Things We've Never Done Before
A very belated and long-time coming gift for a friend. This story was inspired by a scene in the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" where Holly and Paul (Fred) spend the day doing things that they've never done before. A bit of fun really, and I've love to know what you thought of it! Enjoy!
Georg was working quietly away in his study one night when there came a soft knock on the door. He glanced up, but before he could call out 'come in', the door opened and in breezed Maria.
"Oh, what a day," she sighed breathlessly as she flopped herself onto the sofa in the middle of the room. She propped her feet up on the coffee table in front of her, but after one little look from Georg, she quickly removed her feet, placing them back on the floor.
"Sorry," she blushed.
"Quite alright," Georg replied with a smile. He put down his pen then stood up and came to sit down next to her. "Long day?"
"Yes!" Maria laughed. "The children have run me ragged, more than usual anyway. Thankfully they are all now in bed asleep, even Liesl who kept me at her bedside for an extra half an hour chatting non-stop about all the wedding plans."
"Well, she's excited. It's not often a girl gets to be a maid of honour for her new mother."
"I know that, but after a day of Frau Schmidt bothering me every ten minutes or so about this and that – guest lists, menus, seating plans… I'm over it! I couldn't care less if the guests just all sat on picnic blankets in the middle of the back garden!"
Georg chuckled. "I know what you mean, but could you honestly see Baron and Baroness Elberfeld sitting cross-legged on a picnic blanket sipping tea with jam and bread while the children climbed trees in front of them?"
Maria burst out laughing at the thought. "I suppose not. I guess the formal seating arrangements for the wedding reception are important then, but I'm just tired." She leant her head backwards onto the back of the sofa and closed her eyes. "There are too many things to do – the wedding is just a week away and the children have been nearly impossible to deal with as their excitement for the wedding has overtaken any sort of common sense or good behaviour."
Georg wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "You sound like you need a break."
"From what?" Maria moaned. "From the children, the wedding or just life in general?"
"Maybe a little bit of each?" Georg suggested. He did feel bad for Maria and a bit responsible for her rising stress levels. He was aware that Maria knew next to nothing about planning a big social event with the Austrian aristocracy, let alone a wedding and he had noticed the children becoming more unruly each day that passed. He had even suggested to Maria the return of the silly whistle in an attempt to get the children's behaviour back into line but Maria hated the thought of using his whistle so much that the conversation ended with Maria storming back into the house and the whistle at the bottom of the lake.
"Have you ever thought about taking a day off for yourself?" Georg asked.
"Ha! As if I could! There's too much to do."
"No, I'm serious! A day just for you to rest, relax and do whatever you want."
"And I'd be bored in half an hour flat!" Maria scoffed but then she stopped and sighed. "But a day off by myself does sound nice… however I think I would really like to spend the day with you. We rarely see each other - just the two of us alone without any interruptions."
"Well, blame Max for that one. Unfortunately, he has turned out to be an excellent chaperone." Georg rolled his eyes.
"Have you ever thought about it?" she asked.
"What?"
"Taking a day off too."
"Me?" Georg replied. "Well I don't know, I've never done that before."
Suddenly Maria sat bolt upright and snapped her fingers. "That's it!" she exclaimed loudly.
"What's 'it'?"
"I know what we should do: both of us should take the day off tomorrow and spend it together doing things we've never done before."
"What do you mean? Things we've never done before?"
"Oh you know, I'll choose something to do that you've never done before, then you'll pick something for us to do that I've never done before."
Georg smiled at the idea. "Sounds interesting, although I can't honestly think of anything I've never done before."
Maria laughed. "I'm sure I'll find something." She winked.
Georg began rapping his fingers on the edge of the sofa, thinking. "Hmm… I'm sure there are so many places I can take you to that you've never been before. Restaurant Esszimmer is fine dining at its best and…"
"Wait!" Maria interrupted. "You can't take me expensive places."
"Why not?"
"Well, how can I compete with that?"
"It's a competition now?" Georg furrowed his brow.
"No, not like that," Maria reassured him. "I'm only meaning that if we're each finding something new for the other to experience and all of yours are costing an arm and a leg, how could mine compare? I don't have the money to…"
"I can pay," Georg quickly said.
"I know you can, but that's not the point, is it? It's the experience that counts, not the money. No, let's make a rule that what we find to do can't cost anything, or not cost much anyhow. Deal?" She held out her hand to him to shake.
