I'm in London, just arrived - I'm looking for Geoffrey's apartment, he lives here on some kind of business assignment and I'm going to stay with him. It's a funny kind of place, with apartments going off at odd angles. Here's his, and I'm let in. There are others here, visitors, maybe at least one is a roommate, I don't know. They're all very sociable. Geoffrey is somewhat distracted, he's got something on his mind - I'm quite welcome and he's glad to see me, but he can't give me all his attention, so I poke about on my own. There's a television, and I'd like to turn it on (and maybe I do) - I'd like to be like a little kid, just sit on a cushion and watch cartoons, while the grownups do stuff; but maybe that would look pretty dumb on my first day in London - I should be out sightseeing or something. My glasses are filthy. A girl who's sitting on the couch shows me some glasses cleaner she's just been using - there are a lot of things on the coffee table in front of her, and I'm dubious about using Kleenex on my glasses, but then I figure, what the hell, they're so scratched up now, who would care? So I clean my glasses, and one or two other things as well, including the desk. When I've done that, [either she remarks on it or I notice with horror] that the spots are now a lot worse - in fact it looks like the cleaner has been eating away at the finish! There are a lot of bleached-looking spots in the middle. O dear, Geoffrey's not going to be pleased. I stare for a minute, then dash into the kitchen to find some wood polish. Geoffrey's standing next to the sink talking to another girl, and I grab the bottle of Pledge or something that's standing on the counter. I go back and polish the desk with it. Now what I see is these aren't spots on the finish at all, they're inlays or some design. As the polish restores the shine, the design becomes clear. (This is light wood on dark wood, like mahogany.) It's probably a Greek or Roman scene, somebody in a toga, animals maybe - I can't see the whole thing yet. I am a bit confused - I don't think this was visible before; does Geoffrey know about it? Will he like it when he does? Very odd, this visit, so far.