“Look here,” I say and I throw a magazine on the lap of Nearly-Husband who is absorbed in Lord Of The Rings.
Not knowing what just hit him, Nearly-Husband studies the page on his lap. He frowns. “What’s this?”
I plop down next to him. “There, look at that!” and I thrum my index finger on the picture of a handbag.
“Guess how much it costs.”
Nearly-Husband brings the magazine closer to his face and sighs. “I haven’t got a clue. I know this is the
kind of magazine that’s bought by people who go sailing on a Sunday and who fly
to the Maledive islands the following day, so I guess this bag most be expensive. Two hundred euros or more.”
I sniff. “Two hundred? Try again mister.”
“Five hundred?” he guesses. “No,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest for the purpose of emphasis,
"seventeen thousand euros!”
Nearly-Husband’s eyes dilate. “What? This ugly thing? Are you absolutely sure?” I nod. “Look.
It’s right here, bottom of the page.”
Nearly-Husband is bewildered. “But what does it do then, this handbag? Does it drive a car? Does it glow
in the dark? Does it have an inbuilt phone and blowdryer?" I shrug. “Don’t think so. But it's called “Warrior”,
so you probably should go to war with it. Maybe it's good for catching bullets. Or maybe it’s trained
in karate.”
Nearly-Husband goes “tsss” and rolls his eyes. "Women and their handbags, I’ll never get it."

 Then we both fall silent and stare at Burberry’s "Warrior".  Nearly-Husband brings he page real
close to his face and smells it. “Nothing special,” he judges.
I laugh. He then turns his face a quarter to the right and squints along the page.
“No,nothing remarkable from this side either.” He puts the magazine down
and yawns. “Infinitely more interesting is this", he says and grabs his bible:
Lord Of The Rings. It doesn't take long before he's off again into the world of
Ents and Elves.

That night I can’t get to sleep. I toss and turn and I can’t help but think about all those women who have
put their their names on the “Warrior” waiting list. And mind you, it’s not only celebrities who want Warrior.
It's also women who are in a four-mile traffic-jam every day on their way to work, like so many others.
I think: what if  woman takes a Warrior home…how long does it take before she dares take it into town
with her? Won't she need a team of bodyguards to protect her precious possession? And what if she
takes it to the hairdresser's and a daub of hairpaint drips on it? Will she survive that trauma?

All my thoughts become waves and the waves become a spiral and just when I get sucked into sleep,
I hear “Pssst!” behind me. Sluggishly, I turn around. “Everything allright?”  Nearly-Husband is looking
at me with somewhat bewildered eyes. He says: “When you showed me that handbag. You know,
this afternoon. That wasn’t a hint now was it? I mean, you have your online handbag shop and all,
and I know you love those handmade bags you sell in your shop. ut I mean, you’re not telling
me you want a Warrior now, are you?”
Is it my imagination or is there really a hint of fear in his voice?
“Are you mad?” I say. “You've go to be kidding me. I don't give a toss about that handbag." I kiss
Nearly-Husband on his lips and turn around. “Go back to sleep, sweetheart.”
Nearly-Husband seems reassured. He moves closer to me, kisses me on the ear and gives a soft
growl.  It makes me laugh. He whispers: “The only Warrior in this house is me and don’t you forget it.”
I giggle and he chuckles. And that is more than enough for me: my Warrior and I, happily together in bed.