"Deal," Georg replied as he shook her hand.
"Fabulous!" Maria cried as she jumped to her feet and began prancing towards the doorway.
"Where are you going?" Georg called out to her, standing up quickly.
Maria did a little twirl. "To speak to Frau Schmidt. There's so much to organise for tomorrow!" She clapped her hands in glee then bounded over to him and gave him a big kiss before she skipped out of the room joyfully.
Georg sank back down into the sofa and laid his head back. He chuckled to himself. At times he found Maria's endless energy absolutely thrilling, but at other times, she was just plain exhausting!
XxXxXxXxXx
Georg was warm in his bed, fast asleep, enjoying the most spectacular dream about a beautiful woman with golden hair and sparkling blue eyes when he was awoken suddenly.
"Georg!" came a hushed, but urgent whisper as he felt himself being shook awake. "Georg!" came the voice again. "Wake up!"
Georg slowly opened his eyes. It was still quite dark but he could just make out the shape of Maria sitting on the side of his bed. "Maria?" he asked, propping himself up slightly. Georg reached over and switched on the bedside lamp. Squinting with the bright light, he took a moment to get his bearings and confirm to himself that indeed, it was Maria that was in his bedroom and sitting on his bed in, what seemed to be, the middle of the night. "Maria, love? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Don't you remember?" she replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We agreed to spend the day doing things we'd never done before. Well, here I am! I thought we could get started early before anyone catches us."
Georg blinked several times, not quite believing his ears. She was in his room in the middle of the night… surely she couldn't mean that…? No, certainly not… He needed to find out.
"W-well," he stumbled, slightly flabbergasted. "When you said you wanted to do things we've never done before, I never quite expected to find you here in my bedroom. I mean, I thought we'd agreed to wait…. The wedding is only a week away, after all. But darling, if you really wanted to…" he reached out and stroked her hand.
At once Maria's eyes bulged and she jumped up. She felt her face going red and she placed both palms against her burning cheeks. "Oh, I didn't mean that!" she stammered. "Oh, I'm so embarrassed that you might have thought… I mean I want to, but yes, we had agreed to wait until after the wedding…"
"It's alright!" Georg put up one hand to stop her. He chuckled. "Maria, really. I really didn't think we were going to… uh, you know. I was just surprised to see you here. In my room! I suppose you've never crept into a man's bedroom in the middle of the night before?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.
"No, I haven't," she replied, still feeling a bit embarrassed at the situation she'd found herself in.
"Well, I guess that's one 'first' for you then," Georg declared cheerfully.
"I suppose so," Maria laughed too. "Anyway, I should leave you to get dressed. It's just after 5am. We should hurry before all the house staff are up."
"Alright. Meet you downstairs in ten minutes and then we'll get going?" Georg swung his legs up out of bed and gave Maria a quick kiss as he began to usher her from the room so he could get dressed.
At the door, Maria paused and turned back around. "Georg? Lose the tie today."
"My tie?" he questioned. "But I always wear a tie!"
"Exactly," she smiled. "We're doing things today that we haven't done before. Remember?"
He chuckled as he waved her out of the room. Yes, this would be a day of firsts! he thought.
XxXxXxXxXx
Almost an hour later, they were sitting on the little train that led up the mountain. It was still early, just before dawn and the sky in the distance was just starting to lighten. Maria thought to herself just how casual and relaxed Georg appeared without his tie and the top button of his shirt undone with his collar loose. It was certainly a new look for him and she looked forward to their day together.
As the train chugged along, Georg turned to Maria. "You still haven't told me what we're doing here."
"We're going up the mountain, of course," she replied matter-of-factly.
Georg rolled his eyes and sighed. "I realise that – I have been up the mountain with you and the children many times before. What did you want to do up there that we haven't done before?"
"Well, firstly, we haven't been up here together without the children before," Maria told him. "But secondly, have you ever seen the sunrise from the Untersberg?"
Georg gave a little smile and shook his head. "Sunrise over the sea many times, but sunrise from the mountain, no." He squeezed her hand. "I'm looking forward to it."
Several minutes later, the train pulled up and they hopped out. Maria gave the train driver a little wave. She knew him well from all the various times she'd used to come up to the mountain when she was a postulant at the Abbey. Maria led Georg up the mountain path and along to the meadow where she had taken the children many times for their mountain picnics. From the high attitude, they had a clear view of the city of Salzburg below and the many small scattered villages that spanned the countryside.
