Chapter 88: Chapter 88

I get a hangover after drinking so much from my free night. I don’t even know how I get to my hotel room. I just know someone accompanied me to my room. My head is spinning.

Peach hands me over a hangover medicine, “Here, take this. You gotta move fast, we’ll leave in an hour,” she reminds me.

I get up and sit on the bed for a while, massaging my temples after taking the medicine, “Oh god, I don’t know why I drank so hard, I feel my head is about to crack any moment.”

“Well, welcome to Germany, one that holds the strongest beer,” then she laughs while fixing herself.

“By the way, Peach, how did I get here? I mean I remember I couldn’t even walk or even stand, I must have crawled or something,” I ask curiously.

“Oh, that… A super gorgeous American guy brought you here,” she says while her eyes are shimmering.

“A what?” I ask surprisingly.

“You heard me right, dear. Well, he looks like a rich man, but a gentleman, since he brought you here in one piece. And it seems that he knows you, too. He’s been calling you Ava,” she says something that made me even confused.

“But, I don’t know anyone here. I wonder if I even told him where I stayed. Shit, me and my loud mouth,” I tap my mouth repeatedly.

Peach laughs while looking at me, “Just be thankful he’s the one who found you, or else, you might have woken up in a brothel, instead,” she even jokes.

I throw her a pillow, “Oh, shut it, Peach,” I bury myself in another pillow I am holding.

“So, aren’t you curious about how he looks like?” she even adds.

I think for awhile, “Okay, tell me,” I answer, and I am even more surprised of myself taking interest on that mysterious man.

Peach squeals, “Well, he is so damn handsome, he is very tall, good physique, he is dark-haired, high-pointed nose, and err, his eyes?” she stops and thinks, “Oh, yes, he has green eyes.”

I gulp as I heard the description. Everything is find until she mentions the eye color. Why do I have this ominous feelings now. Green eyes are not so common, especially for Americans.

“Uh-oh, I have a bad feeling about this,” I murmur.

“You know, he is much more gorgeous than your Jeff,” she even gives a ridiculous remark, “Would you like to mee thim again, if ever? I think he is into you,” she teases me.

“Shut up, Peach! Well, thanks to him, but I am not interested,” I defend.

I get up form the bed and says, “I’ll go get shower, where do we meet again?”

Peach just finishes fixing herself, “Well, Prof says, we should meet at the lobby. I’ll go ahead,” then she disappears form the door.

“Yeah, bye!” I answer shortly, then I quickly hit the shower. For some reason, I can’t seem to remember about that guy Peach is talking about. And I can’t stop thinking about his description, especially his eye color.

“Damn it, why do I always think about him?” I sigh and stand under the shower.

***

When I reach the lobby, most of us are already there, we are probably waiting for two or three more students aside from me.

When Peach sees me, she waves her hand and shows me that she already saved me some spots. While the others are munching for something and some are doing something in their social media.

Our professor begins the headcount, “Alright, let’s see who isn’t here yet. By the way, how was your free night, huh?”

Some of my classmates excitedly talks about their night to the point that they speak at the same time, making their voices like buzzing bees to my ears. I frown at the noise, and my professor notices it.

“Hmm, somebody probably got a bad night, huh, Avery?” the professor asks.

I look at him and grin, “Not really, I drank a lot actually,” I proudly announce. Then Peach puts her arm on my shoulder and says, “And some hottie brought her back to the hotel room.”

My classmates grasp like crazy and the others are surprised. They just don’t know me as someone who loves to drink.

“Well, it’s good to know, then, but I hope you won’t be sleeping in our tour for today, okay?” the professor reminds me, then begins the headcount again.

When we are all complete, we ride the minibus going to a museum as a start of our today’s agenda.

This is the first day of our tour and I can’t wait for it to start. I haven’t met any German artists and I am not very familiar with their arts, too. It is a good opportunity to learn.

It takes us around an hour to reach the museum which is not close to the city. We are all mesmerized by the picturesque design of this building in front of us.

We all take pictures, some do selfies, some groupies, but in my case, I like taking pictures of their highest part.

