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Another long but very pleasant evening out with Atsuko. As we wait and wait for service in an Italian restaurant, she drinks one glass of red wine and I drink the remainder of the bottle. Then, later, over juice and water in a caf bar, she talks to me of her relationship with 'the JWs', wincing and tittering and retreating into herself as she seeks to justify her faith. For my part, I can only repeat the line from K-PAX that still strikes me as containing more wisdom than all the Holy Books put together:

'Every being in the universe knows the difference between right and wrong.'

Over the course of the evening, Atsuko offers me her hands, offers me her arm, offers me her shoulder and, eventually, tentatively, gently, I take them. And this soft brushing of her flesh against mine, this warmth that radiates from her skin is maybe enough, for now.

But Jesus God, once again, what the hell am I doing running away to Australia, running away to Paris, when I am slowly, deliciously falling in love with this girl, and she with me?