Another day, another chapter! Enjoy!

Ch. 7- 'Getting Down to Brass Tacks'

Ulrich groaned as it felt like his head was going to crack open. A whole new flood of memories came rushing into Ulrich's mind. Suddenly his mind's eye opened, and it was like he was transported to a whole new place. He was standing, leaning up against a door. Ulrich looked down and saw that he was wearing the outfit that he usually wore while in grade school. He was next to the vending machines at school, talking to a blonde kid with a purple streak in his long, floppy, blond hair. The kid was also wearing purple clothes and large army boots under flared purple pants. Ulrich was sipping on a soda, while the blond kid next to him was nursing his own drink. Ulrich didn't recognize him, but he seemed vaguely familiar. Ulrich had just seen Yumi, and although he didn't know her name yet, Older Ulrich couldn't mistake that face anywhere. It didn't mean much to Younger Ulrich then since she and he hadn't officially met yet. Younger Ulrich was thinking about his Pencak Silat class later that evening, and about how he was going to get away from this blond kid. They seemed to be talking about girls since Younger Ulrich remarked how someone wasn't 'his girlfriend'. The purple-clad blond cheered and threw his cup across the way into a nearby trashcan.

Then, the class nerd, Jeremy Belpois came up and started ordering some juice from one of the vending machines. Ulrich never really spoke to Belpois, he knew that he was a good student, and that was about it. So Ulrich didn't really pay attention to the blond nerd when he put in his money and pushed a button. The machine lets out a large 'zap' sound, and the air was filled with the smell of singed hair and skin. Suddenly Jeremy was on the ground, leaning up against the vending machine and Ulrich found himself rushing to Jeremy's side.

"Belpois!" Ulrich checked to make sure that he was okay, "Belpois! You al' right?!"

Jeremy let out a low groan, and despite being dazed, he seemed to be mostly okay. Jeremy's glasses had fallen off, so Ulrich picked them up off the ground and put them back on Jeremy's face. The nerd was fried, and kind of out of it. Ulrich panicked and did the only thing he could think of. He told the blond kid to go tell a teacher what had happened while he took Belpois to the infirmary. The blond kid took off, and Ulrich slung Jeremy's arm over his shoulder and the pair hobbled their way to the nurse's office. Once in Yolanda's office, Ulrich helped Jeremy onto one of the beds while the short-haired nurse ran some tests. She checked his eyes, heart, and blood pressure before announcing that Belpois was going to be okay.

Ulrich let out a sigh, and cracked a joke to lighten the mood, "Well you wanted some juice, and you got some!"

"Very funny, Stern," chuckled Jeremy.

Ulrich excused himself from the infirmary, promising to check up on Jeremy later after his martial arts class. Jeremy nodded, and laid back on the bed, and shut his eyes. Ulrich pulled the door shut, and suddenly Ulrich was transported to another memory. There was nothing to see, all Ulrich could see was just white, but he heard two voices that he had heard before,

"That passage in the gym is a great way to break curfew!"

"Yeah, and there's another one on the campus."

Ulrich suddenly knew those voices! One of them was his, and the other, the other was Belpois! Ulrich's mind flashed to the image of his younger friends. Two faces were filled in, his and Yumi's. With the echoing sound of the "S.O.S" that Jeremy had uttered, a new face filled in. This time, the blonde at the back that was sitting in the chair next to the big computer terminal. It was Jeremy's face, there was no doubting it now. Ulrich understood now, he was the nerd in charge of the supercalculator! The brunette groaned as his mind reeled with all this new information. Suddenly the visions closed and Ulrich found himself standing back in the lobby of the CEM building. Jeremy was still giving him the thousand yard stare, oblivious to what Ulrich had just gone through. Ulrich's head was pounding, and a slight sweat had broken out on his forehead. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand, and then looked back at Jeremy.

