Ana POV
I could see that Christian was falling asleep. Hormones had that effect of over relaxation. I nestled him a few times gentle, then a bit harder. I looked at the clock, it was only 5 pm. I was starving and I knew that Christian would be upset if i allowed him to fall asleep so early. Once he was up walking around he wouldn't feel so tired.
"Christian get up" I said nudging him over and over.
"I'm getting up, Ana" He said through shut eyes.
"Maybe i shouldn't have fucked you so good" I joked.
"Never regret a good fuck. I am hungry and i'm getting up. I promise" Christian said opening his eyes.
Christian forced himself up and slowly got dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. The motion of walking around seemed to give him some added pep. I put on a pink summer dress with sandles and waited for Christian to collect himself by the door of the hotel room.
"Hormones don't seem to slow you down do they" Christian commented as he struggled to put his black dress shoes on.
"I'm a woman which makes me superhuman" I laughed
"Your not kidding. I'm sure the cool night air will give me some life" Christian said leading the way out the door.
"Where are we going, Mr. Grey?" I asked
"I'm sure there is some place in Berlin that we could get a brownie. What do you think?" Christian asked with a sly smile.
"You read my mind!" I cried skipping down the hall.
We left the hotel taking in the warm afternoon breeze. i was grateful that i had decided to wear something light. I looked over at Christian deep in thought as he scrolled through his phone. I flagged a taxi, i assumed that we would need transportation to where we were going. Christian piled into the backseat of the taxi with me.
"Let's go to the Tiergarten" He said to me.
"Tiergarten" I called to the taxi, who had been asking me for a destination.
I looked over at Christian. I loved him so deeply. Over the past year my love for him had grown day after day. I felt like my heart had taken over me. I trusted him implicitly. His presence controlled my feelings and I was OK with that. He treated my feelings tenderly. He cared deeply about my well being. I wanted to give myself to him, my heart and soul. I wanted to surrender myself to him fully. I was committed to ensuring that his needs would be taken care of as they were just as important as my own. His happiness was what propelled my happiness.
We made an amazing team. Our minds complimented each other in the same ways that gears operated in moving a machine forward. So much of my personalty and thought processes were so different from his. To say that opposites attract would not do our deep connection justice. We share many of the same hobby's and opinions. We came from totally different worlds but we met in the middle maintaining a perfect harmony. I felt like I was complete when I was with him. Our union was like a puzzle what had found it's last piece. I grasped his arm as we walked through the Tiergarten. I felt a complete sense of calm. I wanted to share more of me with him. I wanted to share parts of my day, my struggles with nursing school, my relationship with my family, my quirky thoughts. I knew that anything I said would be heard.
"This was a pleasant surprise. Nursing school has been such a stress for me" I started.
"This trip?" Christian asked with interest.
"Yes! Normally I work as much as I can during the summer. Most of my money goes to school, so that I can come out with a minimal student loan" I said.
"Things are hard when your first starting out. I got lucky. So many of my classmates are struggling" Christian said.
"Why not hire some of your classmates?" I asked.
"I did! I just can't hire everyone though" Christian replied.
"Oh I see. I'm sure it will be the same for me when I graduate. I feel so fortunate that your mom is going to help me get a job at Seattle General. I know that most of my classmates will not have that opportunity" I said.
"I'm glad that I could help you with your career. I probably would not have had that chance if my mother wasn't a doctor" Christian answered.
"My focus had been just to get through school. There were times that I thought I wasn't going to make it" I said through a nervous laugh.
"I thought you were a model student?" Christian asked seeming perplexed.
"I try to be but i'm not what you would call a superstar academic. Last, year just before we met I had an incidence where I had to perform a health care assessment on a patient. This was a huge part of my mark. There were five scenarios. I memorized all five because I have a great memory. I was told that my time-slot for this final exam was 2 o'clock. I decided to arrive at 1:45 thinking I was ahead of the game. They told me I had missed it and as a result I would not pass. I cried like a baby in front of my peers because nursing was suppose to be my career and I blew it" I said.
"There must be a way to fight that though" Christian replied.
"Unfortunately, I had to redo the class. The problem with that it was no offered till the next semester" I continued.
"I think that's bullshit" Christian replied.
"So I basically needed close to 5 years to finish a 4 year degree" I finished.
"So your not a perfect student, is that what your saying?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm not the best student" I said smiling at the reveal.
"I'll remember that for later" Christian laughed "I almost forgot how hungry I was"
"You and me both!" I agreed.
"Let's go to Cafe e' Gelato" he suggested.
Christian and I walked the short jaunt to Cafe e' Gelato. Christian picked out a table for us and urged me to sit in the chair and wait for my meal. My heart started to race because i knew that he was getting me a brownie. After all he knew how much I liked brownie's. I was more curious about what his food choice was. Christian returned with two sandwiches and two cups.
"I thought I was having a brownie" I said surprised.
"You need to eat something healthy first. Eat the sandwich and then we can get dessert" Christian pushed.
"Ok there Mr. Bossy" I whined sweetly.