By this time, the first rays of golden sun had just peeked over the top of the mountains, spilling soft light onto the mountainside below. The sky on the horizon was a mix of reds, pinks and oranges as the sun poked its head out above the tops of the mountains. The distant snow-capped peaks seemed to glow as the sunrise hit them. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
"Oh Maria," Georg breathed. "This is magnificent!" He slid his arm around her waist and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I can't believe I've never done this before!"
"I used to slip out from the Abbey about once a week and come up here to watch the sunrise," she told him. "I knew it was wrong to leave the Abbey without permission but it was so beautiful that I just couldn't help myself."
"Thank you for bringing me up here to share this with you," Georg said genuinely. They stood together, holding hands watching the sun continue to rise until the colours of the sky had turned from the glowing orange and pink colours to a pale shade of blue as the day began.
"So now what?" Georg asked. "Back down on the train?"
Maria giggled and shook her head. "No. Next challenge. Have you ever spun and twirled and sung at the top of your lungs on top of a mountain?"
"No," Georg shook his head. "But I bet you have." He grinned.
"Of course! Second favourite thing to do when I would come up here," she remarked. "Come on! It's better from the top of the hill over there!"
"Wait Maria," Georg called out as she began to run off. "I'm not sure I'm quite up from spinning and twirling and singing at the top of my lungs."
"Why not?" she countered. "You just said you'd never done it before? Well… now is the perfect time!" When she saw Georg looking incredibly uncertain, she tugged at his hand. "Look, no one is around, it's just us up here. No one will see! And think of it this way, if you do this for me, I won't ask you to roll down the hill and do cartwheels across the meadow, like the children like to do!" She gave him a wink.
"Rolling down the hill and doing cartwheels across the meadow?" Georg repeated in disbelief. "Well, I suppose singing a song doesn't sound that bad after all." He admitted in defeat as he let Maria drag him up the hill.
At the top of the hill, Maria twirled around, spreading her arms wide as she started to sing "The hills are alive, with the sound of music…" Georg watched her for several moments before he gave a little shrug and joined in himself.
XxXxXxXxXx
Sometime later after several songs and Georg pleading with Maria to let him stop after he made himself so dizzy with so much spinning, they returned on the little train back down to the city. They walked hand-in-hand across the Mozartsteg Bridge as they made their way into town.
"Hmm… what to do now?" Georg hummed to himself. "I do believe I need to find something that you've never done now. I need to have a think. I am hungry though. How about breakfast? There's a little place up here on the next street that I've been wanting to take you to for a while now."
"But we agreed that we wouldn't be spending any money today." Maria protested.
"Yes, but Maria, we have to eat." When she didn't look convinced, he continued. "Look, how about this? We go up to the marketplace across the square instead and find something there to eat. Street food. It shouldn't be too expensive. Have you ever done that before?"
Maria thought for a moment then smiled. "I've bought food at the markets with the children to take on our picnics up the mountains before, but never had breakfast there before. Do you think that counts?"
"Absolutely it counts. Let's go!"
They spent almost the next hour strolling through the marketplace, finding delicious freshly baked bread and strudels and many vendors gave out free samples of their food as they wandered from stall to stall and very soon, both Maria and Georg were full and ready to do the next activity.
"Have you thought of something new for me to do yet?" Maria asked as they left the marketplace.
"In actual fact, yes, I have," Georg replied. "This way." Georg led her down the street for several blocks before they arrived at a very large, ornate building.
"What's this place?" Maria asked as they climbed the steps and Georg opened the door for her to go inside.
"The public library," he told her.
"I've never been here before," Maria remarked as she gazed up wide-eyed at the high, decorative ceilings then around the large room packed with tall bookshelves filled with books. "Oh look at all these books!" she breathed wistfully. "There's so many! How do you even know where to begin?"
"Over here." Georg led her over to one side of the room where several index card cabinets were positioned. He opened one of the little draws and showed her the index cards inside. "Each of these little cards represents a book in the library." Georg explained. "They are sorted into different categories for fiction and non-fiction: histories, sciences, art or whatever. Then when you've found what you're looking for, you can go and find the book using these little numbers here as the same numbers are on the appropriate bookshelf where the book itself is kept. Most libraries use a system like this."