But Jeremy was still ignorant of what was going on. He was staring across the lobby. Ulrich turned to follow his gaze, and after a few seconds of scanning the lobby, it was readily apparent as to what Jeremy was staring at. The girl with the pink hair had just walked out of one of the elevators at the other end of the lobby. She was wearing a pink business suit and skirt, and her blouse was a darker shade of pink. The only thing that was not pink on her was her briefcase, which she swung back and forth with great energy as she marched through the atrium. Ulrich strode around to the other side of the desk where Jeremy sat with his vacant expression. If Ulrich had to guess, the girl looked like she was moving with a purpose, and that purpose seemed to be pointed right at the info desk where he was standing. Ulrich nudged Jeremy and said,

"Jeremy? Who's that?" He whispered. Jeremy shook himself out of his stupor and said,

"That's Miss Aelita Schaeffer," he said in an almost dreamy tone, "She's the head of the animation and sound department. She's very important around here..." Jeremy's eyes widened, "And she's coming right this way! Quick, down!"

Jeremy dove out of his seat and onto the ground, but not before he grabbed hold of Ulrich's shirt and pulled him down to the ground as well. Ulrich gasped as his head went whipping past the table-top, and he narrowly missed busting his chin on the hard stone. The two landed in a heap on the ground, and Ulrich groaned as he landed on the cold, hard floor.

"Jeremy!" screeched Ulrich, "What was that all about!?"

"Sorry!" whispered Jeremy, "I panicked…"

"That was a little more than a 'panic'," said Ulrich with a hint of sarcasm while he massaged his sides.

"Uh…" hemmed Jeremy, poking his head up over the desk, "There's a really good reason for that…"

"There better be…" said Ulrich, trying to stand back up.

Jeremy absent-mindedly reached out and grabbed a handful of Ulrich's shirt again and pulled him back down. Ulrich was getting really tired of this. So instead, Ulrich got on his knees and scooted next to Jeremy. Ulrich leaned up over the desk to see what Jeremy was staring at. Aelita had gotten closer, and Ulrich could tell for sure now that the blond nerd was staring right at the pinkette. It was no surprise, even Ulrich had to admit that she was beautiful. But she wasn't really his type. Aelita seemed really out of place in her business attire, she looked like she should be promoting a punk rock band, or DJ'ing music instead of in a business suit.

"Jeremy, is there something you'd like to say?" whispered Ulrich.

"Um, no," lied Jeremy. Ulrich shot him a look. Jeremy tried forcing a smile, but it came out more like a grimace, "Why do you ask?" said the nerd with a hesitant voice.

"Because we are hiding under your desk, from that woman…" said Ulrich. Something was up with that, Ulrich began to think back to what Nic had said.

"No! I am not! She isn't…and- I just- no!" said Jeremy forcefully, blushing.

"You like her!" accused Ulrich. Jeremy seemed to be torn between nodding his head and shaking it, so it just came out looking like someone had turned him into a bobblehead. So apparently the rumors were true, Jeremy was head over heels for the pink-haired girl.

"No! No! I- Yes, I'm smitten with her!" conceded Jeremy, putting his head into his hands, but it didn't stop him from blushing even harder.

"I knew it! You're acting like this because you are too scared to talk to her because you like her!" said Ulrich, triumphantly.

"Okay, no need to broadcast it to the world!" hissed Jeremy, and he looked back over the desk with Ulrich.

Miss Schaeffer passed the desk, and it looked like she was going to leave the building. Jeremy and Ulrich sunk back down under the desk out of sight and Jeremy turned to the brunette and said,

"Her father and Winston Cardiff, along with a few others started this company from the ground up basically. Her father helped make the animated division of Cardiff Entertainment what it is today! She's a regular chip off the old block, following in her father's footsteps to become one of the most successful businesswomen at this company!" hissed Jeremy. Ulrich couldn't tell if that was pride or jealousy he heard in the blond nerd's voice, but it definitely seemed like Jeremy had done his homework. But something caught Ulrich's attention, he wasn't sure what it was.

"Her father?" queried Ulrich.

"Yeah, Waldo Schaeffer, he's an absolute genius with a computer, and best friends with the Cardiff family," whispered Jeremy. Ulrich had to hide a quizzical look. It wasn't that he didn't disagree with Jeremy about Mr. Schaeffer, it was just that he felt like he had heard that name somewhere before, but he couldn't be sure where.

