Excerpt: Alexandra was with me. We were walking along a narrow connecting tunnel and then we when down a flight of stairs and on to a platform. We stood at one end of the platform near to the tunnel where the train would come from. I think we were talking, but I can't remember what we said. I remember being uptight and anxious about her being there and not knowing why.
Then there was a rumble of an approaching train. And a blast of stale air was forced out of the mouth of the tunnel and the rumble built up to an overwhelming roar. Then a Piccadilly line train zoomed out of the tunnel and screeched to a halt. And there were crowds on the platform forcing their way on and off the train.
Alexandra and I stood alone in the surging crowd and I realized that we were here to say goodbye to each other. But I didn't want to say goodbye. And I think I might have been crying. Then Alexandra turned and walked off. She didn't get on the train she walked off the platform by an exit beside the train tunnel. I turned and walked along through the crowd as the train pulled away and disappeared.
I followed the crowd along the platform. Then I was reading the signs, trying to figure out which tunnel I should walk along to get to where I was going. It was difficult because of all the people pushing and shoving. And I felt like I did when I first came to London, not knowing which lines to get or which stations to go to. And it was all terribly confusing.Then I was riding the escalator up out of the station. But the weird thing was that I had no shoes on. I could feel the hard metal under my feet, cold even though I had socks on. The groves in the step pressing into the soles of my feet. And as I neared the top and the air got lighter, I became increasingly frightened of not stepping off on time and catching my toes in the workings of the escalator.
The most unusual thing about the last sequence is that I was wearing stockings without any shoes on. I never do that. I either walk around bare foot, or possibly in sandals with no stockings, or with shoes and stockings on. But I never walk around wearing just stockings. And while when I was a kid I used to be frightened of getting caught in escalators they are so common now that I haven't thought about it in years.
Needless to say before I reached the top and had to jump off I woke up. I found my face pressed against Jasmine's ear, with my mouth full of her hair. I propped myself up on my elbow and looked down at her in the dim light. She turned her head towards me in her sleep. Her lips slightly parted, her breathing calm and even.
And I thought, she's so beautiful. How can I be dreaming of Alexandra, even if it was just to say goodbye, while lying next to someone who is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. How could I betray Jasmine, even in my dreams? She sighed and I bent down and kissed her lips."I think I really love you," I whispered and stroked her cheek."Hmmm," she murmured and rolled towards me.