Promptly at 7:00 pm. that evening, Anakin left Watto's Garage.
"I wish you a nice Sunday, Mr. Watto, goodbye."
"And I wish you a nice evening... wherever you go now." Watto replied sarcastically.
Anakin didn't answer, he learned to endure anything for the money he needed. His mother wasn't doing any better, especially when he was still a little boy. She worked like a slave and endured everything just to be able to raise him, to give him as much as she could. Sometimes he watched her pretending not to be hungry, just so he could eat more. She thought he was too young and wouldn't notice. Five more years and then he'll be Dr. Skywalker, a well-paid Mechanical and Aerospace Engineer, maybe with a job at NASA in Pasadena, and then his mother won't have to wish for anything more. Even now that she's not doing so badly financially, she refrains from fulfilling her wishes just to be able to give him as much as possible. Cliegg did the same for his son Owen, they were good parents.
He made a quick stop at a flower shop to buy roses for Padmé. They shouldn't be red, not yet. The florist offered him beautiful pale purple roses, and he let a bouquet of twenty-three roses made. Then he drove home as quickly as possible to get ready for tonight.
Speaking of tonight, what should he wear? The Big Ponny polo shirt from Ralph Lauren in royal bluethat his mother gave him for his birthday this year? Yes…and the white linen pants from BOSS with the matching dark blue belt…dark blue suede slippers? Fits.
Anakin liked nice clothes…clothes make the man, don't they?Hm? At first glance, yes, but the second glance could be more critical, and if you look under someone's skin... many people wouldn't pass the test.
So, he sometimes perused in second-hand shops, where he always found something of high quality in perfect condition, where Hollywood stars gave their rarely worn clothes to dealers for little money. Maybe Hugh Jackman wore these pants ...whatever. Cleaning, dressing, perfect. His white linen pants were also an eye-catcher.
He took a quick shower, shaved, and poured a lot of Allure, Chanel eau de toilette, over his neck, breast, and face. Will be good. He put a little gel in his hair to tame blonde curls. He took one last look in a mirror, which was fixed on the inside of the door of his room, looked at himself, and was satisfied. Who does he want to impress? Nobody. Who does he want to please? Maybe to a beautiful woman, whose beauty cannot be compared to anything. Padmé. Such thoughts had never crossed his mind before, but you have to be satisfied with yourself first to expect to be noticed by someone else.
The big bouquet of roses couldn't be forgotten, he hoped it was the right gift for Padmé. It will take him half an hour to get to Mrs. Naberrie's house if evening traffic allows...and it usually doesn't allow, especially not on a Saturday evening.
By the time he was able to manage to find a parking space near the house at 16632 Bienveneda Pl, it was almost 9:00 pm. The sun had already set, whose goodnight kiss could be seen as a wide orange stripe on the horizon, and the moon and stars, as guardians of the night, were already clearly visible in the sky. He quickly grabbed the roses, went to the door, and rang the bell. Mrs. Naberrie herself opened the door for him.
„Bon soir, Madame."
"Salut, Anakin, all the guests are already here, I was wondering if you would make it, but now that you are here, I'm really happy."
He briefly raised the bouquet. "The roses are for Padmé."
The old lady smiled, "These are beautiful. Go out into the garden, you'll find her there. Mingle with the people... Ben Kenobi is there as well, you know him, don't you?"
"Yes, thank you, Madame."
He went through the large door onto the terrace, from where he could overlook the entire garden and the area around the pool. He couldn't see Padmé, but he could see Ben Kenobi and his wife Satine. To greet his professor was a must, now he was his doctoral supervisor.
"Good evening, Mrs. Kenobi, good evening, Professor."
"Good evening, Anakin, I didn't know you knew the Naberries."
"I've been the pool boy here for four years."
"Pool boy?"
"Satine, Anakin lives on the scholarship, and it is not paid out in the summer months."
"I'm sorry, that was a stupid question."