Suddenly, the duo perked up because there came the sound of footsteps on the other side of the desk. Both of them didn't dare look over the desk, but they both seemed to be thinking the same thing. Aelita hadn't left the building. Instead, she had walked back and stopped at the desk. Ulrich and Jeremy looked up to see a flash of pink hair sticking over the desktop. All the color ran out of Jeremy's face when Aelita stopped to ring the bell. Ulrich shot a look at Jeremy to stand up, but the nerd shook his head and pointed to Ulrich instead and pleading wordlessly for the brunette to help him out. Ulrich didn't know what to do, so he panicked, and stood up. Aelita had a deep scowl on her face and was tapping her foot impatiently as Ulrich stood up. Ulrich chuckled and tried to smile, but Aelita glared at him even more.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Uh…" stuttered Ulrich.

"I'm looking for the information desk person. Where is the information desk person?" said Aelita, rather forcefully.

"You mean…um, Jeremy Belpois?" asked Ulrich, she seemed to be acting rather rudely.

"Yes, Mr. Belpois," said Aelita, keeping it formal, "Where is Mr. Belpois?"

Ulrich looked down at the ground where Jeremy was sat, he had crawled under the desk and was trying desperately to hide. Ulrich tried not to make his stare obvious as he tried to catch Jeremy's attention. But Aelita was sharp and noticed what Ulrich was doing.

"What are you looking at? What's down there?"

"Um! Nothing!" lied Ulrich. Jeremy looked at Ulrich and clasped his hands together to plead with Ulrich not to give him up.

"Look, if Mr. Belpois isn't here, I'm just going to have to…"

"Wait!" shouted Ulrich, cutting Aelita off. Ulrich immediately regretted that decision. Aelita renewed her glare and stood there waiting for an explanation. "He's here…" Ulrich saw Jeremy out of the corner of his eye shaking and trembling and begging Ulrich not to give him up.

"Well, where is he? Because I do not see him here!"

"He uh…" Ulrich had to think quickly, "He went to the toilet…" Ulrich couldn't tell if Jeremy sighed in defeat or relief, "He asked me to watch the desk while he stepped away."

Apparently, Aelita bought it, for a second it looked like she didn't, but then she nodded and said, "Well I have been trying to get ahold of Mr. Belpois all week now, I have even sent a letter to him through the mail room. Ah, I see it there," she said, pointing to the envelope that Ulrich had brought up to Jeremy.

"Uh, yes…I see," acknowledged Ulrich.

"Well tell Mr. Belpois when he returns from, wherever he is…" Aelita started looking around the desk, Ulrich was getting a little nervous. She then spoke with a loud voice and forced words, "That I would like…to see him!" She then looked to Ulrich who snapped to and scrambled to find words.

"Uh…should I…" stuttered Ulrich, "Should I tell him in what this is regards to?"

Aelita stared at Ulrich with a steely gaze and said, "You can tell him that his computer skills need some work if he's ever going to impress me. He should know what it means." And with that, she turned on her heel and walked away.

Ulrich let out a sigh of relief, and Jeremy crawled out from under the desk. Ulrich sunk down into Jeremy's chair, while Jeremy leaned up against the desk and turned to face Ulrich.

"Geez, is she always that intense?" laughed Ulrich, and he loosened his tie as a joke.

"That wasn't that bad," said Jeremy, "She used to be so nice, so I wonder what changed."

"Really?" asked Ulrich, incredulously, "That…was not bad?" he said, gesturing in the direction that Aelita had wandered off to.

"Well…she did have a point…" said Jeremy, massaging the back of his neck with his hand awkwardly.

"What was that?" asked Ulrich

"My computer skills do need some work…"

Ulrich was confused, "What? I thought that was a bunch of gibberish! You mean to say that actually meant something to you?"

"Well, she was either talking about one of two things," said Jeremy, scooting closer to the computer on the desktop, "She may have been talking about my repeated requests to transfer to her department," he said, switching on the monitor. Jeremy pulled out a small thumb drive out of his pants pocket and plugged it into the computer tower.

The monitor slowly turned on, and on popped up a complicated mess of windows, boxes, and shapes that all looked like belonged to one particular program that Jeremy had loaded onto the thumb drive. In one of the largest boxes on the screen, there was a wire-framed figure of what looked like an animated character. Ulrich started to piece together the info he was getting. Then it clicked.

"You're an animator!" said Ulrich suddenly, looking at the character that Jeremy had been working on.

"Well apparently not good enough for Miss Schaeffer's tastes, though…" said Jeremy with a sigh, switching off the screen, and yanking the thumb drive out of the computer.

