Olga sighed as she sat in her dorm room, a pencil in hand, book on her desk, and her eyes out the window. Her blue orbs darted to her phone often and she sighed. He hadn't called. It was now Friday and she hadn't heard from him. Every time her phone rang it was invariably her father checking in, or her mother looking to talk. She sighed again and began to jot down some notes, losing herself in her studies. Then she heard a blaring ring ring ring! Olga's heart began to involuntarily beat, even though she was expecting her father to call her. He said he would around now.
"Hello?" Olga asked relatively unenthusiastically.
"Is this the Straight A concert pianist?" A teasing voice asked on the other end.
"Louis?" Olga asked excitedly.
"You remembered my name! Did you need to study for that?"
Olga burst out laughing. "It's not much to remember!" She answered back. "What are you up to?"
"Ah, just a bunch of meetings all week. I need to unwind. Why don't you meet me at the central plaza of your campus? I think I might be able to show you a better time than your advanced studies in studying textbook."
"Do you have anything planned?" Olga asked through her laughs.
"You'll find out. Are you in or not?"
"Yes." Olga answered. "Should I leave now?"
"Yeah. I'll come over and pick you up."
"OK. I'll see you there!" Olga replied and listened to him hang up the phone. She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. "Oh god, what am I going to wear?!" She asked herself with some nervousness and quickly rushed to her closet.
Olga walked through her campus wearing a modest light purple dress with matching two-inch heels. She greeted well-wishers and moved to the central plaza - a fountain with benches around it. It was at the center of roads which connected to the various buildings. There she sat and waited, staring at the sky with a smile. Her phone began to ring.
"Hello?" Olga asked.
"Olga?"
"Oh, hi daddy!" Olga answered.
"What are you up to? Did you get your test from Monday back?"
"No. We won't until next week."
"Ah. Well, I'm sure you aced it!"
"I think so daddy." Olga answered. "How are things out in Hillwood?"
"Oh they're doing great. I just met with a client that wants to buy a whole boatload of beepers!"
Olga was nodding her head when she looked up and then saw Louis. He was wearing a casual dark blue blazer and matching pants, a white shirt with no tie, and light brown shoes. Olga got up and waved to him eagerly.
"Daddy, I need to go. There's something I need to do."
"Oh alright princess. I'll talk to you later alright?"
"OK. Bye daddy." She said and hung up as Louis came up to her. "Hi!" She greeted excitedly.
"Hey." He greeted and pulled her into a hug, giving her a small kiss on the cheek. "I like the choice of dress." He complimented.
"Thank you." She answered. "So, where are we going?"
"You'll find out in time." He grinned. "I won't spoil the surprise."
Olga sighed as he put an arm around her and led her to his car.
"The zoo?" Olga asked teasingly as he parked.
"Yep. We're going to explore the cute, the freaky, and the downright dangerous. Let's see which one you are."
"Which one are you?"
Louis grinned and pulled her close, whispering in her ear.
"I'm the dangerous kind. I'm the lion on the savannah. You might want to avoid me, or you could get hurt."
He pulled away and walked through the front gate. Olga gasped and quickly followed him, running as best she could to catch up.
"Louis look!" Olga pointed excitedly.
He turned around. The two had been in the zoo for an hour or so by now.
"Rhesus monkeys?" Louis asked with a sly grin.
"Aren't they so cute?!" Olga gushed. She bent over and waved to one of them who had snuck into a hollow tree stump and poked its head out, looking at Olga. "Awww, doesn't it look like a little dog or cat that's done something it's not supposed to and now it's hiding?!"
"Actually it looks like you." Louis said inconspicuously as he mirrored Olga's bent stance.
Olga turned to him with a shocked smile on her face and began to smack his arm.
"How does it look like me?!"
"I'm not telling if that's how I'm gonna be treated." He teased.
"I wanna know!" Olga pouted.
"Do you really?" Louis grinned evilly as he brought his face closer to hers.
"Yes." Olga almost whimpered.
Louis leaned over to whisper in her ear.
"It's cute."
Louis turned around and walked away again. Olga quickly followed him with an incredulous but flattered smile on her face. They were leaving the zoo.
"I just don't know about this..."
"It's alright Olga. I haven't done this in years."
Louis brought the pool balls back to the table he'd rented for an hour at his favorite night hangout - the Nebula. Olga held her pool cue haphazardly and chalked the end of it up.
"I'll let you break." He declared as he finished placing the balls properly within the triangle.
"OK..." Olga trailed as she went to the other end of the table.
"Loser has to buy drinks." Louis stated. "Deal?"
"Sure, if we both suck it should be fun to see who loses worst!" Olga laughed nervously as she held the pool cue and bent over.
She haphazardly pushed the cue ball forward. The other balls barely broke from the triangle formation. Louis was laughing.
"Let's see how you do!" Olga taunted.
"Fine." Louis said as he walked around, measuring clearly what shot he wanted to take. Then, effortlessly, he smacked the cue ball forward, and the solid blue '2' ball fell into a pocket. Olga's jaw dropped and he quickly followed it up with another shot that sunk the '4' ball.
"Oh my god, you lied to me!" Olga whined.
"Yep." Louis said without expression as he moved to take his next shot.
"You said you haven't played this game in years!"
"You figured it out. I lied." He grinned. "By the way, I like Hacker-Pschorr's Munich Gold. That's what you're gonna get for me."
Olga huffed.
"See?" Louis grinned as he held her. "Your form is bad. Raise your elbow like so." He raised her elbow to demonstrate.
"Where did you learn how to play?" Olga smiled up at him flirtatiously before taking a sip of her own beer.
"My brother Henry taught me." Louis returned the flirtatious smile. "He's taught me a lot of things."
"Oh?" Olga asked curiously. "He's older than you?"
"Yeah, by five years." Louis answered as he began to take his turn.
"So what does he do? Where is he?" Olga asked.
"Henry's a Navy SEAL."
Olga gasped. "Really? That's cool!"
"Yeah I suppose it is. Wish I could see him more often though. He's often on deployment doing god knows what. Saving the world probably." Louis laughed, and Olga was surprised to find that his tone was somewhat nervous, far from his usual confidence. "Any siblings in your family?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'm the older one. My younger sister's name is Helga. She's only nine, still in elementary school."
Louis looked at her surprised. "That's a pretty big age disparity."
"Yeah..." Olga sighed. "It really makes it hard to connect with her sometimes. I always try to give her some of the attention I think she needs, but it's hard to. She was honestly the reason why I went to Alaska. We had a bit of a falling out."
"So you're saying you did that for your sister?"
"Yeah, kind of. I thought about it before but she pushed me over the edge."
"That was pretty noble of you. I'm actually legitimately impressed."
"Really?" Olga asked hopefully.
Louis nodded.
"Oh, thanks!" She hugged him. "I just wish I could show her how much I care for her. It's really hard sometimes, as I've said."
"Time has a way of mending things. Don't worry about it too much. She is after all, a little kid."
"Yeah." Olga sighed. "Anyway, it's my turn." She smiled and moved to make her shot.
After another drink, Louis and Olga began to make out in a secluded spot in the lounge.
"This is a cool place, I must admit. I'm sorry I've never come here before!" Olga said wistfully.
Louis smirked and kissed her again.
"Yeah, but the music is kind of getting lame now, isn't it? This tends to happen when the real crowds come. I think I can play some better stuff elsewhere. Stuff you'll really like. Let's get out of here."
Olga nodded and Louis grabbed her hand, leading her out of the Nebula.