"Wake up, love." "La bonne vie, Eric." "The good life." "Let's give in to lust." "After those girls!" "I LOVE YOU TOO" "Give in to the intensity of the moment." "Waves, waterfalls, rapids." "Our sun-tanned heads..." "We're young gods in France." "Eric, am I sleeping with Nadine tonight in her tent?" "Oh, that name alone..." "Make me happy and say 'yes'." "With both of them." "In between." "Nothing compares to the beauty of a woman." "Art, music, film, literature, humour..." "A woman is..." "is the highest form of... art." "Four gorgeous young adults in love are sitting here together... full of life and possibly even happy." "I should ask the once lovely waitress... for a pistol, so we can all go out with a bang." "No, seriously, I do think I'd rather fuck than read." "And you, Eric?" "To think that man... is driven simply by sexual desire... and that I'm no different from the rest... makes me sick." "Stop thinking about that girl." "She's fucking some Italian anyway." "I'm phoning my publisher." "I do think, by the way... that the French are weird." "You saved me." "You really saved me." "Toilets, foie gras, dying trees." "Phones that don't work." " Not a civilised country." "Any editor worth his salt would have called Interpol." "There's not a taxi in sight." "You go first." "Why you want to be a doctor in the tropics." "And you?" "What your book is about." "I want to go back to Uganda when I have my degree." "How did you end up in Holland?" "When I was six, my parents died in the civil war in Uganda." "I only had minor injuries." "In the hospital where I ended up, nobody looked after me." "I got no food, no water." "They were slowly letting me die." " Why?" "My people fought against the regime during the civil war." "Luckily my foster parents were doctors there." "They got me out and brought me to Holland." "How about a taxi?" "Be careful." "Here, sit down." "Is it this one?" "Does this hurt?" "And this?" "Hang loose." "Now I see why you people win all the medals." "Come on, faster." "Be careful." "If it's no better in half an hour..." "I'll carry you back to the campsite." "What's your book about?" "Love?" "About a girl." "Called Reza." "Lovely name, Reza." "It's thanks to her I became a writer." "Or you would have what?" " Become a lawyer." "Before I met Reza I was naïïve and inexperienced." "My life had no direction." "Maybe being a writer had been on my mind for ages... without my realising." "My parents certainly didn't notice." "I did what was expected of me." "It wasn't so bad." "Fine parents, a steady girlfriend, studying law..." "When you were born, 24 years ago today..." "I looked at you, you smiled at me and I knew:" "He's going to be a lawyer." "If not for Reza, that might have been my life... and I would've lived it out unnoticed." "Without it having the slightest effect on anything." "To my darling Liesbeth... whom I love dearly and without whom I..." "Can't make babies." "Besides, my mind was on other things." "It was my 24th, the time was ripe." "Everything was ready, it was now or never." "My friend Fräser had given me the accessories as a birthday present." "What's wrong?" "I can prove this with a random example from literature." "I quote:" "'Following him along the wooden planks beside the house... where sand sometimes forced its way between my toes..." "I tried to shake off my sleepiness. ' You see?" "Do you see what the great writer... 'the great writer' is saying here?" "Literature is:" "trying to shake off your sleepiness." "Literature, dear ladies, is:" "waking up." "An example." "If you don't know what sex is... you don't have tingling feelings of lust." "Why not?" "You only miss what you know." "It's the same with literature." "Waking up." "So, I've just proved that poetry is inferior to prose." "Nonsense." "It's only the opinion of a literature student who..." "Don't go too far." "To be honest, I never have opinions." "I detest people who have opinions." "Thus ends our gathering." "Go forth and be awakened." "And you can clean the blackboard." "Before I answer your question..." "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Have you used my present to you yet?" " Well..." "Jesus, I didn't spend almost an hour... in Europe's top condom shop for nothing, did I?" "How can you be a famous writer if you never..." "I don't want to be a writer." " But you are." "You just don't know it." "You're talented, thus obliged." "You're just such a damned understanding, patient, nice..." "Bastard." "Should I do like you and molest every girl I meet?" "Molest them?" "They jump me!" "They devour me!" "I bet that cocky girl who was just here would love to give me a blowjob." "All you care about is the fatal call of the prostate." "Sex is the basis for the most sublime moments, Eric!" "It'll