"But you don't, in your study I mean. I just go and take any book off the shelf any time I want to and put it back where ever."
Georg chuckled. "Actually, I do have a system in my study. It perhaps isn't as organised as this as I don't have as many books as most libraries have. And I usually have to re-organise all the books you've replaced haphazardly after you're gone. I've often found the romance novels intermixed within the art history books."
"Oh," Maria bit her lip and looked embarrassed. "Sorry."
"It's perfectly fine," Georg reassured her. "I enjoy the surprise of finding random books left all over the place in my study." He chuckled. "Now, let's go find a book."
"What book?" Maria asked as she watched Georg flip though several boxes of index cards.
"You'll see…" he continued flipping for another minute or so until he found what he was looking for. "A-ha! Here it is." Georg glanced at the card for a second or so, memorising the location of the book then strode purposefully towards the book shelves with Maria following dutifully behind him. Georg wandered up and down several aisles before he stopped then located the specific shelf and finally found the book he was looking for.
He took it from the shelf and handed it to Maria. She glanced at the title then looked questionably back at him. "Military History of the Imperial Navy? Georg, what's this?"
"Go to the index and look under V."
Maria took a deep breath then flicked to V in the index. She used her finger to scan down the page until she found it. "von Trapp, Georg. Captain." She read out loud. Maria flicked her eyes up at Georg. "You're in here? In this book?"
"Go and take a look," he prompted with a small smile.
Maria flicked to the listed page and began to read. "Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and was the most successful submarine commander of the Great War sinking 11 Allied merchant ships and two Allied warships. von Trapp's accomplishments during the Great War earned him numerous decorations, including the Military Order of Maria Theresa…" Maria stopped and looked up at Georg in amazement. "Oh Georg, I had no idea. I mean I knew you were a decorated and brave officer but all these accolades and achievements… I am very much impressed! And you're in a book too!"
Maria stopped a passer-by and thrust the book in their face. "Have you ever seen this?" she asked the bewildered man. "And this is the man himself," Maria pointed to Georg. "von Trapp, Georg. Captain! Can you believe it?"
Georg looked uncomfortable and quickly apologised to the stranger which at once moved to the other side of the library away from them.
"Sorry," Maria stammered, feeling embarrassed. "I was so impressed and proud of you that I just wanted to share it with everyone. Can we take the book with us?"
"Actually, I already own a copy," Georg admitted sheepishly. "I just wanted to show you that I was in the public library." He cast his eyes downwards and shifted on his feet like he was as nervous and bashful as a young school boy.
Maria beamed with pride as she looked at her soon-to-be husband who just wanted to impress her. And impress her he did! She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for bringing me here," she told him genuinely. "Do you mind if I read the rest of it?"
Georg shook his head. "Not at all. Take your time."
Georg found his own book to read as he waited for Maria to finish reading the section in the military history book on him. He had his own entire chapter in the book so it did take some time for her to read but at last she was finished. Returning the book to the shelf in the proper place, Maria found Georg and they left the library to go in search of the next activity.
"What would you like to do next?" Georg asked Maria as they walked out into the bright sunshine.
"Not sure," she replied. "But I think it's your turn to do something you've never done before. Let's go to the park while I think of something."
They walked down to the Mirabelle Gardens and strolled through the various garden laneways and around the large fountain in the centre of the gardens. "I took the children here while I was getting to know them when I was first governess to them and you were in Vienna," Maria told Georg. "They loved coming here. We danced and sang all around! It was wonderful."
"I hope you won't be asked me to dance and sing in public," Georg inquired, somewhat concerned. He had already let down his guard once that day to sing up on the mountain, but thankfully no one was around, however, the gardens were completely packed with people and he really hoped Maria's next challenge wasn't to sing in public.
"No," she laughed. "I wasn't going to ask you to do that. But I did have something else in mind…" Her eyes gleamed with mischief. She took a quick look around to check that there was no one in earshot of them. No one was near them at all. But even so, she leant in close to Georg's ear so that she could whisper to him. "Have you ever… err… nicked anything?"
Georg looked confused for a moment. "Nicked?" he asked, somewhat unfamiliar with the term.
"You know…" Maria glanced around once again quickly to check no one was listen. "Stolen something."
"Stolen!" Georg exclaimed out loud.
