I stand nervously staring at this building - should I knock? I've come this far, my desires drawing me here like some great magnetic force, my ethics and morals pulling me back. Sophie, the great tormentor who follows me in my head, intervenes confirming first that I'm right to follow my ethics and morals and next to tell me that I need not do so, that ethics are social constructs, they're flexible, and my desires are not wrong - they do not harm the central tenet of my being: "do not harm others". "Actually, says Sophie, you are doing yourself a favour if you enter, the notion of do no harm is best guarded if you avoid getting in situations that cause pain, avoid relationships..." And Sophie is right, if I am not able to stay in love for the long-haul, I do more harm by getting into relationships and then breaking hearts. And this building, home of pleasure, of care-free lust, passion and sensuality is where I should be.
I read the sign by the door:
"Follow your desire as long as you shall live. Fulfill your needs upon earth after the command of your heart. Behold, it is not given to man to take his property with him. Behold, there is not one who departs who comes back again, as Yury does'."
A thought crosses my mind - I guess they meant Carpe Diem and I'm not sure why they couldn't just write that, I get annoyed with snob-like excesses in wording. The building is non-descript, I start to think that when they designed it, they were making every effort to compensate for the excesses taking place within. Sophie whispers to me "Stop calling them excesses, doing so will make you think it's wrong - this is about following your desires. Unwritten social contracts have made you believe that these are excesses. Here those contracts have been re-written." She is right.
I knock on the door. As I do so, I feel a tap on my back from Sait, reminding me that she too, like Sophie, is here to advise - but it's too late, the door opens.