"How come? You couldn't have known."
"No, I just know that my husband is now the doctoral supervisor of the best student in the faculty."
Anakin laughed. "Is that me?" and placed the flowers on the stool next to the standing table.
"You are, and you know it."
At that moment, Padmé came towards them, smiling uncertainly and fascinated by Anakin's appearance. Maybe she was a little confused or didn't know what to say or whether she should admit to knowing him... strangely she greeted him in French.
"Bon soir Monsieur." , and held out her hand.
He took her hand and raised it to his lips. "Enchantée…. Mademoiselle."
"Uh…you speak French?"
"Among other languages…"
"Oh, how many languages do you speak…?"
"English as a native language, Spanish just as well as English, and French very good... I would say. My name is Skywalker, but please call me Anakin."
"Fine, Anakin, then I'm just Padmé to you."
He took the roses from the stool and held out the bouquet to her. "These roses are for you, Padmé."
She smiled at him, and he couldn't take his eyes off her.
"Thank you." She stuck her nose deep into the flowers. "They smell fantastic."
"Oh !…" Ben said, "Do you know the meaning of the colors of roses, Anakin?"
"I'm afraid not, the florist offered these to me."
"Then she must have read your mind. Pale purple means love at first sight."
"Oh, I didn't know that and didn't mean to imply anything."
"Really?" Padmé smiled at Anakin, and then she asked Ben: "Oh, what I wanted to ask, you're standing here together, you know each other...I assume."
"Yes, we know each other, Padmé, I am…" Ben was about to explain when Satine interrupted him.
"Padmé, have I told you the latest? Ben got the best student in the faculty, whom he will guide as his doctoral supervisor over the next four or five years to his doctorate."
"Really?"
"Yes, and here he is..." Ben pointed with both hands and said, "Anakin Skywalker."
Padmé's eyes widened, and when the first seconds of surprise were gone... "Master's degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering...well, my grandmother could have told me that instead of pool boy."
"I'm a pool boy as well. I'll tell you, come on, the little area to the right of the pool is intended as a dance floor, right? DJ is on the other side, great."
"So it is."
"Do you want to dance with me?"
"Gladly, but wait a minute. Hello Miss!" she called a young girl from the service and handed her the roses. "Place these roses carefully in the vase, please."
Anakin offered her the crook of his elbow, but she preferred his hand and took it, so they walked hand in hand to the dance floor. She then leaned into his arms. He looked so good, was perfectly dressed and the scent of his body and eau de toilette were intoxicating. It was no longer enough for her to just be in his arms, she wanted to snuggle up to him with her whole body, and she did that, inch by inch, until he noticed and pulled her even closer to him. His right hand went to her lower back, and his left hand together with her right, pressed against his own breast. Her left hand ended up in his curls...and so he forgot what he wanted to tell her.
"What are you doing to me? I feel like…. I'm floating."
"Floating? Have you seen the movie Meet Mr. Black?"
"Yes... hold me, Anakin."
"It's getting uncomfortable for me." He whispered in her ear.
"It feels so good, just hold me tight."
He pulled her a little tighter, and she buried her face in the crook of his neck.
They were watched, not only by her family, but also by those who already had concrete plans for her.
As Anakin leaned down and kissed her hair, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Can I cut in?"
Anakin and Padmé split up in shock and said at the same time: "No!"
"Hi Padmé, I just wanted to dance with you...may I, Mister? What was your name?"
"I didn't tell you, but my name is Anakin Skywalker, you can keep it."
"So, Padmé, do you want to dance with me?"
"No, and I have a few dances reserved for Anakin, I'll dance with you later: Jive."
"Jive?"
"Yes, Jive. See you later, Rush."
She turned away from him and put her head back in the crook of Anakin's neck. So they danced two more dances, and Anakin said she should also take care of her guests.
"You're right, I should."
