Seamus pushed his way through the throng towards the bar with Walter following closely behind,
drawing interested looks from those close by. When they reached the bar, Seamus nodded at a
young looking fellow behind the bar who immediately whispered something to his colleague and then
strode over to opposite where Seamus and Walter stood.
"Is this him?" The barman asked Seamus. Walter noted that his accent was very mild. This he welcomed
as he often had to listen hard to understand Seamus, particularly when he was speaking with his fellow
country folk.
"Dis is him," Seamus confirmed. "Walter, meet Dara Duff - de greatest magic barman in all Oireland."
"Hi Dara," said Walter. He was somewhat surprised. He had been expecting someone much older. Dara
looked like he was barely old enough to serve alcohol. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"
"Don't let dat baby face fool ye," Seamus chipped in. "He's been around as long as de rest of us.
Only it seems he knows someting we don't."
"Ha ha!" Dara laughed. "I just got lucky with my parents! Anyway, Walter, Seamus tells me you might
need my help. Something about a woman is it?" As he spoke these words, Dara looked deep into Walter's
eyes. It seemed to Walter as if someone had suddenly turned the volume down in the rest of the room.
The sights around him blurred, leaving only Dara in sharp focus. "Tell me your story, Walter, and we'll
see what I can do for you. Here, get this down you." He handed Walter a glass of something that looked a
lot like whiskey. But when Walter drank it, the taste was surprisingly sweet. What remained of his hangover
instantly disappeared and a feeling of calm came over Walter as he began to relate his tale. He told Dara
of his transformation after meeting Tallina, his shock and devastation when she left him, and finally the
heartbreak of seeing her with another man on St Patrick's Day. Throughout the tale, Dara kept his eyes
fixed on Walter, saying nothing, only occasionally nodding. When Walter had finished, Dara rubbed his
chin and nodded some more. Eventually he spoke.
"Though you say that you do, you do not truly love this woman right now," Dara said.
"What?" Walter's anger rose swiftly at the suggestion. "How the hell do you know? Who are you to tell
me what I am or am not feeling? I do bloody love her. I cannot stop thinking of her. I cannot function
properly. What the hell would you know about it?"
"I tell you again that you do not!" Dara remained expressionless as he calmly repeated his assertion.
"Real love is unconditional." Dara continued. "The fact that you are feeling so much pain indicates that
you had some conditions. I suspect that one of your conditions was to be loved back. That is a selfish
condition. You wanted that for you. You feel you somehow deserve it in return for the 'love' that you gave
to her. Real love is never selfish or needy. You want her with you and you want something from her. If you
understood what love really is, you would not be feeling this pain. When you truly love, then loving is its
own reward. You do not love with the expectation of being loved back. You love because to love lifts you
to a higher level of being, regardless of whether you get something back or not.
"If you truly loved right now, then you would be feeling only feelings of love and compassion when you
thought of Tallina. You would be wishing her happiness whatever choices she makes. The pain comes from a
sense of disappointment and loss. You feel that you are missing out on something which you deserve.
You particularly think you deserve it more than this biker feller. You also feel that you have lost
something that you were once being given. But real love is given freely and asks for nothing in return.
Therefore there can be no feelings of disappointment or loss. It is in the giving that you are fulfilled."
"But I experienced such a deep level of happiness when I was with her. A happiness that I had never even
contemplated before." Tears began to well up in Walter's eyes as he spoke these words. "If that was not
love, then what the hell was it?"
"It is likely that during moments with her you caught a glimpse of what real love is. When you forgot
about the myriad of thoughts that normally compete to occupy your mind and became truly present in the
blissful moments you spent with her. When you temporarily brought out the beauty of your true self in
the presence of someone doing the same. Your mistake is thinking that it was she who brought you that
feeling, when the truth is that it is something that you both brought out of yourselves in those moments
when you remembered your true selves. When that happened, you were able to give freely to each other.
If you had both been able to sustain that, you would not need my help now."
"You can learn to do this all the time, whether you are with someone or not. Love is given freely from a
position of strength by people who already have it in abundance, because they have realised that the beauty
and value of their true selves can be accessed at will. Deeply fulfilling relationships can be created
when two such people decide to spend time together. If you want true love, first you need to learn this
for yourself, then you will be ready to seek another who has also learned it. Until then, speak not of love,
for you are deceiving yourself." As he finished the last sentence, Dara broke eye contact with Walter and
looked over his shoulder. Suddenly Walter could hear the intoxicating music once more and the room around
him came back into focus. He felt a soft hand grabbing his and gently pulling. It was the same dark haired
vision of beauty that had kissed Seamus on the way in. She beckoned Walter out onto the dance floor.
His head was swimming with thoughts stirred up by Dara's words. The rhythm of the music and the many voices
around him were hypnotising Walter as he allowed himself to be led. Eyes sparkling with joy looked deeply
into his as his body started to move in time with the band.
"Hoiya Walter," said his unexpected partner as she pressed her soft cheek against his to get close to his ear.
Her delicate feminine voice soothed Walter's mental turmoil. The accent which Walter thought sounded rough
when spoken by Seamus had suddenly become melodic and exotic. "Oi'm Saoirse. Dat's Freedom in English.
Seamus told me a lot about ye. But oi want to foind out some more."
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