At once Maria shushed him. "Shhh! Not so loud!"
"Maria," Georg spoke urgently in hushed tones. "I hope you aren't going to tell me that you've actually stolen something before."
"Well, not recently," she admitted with a wicked smile.
"Maria!" Georg hissed, somewhat horrified. "You were going to be a nun!"
"In my defence, that was before I joined the convent," she told him. "But I still did it once in a while, just to keep my hand in!" Maria giggled. "I always needed to kiss a few floors and do a several Hail Mary's afterwards."
"I can't believe you've just told me this!" Georg looked at her in disbelief for a second or two before the penny dropped. "Maria, you're seriously not going to suggest that I… that we go and steal something?"
"Oh come now, Captain. Where's your sense of adventure?" she challenged, eyebrows raised.
Georg tapped his foot for a few seconds and looked at her intently, deciding whether or not to take her up on the challenge. But she looked so bright-eyed and alluring that he knew that he couldn't deny her, even though he did have serious reservations about this challenge of hers. He definitely did not wish to have the humiliation of being caught, although there was something quite enticing about the challenge that he knew he couldn't resist.
"Alright, although whatever we take needs to cost less than a shilling. I'm not going to rob a bank or anything."
"Of course not!" Her eyes gleamed with mischief again. "Come on, I know just the place!" She took off at once leaving Georg to follow behind. After a few blocks, she stopped outside a store and Georg recognised it as one of those sorts of stores that sold a bit of everything – nick-nacks and the alike and very cheaply too. He sighed. Well, at least it wasn't a high-end jewellery store or anything else of consequence. He supposed he could go through with it. Maria inclined her head, beckoning him to come in with her.
Georg followed behind Maria as she strolled casually around the store looking incredibly innocent. He wondered how many times she'd done this before in the past as she looked so confident. He watched her run her hand over various objects and wares in the store, picking the occasional one and looking at it before putting it back when she had gotten it from. Every once in a while, one of the store clerks would look up in their direction and Maria would give them a sweet smile and continue about her journey around the store. It felt like all the employees had their eyes on them at all times, like they almost knew what they were up to. Georg felt himself start to sweat and his heart was pounding in his chest with the stress of it all. He really wished that Maria would either get on with it, or just change her mind so they would get out of there quickly.
Suddenly Maria stopped, causing Georg to almost run into her. She turned her head slightly and gave him a knowing smile, then tilted her head towards the shelf in front of her. There was a large container of long, shiny whistles, almost identical to the ones that Georg had used on her first day at the villa. Maria gave him a sneaky smile as she picked one up and twirled it expertly in her fingers. Georg let out a huff and rolled his eyes as Maria playfully started to lift the whistle to her lips to blow it. Quickly, he gave a faintl shake of his head and a piecing look that that said "absolutely not!". Maria paused for a moment, wondering whether or not she should, before she tossed the whistle back into the container and gave him a mock salute. She let out a little giggle and left Georg looking shocked as she continued her jaunt through the store.
After a few minutes more of wandering, Maria saw that all the store clerks had turned in the other direction, or were busy helping other customers. She glanced at Georg and inclined her head again, like she wanted him to cover her as she picked up a rather large vase. Georg made the move to stand in between her and the closest store clerk so they couldn't see what Maria was up to and he thought Maria was about to smuggle the vase out underneath her coat, however at the very last moment, she put the vase back on a different table and fanned herself as she continued moving about the store.
By this stage, Georg was starting to wonder whether it was all worth it and perhaps they should cut their losses and Georg admit defeat to Maria's challenge. His mouth was dry, the palms of his hands were sweating and his heart continued to thump in his chest. But one quick glance from Maria told him that she was not going to let him off the hook. So he continued to follow Maria about the store until she stopped next to a rack of hats that was near to the front door.
Without blinking an eye, Maria picked up the first hat and placed it on her head. She motioned for Georg to do the same and he obediently complied and placed a hat on his head too. Maria then turned around and smiled sweetly to the nearest shop clerk who nodded politely but then turned back to their duties and promptly ignored them.
Maria then slowly and confidently started to stroll out of the store with Georg following behind her, both of them still wearing the hats that they had placed on their heads. Maria calmly took Georg's arm as they got past the exit of the store with no one questioning them at all. Georg felt his heart racing as they made it to the curb and then across the road, with still no one following them! But as soon as they got to the other side of the street, Maria grabbed his hand and made a run for it, dragging Georg behind her.
