " Dream Inducer ", he asked after we had been chatting for ten minutes or so.
" Thanks for the offer Sean but I think I'll wait 'till I see what it's effects are on other suckers first."
" Oh come on H. , one thing I do know about you is that you'll try anything. "
" And what would you suppose I would meditate on before I went to sleep? "
"Well anything. Danielle. A telephone call. A book. Another country.? "
" I like the way Danielle and me are, telephones scare the shit out of me , especially when I talk to myself, the book is not important and I'm just getting used to this country. "
" But you cast rune stones and you could use this in the same way. As advice or guidance."
" I could use another glass of champagne. "
He couldn't persuade me and at twenty to seven I left him with with a fresh bottle of champagne and a girl who had come to sit with us. Well, him actually.
I took the metro home.
I never know where to look on the subway. I lose myself in people and then they'll suddenly look up at me. At least on a train you can watch the houses flashing by or the countryside. I stood by the doors staring at my feet, hoping I wouldn't be too late for dinner. I don't mind letting most people down but to let Danielle down was painful.
I made it home on the dot of seven fifteen. " Not burnt, I hope."
" Not even started yet. We'll eat around quart fore nine. And then I thought we could go for a drink down the street if you like? "
" You seemed to have organized the whole evening. " She skipped over to me and her words poured like velvet honey in my ears.
" A quietly confidential celebration. "
" Don't you mean a quietly confident celebration? "
" I know what I mean..... You can help prepare the food. I know you won't refuse. "
" Oh really? "
" Yes really. You love me. " She said this as if it were some recent revelation. We rarely told each other that we loved each other and I thought that she may have thought that I had been taking her for granted somehow. Danielle put me to work cutting courgettes and carrots and shelling fresh peas.
" When you've finished that you can open some wine. And I bought a bottle of champagne for ' hoe zeg je dat' ?.... er, afters? "
" Yes, afters. James must have paid well. "
" He paid what he owed and a little bit extra because the exhibition went so well. "
All through the preparation I kept catching Danielle looking at me with an unworldly glaze in her eyes but I tried to pay it no heed. We laughingly sipped wine while the food was cooking and I couldn't help but notice that there was really something different about Danielle. She was her carefree and wild self but she seemed excited as though she were full of secrets that were dying to get out. Her positivity played off my cynicism and I wondered how we could be so good for each other? Actually I only knew that she was good for me. Then it hit me. This could be a fine farewell and I suddenly became concerned though tried to smile my way through my apprehension. We sat down , at last , to what amounted to a feast. The preparation had taken so long that we were on our second bottle of wine as Danielle filled our plates with spicy almost fluorescent vegetables each a sensation apart. I was starting to feel nervous and a little dizzy from the late afternoon champagne and the evenings' wine. I felt like I was loosing control, as though I had a question that had no answer and I would burst if none were given. Danielle looked at me before we began to enjoy the meal as if she wanted to pray or give thanks or something. She stared hard at me and then broke into a smile and raised her glass.
" To.. " she searched the ceiling for inspiration and then laughed..." everything. " It amused her very much so I smiled too, but missed the joke. The food was like a new adventure of indescribable tastes. Incomparable. We were silent for quite some time, savouring.
For the first time with Danielle the silence made me more nervous and I finally broke.
" I can't believe that you went to all this trouble just because an exhibition is finished. You were kind of weird this morning and you've certainly been a bit weird this evening. " She knew I knew.
" I must say that I have felt quite strange the whole day, like everything has become clearer but nothing in particular has changed. Nothing in fact. I just feel as though it has. "
I thought for a moment that she didn't know how to explain in detail in English but 99% of the Dutch of her age had a very good understanding of the language. "It's just I had this really vivid dream last night and it has stayed with me the whole day. " When she said the word dream I felt faint and shifted in my chair trying to make myself more comfortable but only succeeded in spilling my wine on my trousers. " I'm not really sure if I should say anything about it because I can't really explain the connection between what I dreamed and the way I feel. "
" And how do you feel? "
" Well..eh.. kind of married. " That wiped the forced grin off of my face. " I'll have to tell you the dream or you will have no chance of understanding what I mean. " I suddenly became much more sober. And so it was that for the second time that day a dream was revelled.

AND THE DREAM WAS TOMORROW OR THE NEXT DAY !!!!!!