"What are you talking about?" said Ulrich pointing to the fading image on the screen, "That looks great to me!"

"Well, apparently the many times as I have applied to work in the animation department, equals the same amount of times that I have been denied," said Jeremy with another heavy sigh, "And each time I ask for an explanation as to why, I'm given some run-around answer of 'your work is good, but not what we are looking for' or, 'we don't have any open positions at this time'."

"Well, that's a bummer…you think it has anything to do with Miss Bossy Britches?" said Ulrich, swinging his arms like Aelita had done as she walked through the lobby. Jeremy chuckled then frowned.

"I don't think she would appreciate it if she heard or saw you doing that just now," mumbled Jeremy.

"Why should we care? If she can't see the great talent like yours, then she is obviously blind," remarked Ulrich.

"Thanks, Ulrich," said Jeremy glumly, "But I don't think that is the real reason."

"What are you talking about Einstein?" asked Ulrich.

"Einstein?" asked Jeremy, taken slightly aback.

"Uh…yeah," said Ulrich, "It's just…"

"No one has called me that in such a long time…" mumbled Jeremy, cutting Ulrich off.

"Huh?"

"Your computer skills need some work…" Jeremy muttered under his breath. He seemed lost in thought.

"What are you going on about?" asked Ulrich.

Suddenly, Jeremy's eyes lit up and he gasped. He quickly gathered his things and started walking away, "Wait! Where are you going?!" shouted Ulrich after Jeremy.

"There's something I just remembered that…I have to do!" said Jeremy without turning around or breaking stride.

"But-!" stammered Ulrich.

"No time! I'll talk to you later Ulrich!" shouted Jeremy, already halfway across the spacious lobby.

"But what about your letter?!" yelled Ulrich, holding up the small envelope.

"I think I already know what it says!" shouted Jeremy, entering one of the elevators, and disappearing from view.

Ulrich sighed and slumped back down into the chair. What was that all about? What was so important that Jeremy would skip out on work? Whatever it was, it obviously had something to do with Aelita. Ulrich grimaced when he recalled the pink-haired girl. She was on his list of people to talk to, and now because of this, he knew that whatever conversations he was to have with the pinkette were to be just as awkward as the one he had just experienced. So he was not looking forward to that. Speaking of the list, Ulrich groaned and slapped his forehead because he realized in all the confusion that he never got the chance to ask Jeremy about the supercalculator. He figured he would try to ask him about it another time. But there was probably no telling the next good opportunity to see Jeremy would be. He didn't usually bring mail up to the lobby. In the few days that Ulrich had been working, he didn't remember coming up to the lobby once, besides the first day when he came up to ask for directions. Today he got lucky, and he blew the chance.

Which lead Ulrich to think about that letter that brought him there in the first place. It was in a small, light blue envelope. Jeremy's name was written in a slanting, girlish looking hand in the middle of the envelope. There was no return address or sender, but Ulrich didn't need to see one to know that it was from Aelita. But it was apparent that she didn't want Jeremy to know who had sent him the letter. What was written in it? It seemed like after Jeremy knew who had sent it, he had no desire to read it. Ulrich's curiosity peaked greatly as he stared at the innocent-looking letter. He sat up in Jeremy's chair and gently picked up the letter. The flap wasn't sealed very well, it was like Aelita only licked the point on the flap and stuck it down. The rest of the flap was unsealed, and open. Ulrich wanted so desperately to see what was inside.

But Ulrich had a feeling he could get into a lot of trouble if he opened someone's mail, regardless of who it was. Ulrich was torn between following the rules and trying to find answers. Ulrich knew now that Jeremy was involved with the supercalculator. Did that mean that Aelita was as well? Ulrich had no memory of her, the ones he remembered at this point was Yumi and the blond nerd. There were a couple other feminine figures that Ulrich could recall from his memories about the supercalculator, but he couldn't remember if any of them had pink hair or not. Was this letter simply about another refusal for Jeremy to join her department? Or was there something else going on here? Jeremy didn't seem to care about the letter, in that case, that would mean that it should go back to the sender. But Aelita seemed adamant that Jeremy receives and read it. Ulrich felt like he was caught between issues here, and he had no idea what was the right path. He drummed the letter with his fingers and bit his lip as he looked around the lobby to see if anyone was looking his direction.