"It was so nice dancing with you." He raised her hand and kissed it. Coming down from the dance floor, she found her friends deeply involved in a discussion about the young men present, but they immediately noticed Padmé and Anakin.
"Oh Missy, what a beautiful thing do you have here? Do you want to introduce us to each other?"
"Sure. Anakin, these are my friends from high school; Dormé, Sabé and Rabé. Dormé also studied with me at Harvard. Girlfriends, this is Anakin."
"Just Anakin? OK. Poster boy, can I capture you for a little dance?"
"With pleasure." He smiled at Dormé, showing his wonderful white teeth, and Padmé felt something like jealousy.
She raised her index finger..."Dormé !"
"I understand, Missy." She took Anakin by the hand and walked to the dance floor.
"Is he your new boyfriend?" Sabé wanted to know.
Padmé looked after her friend and Anakin... "No, but..."
"….he could become." Sabé finished the sentence. "We can touch him, but not grab his crotch. We have our rules, don't we?"
She exchanged a few words with her friends and then went back to have a round of conversations with other guests.
The parents and Sola were just about to say good night.
"You're obviously having a lot of fun, Dear, enjoy it, you deserve it... and who is the young man you danced with so intimately?"
"That's my pool boy," said the grandmother.
"What !?" was a loud, horrified question from Ruwee.
"…..and car mechanics and barkeeper…" the grandmother continued to list to test her son's reaction.
"…and has just completed his master's degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and will be a doctoral student with Professor Kenobi starting in September. Why didn't you tell me, Grand-Mère?"
"I see you figured it out, and that was a nice surprise, pas vrai?"
"I like that better," Jobal commented.
"But he's not a lawyer…."
"Tell me, Ruwee, where is your sense of love? Why did you marry Jobal... because you love her or because she is a lawyer?"
"Maman !"
"Legitimate question."
"Well, sis, he's a gem, educated and definitely highly intelligent, don't miss this."
"You should stop, I don't want to marry him now, I've known him since this morning."
"And what about love at first sight? He brought purple roses for you, doesn't he know what the color means? Don't you know either?"
"OK. I can assure you that I will follow all your advice, even if it is mutually exclusive. Satisfied?"
"If you follow my advice, little sister, you're on the right way, you know that...and now we have to go, my girls must go to bed. Kiss Padmé."
They said goodbye to each other, and the family left. So now only friends and acquaintances and a few observers remained.
Padmé was actually dancing with Rush, jive like she said. He was a little disappointed, but Padmé even kept him at arm's length during the conversation.
Anakin stayed in the company of Dormé, Sabé and Rabé who introduced him to a few guests, but they were all lawyers. He spent some time with Ben Kenobi, they had many things in common, and he was now his doctoral advisor.
Somewhere after midnight, as the first guests began to say goodbye, Anakin also followed. He went to see Padmé first, thanked her for the nice evening, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She responded to the guests and pressed her lips against his cheek for a few long seconds. He took this as an invitation, leaned over and touched her lips very briefly. She stroked his cheek with her hand.
He smiled. "Bonne nuit, Padmé."
Then he looked for the old lady, Mrs. Naberrie, who had persevered bravely and without any sign of fatigue.
"Bonne nuit, Madame, it was a nice party, and again, thank you for the invitation."
"I saw you dancing with my Padmé, you like her, pas vrai?"
Anakin blushed and looked at the floor. "Who wouldn't like her, she's like an angel."
"That's her...if you get to know her better. Come home safely, Anakin. Bonne nuit."
The night was relatively warm, and he rolled down the window to enjoy the good, fresh air. Down in the city awaited him the smog caused by the three million cars that roll on the streets of the great area L.A. every day.
He was satisfied with the evening, with himself, and with Padmé's affection. He hadn't asked her when he could see her again, it will happen, at the latest when the pool needed to be cleaned. Mrs. Naberrie will make sure that it happens soon.
.
Best regards from Germany