I actually like the fact that through a photograph you can see how connected things are to the blue sky above.

So I begin taking pictures, too. In fact, I am quite good at it, thanks to my previous works as a feature writer. I was trained and my skill was honed.

All of the students take their own pictures while the professor begins discussing, “Okay, the first thing you need to know about German art is this, their Classique cathedrals in terms of architecture.”

“That figures,” I thought. I begin to take down notes as my professor continues to share his knowledge.

Once we entered, the detailed carvings, corners, and interior of the museum made us drop our jaws.

“How did they preserve this?” asks one of my classmates.

“This is so cool,” says the other one.

Yeah, I totally agree with them, this is even more beautiful than the one in Prague.

This German museum isn’t the same as the ones in US, UK, and France. Most of the museums in those countries are just white walls, lighting, and nothing else. But this one, they make sure the artwork fits in every place.

Not only paintings but they even exhibit other things such as glass sculpture, porcelain statues, and gigantic unique clocks, the three crafts Germans are famous for.

We go deeper into a museum and luckily our tour involves the making of glass sculptures and porcelain statues.

We get to enjoy such activities and experience a hands-on experience on this.

Some of my classmates make big things, while others prefer sexual symbols. In my case, I choose to make a lotus flower with, green, white, and pink gradient colors combined.

To be honest, I am not really good at this, but thanks to this glass artist, I am able to make one.

It is a little smaller than my palm, so they put it in a transparent box, and give it to me as a souvenir.

After this, we will have some lunch, and then the last destination will be the best exhibit inside this museum.

***

“Paul Klee is said to be the most popular German artist all thanks to his massive obsession in cubism and surrealism,” the professor begins to lecture.

Now, we are inside a room that appeared to be in an illusion inside a multiple and repeated cube. It seems small and limited from the outside, but when you are inside the room, it seems endless.

This compromises Paul Klee’s artwork that the German government has been preserving for a long time.

“Prof, to be honest, his works are like child-like,” one comments after seeing how Paul Klees applied cubism in his art.

“And there’s nothing special about it,” supports the others.

The professor doesn’t get angry, instead, ends up discussing why Paul Klee drew the way he did.

While the professor is discussing, one particular painting catches my eye.

I step closer and observe it, even more, a surreal painting of a woman surrounded by the combination of dark and light symbolism of things, while the woman’s figure itself withstand the lifeless color of the surroundings with her vibrant and bright color.

“Isn’t she a beauty?” says a man who’s been admiring this for a long time.

I nod and answer without looking at him, “Yeah, I agree on how much the vibrant figure attracts lifeless and pales around her,” I exclaim.

“So, how do you interpret it? How do you think Paul Klee interpreted it?

“Er, I am not sure how to answer your question, but what I feel from it is pure perseverance, a woman’s tale,” I proclaim shortly.

I can see the man releases a smile, “Yes after all its name is ‘A Young Woman’s Adventure’,” he says.

Then he walks away while I am so drawn to it.

My professor calls me back as I drifted so much from the group, “Okay, I will give you at least an hour to roam around, and I want you to pick three art crafts you like best, make a written report about it, and then next week you will present it to me,” he announces.

All of us complain jokingly before we disperse inside this gigantic museum.

***

It was indeed a long day but I found this tour interesting. This was only the first day but I enjoyed it so much. I am glad I joined this tour, after all, I get to meet popular German artists. At least, when I get back to France, I can recommend some unique artists and their techniques, too.

The minibus just parked at the entrance of the hotel when a man caught my eyes. My heart races and my legs move on their own.

Right now, this man that perfectly fits Peach’s description of the man who brought me back to the hotel last night, is standing in front of the elevator with some personnel and important-looking people.

They all wear suit-and-ties so I am guessing they are probably owners or have high positions in this hotel or corporate world elsewhere.

But I am particularly drawn to this man since he looks exactly like Dmitri, but I can’t see him clearly due to the moisture in the window of this minibus.

I poke Peach who is sitting beside me, “Hey, did you see the guy in the lobby in front of the elevator? The one who’s with the business-looking people,” I desperately ask her.

