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"Good morning, my dear lady writer! Did you sleep well? Who did you dream about last night, Mopassan or Merime?"
Salimat was so happy to hear his voice that she couldn't speak. She just stood there with a phone clutched in her hand, smiling silently, listening to his soft voice on the other side.
"I'd really like to take you to this restaurant tonight. It's a great place, you'll love it! I can pick you up at 6PM, so ? can I please have your address?"
Salimat told him where she lived, and then, after a long pause, threw both hands upward and exclaimed:
"Arthur, I've been searching for you my whole life! Dear God, you finally heard my prayers!"
The day seemed to go on endlessly. Salimat couldn't contain her excitement. Promptly at 6PM her doorbell rang. She briskly walked to the door, and as soon as she opened it she saw Arthur with a huge bouquet of red roses.
"Good day, my Shakespeare!"
"Oh, I'm not even close to such greatness! Come on in," she said with a smile.
"Hey, Shakespeare himself would've fallen in love with you if he could lay his eyes on you! When you wear those graceful, long dresses you look like a woman of that era. I think Dante would have forgotten Beatrice in a minute if he could see you now!"
Arthur came in, looked around, and exclaimed,
"What a nice place you have here!"
"Come into this room, Arthur," said Salimat.
"My God, how many books do you have?" said Arthur, looking around at what seemed an endless array of books. "Have you read all of them?" he asked, unable to take his eyes off the books.
"I've read quite a bit more," answered Salimat with a faint smile.
"Even Voltaire and Kant?"
"I read them back in my university days."
"A woman who reads Voltaire deserves praise and respect!"
They continued to talk for a while, then left the house. As they approached the restaurant, Arthur took Salimat by the hand and walked in with her. The place was huge. As they made their way past pool tables, dancing men and women, and booths filled with couples, Arthur continued to hold Salimat's hand. He led her to the farthest booth on the opposite end of the restaurant, and on the wall were rows of paintings.
"Look at these paintings! - Arthur said excitedly. -The people in them seem so unhappy, tired and exhausted! That's Dutch Miner by Van Gogh. And see those dark-skinned, half-naked women? That's by Paul Gauguin. He fled from Paris to Tahiti because he was so poor, but remained destitute and a
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