Title: Learn to Trust Rating: T Summary: Prequel to Building Trust - A look at what went differently during the Captain and Maria's talk in the gazebo that changed everything.
Georg almost ran into the study after an awkward conversation with Maria in the gazebo. How could he have misread the situation so badly? The night they danced, he could have sworn on a stack of bibles Maria had feelings for him.The way she looked at him, her deep blue eyes shining. The fact she had run, distressing as it was for the children and for him, was another sign the dance meant something to her too. Hell, even Elsa could see their connection, it was obvious to anyone with eyes. So, what in the world just happened?
Georg poured himself a brandy with shaking hands and downed it like a whiskey. He poured another glass then sat down heavily on the sofa. A sharp knock at the door told him his solitude was about to end. The door opened before Georg could respond; he knew it was Max. No one else would dare to do that, not even Maria.
"So," Max greeted, clapping his hands. "I just talked with Elsa and she tells me congratulations might be in order for you. Again. Have you talked to Maria yet? She is the perfect match for you, by the way. You need a wife that will stand up to you and embrace all of your uh…unique personality traits…Where is Maria anyhow?"
"Probably packing her bags," Georg sighed. "It uh, didn't go well. She…I don't think she returns my feelings after all."
Max poured himself a drink and sat down on the opposite side of the sofa. "That's ridiculous! It's obvious how you two feel about each other. Perhaps she just needs a little time, it's been a difficult week for her and she's so young."
Georg sighed, "I forget that a lot. She is a very mature woman. She's wise beyond her years; intelligent, brave, yet only 22. I'm an old man in comparison. I lived a lifetime before she was born, but in all of our talks right in this room it never once seemed that way. I can't fathom what happened out there. I couldn't have been wrong in thinking she had feelings for me. Could I?"
Max shook his head, "Tell me everything. Start when you talked to her in here after dinner."
A few hours earlier
"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Maria asked as she entered the familiar room. It smelled of cigarettes, cologne, and brandy, an aroma that was uniquely the Captain.
"Yes, Fraulein," Georg replied. "I just wanted to make sure everything is alright. You left us so abruptly and vaguely…"
Maria bit her lip. How could she possibly speak honestly? That had been her trademark throughout her life; outspoken to a fault, but now…
"I am sorry, Captain," Maria managed."I suppose I gave into a spell of homesickness. I…I will stay on until you are able to replace me or the Baroness makes another…"
"You are irreplaceable I must say, Fraulein," Georg quickly broke in. "As far as Baroness Schraeder well, it will take her some time to adjust to our life here. You will have a place here as long as you desire it."
Maria blushed and looked away from the Captain's penetrating gaze. There was no conceivable way she could stay here once the Captain married the Baroness, not the way she felt about him, not when she had misread infatuation for true love. Still, all she said was, "Thank you, Captain." She had to get out of that room before she exploded from tension.
Georg didn't speak, he simply watched Maria's body language. She was down, worried, but clammed up so tight he wasn't sure if he could get her back out of her shell. "Fraulein, if I, or anyone did anything or said anything…If Max was too imposing, I deeply apologize. You and I have become friends and I…"
Maria shook her head, "It truly was just some fleeting homesickness, a silly emotion really. I will not prepare to depart until I'm scheduled to do so. Now, if you'll excuse me, the children are all a bit excited. I should see to their bedtime routine now."
"Then she left," Georg concluded. "And my head was spinning. Here I was, an engaged man, and all I wanted was to keep Maria as close as possible. I knew what I needed to do, but my head was cycling through thoughts so quickly I couldn't see straight. One never makes a wise decision like that, so I went out for some air."
"Maria was walking alone along the lake, the moonlight making her seem ethereal, but she looked so lost, so alone. I wanted to call out to her, end the madness. That's when Elsa found me and we had our discussion."
Max shook his head, "I feel terrible for Elsa, I truly do. Before Maria, I felt she would be an excellent Baroness von Trapp,but Georg, you came alive again after Maria. Even on this last trip to Vienna I saw the change in you. I thought perhaps it was how openly she loved your children, but when she convinced you to sing with a "please" and a smile, I knew then you and Elsa would never say your "I dos"."
Georg finished his drink and lit a cigarette, "Elsa was her usual gracious self and all but told me to go after Maria. If a woman as worldly as Elsa saw something, it couldn't have been my imagination, I…"
"Tell me the rest; after Elsa came back inside," Max encouraged.
"I went to talk to Maria," Georg recollected. "She looked so lost, so vulnerable, so unlike what I was used to seeing from her. I wanted to put us both out of misery. I tried to be sensitive and casual…"
One Hour Earlier
Maria was seated, head down near her knees, on one of the concrete benches outside the gazebo, lost in thought. "Hello," Georg greeted somewhat awkwardly and very ill at ease. "I thought I just might fine you here."
Maria quickly rose from the bench as if she was caught doing something wrong. "Was there something you wanted?"
Georg tried to put Maria at ease and urged her to sit down again before requesting permission to sit beside her. As soon as he did so, Maria tensed up so much she shrunk back into herself. Georg tried to keep his physical position neutral knowing that Maria had little to no experience with men, he played it safe keeping it light.