bring out the writer in you." "Bullshit." "So, can I borrow your shoes?" "Sure." "Daddy can go barefoot." "Where's Eddy?" "Over there." " Oh, right." "Come on." "Fräser, look." "There's that girl." "Well, go on then." "Say, I just dropped 50 P on the floor." "Over there somewhere." "If we're going to bullshit about poetry, let's do it with champagne." "Is your name really Fräser?" "That's a long story." "Maybe we'll have a chance to talk about it soon." "You think so?" "It's Edgar, by the way." "Is this it?" " Yes..." "You guys off already?" "Liesbeth has to study." "Don't chicken out now." "I'll test you tomorrow." "Quid pro quo." "How's it going with the cocky one?" "A big mouth, alcohol experience zero, tits zero as well." "Have a pleasant journey back." "Daddy's car, I suppose?" "And Eric, go for it." "Eric!" "Come here a minute." "She turned him on." "Are you with anybody?" "Can you walk?" "Am I with anybody?" "Am I anybody?" "Hey, that's my dad's jacket." " Don't moan, Eric." "Are you all right?" "What's your name?" "Where am I?" " Eric's taking you home." "Where's the bloody house?" "Where do you live?" "Straight on." "About an hour." " Great." "Don't be so inconsiderate." "Will you drop me off first?" "Aren't you coming?" " I need an early night." "I'll drive a bit faster." "Will you wait up for me then?" "No, I..." "I don't want my folks to..." "I don't know when they'll be home." "She needs an early night." "You'll have to masturbate." "Where do I go now?" " Where do you want to go?" "To Paris." "Let's go to Paris!" "Look, just tell me where you live or you walk." "Wow, Eric." "Look angry again." "I like you." "What's wrong?" "Can't find my keys." "Only the guard dogs are in." "Great." "Well?" "Let me think." "When did you last have them?" "It's not my fault if she won't sleep with you." "Two Dobermans." "I'm cold." "I'm scared." "Please stay." "I hear noises." "They're coming for me." "Easy..." "Easy..." "From now on you belong to me." "I belong to you now..." "Do you belong to me?" "Shit..." "Oskar." "Hi, Oskar." "It's me." "I'm going with Eric now... so I'm not stopping by anymore." "Yes, bye." "I ended it." "Now I'm all yours." "Reza ended it with her boyfriend... but I hadn't yet with Liesbeth." "Before I could decide how to tell her, Reza did." "Wait here." "Tell me if it starts hurting." "Do you want to sleep?" " No." "Come and snuggle up to me." "You're sweet." "Did you live together?" "It's really crazy." "At first I lived in a kind of stupor." "I wasn't thinking anymore." "Reza's folks were in Paris and she had to look after the dogs." "She asked me to help." "Well, the animals sure did notice." "Maybe my folks are fucking in Paris right now, too." "Was Paris a flop?" "Who on earth is that?" "I'm..." "Eric." "Eric Breeveld." "We have to be together every minute, don't we Eric?" "Get out!" "I'll call you." "Thank you for the hospitality." "We'll be back tomorrow to clean up." "Come on, Eric." "You'll look after her, Eric?" "Nice chap, your father." "Nero, down!" "Down, boy." "Down, down." "Yes, that's right." "Good dog." "We mean no harm." "Good dog." "Good dog." "What are you looking at?" "Someone who's underdressed for this weather." "Do you live here?" "'Do you live here?" "'" "I'd hardly let my dog out in someone else's garden." "Is he bothering you?" "We've just come from a party." "We both passed our exams." "Congratulations." "Sorry for disturbing you." "You should put something on." "Stay." "Good." "How is it you know that dog?" "We only just met tonight, didn't we, Nero?" "Which would you prefer?" "That I get pregnant, or that I move in with you?" "Don't take too long." "Are you pregnant?" "Don't you want me to have your baby?" "If I get pregnant, my breasts will get bigger." "Close your eyes." "You can open them now." "Oh, a little animal." " It's our baby." "What a sweetie." " Our baby." "My period came." "Our first baby." "Isn't the cage too small?" "No, it means he can watch us." "He likes that." "We'll call him Nero, okay?" "Hi, Nero." "My little sweetie." "Who's that painting by?" " Which one?" "Gustaf Klimt." "Danaë." "Lovely, isn't it?" "She's so beautiful." "I'm even a bit in love with her." "With Danaë?" "From now on you're in love only with me." "How're things?" "Not bad, really." "Lovely dress." "What I..." "What I wanted to say, is that I'm sorry." "No, I should have spoken up." "Really, my studies were much too important... and I kept you at a distance." "Now I feel that you're more important to me, still." "Of course your studies are important." " Yes, but..." "Going to bed with someone else instead... is something I can't blame you for." "I was furious at first, but not anymore." "In a good relationship you have to be able to forgive, don't