The next morning, on her third day of work, she ran into Huib already in the hall. He gave her a pretty firm swat on her shoulder. "Good morning young lady, how are you doing?"

"Good morning to you too, I was just fine, but now I feel like I've been beaten up by someone!" She laughed, "No, not at all! Have you heard from Annerieke what happened last night?"

"No, not exactly what happened, but she did come to see me before she went to her own house, to tell me that you had just been through something heavy, something with your knitting. I was happy for you that she had felt she had to stop by and see you before she went home."

"Had she felt that? So it wasn't a coincidence that she just came by? She was so right on time! I was all over the place, I had such tension in my head that I was afraid I was going to break down. And suddenly she was there. She comforted me and helped me, explained things about healing, also about her own experience with it. I felt a little dizzy in the end, but also relieved. I know that there will be more of those rotten moments, but I want to trust that it's going to be all right, that I'm going to be who I am. That's what Annerieke called it. I'm curious who I'll be then, how I'll look like a flower with lots of happy colors!"

Laughing, they went into the kitchen together.

"Good morning youngsters," Annerieke greeted them. "Go ahead and sit down," She put the last things on the table and sat down herself. "Dig in and enjoy! Slept well, you both?"

There was a nod on the other side of the table.

"I’ve slept like a log," Margreet replied. "It felt afterwards like I slept three nights in a row, I was so super dull when I woke up from the alarm clock! I needed a lot of cold water in my face to get a little clear!"

"Well, after an evening like yesterday you must have needed that a lot too!"

"I did have something scary last night, by the way, when I was just in bed" Margreet reminded. "I thought I would fall asleep immediately, I was tired and relaxed, but suddenly my heart started pounding like crazy, fast and hard. I really felt my heartbeat through my whole body and felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest. It made me anxious, I was afraid that something was really not right with my heart. I sat down, with my cell phone in my hand, to be able to call you if it didn't go away soon. And then, that was so special, while my heart was still going like that, I calmed down. A thought came into mind, that my heart needed to pump out the dirt from that piece of healing from last evening, and that it would pass in a moment. And a little later it did indeed calm down, I laid down and fell asleep like a log. Was that thought actually a bit true?"

She looked, suddenly wondering if she hadn't told them something crazy, from Annerieke to Huib and then again to Annerieke, who answered: "Oh yes, I think that's right! Do you remember Huib, you've had that several times too, right? So did I, for that matter. It always went away and except for the first few times I have never been worried about it again.

By the way, I spoke briefly to Huib last night, also about your work. We both think you're taking it particularly well, you're cooperating, observing and copying, you're just learning fast. And we appreciate the contact with you, we appreciate you as a person. In summary... we are happy with you! And we have discussed for a while how we will proceed after the first two days. Because you now get that healing process on top of it, and because I enjoy working with you, I proposed to keep working this way for the time being. Huib has agreed with some doubt, but I would also like to know what you think about it."

Margreet had conjured up a frown on her forehead while listening. "I've enjoyed it too, working together. And for myself, I would also like to continue doing so for a while. But... isn't it too much for you? I mean... Huib had put up that advertisement to relieve you, because he had seen that you were not doing well. Then you'd better take some more time for yourself, wouldn't you?"

Annerieke looked from one to the other, "Beautiful couple you are! A couple of mother chickens! Huib said pretty much the same thing last night. But do you know what I've noticed these past few days? By working together it has already become much lighter for me. I can enjoy the work again. And that makes me feel better already! So now to you personally: what would you want for yourself? To work on your own or to work together?"

"I don't have to think about that for a second. If that is your attitude, then I would immediately choose to work together for a while longer! It clicks well, we work nicely next to each other and besides being pleasant it is also practical. If I ever have a question, you are close by. And if there are more of those miserable moods like last evening..."

Huib nodded, he did feel, that those ladies were plotting, in a positive way. He would be a fool to separate them!

"Good, that’s settled," Annerieke responded. "I'll just go check on the guests to make sure everything is in order and then we can go to work upstairs."

To chapter 21. Anton and Margreet

Or to the Table of contents