Cherries

"Ah, my first love: Maraschino Cherries."

Andreas had a questioning look on his face, a single eyebrow near his hairline.

"A small joke, at least partially."

He placed a small kiss on the top of my head as he passed to get a drink from the fridge. I plucked another cherry from the jar and ate it.

"You may the only person I've ever known to eat those plain."

"I don't see why. They're delicious."

"Kirschrot!"

"Was?"
"How about naming the kitten Kirschrot?"

"Maybe…" The kitten came strolling into the kitchen at that moment. She sat and looked at us expectantly. Putting the jar of cherries back in the fridge and cleaning my sticky fingers, I picked her up from the floor and settled her in the crook of my left arm. She purred contentedly with a dopey look in her eyes.

"Hmmm…."

"What?"

"I had an idea, but it seems too masculine."

"What's the idea?"
"Balken. Like Balkenweg. If you hadn't moved onto this street, we probably would never have met."

"That is a good idea, but you're right. It does sound masculine."

We both stood in the kitchen watching her. Andreas reached across and scratched her slowly behind the ears. The volume of her purrs increased by a couple decibels. Glancing down at my watch, I realized that I needed to head out.

"Woops. Lost track of time. I need to get to the airport. Don't want Andrea thinking I forgot to pick her up, after all the times she's had to pick me up."

"Would it be all right if I came along? I can help with the bags and I'd like to meet your sister."

"Hmm…It might not be the best idea to spring you on her the moment she arrives, but….Well, alright."

"Klasse!"

Andrea's plane arrived late, so it didn't matter that we arrived later than we really should have done. She met us by baggage claim, as planned, but she wasn't alone. I was surprised to see that her husband, David, had come along. When they got close enough, the first thing out of my mouth was a question.

"David came too? Why didn't you mention?"

"Didn't I?"

"No."

"Huh. Must have slipped my mind."

David snorted behind her shoulder.

"Nice to know I'm appreciated," he teased.

"Oh hush up, you."

"Yes, your majesty." David bowed graciously and we all laughed. That's how Andrea noticed I wasn't alone either.

"Well, hello there."

Andreas strode forward with his hand extended.

"Andreas Copenhaver, it's very nice to meet you."

"Andrea Moore. This is my husband, David."

"Nice to meet you, David."

The two men shook hands. Huh. I used to think David tall. Not compared to Andreas, he isn't.

"Let's get your bags. We can continue our introductions at the house."

Glad that I had managed to park close, and that there were four of us to lug the bags through the airport, we loaded everything away in my four-door pickup.

It started raining not five seconds after we'd brought the last bag into the house.

"Impeccable timing." Andreas stood looking out a window, sneering at the rain.

I led Andrea and David down the hall to the spare bedroom. It was pretty sparse, all it contained was a queen-sized bed and a dresser with a mirror. The closet wasn't particularly large, either.

"It's not much. Haven't had a chance yet to decorate it or anything."
"Not like we'll be spending that much time in here, Kirsten."
"Ah, but it's the social convention to devalue one's guest room."

Winking, I left the room so they could unpack.

"That car ride was strangely awkward," I said to Andreas, back in the living room.

"So it wasn't just me that felt it."

"Definitely not."

I plopped on the couch, Andreas joined me. Within minutes, the kitten had appeared in Andreas' lap. Her lamp-like, yellow eyes fixed on Andreas, as if demanding an explanation. He ran his hand down her spine and soon she was asleep. However, she darted out of the room when Andrea and David appeared at the mouth of the hall, chuckling at some private joke.

"Hey Andrea, do you have any ideas for a female cat's name?"

"Why?"

"We adopted a stray kitten a couple days ago. Haven't named her yet."

"We?"
"We."

Andreas smiled as he responded.

"So what do we want to do today?"

"Well, I kinda figured you'd want to sleep after the flight."

"Eh. Slept on the plane."
"Both of you?"

Andrea turned to David and he answered.

"Yep."

"Well, Valeria and Dero invited us over for dinner tonight. Speaking of, I should call Valeria to let her know that David's here as well."

Leaning across Andreas, I grabbed the phone out of its cradle and started to dial. I went into the kitchen to make my call, but I could hear Andreas making conversation.

"So, Andrea, you work in a museum, yes?"

"That's right. I organize the displays, especially when we have temporary shows. For the really big shows, I also help deal with the press and so forth."

"How about you, David? What do you do?"

"I'm an actor."

"Professionally?"

"Yep."

"So how did you two meet?"

"Kirsten introduced us. I don't know whether she thought we'd actually end up together, but she's the reason we met."

"Well, then how do you know Kirsten?"

"Went to school together in California."
"Ah. That makes sense, doesn't it?"

Peeking around the corner as I spoke to Valeria, I saw that David nodded before replying.

"A lot of people go to the L.A. area to try and make it big. Most of them go home without success. I was one of the lucky few."

Valeria's voice carried through the receiver.

"You seem distracted."

"Sorry. I'm eavesdropping."

"Heard that," came Andreas' voice from the next room.

Laughing, I told Valeria that we would see her later.