you?" "Liesbeth, don't." "Really, don't do it." "It's finished." "It's over." "I'm in love with Reza." "Reza saw to it that I stopped studying law... and started writing." "Every night, as I picked her up at the Spanish restaurant... where she worked part-time... she made me read my story to her while she arranged the atmosphere." "She was..." "She was so all-consuming that I... that I could think only of her." "Only of her." "Of her." "Her whole being had taken possession of me." "Pleasant dreams?" " I think so." "About me?" " I never remember them." "What's the matter?" "Where did you hide her, the whore?" "Where are you, you filthy slut?" "Where's that bitch you were fucking while I was in the shower?" "Was it Liesbeth?" " What are you on about?" "When I came into the room you had a hard-on." "You did." "Are you going to deny it?" "Don't deny it, dammit." "The minute my back's turned..." "Claire, you were fucking Claire." "Fucking whore." "Bloody hell, Reza." "Stop all this hysterical shit." "I get hot in the morning." "It's a morning thing." "Really?" " Yes." "There's nobody else here." "There's only the two of us." "Just us, Reza." "I'm so ashamed." "Are you going to chuck me out now?" "Of course not." "Oh, Reza, Reza..." "It hurts." "In only two months, Reza did... what Fräser hadn't been able to do in years:" "My first story was published." "She surprised me with the news... in the restaurant where she had gotten me a job." "In short, she arranged it all." "Even for me to read of our love to all and sundry." "'... broadest connection." "But you already knew four, five... six seconds ago that it was all nonsense. ' ...six seconds ago that it was all nonsense." "You gulp, draw yourself up, look at the girl." "She opens her eyes and takes your face in her hands." "She pulls herself towards you, her tongue in your mouth." "You kiss her neck." "You taste her fragrance." "Laughter, affection." "This is much more than just a beautiful moment." "Another kiss." "Arms around you." "Jubilance paired with disbelief..." "She closes her eyes for a moment." "You sigh and stifle a cry." "She laughs and says:" "I love you too. '" "But after it was over, Reza was furious." "I didn't understand:" "How could I divulge such intimacies about us?" "She was like that:" "Sometimes sure of herself... sometimes a child whose world is collapsing... because her favourite doll is taken away." "The only thing about her you could count on... was that she was always unpredictable." "The self-confidence I had found as a writer... was eclipsed by my worries... about Reza and what possessed her." "If there's something about me you don't like... do you write that down, too?" "I like everything about you." "I noticed that she was starting to slip away from me... and that our love was disintegrating." "Five beers, and I'll have five as well." "Where are you going?" "I think I'm pregnant." " What?" "Tom doesn't know yet." "Can you feel any changes?" "Only in my breasts." "Can you tell?" "Claire's breasts just seem to grow." "I don't know why, but I really like them that way." "Which you can trace back to..." "Being torn from my mother's breast." "That might be a cliché, but it's possible." "That's not a problem for Eric." " Reza's breasts are pearls." "Besides, it's all about the nipples." "Every baby knows that." "A woman's not a woman unless she's got big breasts." "I love big boobs, getting my head down in between them..." "Where were you, sweetie?" "I looked everywhere for you." "Those stupid drunks." "I hate them." "What's wrong, Reza?" "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "Jesus, Reza." "What happened?" "I hate my breasts." "I hate them." "Oh, darling." "They're the most beautiful breasts in the world!" "All the girls have big breasts." "All of them but me." "Have a good cry, my dearest Reza." "Why didn't you kick that drunk in the balls, you hypocrite?" "Because you think the same, right?" "Put that in your bloody book, then." "Write about the bitch with the tiny boobs." "I just knew it..." "Sometimes it seemed like she was possessed by a devil... that wanted to destroy everything." "Perhaps because it was all too beautiful." "In my book, I wrote that her head was filled with war." "Let me do that, Patrice." "Okay, thank you." "She's almost finished." "Why don't you go on to the bar." "I have to help with the register." "Those pieces in our school paper were excellent." "When can I read your book?" " It's nowhere near finished." "And you?" "You were going to be an actress." "I'm trying to get back on my feet." "You don't know a nice guy for me, do you?" "This is Lizalotte, an old schoolmate." "She was great at maths." " And Eric at Dutch." "We made a good team." "You want a drink?" "Have you guys fucked?" "Am I supposed to stand