Huib, when he had finished vacuuming, had taken the CD out of the player and put it away. Then he had walked home. It had felt like an escape, but he needed to be alone for a while!

Margreet... how could he be in that room with her for an entire evening. The dance night would just increase the desire to dance with her, to be with her, to feel her. It had overwhelmed him, what he had felt when he had grabbed her by the hips and led her into dancing. It had felt like his blood had started boiling throughout his body. His stomach had surrendered to tingles and muscle twitches that he had never experienced so strongly. In those few flirtations in the past he had felt some tingling, but as strong as tonight? Never!

A stream of thoughts, repeating thoughts, began to waltz through him.

Anton had been right, even on the day of her arrival: Margreet matches him. She was not just another employee. The click between them had been special right from the start. Whether she had felt it, he did not know, but he himself had definitely felt it. He had tried to push it away. He had only half succeeded, especially when Anton had made that remark about the two of them. He had decided that he wanted to be like a brother to her. He was convinced that was what she needed. No flirting colleague, no flirting at work! He had pushed away his feelings and his impressions from day one, for her, for his concern for her he could not allow himself to want more from her. And he himself was not ready for it yet either. It had only been so short a time since he had lost his father. He would have to continue going through that grieving process himself first, that was much wiser than trying to get into a relationship with such a beautiful, sweet woman.

Yes, he thought she was beautiful. She seemed ordinary, by no means a movie star or a fashion model, but her appearance made her beautiful, especially when she relaxed, when she smiled! He smiled as he remembered her search in the thrift store. She had been so relaxed and happy. Yes like that, she should always be like that. But she was so insecure, she seemed so broken inside.

His thoughts went back to the moment he had read her application email. Hadn't it already started then? Hadn't he already felt that click when he read her application email? That had been purely business, he had thought then. How could he have known, that there was much more to it? That he would be so overloaded with feelings for her, feelings that were completely foreign to him and so deep?

"Margreet is your soulmate, take care of her, help her, love her!"

Huib jumped up and looked around startled. Who was that? Where was that voice coming from? It seemed to be his father's voice, but he knew full well that it couldn't be. There was no one in his living room... And apart from that, no one could know what thoughts had just haunted his mind. But those words, those words sounded like from a real voice, so clear. It was a loving command, and they had indeed been a response to his thoughts....

He dropped back onto his couch, stretched out. When he calmed down a little, he realized where that voice had come from. It had been his own voice, not the voice from his mouth, but the voice from within, from his soul. He recognized the voice from his childhood, his youth. He had not heard it so clearly after the death of his father, and now it was there again.

Huib smiled, he hadn't missed the voice right away when he hadn't heard it for the past few months, but now that it was there again, he was happy about it. It felt so familiar, that voice belonged to him, that voice was his own inner voice!

He grabbed his cell phone from his pocket, made a note: "Margreet is your soulmate, take care of her, help her, love her!" He saved the file under the title: My soul speaks about Margreet. He hoped, even expected, that his soul would begin to say more about her in the time to come. He longed for inner guidance, to do what was right for Margreet and for them together. He could keep it in this note, if he thought it was needed.

He got up, walked up the stairs to the bathroom, threw a splash of water in his face, and put on different clothes. He looked at himself in the mirror, tried to look at himself through Margreets eyes. Oh come on, I look fine, he thought, chuckling, I just have no idea how she sees me. It's much more important how I see her! He straightened the collar of his blouse once more, ran his fingers through his hair like a comb, saw that it had no effect and laughed. He scrambled down the stairs, grabbed his coat from the coat rack and walked to the guesthouse.

To chapter 25. A dress for the dance night

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