Tour de Eindhoven – Part II

She is a night owl, I’m an early bird.
The time She goes to sleep is around the same when I get out of bed.
This gave me a few extra hours to adore her, since the sunrise was long gone, but She was still dreaming with fairies in wonderland.
After a few dozen kisses, She would eventually wake up, but refused to get out of bed.
“The alarm didn’t go off yet!”
If there was a kingdom of laziness, She could claim the throne without any resentment.
But there was no rush after all, we had no obligation to do anything.
Our freedom was similar; if not alike- to what eagles experience.
This led to a daylong cuddle (solid 6-7 hours) before our (my*) hunger would force us to leave the comfort of our bed.

Luckily we picked up a box of fresh veggies from a farm the other day, although I haven’t seen anything outside a basket of weird herbs, She saw the five star dish in them.
So once again we started cooking, but this time I actually helped.
The results were the following:

As a man, the only thing I could recognize was the carrot.
Fortunately my (lack of) knowledge of veggies didn’t stop us from inventing and consuming this bowl of flavorous madness.

• 

Then, as the signs of starvation started to disappear, shortly after we decided to leave the house for another pleasant day.
The second we went out the door, She met with her friend in the hallway.
A slightly inaudible Dutch conversation took place, though at that time I already had a decent knowledge of the language, so the topics weren’t entirely ciphered.
It was one of those glorious moments when you realize how much you’re able to understand, if you listen intently. At this point, I was living there for 46 days, and could comprehend about 60% of what’s happening.
All three of us were impressed.

A little later after we parted, She showed me a text from that friend about how cute I was; as a person, to finally accompany her.
Achievement unlocked: Sweetness Approved by Friends.

Again, a few hundred kilometers and some unexpected belly pokes later (She was 1 more hit away from being thrown in the river) the hunger came over, but this time we would indulge in an entire apple cake.
One does not simply say no to such impulses.

On the way home with the pie, we noticed two students carrying a huge plate of glass in the middle of the night, and She; just like in the movies- wanted to rush through beneath that.
“Shall we?” – She asked.
But being afraid of breaking the glass by battering it with my head; my inner child dared not to act, missing out on a once in a lifetime experience.
Such moments are invaluable; and your opportunity to seize them is short-lived.

“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”

Mark Twain

There we were; walking in the bright moonlight, with as many plans for our future as there are stars on the sky; which She is very fond of.
– Pro tip: Be careful when you date with a girl who has a thing for astrology –
If Saturn says you’re going to learn how to fly by the age of 26, oh boy, you better start growing wings.

Close to her place, we were passing the grand bowling pins again; but now it was her time to shine.
Probably the sugar rush from the dessert gave her the strength, because from then on, She wouldn’t leave until She climbed up on that ball as well.
While She was struggling to seize the top of the spherical mountain, I kept half an eye on the pie, which was laying on the grass, unprotected.
The eastern blood has no chill when it comes to valuables being out of sight.
Around half an hour, a stripped feet and a lot of mental effort later, our beloved blonde Tarzan managed to conquer the Dutch Everest.

That’s my Girl – I mumbled.
I threw her shoes back, so She wouldn’t fall in the mud bare-legged.
The moment She landed, I greeted her with a long kiss; from then on, She wouldn’t stop smiling until we got to her apartment.

If joy was a sin, we would’ve gotten life sentence.

As a reward for the successful journey, we devoured the pie with nuts and cranberries, in the company of a Black Mirror episode: Bandersnatch.
By the end of it, it was well over 3 am, natural to her, exhausting voor mij.
Inevitably, when two unpolished stones are on their way to fit each other, the day ended with an unforeseen squabble. I was at the point where I could barely keep my eyes open, unable to properly reduce her stress, all I could do was turn into the kind of spoon that lets her know everything is gonna be okay.

The next morning She took me home, same routine, one arm on the wheel, the other in my hand.
We were back in Arnhem.
Before we would part, I pulled her close, left a warm kiss on her forehead; and watched her drive away in the distance.

Little did I know, that was the last time I would see her.

“Pleasure, unless it has been kept within bounds, tends to rush headlong into the abyss of sorrow.”

Seneca

Take care,
Erik

08.03.2019 – Day 46