I own nothing.
There is a bit at the bottom where Alfred and Gilbert poke fun at the French language. It's meant to be funny and if you speak French, you are my hero because that is a difficult language for me to understand. I speak English, Spanish, and German but I can't understand French.
Kudos to you French speaking readers. And a cookie of goodwill and friendship.
Alfred's first day of school was nerve wrecking. He wasn't just a new student, he was the new student teacher. Everything he did, the students and teachers would be watching him like hawks. They wanted someone from England to teach, but since they were too posh with that accent, and didn't really have anyone willing to come to Germany, they got a very enthusiastic and rather nervous American.
He took a deep breath. In and out.
"Guten morgen. Ich bin Herr Jones and I will be your English teacher. Let's begin with introductions in English so I can assess how much you know and then we can work from there."
His beating heart slowed down. Unknown to him, many of the students had a single thought running through their minds: oh no he's hot!
...
Romana signed up for some writing classes at a nearby college. It was her start to becoming an author and though it was small to some, she was proud of herself for doing something. They would take place after she got off work so she did not have to go home until midnight.
She was a bit hesitant applying but Feli told her it would be fine. "You might be a bit rusty so this would be good practice for your book." She said.
'Well,' she thought. 'Here it goes.'
She took a deep breath and walked in the classroom.
...
Felicity felt incredibly guilty for lying, but Romeo was at a friend's house and she honestly didn't want to be in the house with Nonno unless Romana was there to be her buffer. It wasn't that she didn't like Nonno, it was just that he could be...intense. Though Romana received the full force of his intensity on a daily, Feli was left in a small pool of fear of her grandfather.
If...no. When Romana left, once she finally had enough, would he be just as intense to her as he was to Romana?
So Feli lied about what she was doing. It wasn't anything new, she was quite good at it. After all, if she wasn't, well...
She parked her car at a park, got out and breathed in the wonderful Swiss air.
"I'm glad you could make it." Ludwig said as he kissed her hand like a gentleman.
Felicity smiled. "I almost couldn't. My grandfather is starting to suspect something and is asking questions like why I fill up on gas more often than my sister."
"And you said?" He led her to a grassy spot.
"That I worry about being stranded with an empty tank of gas. I don't want to lie to him it's just...he so scary!" She sat down in the grass.
Ludwig sat next to her. He knew all about her grandfather. When he first asked Felicity if he could meet him, she went pale and her golden eyes went wide in fear. She had begged him not to meet her grandfather because if he disapproved on Ludwig, he would never be seen again. Or that is what she said. Ludwig promised not to meet him before Felicity was ready. But he had to suspect, did he ever...?
"If you need to talk, I'll listen. If you want to sit in silence, I'll sit with you." He took her hand and looked into her eyes.
It took a long time before she could look him in the eyes and not flinch. What did her grandfather do her?
Her beautiful golden eyes graced his. "I just want to be with you. That would be enough."
She laid down in her back and held his hand when he did to. Felicity could never put the right words together when she wanted to tell him just how much Ludwig meant to her. He was her lifeboat in a raging black ocean. He was a calm, patient man that respected her and her distance. She wanted to tell him everything and maybe she would...one day. But for now, she was content just lying in the park with her soulmate.
Staring at the stars.
...
Romana was excited for the first written assignment. She had to develop a character. She knew the height, gender, personality, likes, dislikes, but what she really need was a name.
That should have been easy as there were many people that she did not like and their names were crossed off the list immediately. She had to sleep now, work started at six in the morning.
...
Alfred drove to Gilbert's house after his first day of teaching. He dug the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Gilbert was in the living room playing video games and Alfred saw no sign of Ludwig so he must have been out with his girlfriend.
"Hey man, what took you so long?" Gilbert called from the couch.
"Meeting after school went longer than planned. Grabbed something to eat on the way home."
"How was my best friend's first day of teaching?" Gilbert paused the game.
"It was fine. Students were great. They listened. But I kept thinking about that angel."
"The one you saw in Italy that had you moping like a lovesick puppy?"
"Yes. That's the one."
"So what are you waiting around here for? Get your ass back to Italy and see the girl! Talk to her! Ask her on a date! Use those American charms and make me proud to be your friend!" He stood up and paced like a drill sargent.
Alfred sighed. "A lady as fair as she must have a dozen suitors and is to be courted as she most definitely deserves to be courted."
"You lovesick fool. You make me want to barf."
"And what of your feelings for Madeleine!"
"Oh what I wouldn't give to have the opportunity to kiss the ground on which she stands. That magnificent lady should have been a queen for then the world would know of her beauty and grace." Gilbert jumped onto the sofa and declared to the ceiling fan.
"But woe to me for I know not my fair lady's name!"
"An ocean doth parts mein leibling from me!"
"At least Madeleine isn't dating anyone! The girl of my dreams just might be married!"
"You don't know that!"
They both realized that they were standing on the couch with their hands on the others shoulders.
"Well this looks gay." Gilbert said as flopped on the couch.
"So it's that simple? I go back to that restaurant and ask her on a date?"
"Yep. And invite me to the wedding."
"And if she doesn't speak English?"
"You're fluent in three languages. You'll figure something out. Isn't Spanish like, Italian's drunk cousin?" Gilbert asked.
"I'm my personal opinion, I think it's French that is the drunk cousin. Seriously, who crams the entire alphabet into a word and pronounces only three letters?"
"A drunk person."
"Exactly."
Ludwig came home to find his brother and American friend passed out on the couch with a game paused on the tv. He turned it off and went to bed.