"Just looking out for your health" He replied.
"Fair enough!" I agreed "Is this coffee?"
"It's blueberry tea. I thought that it would be a nice change"
I tasted the tea. This tea was some of the best I had ever had. Christian was right change is good. Christian and I ate so fast that their was little room for conversation. I was thankful that I had eaten the sandwich first. The sandwich had ham and veggies in it, exactly what my body was craving. As much as I wanted a brownie, this place specialized in ice cream so I decided on a mocha ice cream cone. Christian ordered strawberry.
"Can I taste yours?" I asked.
"Sure! Only if I can taste your too" Christian teased.
I took two big licks of Christian's red strawberry ice cream. Christian did the same to mine.
"It's really good, but I still prefer the strawberry" He concluded.
"I thought yours was amazing. The mocha is good too. It all depends on the mood i'm in. I prefer both" I giggled.
I wanted to remember this moment forever. I wanted a picture with Christian. I stopped a young german couple asking them if they would use my Iphone to take a picture. Christian agreed this was a great idea. He pulled me close and smiled as the girl too several shots. For the second picture Christian took a bite of my ice cream and I took a bit of his. I thanked the young girl as she returned my phone and they continued down the street as though we had never met. I showed the pictures to Christian who agreed that they would have to go in an album someday.
Christian POV
Her happiness seemed to give me life as soon as I mentioned brownie's she was on cloud nine. I smiled as she skipped down the hallway of the hotel like a 8 year old with candy. I hadn't done an itinerary for our trip because i wanted everything to be spontaneous and fun. I was ok with only doing a portion of the items on the list. The whole point was to have fun not to fill every minute up with activities. I took a look at Ana's list as we left the hotel. She wanted to go to Tiergarten. I'm sure that there was a cafe or restaurant close by that we go get something to eat. I looked over to see Ana flagging down a taxi. I checked my Iphone for possible places to go close to Tiergarten. I found a Cafe E Gelato approx 1k away, and they had brownies. I got into the taxi with Ana and showed her the information. She gave instructions to the driver and we were off.
"Look there's a cafe nearby" I said showing her the info on my phone.
"That looks amazing!" She cried excitedly.
"Why is it that you never argue with me" I said
"I'm just so happy, excited and grateful that complaining has never really occurred to me" She replied.
"Finally a woman that doesn't complain" I joked with a laugh.
"A woman that appreciates your efforts" She answered
"The perfect woman no less" I replied giving her a light kiss on her sweet lips.
Tiergarten was a long drive from where our hotel was located. Something that had not occurred to me before I suggested the date idea. Ana seemed unfazed by the long drive. She appeared enthralled with the serene surroundings of Berlin. Her eyes remained wide as she directed her gaze out the window.
"I can't wait" She squealed
"I've never been there myself but I hear it's beautiful" I said.
"What a perfect date idea Christian. If it weren't for you I would have never had the opportunity to see this" She answered.
"I'm happy to make your dreams come true" I replied
The taxi dropped us off in front of the Tiergarten. The entire place reminded me of the Botanical Gardens, it was a large park full of luscious greens, flowers and large perfect place to spend with Ana. I held Ana's hand as we walked slowly along the pavement path imprinted through the garden. She was determined and strong with the grace and love of an angel. She had the infinite capacity for selflessness. All perfect attributes of a woman born to be a mother.
I have had many woman come and go from my life. I found I could fit them all in carefully thought out categories. Especially woman that i dated. The gold diggers, the geeks, the brown-noser's, the bragger, the pretty entitled ones, the cute academic ones, the sassy ones. Ana didn't fit into any categories, she was a category all on her own. She was all the good parts of every woman that I had ever met combined into one.
Maybe it was the beautiful flowers, the fresh air or the calming atmosphere but Ana started to open up about her nursing experiences. For the first time she shared her experiences with nursing school and her relief as she neared completion. I wanted to know everything about her what made her tick, what her motivations were.
Ana and I spoke for what seemed like hours as we strolled slowly through the beautiful gardens. We were both completely enthralled with each others words. I barely noticed how much time had past till we were nearing the end of the garden.
"How about that brownie?" I asked
"You read my mind" She answered with a smile that could have shone through all of Berlin.
Ana and I walked over to the Cafe e' Gelato. Saying I was famished would be an understatement. I motioned for Ana to take a seat at a table as soon as we entered the cafe. Lucky for me the staff spoke english so I was able to order a sandwich and Tea for Ana and I. I knew she was hoping for a brownie but we hadn't eaten in at least four hours. We both needed nourishment. I handed her the sandwich and tea. She seemed disappointed but still agreeable. We were both so hungry that we inhaled the sandwich with little interaction. The cashier at the front managed to sell Ana on ice cream instead of a brownie so we both got ice cream cones in different flavors.
Just when I thought Ana could not be more cute. She approached a young woman about pictures. The first one I held her close and the second one we both took a bite of each other's ice cream. I preferred the second one because we looked like we were having the time of our lives. Both pictures were good.
We were both quite tired so I hailed a taxi and we headed back to our hotel.