No one seemed to be paying attention to the brunette, which made Ulrich's decision all that more difficult. He decided that if someone had been looking at him, that he wouldn't open the letter, but no one was. Ulrich even cleared his throat rather loudly, which echoed off the thick stone walls. No one batted an eye. Ulrich groaned, he didn't know why this was such a major dilemma. He was torn between potentially losing his job, violating Jeremy's privacy, and wanting to find answers. Ulrich sighed and decided that if Jeremy wasn't going to read it, and Aelita wasn't going to take it back, that it was just going to end up in the trash. And if it was trash, then it didn't matter who read it.

It was a really weak excuse, but Ulrich's interest finally grew too much, and he broke the seal on the envelope. Inside was just a small, simple piece of paper. It was carefully folded in half, so Ulrich quietly pulled out the letter and unfolded it. Ulrich expected something to happen, but instead, he was met by more questions. There were only seven words, written across the center of the page,

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO FIX THIS?"

It was written in Aelita's handwriting, it had the same slant as the handwriting on the outside of the envelope. But it was written in all caps as if Aelita was shouting at or accusing Jeremy of something. What did she mean? What was she expecting Jeremy to be fixing? Ulrich turned the paper over to see if there was anything else, but the message was just that. Aelita did seem to be in a bad mood, was this the reason? Was she just mad at Jeremy, and not because it seemed like she always was in such a bad mood? Ulrich scanned the words again, puzzled by their meaning. Did Jeremy really think that the letter said this? He seemed to think so, but now Ulrich wasn't so sure. He looked over it one more time, then saw in faint pencil mark that someone had erased,

"Call/meet me…please…"

There was a faint phone number that followed, but it had been so erased and smudged that Ulrich couldn't make it out. Ulrich had to assume that it was Aelita's phone number. He wished that he could have made it out, even if it was just so he could sate his curiosity. But this little addition seemed to change the whole tone of the letter. Instead of anger, this now read like pleading or desperation. What would Miss Schaeffer need to plead for from Jeremy? But she erased it, maybe she changed her mind? Ulrich's head swam with questions. But none of the people involve were here to answer them for him. Ulrich stuck the letter back into the envelope and crammed the whole thing into his back pocket. He looked down at his watch and saw that the work day was coming to a close.

Ulrich stood up from Jeremy's chair and returned to the mail room. Nicholas was busy finishing up for the day when Ulrich returned. He had just finished sorting what was left of the mail to be sent out tomorrow, and reached up to turn off the mail system. The mail room was silent. Without another word, Nicholas donned a coat and gloves and left, followed closely by William. Ulrich felt a little awkward, but he did realize that he had been kind of distant to Nicholas lately, and William and he had never really gotten along. His two co-workers left, leaving Ulrich alone to himself. The brunette didn't know what to do, going home at this point felt a little weird when he still had so many questions. So he took a couple minutes to pull up a stool and think. Ulrich gathered together all of his belongings and set them nearby so that he could have them when he left. Ulrich then began to pour over his list of things he wanted to do. He updated what he could, including trying to get to know the Cardiff's better and finding time to bring up the supercalculator with Jeremy. He still needed to try and talk to Yumi, Odd Della Robbia, and Aelita. Ulrich was really not looking forward to that last one.

But Ulrich felt a little more urgency to talk to Jeremy. If the blond nerd knew something, he wanted to be the first to know. But then Ulrich realized something. If he had been transported ten years into the future, did that mean that Jeremy, Yumi, and the others that he couldn't recall from his memory had been too? Or did they have to go the long way and actually wait the whole ten years? Ulrich wasn't sure because when he saw Jeremy and Yumi, they didn't recognize him. But over time, Ulrich was able to see Jeremy and Yumi differently as new memories came to the surface. And Ulrich knew now that those memories were not fake. There's no way that they could be at this point. Ulrich could remember, in great detail, events that took place in what felt like two lifetimes.

