19.10.1999
"london i"
Yesterday late afternoon I picked up Melissa at her office in Tothill Street, near St. James's Park. Boy, was she glad to see me! All chats and smiles and shining eyes she was ... We went down to the river to watch the Millennium Wheel, finally hauled into place on sunday. It is a marvellous view! Four hundred and fifty feet high, more than double the height of the Big Ben, Melissa told me, and meant to start turning as of january first.
Yessir, I promised, I would take her for a ride in one of the thirty two egg-shaped viewing capsules that still have to be fitted to this 'London Eye'...! If I'm still around, that is. Three months, to me, these days, it seems nothing short of eternity. The sun went down, evening fell, lights went on. We slowly walked and walked, not going anywhere in particular. Melissa meanwhile talked and talked, not going anywhere in particular either: colleagues, family, friends, plans & projects - chitchat chitchat. I watched her earrings swing, hit the side of her face. It made me feel serene, at ease, and suddenly I realised that I felt almost happy! Somewhere around Sloane Square we entered a pub, for a smoke and a beer, then took the Circle Line back to Notting Hill. Melissa laid her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. All the way.