around while you stare at her boobs?" "Not so loud." "It's late." "We're back." "Sleep well." "If you don't like your breasts, then have an operation." "You'd like that." " I want you to get over it." "Make them bigger, so you can imagine holding that girl's tits?" "Well, forget it." "She turned you on." "Don't you have to jerk off?" "What about you and Rocco?" "He had a huge hard-on." "You're not jealous, are you?" "Should I be?" " Yes!" "Shit." "I've had enough." "I'm sleeping at Fräser's place." "I'll do it." "Want it?" "Come and get it then." "Nice..." "Bastard." "I hate you." "I only did it to make you jealous." "Come on, Eric, open the door." "I want you so much." "I can't live without you." "I need you." "I can't live without you." "Who understands that you have to bleed... and suffer pain to be able to feel that you're alive?" "Nobody understands that we... that between us..." "That you go mad." "He knew this would happen." "It has to stop." "My God, it has to stop." "It's like she has to destroy herself." "And she's taking me with her." "No matter what I do, she always distorts it." "If I fall asleep after we fight... she'll be furious the next day because she didn't get any sleep... and it's obvious I could care less." "She's driving herself crazy, and me too." "Should we talk to her folks?" "Just mentioning them makes me an enemy." "Her bloody mother, her weak father." "How they always hated her because they wanted a son." "Talking to them would prove... that I'm just as horrible as they are." "She frightens me, Eddy." "She really frightens me." "I wish there was something I could do." "I'll borrow my mother's credit card... and you two can go away for a weekend." "Okay?" "Oh, how romantic." "You taste so good." "I want you so much." "What's wrong?" "Are you annoyed?" " Don't touch me." "Filthy bastard." "Sorry?" "You were flirting on the tube." " What?" "With that black woman." "Everyone noticed." "You like humiliating me in public, don't you?" "I didn't even seen one black woman on the whole bloody tube." "If you start up again, I'm going home." "So, go." "I've had enough of this shit anyway." "I was really looking forward to this... and now you've ruined it all." "Reza, what are you doing?" "You don't love me anymore." "I don't give a fuck what happens to me now." "Show me you love me or I'll do it." "I'll do it." "So, jump." "Are you still angry?" "Can I sit next to you?" "Or are you just acting angry?" "It's not easy, is it?" "It makes you look really sweet." "Can I snuggle up to you?" "I'm so cold." "This'll give you permanence." "As my own ministering angel... who mourned the love of his life while on holiday." "You know, Eric, I'm certain that between you and me..." "That between me and you..." "Five, four, three, two and yea!" "Happy New Year!" "See, it's obvious you've done it." "And if you two haven't done it yet, you will before long." "I'm not crazy." "That's why you won't go to Fräser's party." "Happy New Year." "I hope you'll be happy together... and have lots of babies and everything." "Hey, Reza." "Hey, Reza, about Rocco." "I was watching him today and I thought:" "He seems like a nice guy." "Really?" " Yes." "Handsome, friendly, nice." "You think so too, don't you?" "I'm glad you say that because..." "Once after work we sort of kissed." "I can tell you now." "You're not upset, are you?" "No, not as long as we're honest to each other." "Happy New Year." "We're going to Fräser's party, aren't we?" "Happy New Year." "I'm going to turn in." "You can stay if you want." "Come on." "You won't be able to sleep with all that racket anyway." "I'm tired, Reza." "You mean you're angry." " Sorry?" "About Rocco." "No, you were honest about it." "Yes..." "Well, actually, not totally." "Promise you won't get angry?" "I don't get angry often, do I?" "Last week I... accidentally... went to bed with him." "Accidentally!" "That's the whole truth." "Now you tell me about Patricia." "You're nuts." "Accidentally?" "With that..." "With Rocco?" "With that filthy, horny, stinking, Italian backstreet-fucker?" "Right, Reza." "That's it." "It's over." "Finished, finished, finished." "Finito, for good, that's it, it's over." "Fuck off." "Christ!" "Out of the way." "You're such a hypocritical pig." "I never did it because I loved you." "And I'm supposed to stand by while you fuck around?" "You're crazy." "Eddy, do something." "I read all that shit." "Those filthy stories." "Go on up to my place." "I'll handle this." "I hate you." "Know what I'll do in future?" "I'll always lie, that's what." "Where's that book about me then?" "I'm still waiting... and all you can think about is sticking your prick... between Lizalotte's breasts." "And that horny bitch Patricia..." "Well let me tell you:" "Fucking with