"It's absolutely delightful", enthused Sarah. "Not at all what I expected in a modern block. It has such character. A complete contrast with down below. "How many rooms have you up the spiral stairs"?

"Just the two", said Sam. One is the bedroom and the other I use for a study". He didn't offer a guided tour, Sarah noted. They sat at the breakfast bar gazing at the view and sipping their drinks. He must have pressed some buttons because a violin concerto began to play in the background. The music sounded light and modern.

She cast an appraising eye over him.

"So tell me about yourself Sam. What made you decide to become an academic. I'm curious and I want to know it all".

She allowed a school mistress harpyness into her voice. ("Stand and deliver your excuses young man"). She was instinctively feeling him out, testing him, looking for a modus operandi on which to build a relationship she hoped would not have to become too close.

He shrugged his shoulders. For the first time she detected a caginess. It was the look of a man that was used to keeping himself to himself.

"It was easy. I just wasn't any good at anything else", he said. "The other boys played football and went to the local dances I was only confident in the company of books. Both my parents were teachers so there was a family tradition to teach and to follow the tradition was easier than to resist."

"I married a fellow student called Vanessa soon after my first degree but her parents wanted me to go into their business and I couldn't get up any enthusiasm."

"They were Hong Kong Chinese and believed in respect for parents included doing their bidding. The differences in culture and traditions weren't important to Vanessa and I. But her parents were a problem that just wasn't going away. In the end it seemed easier to give up and start again with a new relationship. But unfortunately, as it turned out, I never found another that became permanent".

The rush hour had started below. Cars nosed down the Euston Road end to end. From so high above, they seemed unreal. Office workers scurried along pavements like ants.

"There must have been others", pressed Sarah, "what about your students, did they never fancy the teacher"?

"There were dalliances", said Sam modestly, "both inside and outside college life, but nothing ever lasted".

"I suppose the truth is that I enjoy my independence. I live above the shop. There's no car to wash on Saturdays and no garden to mow. I can spend as much time as I like on my work, which is what I enjoy doing. I've got little expenditure and much more income than I need. It's a pretty good life really".

"For my part", said Sarah, "I just can't imagine what it's like to live life for me. It's been so long now. The treadmill has always been there. Meals to cook. Children's crises to sort out". She gazed at him thoughtfully. "I wonder if you can understand".

Her eyes looked like lasers into his, hinting of intimacy. "Husbands can be very demanding, you know".

He shift uncomfortably in his seat, adjusted his glasses and seeing her glass empty, escaped to behind the bar to replenish it. He changed the subject.

"So what do you think about your old college, now. Did it live up to your expectations"?

She exhaled in a big sigh. "Oh my goodness, how the memories came back", she said. "Not only the buildings but the youthfulness and freshness of the youngsters outside. It made me remember the whole excitement and adventure of learning too. It made me hope that perhaps one day I could get back into that voyage of discovery again. Perhaps I'm still not too old to chart a few new vistas, learn to grow a little again - perhaps live life just a little bit more for me".

"So tell me what you would like to learn about", said Sam. He had returned and now leaned back in his chair, crossing his ankle over his knee.