“Uh, sorry, Avery, I was looking at the other side, by the way, would you like to go with us, we are going shopping tonight,” she invites me.

I shake my head off, “I’ll just pass, for now, I need to finish some stuff, and I’ll be calling Jeff later,” I give my excuse.

She shrugs her shoulder, “Okay, your call, girl. Come on, they are getting off the bus,” Peach says.

We go straight back to our hotel room, Peach only grabs her wallet and then leaves in an instant.

The first thing I do is take a shower and then go along with my taken shots. I transfer all the photos I’ve taken to my laptop.

I begin to edit some minor details and compose some captions, or more like a blog post draft with it.

Yes, I am still into writing, although not for feature writing but more on self-satisfaction, and relieving stress, too.

I pick the best five pictures I take and then put them under a file name, ‘My German Tour’.

I still write from time to time, but only I can read it. I am afraid to post it online. So right now, they just sit inside my laptop’s memory.

I lay down and stretch on the bed. I check the time and try to call my boyfriend, I mean, my fiance.

It takes around five rings before he answers, his voice is still a bit hoarse. He opens his video and I see his half-naked body still in bed.

“Hey babe, aren’t you going to work? Why are you still in bed?” that’s the first thing I say to him.

“Uh, yeah, hello and I miss you, too,” he utters with disappointment in his face.

I laugh, “I miss you, babe, you know that. But you have to work, we have a wedding we need to save money for,” I remind him.

I see him stretching, the camera is a bit far from his face, “Babe, put the camera near your face, I want to see you,” I request.

“Okay, babe,” he says sounding a bit off.

I can see his lips are a bit pale but his cheeks are quite red and he’s been sniffing, “Hey, are you okay?”

He touches his forehead, “I don’t know, I was fine in the morning when I got home, but, now, I got cold,” he says.

“Oh no, I’m sorry I couldn’t take care of you,” I say apologetically.

“Well, there’s medicine in the second drawer of the kitchen cabinet, and there’s also some-” I am still explaining when he cuts me off,

“I’m okay, I can take care of myself, thank you babe, but just enjoy there, okay. Just let me sleep more,” he requests.

So I say goodbye and end the call. Right after my conversation with Jeff, the doorbell rings.

“Peach?” is what I immediately thought of, “Why do you keep on ringing when you have a keycard?” I nag at her thinking she’s outside.

But when I open, a bellboy is waiting for me.

“Oh, I thought you were my friend, sorry,” I exclaim.

He smiles and says, “It’s okay, Miss Anderson.”

“How did you know my name?” with the element of surprise written on my face.

“We are asked by someone from the hotel guests to deliver this to you. He says he knows you, but don’t worry, Miss Anderson, we already checked this with some sensor device and it is safe,” he explains.

“Oh, these are for me? But I didn’t order anything,” I try to explain myside.

“Yes, but the guest wants us to make sure you’ll get it, so here it is, and have a great evening, Miss,” he says and hands over the long brown box with a note to me.

“Uh, thank you,” having no choice, I accept it.

Before he leaves, he has one last reminder, “And Miss, it would be very much appreciated if you open and read it right away, thank you,” then he takes his leave.

I close the door and gently put the box on the bedside table. I remove the lid and get the note inside.

To Lady Anderson,

I have fun last night. And I need to make sure I’ll see you again, so forgive me for taking one of your belongings. Meet me at 7 in the evening at the hotel’s restaurant. Just say your name and they will lead you to me.

-Your PiggyBack Ride

I cover my mouth, “Oh my gosh, so it is true, somebody really did carry me back?” I hit my forehead, “Goodness, Avery. You really have to quit drinking!”

I look at what’s inside the box and find a pretty accessory I am pretty sure I’ve seen before.

I jump, “Fuck, this bracelet, I saw it yesterday,” and then a pigment of my memory flashes before me.

I am roaming around the street and someone’s been carrying and helping me walk straight. I sigh, I guess I need to send him a proper thank you.

I check the time and it is already 6 in the evening, so I prepare a little and wear the bracelet he gives me.