Rocco is a hell of a lot better." "How is she?" "In the closet?" "Has she got all her things..." "No, no, I'm staying here for a bit longer." "Sort things out." "Yes." "And, Fräser, thanks." "Poor Fräser." "She's staying with him." "I used writing about our love... to help me get back on my feet without Reza." "Does feeling miserable make you write better?" "I don't know." "What I do know, is that nothing seemed to help." "Writing about her, not writing about her..." "It didn't matter." "I missed her and kept missing her." "I got it in the pub." "Thank you." "How's it going upstairs, in your closet?" "It's small, isn't it?" "Eddy cleared out all the boxes." "Have you seen it?" "It's just until I get another place." "And you?" "Your book?" "Is it coming along okay?" "See for yourself." "My birthday's next week." "I know." "Are you doing anything for it?" "I spent the last of my money on drink and snacks." "I invited a lot of people too, but..." "Tom and Claire are away." "Fräser has a class, so he'll be coming later." "I'm worried that nobody will come." "That I'll be all alone because nobody likes me." "It's okay, it's okay." "Don't worry, I'll be there." "I promise." "Even if I'm the only one there... we'll have a great time, okay?" "I've never had a party in a closet." "Where's the birthday girl?" " Who?" "The birthday girl." "Reza." " Who's she?" "When I saw her like that with someone else..." "I wasn't even angry." "Maybe I felt relieved." "I could stop feeling responsible for her." "I no longer felt guilty." "It was better this way." "The ambulance is on its way." "You promised to come." "I waited for you the whole evening." "You prick." "Eddy, stop the ambulance." "Come and get me." "I'm ready." "I can't take any more." "I can't take any more." "I've been waiting for so long." "You're her boyfriend?" "We're keeping her tonight." "She'll go to the psychiatric ward tomorrow... in consultation with her parents." "Go on home." "She'll be fine." "After that I didn't see her for months." "It was as if she'd vanished into thin air." "Maybe she had finally let go of me, and vice versa." "'Homeless' newspaper?" "How are you doing?" "I'm fine." "I tell everyone you wrote a book about me... but I don't see it anywhere." "It's not finished yet." "Are you still seeing Rocco?" "I see him now and again." "I have a new room." "It's really a wild space." "Do you want to see it?" "You were always so sweet." "Rocco is tough and crude." "If I cry or if I'm afraid... he snaps at me, or hits me or kicks me out." "When he wants to make love he says:" "Clothes off." "I want to fuck." "And he sleeps around." "I could care less." "If I think about my mother..." "The violin lessons she made me take." "The school she sent me to." "Always saying I mess everything up." "Then I think:" "The only thing I'm really good at is fucking." "My little palace." "Great, isn't it?" "I don't understand why you let him treat you like that." "Jealous?" "It's not the same kind of puppy love with him... as it was with you." "What is it then?" "Adult love, animal love?" "Sex love." "Yes, that's what it is." "Why are you going on about Rocco?" "Well..." "Coming?" "I'm not sleeping with you anymore, Reza." "Don't be so difficult, Eric." "I want it and you want it." "Come on." "I've shaved, look." "Bye, Reza." "Another scene for your book." "I don't want to." "That was the last time I saw her, more than six months ago." "My life went on." "Tom and Claire had a boy." "Fräser had one affair after the other and I..." "I got down to my book." "I lived without Reza, but she was always with me... because I was writing about her, about us." "Mr Breeveld?" "Yes, that's me." " Famous even in France." "Hey, Eddy, I have to phone Tom." "Could be big news from your publisher." "I'm coming." "Are you coming, love?" "How is it possible, my dear ladies... that Ricard is one of God's given drinks only in France... like coconut milk is the premier cru where you come from?" "Where we come from I use it to flush the toilet." "What's wrong?" "Don't they want your book?" "I have to leave." " What's wrong?" "Is it Tom?" "The child?" "Dammit, tell me." "Reza is in intensive care." "Jesus, Eddy." "She jumped." "She's not going to make it." "I was almost certain she wouldn't make it." "Who was I going back to?" "To the Reza I no longer knew?" "To the Reza who might already be dead?" "But my Reza, the Reza in my head, in my heart, still lived." "She would always live, on paper." "I'd make sure of that." "One for you too?" " Yes, please." "There you are." " Thank you." "There you are." "Enjoy it." "Reza..." "Reza Correza..." "Reza, my love..." "Reza, my sweetie... you stole my heart... and I stole yours." "Now that you're no longer here..." "I dare return your heart to you."