Lovers for a Day

'Tereza, it'll soon be Friday here.'

'Not here though. It's only Thursday morning.'

'I realize that. But I'll have to give my reply today.'

'About those manoeuvres?'

'About whether I'm going to leave the navy.'

'But you always told me that it was your business what you did.'

'Naturally. I just wanted to know if you agreed with me that I should leave.'

'The navy, or New Zealand?'

'The one depends on the other.'

'But Bill, I was trying to tell you last time. You have your family there. What will become of them?'

'My family would stay where they are now.'

You'd leave your little girls there?'

'Tereza, I love you. I can't live without you. What am I to do? I have to give up something, or someone. I've already told them.'

'You've told them you're leaving and coming here?'

'I told my wife.'

'And how about her?'

'I've already told you. First she said she wouldn't get over it. Then she said I was off my head.'

'Stop that, for heaven's sake!'

'What did you say?'

'It's awful. My little monster has tipped salt into the sugar bowl.'

'That's not important, is it?'

'I didn't say it was important. Listen, do you really want to live here?'

'I've already found a job there.'

'Have you accepted it yet?'

'No, I've just discussed it with them. And I've already started learning Czech.'

'You really are crazy.'

'Yes, about you, sweetheart.'

'But, Bill, you promised me, you said you'd let me have time. .'

'You can have all you want, but I have to give them a reply.'

'Because of those rafts?'

'They're quite nice little steamers.'

'When do you have to give your answer?'

'Soon. And the people here today. Or by next week at the latest.'

'But we can't come to any agreement over the phone, can we?'

'And that's precisely the reason I told you last time I wanted to come over. Don't you agree?'

'I'm not sure. Anyway I told you I'm here with my husband and the children.'

'I'm aware of that, aren't I? I'd get on fine with your kids.'

'Stay out of here, for God's sake!'

'What did you say?'

'It's my little one. He's trying to climb into the oven when it's switched on. And what about my husband?'

'You told me, if I'm not mistaken, that you have a dog's life with him.'

'Bill, that's something we can't solve over the phone. And it costs a fortune.'

'I don't care about the money. I care about you.'

'I care about you too.'

'I love you. And I can already say it to you in Czech. Milovávám tě na celou duši. Did I get it right?'

'Not quite, Bill. But I understand you. And I love you too. Z celé duše!

'There you go.'

'And that's precisely the reason I don't want you to do something you'll regret later. Something that will drive us both to despair.'

'I'll never regret it so long as I'm with you. I'd only despair if I had to live without you.'

'And without your little girls?'

'They'll grow up all the same. And they'll be married in a few years' time.'

'How can you talk about your own children that way? They're still only little. You have to live for the present, for heaven's sake. You can't act according to what might or might not happen.'

'Tereza, don't you love me any more?'

'Wellington here. Are you still talking, Prague?'

'Yes we are, but we're nearly finished.'

'We're nearly finished, Tereza?'

'But it's costing you a fortune.'

'No, I thought you meant finished with me. You haven't told me if you still love me.'

'I love you as much as ever.'

'Do you remember the first time we met?'

'Yes, but we can scarcely talk about it at such a distance, can we?'

'You told me I was the sort of man you could spend your life with.'

Yes, because you're calm and kind, and you love me. You were nice to my parents when I introduced you to them last time you were here. My husband quarrels with them. He

quarrels with everyone, in fact, because he only sees peoples bad sides. And I was very attracted to you. My sea captain. You'll take command at the manoeuvres.'

'I won't. I'll live over there in your country. That's what I need us to agree on.'

'But Bill, everything's different here. And there's no sea.'

'I've had enough of the sea. You're what's special for me.'

'Because you have the sea all around you, but you don't have me. If you come here, you'll have me right enough, but you'll start to miss the sea.'

'How can you compare yourself to the sea? The sea is water and you're fire.'

'Darling, you say such beautiful things to me, but we must finish. We'll never sort it out over the phone, anyway.'

'You haven't told me yet whether you want me to come over.'

'What I want isn't the point. It wouldn't be sensible.'

'Why wouldn't it be sensible? We miss each other so much and we have to take decisions about our future.'

'Because we have our families. After all, you said I have to be absolutely free to decide.'

'Of course. I can't make you do anything, can I?'

'How can I be free to decide if you come over here and tell me you'll leave your family and your country because of me, and then you'll ruin these manoeuvres. Are they important?'

'Who?'

'The manoeuvres.'

'The biggest for ten years.'

'There you are. And you'd go and miss them.'

'That's my affair.'

'No, it isn't just your affair. If you give up your job and

abandon everything on account of me how am I supposed to be free to decide? Don't you realize what a responsibility this places on me? After all, I can't even be sure that you'd be happy with me.'

'With you I'll be happy. And you yourself said how nice it would be if we could be together all the time.'

'I said it because I love you.'

'There you are, then.'

'But at the same time I knew you were a long way away and that it could never come true. If you 'were nearer everything would be easier, and we could get to know each other better as well. We've hardly known each other for more than a couple of weeks.'

'Times two.'

'Yes. But that first time, when we met at the seaside, we had no idea that we'd fall in love.'

'I knew it the first time I saw you.'

'We didn't know it for certain. We were both on holiday. And when you're on holiday everything seems different and special.'

'It was special. But I knew I could never meet another woman like you.'

'What sort of woman am I?'

'Remarkable. Beautiful. Delicate. Tender. Wise.'

'Bill, you wrote and told me all that before. Don't waste time now. We've been talking for so long already. This phone call will cost you more than the plane ticket.'

'Don't think about the cost of the call and tell me whether I ought to fly over.'

'This is the Wellington operator. Are you still speaking, Prague?'

'This is Bill Morgan here, also in Wellington. What the hell do you keep butting in like that for?'

'Excuse me, sir, but I had the feeling your call was a trifle long.'

'There's no need for you to worry yourself about the length of our call. You're not paying!'

'Bill, I don't think you should come. I'm not sure I'll have the time or the chance to meet you. My husband always wants to know what I do during the day. .'

'Tell him you're going to your parents'. We could meet there.'

'Oh, for Pete's sake, pack that in! Turn that tap off right away!'