So Ulrich wondered if what was happening to him was also happening to the others. Were they beginning to see Ulrich differently as well? Would he soon have his answers, or would he have to keep looking until something clicked for them? But finding out about all of that was probably going to be as easy as asking Jeremy about the supercalculator. Ulrich thought about those circumstances, and the terms "lead" and "balloon" came to mind. But other than that, there wasn't much else left that Ulrich figured he needed to do. But then that condemned factory from earlier came to mind. What was with that place? Did it have anything to do with the supercalculator? It obviously had something to do with him and Jeremy, but that's about all that Ulrich knew. The brunette had to admit that the whole place gave him the creeps, and he wasn't quite ready to go back there. But he had a sinking feeling that he would have to go back there eventually. Ulrich wrote that at the very bottom of his list, and put a very large 'optional' next to it. He figured he would get it when he could, but it wasn't the top of his priorities.

With all of that settled, Ulrich decided there wasn't anything left for him to do, and that meant that he could now go home. He picked up his belongings, dressed in his warm clothing, and went to the elevator. Ulrich got back to his car and sat down and remembered that his phone was dead and that he had a message on it that he still had to read. He pulled out the small device and plugged it into the cord that was sticking out of the charger. He then worked to get the car started so that the outlet would have power. The phone took a couple minutes to charge up enough for Ulrich to be able to turn it on. Once it was on, Ulrich opened his messages. There was one at the top of the list that he had received while his phone was dead. It was from Herb, thanking Ulrich for looking out for him this morning. Ulrich sighed and didn't know whether to scold or soothe the brunette nerd. Ulrich decided that the middle ground was to just say "You're welcome", and leave it at that. There was another message that he had received that was from his mom, informing him that she and his dad had gone out for the night and were going to be home late and that dinner was in the fridge when he got home. Ulrich texted back a quick "Thanks", and then scrolled down to the last message.

There wasn't a name associated with the message, so it just came out as a long string of numbers. Ulrich opened the message and read it.

2:56 PM Hey, good buddy!

Good buddy? Obviously, this person had the wrong number. No one he knew called him 'good buddy'.

2:57 PM I got your number from the directory at work, give me a call when you get this message! We need to talk!

Ulrich rolled his eyes, someone obviously had the wrong number or the wrong person. He swiped the screen to delete the message but then paused. What if this wasn't a wrong number? Did Ulrich really doubt that someone could have actually found him? And then there was the part about needing to talk. There wasn't much else besides that, but maybe it was someone else from the group trying to reach out. Ulrich looked down at his watch. His parents weren't going to be home for a while, and it wasn't like he really had anything going on that night. Ulrich thought what was the worst that could happen? If anything, he could iron out any misconceptions and then move on. It could actually turn out to be a big misunderstanding, and then a really funny story. Ulrich thought about what would be the best response, then typed it in.

6:07 PM Hey, who is this?

It wasn't going to win him any writing awards, but it was simple, to the point, and reflected everything he wanted to know at that time. Ulrich started to put his phone away, figuring that it would take the other person some time to respond, but immediately Ulrich felt his phone vibrate in his hand. Ulrich held it up to see that his mystery contact had already texted back. Ulrich opened his phone and read the message

6:08 PM It's me, good buddy!

Ulrich sighed. That didn't explain anything.

6:08 PM I think you have the wrong number, no one calls me that.

A speech bubble with some dots popped up on the screen to show that the person on the other end was writing a new message.

6:09 PM What are you talking about? I called you that for years!

6:09 PM I really think you have the wrong number.

6:09 PM Look, I can't explain here, meet me at this address:

Another message popped up shortly after the other with a full street address. It looked like something he could tap on, so Ulrich did. The link opened up a map on his phone, as well as directions to the location. It didn't look too far away from the office building. Ulrich sighed, was he really going to humor this person just because he thought that it might belong to someone he could know in his Younger life? Ulrich grabbed the gear shift, put the car in reverse, and then pulled backward and tapped on the "Start Directions" button on his phone.

"I can't believe I'm doing this…!" he thought to himself as he pulled out of the parking garage.

It took Ulrich about fifteen minutes to reach the location that this mystery person had directed him to. When he pulled up outside, he realized that the place was a bar. Ulrich balked at the idea of meeting someone he barely knew at a bar. It didn't matter if Older Ulrich was technically old enough to drink, Younger Ulrich had some bad memories of his father coming home drunk either from work or just in general. And Ulrich had never really thought of himself as a drinker. Ulrich almost wanted to text this mystery person and say that he would meet them another day, and at a place where he chose, but Ulrich didn't want to postpone something like this. His desire to find answers was greater than his apprehension of entering a bar. Ulrich pulled into a parking spot on the street, got out, and paid the meter. Ulrich walked up to the door and heard Italian sounding music coming out of the entrance. Ulrich immediately knew that this was an Italian bar, where people from Italy, either those who lived here or were just visiting, could come to feel more at home.

