Lisa looked appreciatively at herself in the mirror. “Hmm...I am pretty,” she thought. A neat haircut. Blouse. Jeans. A poor and naïve babysitter. She smiled sadly at her own reflection.
Without really thinking about it, she selected her blouse for the day: it was a sky-blue blouse that accented her figure tastefully, while beautifully setting off the color of her eyes. She had, she decided, liked the way he’d gazed into them at their previous meeting; it was somehow a comfortable feeling, both direct and unassuming.
Once she was dressed, Lisa left her apartment and rushed to meet Alexander at the subway station in the center of the city, again as they had planned things.
It took her nearly half an hour, but she arrived just in time to see him stepping off of the platform and walking in her direction. He had the bright, broad smile of a skier in a photo advertising a vacation getaway, and she couldn’t help herself: she beamed right back at him.
“Where would you like to go this time?” He asked. She looked up, catching his eyes first.
“Just walking and talking,” Lisa suggested.
And they walked along the pavement and talked. Lisa didn’t even notice that they soon stood in front of a museum, which looked like a castle. Lisa stopped breathing, the castle looked so beautiful.
“There’s a wonderful museum,” he offered, along with his arm—which she once again took, feeling a strange glow in doing so. “It’s on an island in the river—you know the one?”
“I do.”
“We can sit on a balcony on the second floor, with the mountains in the distance; they have a little café there, where they brew an excellent roast and make the most delicious teacakes. I thought we could have that café experience that was cut short last time; I don’t know about you, but...at the time, I simply didn’t want it to stop.” He colored a little with the admission.
She smiled and nodded. “That sounds delightful, Alexander.”
The museum was established within an old castle, and Lisa had to admit that it took her breath away just to wander in through the front gates. Its grounds were filled with statues of marble and alabaster and bronze, ranging from tiny figurines to larger-than-life figures to funerary reliefs dating back thousands of years. Alexander led her to the second floor.
“Which cake do you want?” Alexander asked.
“The apricot cheesecake, please.”
Alexander ordered when she selected filled cakes flavored with apricot. Then he sat with Lisa at a table. The cakes melted in their mouths, and left them feeling satisfied and content as they looked out over the beautiful natural vista before them.
“I hope these cakes are not as old as this castle,” Lisa giggled.
“Hope not,” answered Alexander and giggled as well.
“I feel like a king from a time long ago,” he admitted to her at one point.
“You look like a king,” was what she answered, giggling. “All slouched in your throne, from eating too much cake.”
They were sitting in a castle surrounded but golden and marble statues. Alexander peered into her eyes, chewing his apricot cake.
“That blouse suits your blue eyes.”
“Thank you. I bought it just for nine dollars.” Lisa was a bit proud that she was not one of those gold-digging women from the website.
“Why did a simple construction worker invite me to this castle?” Lisa thought. “Actually, according to the holes in his jeans, we could have visited a bar and drank beer.”
Then they abandoned the museum, taking a wide marble ladder.
Outside, they found themselves again in the city surrounded by blossoming trees, blossoming buds and blossoming new feelings. On the bridge, a small camera team was shooting a scene with an already-tired horse over and over again.
Walking and talking further, Lisa suddenly liked the process of learning the language with her new teacher, who didn’t know he was one. “But what does he want from me?” Lisa thought. Lisa definitely didn’t plan to fall in love with someone; she just wanted to distract herself from the dreadful reality of being a poor Au-Pair, even if it was by going for a walk with a construction worker.
They were walking and men in their business suits looked at Lisa in her blue blouse. Perhaps she was especially pretty on this spring day. But she just was walking with Alexander in his torn jeans, laughing and enjoying the spring.
They approached a famous University, where students were selling books.
“I need to purchase a book,” Lisa said. “This dictionary of the English language.” Lisa started to look for her money to pay for the dictionary.
“OK,” said Alexander, “I want to buy it as a present for you.” And he paid for the book.
“Thank you, Alexander,” Lisa blushed.
They spent the afternoon walking, and then Alexander offered to drive her home.
“Oh, thank you...” Lisa blushed. “But I have a metro card. Or do you want to drive me with your boat?” she giggled.
“I think,” he replied, with a knowing smile, “you should see my car, before you say anything.”
He took her to a nearby lot offering long-term parking, twenty minutes away by foot. By then, the sun was setting, and the idea of taking the metro home alone was more than a little unsettling to Lisa, even if she had never run into trouble in the beautiful city before. There was, after all, a first time for everything. She found herself looking around the lot, wondering which car might possibly be Alexander’s.
“Which one do you think is mine?”
Lisa looked around, and finally pointed at a nearby motorcycle, an adventuresome bike, something she thought matched his personality.
“Wrong,” he replied. “I thought you had me completely the wrong way ’round; no, don’t be embarrassed.”
Lisa’s eyes widened as Alexander approached a black luxury car. It was, easily, the most expensive car in the lot.
“This is my baby, Lisa.” He opened the passenger-side door for her. “Are you sure you want to take the bus home?”
Lisa wondered how a simple construction worker could have such an expensive car. The only way was that...he stole it?
“Did you—” She was actually shivering with nervousness. “Did you...s-steal this? Or do you belong to the mafia?”
He laughed. “No, not at all; I’m an honest businessman.” He grinned at her. “Did I not tell you? The new five-star hotel in the center of the city—my firm is building that hotel.” He waved at the open passenger door. “C’mon, get in.” After a moment’s hesitation, her heart fluttering, Lisa got into the Porsche. “Be careful. These flowers are for you.”
There was a small but beautiful bouquet of fragrant flowers waiting for her there; he must have had somebody drop it off while they were out, as they were very fresh. “The whole thing was planned, just for me,” she thought; now her anxiety was abating, and she felt a renewed rush of warmth for her thoughtful companion of the afternoon. Alexander started the car and began to reverse.
“How strange,” Lisa thought.
- It's always was one of her childhood fantasies, sitting in a Cabrio. Alexander drove the car very fast, and Lisa’s long curly hair stuck on her face. At this point, she understood why women in Cabrio always were wearing glasses and a scarf. The world suddenly looked so different from a seat of the convertible for Lisa, not the same as she was sitting in a subway.
“Thank you, Alexander,”- she said, blushing.
“You are welcome. We will e-mail afterward.”
“Have a nice day!”
After a light flying through the streets of the city in the luxurious car, Lisa ran with her dictionary of the English language in the hands of her host family nest in her gray iron cage.