"You know, I was wondering," Georg began. "Uh, two things. Why did you run away to the Abbey and what was it that made you come back?"
Maria had answered this question before, homesickness, but they both knew that wasn't true.
Maria felt her heart speed up with the Captain so close to her. How did she do this? What could she do now? She couldn't admit her feelings now. He was engaged. Even if she could talk to him, tell him, she was simply too afraid, not of his rejection, but of his acceptance.
"I had an obligation to fulfill," Maria said gently. "And I came back to fulfill it."
Slowly, Georg pressed Maria to go further. She admitted she missed the children and nearly confessed she missed him, but caught herself. Georg could feel the fear radiating off of Maria. "Nothing was the same when you were away, and it'll be all wrong again, after you leave and I was hoping that you might change your mind?"
Maria knew the Captain wanted her to stay on for the children's sake, but her heart ached so when she thought of seeing him married.
As soon as the query left Georg's mouth, Maria stood up and moved away from him. "I'm sure the Baroness will be able to make things fine for you."
"And there it was," Georg sighed. "My golden opportunity in my lap to just say, "No, she won't because we've ended our engagement, because she isn't you, but before I could explain there wasn't going to be a marriage…"
"Did you try to kiss her?" Max fished, striving to find out what had malfunctioned between his new favorite would-be couple. "Or do anything that might make her nervous? Tell me you didn't go rake on her, Georg!"
"MAX!" Georg's tone was crisp, letting his friend know he didn't see any humor in this situation whatsoever. "No, I didn't! Of course I didn't. I couldn't. I followed her into the gazebo and I told her that I couldn't marry Elsa because I didn't love her. Maria said "I see" then sat on the bench farthest away from me. She didn't say anything else, it felt like hours that we both just existed there, Maria so far into her own head that she didn't move or speak.
Georg rose, lit a second cigarette, and started to pace. "I said her name twice and she was still in another plane. She didn't even notice that I dropped her title when I said it. Finally, I sat down beside her and touched her knee, only her knee, and she shot off the bench toward the gazebo door like I poured hot tar on her skin. I could see her trembling, she was scared to death of me."
"So, you didn't tell her it was her you loved? You stopped short of that?" Max clarified.
"Yes," Georg replied. "I need her here, Max. The children need her as that maternal figure they lack. They need the father Maria allows me to be. She doesn't trust me yet, Max, not like that, and unless or until she does, nothing else can be said. I will have to wait. I won't force anything on her. I won't manipulate her and try to get to her through the children, I won't disrespect her that way."
Max truly felt for his friend. He and Georg had seen one another through everything, loss of loved ones, loss of their Navy, the births of all the children, happy Christmases…Max knew how much Georg was capable of feeling. He also knew that Georg was very intuitive, if he felt he needed to wait, he needed to wait.
"I'm sorry it went that way, Georg," Max said after a moment of silence. "But I'm certain you and Maria should be together. Perhaps more time earning her trust. We know nothing of her life before Nonnberg. We don't know what we don't know."
Georg quickly agreed that was true. Who knows what Maria's life had been like before? She might have been happy and carefree as she seemed in the mountains, or she might have been a lonely, tortured soul as she had been earlier. She might have been in-between.
Georg was about to end the conversation with Max and try to get some rest when a hesitant, gentle knock came on the study door.
Max watched as Georg's countenance changed from wistful to hopeful; he knew it was Maria. "Come in," Georg called.
Maria slowly pushed the door open, "Good evening, Captain." Then she saw Max seated on the couch. "Oh, I"m sorry to interrupt…"
"Not at all, Fraulein," Max assured. "We were just about to say goodnight. Thank you very much for the drink, my friend."
Maria smiled as Georg nodded to Max. "Yes, I know it's late, I'm about to retire myself, I just wanted to tell you Captain that I did reconsider the date of my departure and I would very much like to stay on for another while at least."
Georg's face lit up with hope at Maria's declaration. Max watched as Georg carefully navigated this step, this huge first step in Maria becoming a permanent part of the household. They hoped.
"You will always have a place here, Fraulein; the children need you. I think this entire house needs you, including me," Georg said gently.
Maria blushed once again and murmured softly, "Thank you, Captain. Goodnight. Herr Detweilver, good night."
Maria left both men to go upstairs to her room. Georg was smiling ear to ear as Maria walked away. Maria was going to stay with them; she wasn't going back to Nonnberg. As long as Maria was near, Georg could allow time for their friendship to grow deeper, Georg knew from years of haunting the waters of the Adriatic that patience was a virtue. He resolved to tap into that well honed, hard earned virtue of his now and wait and watch as Maria learned to trust.
A/N: I had to do this prequel. It came to me a while ago to do more in this universe and this pretty much wrote itself. I'm hopeful that everyone likes it. In this universe next will involve more of Lida and her relationship with Georg as she grows. Also, check out my Snapshots series, I have posted 7 stories for that.
As usual, shameless beg for your reviews. Hopefully soon they will fix the stats!!
Thanks for reading!