"Who do I know that's from Italy?"

Ulrich's mind was drawing a blank. If it was a Japanese bar, Ulrich would have known immediately who had invited him. But even he could remember that Yumi never called him 'good buddy'. Ulrich hesitated at the door, and instead of going in, he pulled out his phone and texted this mystery person to make sure that he was still here.

6:27 PM Okay, I'm here, now what?

It took a couple minutes, but Ulrich's phone buzzed shortly after he sent the text.

6:29 PM Where are you? I don't see you! I'm the guy in the white shirt and purple tie.

Ulrich sighed. He had come this far, so he figured there was no point in giving up. He pushed open the door to many shouts of "Entra!" and "Benvenuto!" from the hosts and patrons. Ulrich cringed as the smell of alcohol washed over him. One of the hosts ran up to the entrance to show Ulrich in, and to make sure he was legal. It only took one look since Ulrich could remember that the drinking age in France was sixteen. The host gestured around the room and said something in Italian. Ulrich didn't understand, and instead scanned the room for the person he was looking for. It took him a second, but finally, he spotted a couple people standing at the bar dressed in white shirts. Ulrich walked up the bar and the bartender talked in fast Italian. The look on Ulrich's face seemed to speak volumes as the bartender muttered,

"Ah…Straniero," the man said coldly. Ulrich didn't need a translator to know that this man had just called him a foreigner. "Eh! Fabio! Venite aiutare questo straniero, francese!

Another bartender, who looked up when called, nodded his agreement and then worked his way towards Ulrich. The other bartender, an older gentleman, excused himself to serve some other patrons who chatted back and forth in rapid Italian. The other bartender, Fabio, was probably not much younger than Ulrich, with an olive complexion and dark hair. Ulrich rolled his eyes. French was even a foreign language to him, his first language being German, like his parents. But he had learned French growing up in the country and while he went to school at Kadic. It wasn't easy at first, but now Ulrich would consider himself bi-lingual, even though it had been a while since he had been able to use his German. However, that didn't mean everyone in the country shared a common language. But to be called a foreigner when both he and the bartender were both strangers in France was kind of insulting, but Ulrich brushed it off since he figured most people who came in here were Italians or French people who got lost.

"Can I...help you?" said Fabio, in very halting French as he drew near to Ulrich.

Ulrich sighed and tried to speak slowly and clearly enough, "I'm looking for a guy..."

Fabio blushed and chuckled, "Oh, signore, I'm afraid that I am already a married man!"

Ulrich groaned, "No! I'm supposed to be meeting someone here, have you seen a guy with a white shirt and purple necktie?" Ulrich mimed his words, tugging on his own white shirt, and pointing to his tie. Fabio screwed up his eyes in thought and then snapped his fingers and pointed to a short man that had his back turned to them.

"You must be meaning to speak to that man there!" He said, gesturing down the bar near the end, "He said that he was waiting for his…um…buon amico…how do you say? His good friend?"

Ulrich sighed again, "Good buddy?"

"Yes! That is what he said!" said Fabio. Ulrich thanked him, and the young bartender walked away, leaving Ulrich by himself.

Ulrich looked down the bar again. Who was this guy? Ulrich tried to glance at him while his back was turned towards Ulrich. The man had long-ish blonde hair that drooped around his ears and neck. He was speaking Italian to a girl it looked like he had almost cornered. Ulrich couldn't tell much about the girl, she didn't look uncomfortable, nor did she look like she was all that into the guy either. They were just having a conversation. The guy looked to be almost an entire head shorter than Ulrich, maybe even shorter than William is. He was still dressed kind of professionally, even though the working day was done. Which lead Ulrich to believe that the man had been here since he got off work. Had he been waiting here the entire time for Ulrich to show up? Ulrich still didn't even know if he knew this guy or not. So, working up the courage, Ulrich walked down the bar and stood behind the man. Ulrich cleared his throat loudly and the man turned around.

The man's face lit up, "Good buddy!" he opened his arms as if he was going in for a hug.

"You!" scowled Ulrich.

Okay! Exciting things to come! Stay glued here!