Thirteen

At length I divested myself of the evening's hardships, prostrate on the bed of our hotel suite. Much to the credit of my companion, I was not solicited to detail the varied misfortunes of my trek, but rather was left at peace, and attended to with a welcome impartiality. From some place Maureen had procured a tray to be placed at the bedside; and on this tray had been assembled some pieces of fruit and chocolate, and a decanter of ice water. Of the citrus fruits I did not readily partake on account of their tricky nature, but with the chocolates I was greatly pleased, and of these I ate a considerable quantity before Maureen thought to join me.

"Chocolate is good," I reflected, and Maureen nodded, smiling.

"Mmmm."

While much is made of the enamouring qualities which chocolate is believed to possess, and while Maureen did, indeed, strike me as particularly lovely in this circumstance; and while in the duration of my recovery I had not felt so acutely the strum of my heart-strings as I did at present; still it is very hard for me to explain the outcome of this exchange by the simple introduction of sugary treats to the equation. I should rather like to think that the unseemliness and mounting misfortune of this whole affair had by some means induced itself into throes of an erotic crescendo! Terrorists be damned--I was no longer to be deemed a soft target!