Georg couldn't remember the last time he'd run through the streets like a child and he wasn't even sure how far they ran together, but he was out of breath when Maria finally pulled him into a side laneway. She could barely speak, partly as she was out of breath from running but mainly because she was laughing so hard. "Oh Georg, I can't believe we just did that!"
"You're crazy!" he laughed too, feeling quite exhilarated now that they had gotten away with it. "I was certain we would get caught, but then you just walked confidently out the front door, like nothing happened!"
"That's the key – confidence!" she laughed. "And singing the song in your head too – I have confidence in sunshine, I have confidence in rain…"
Georg playfully waved his hand to get her to stop singing and then took her in his arms and kissed her. "I think you're a bad influence. Look at these silly hats!" He pulled his off his head and turned it over in his hand several times, examining it.
"I always think you look very nice in a hat," Maria remarked. "And this one suits you too."
"I don't think I could ever wear stolen property though."
"Well, we can go back and pay for them if you really want to," Maria proposed.
Georg was surprised she had suggested that. "You don't mind? I know that's not part of the challenge."
"It's fine – you got the thrill of nicking something and not getting caught. That's enough for me." Maria smiled. Georg leant forward and kissed her again then they started to make their way back to the store to pay for the hats. Another first, Georg thought. Trying to come up with some sort of story to the store owner to explain how they got the hats without paying for them!
Afterwards, they walked hand-in-hand back along the river, wearing their now-paid for hats. Maria sighed as they walked. "Oh this has been such a wonderful day. All the different things we've done together and experienced. But I think the best thing about today was the time we got to spend together – without chaperones and without the children. I love the children very dearly, you know that, but they can be very exhausting after a while!"
"Why do you think I always needed to have a governess?" Georg asked with a wink. "The children always wore me out and I needed a break from them," he chuckled. "It has been a nice day, hasn't it? Spending time with you. I'm certainly looking forward to our honeymoon where we can spend time alone together, just the two of us with no interruptions."
"You still haven't told me where you're taking me."
Georg smiled. "Paris. For six weeks. It'll be terribly romantic."
"I bet it will be," Maria breathed, feeling the anticipation of what was to come. "I can hardly wait."
"Me either," Georg admitted too, his eyes burning with desire for her. "But for now, I think there is one final place I want to take you."
Georg didn't tell Maria where he was taking her but they continued to make their way along the river until they came to the Makartsteg Bridge. "What's this place?" Maria asked as she spied all along the rails of the bridge hundreds and hundreds of padlocks hanging from the metal mesh.
"This is the Makartsteg Bridge but it's known as the Love Lock Bridge. People come here with their loves and they buy a padlock from one of these vendors here," Georg pointed to a couple of street stalls nearby.
"Why? What do they do then?"
"Well, the couple writes their names or their initials on the lock, they lock the padlock to the rail, kiss then throw away the key. It is a sort of ceremony for never ending love or something like that. With the key gone, the lock can't be opened and it's like the love with go on forever and ever and so forth."
"And you want to do this with me?" Maria asked shyly.
Georg gave a small smile and nodded. "I've never done this before. Seems like a fitting end to our perfect day together. And also, with our wedding only a week away, it will sort of symbolise our love and the vows and promises that we will be making to each other. I love you Maria."
Georg got out his wallet and bought a padlock from one of the nearby vendors. Thankfully, the vendor had a marker pen that they could use to write their names on the lock.
"There," Georg declared proudly as he finished writing their names. "Maria and Georg. Would you like to do the honours?" He handed the padlock to Maria. She found a spare spot on the rail nearby and locked the lock to the metal mesh. Maria turned to Georg, and although the bridge was crowded with many couples doing the same thing, Georg didn't mind about the very public location. He took her in his arms and kissed her deeply and passionately.
As they parted slightly breathless, Maria didn't even take her eyes off Georg as she tossed the key into the river below. "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," Georg replied. He kissed her again then pulled back to gaze into her eyes. "Now, I think I'm going to take you for a very expensive and very lavish lunch. No arguments." He put up one hand as Maria opened her mouth to protest. No arguing was probably something Maria had never done before, Georg thought with a smirk. "I want to be able to spoil you. Then let's go home."