Clink!

The clear wineglasses touched with a bright, ringing sound.

The wine looked redder than usual tonight.

It was a classy restaurant, and the wine was special to match.

The food made my mouth happy too.

Soft jazz drifted warmly through the room.

But the real clincher was that I was on a date with a beautiful woman.

Travel always has a way of setting your heart loose.

It had in Hong Kong too.

So had meeting Clara.

But back then I was young.

My soul was in its thirties, but on paper I was a high school student.

On top of that, Clara had kept a lot hidden.

I never got all of her heart.

I liked her, but it wasn't true love.

I'd sensed that, and my instincts had kept me from taking it any further.

If it had been a one-night thing, two people brushing past each other, I'd have been bolder.

It didn't have to be love with a promise of forever.

Any adult has times when he just wants to be with someone.

This was one of them.

Talking with Sara Johansson was a pleasure.

Before the food came, we talked about anything and everything, jokes and even politics.

The conversation never stalled.

She had the fragrance only a grown woman gives off, and plenty of it.

A beautiful woman, and a kind one on top of that.

We clicked, too.

A few words in, I could see how smart she was.

She really listened to what I said.

Her pale blue eyes, shining with intelligence, were bewitching.

Her red lips and the faint scent of her makeup warmed my heart.

Her voice made me think of the Lorelei's song, luring sailors to their deaths.

And on top of that, Paul Cézanne had descended into me.

It had only been for a little while, but a fever still lingered, like the aftereffects of a possession.

I'd been feeling my way through Paul Cézanne's memories so I could paint the picture properly, and before I knew it, it was finished.

I must have painted like a…