Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2020 13:55:24 -0600 From: Billy Wright Subject: Us, For You (Chapter 11) Nifty is something great and for many years we've been enjoying everything it gives us. Please, if you can, have the means and are not in school, please consider donating (don't do it if you are in school, education goes first). This story is fiction, based on real events, but fiction. (I'm not that old so the events are still kind of fresh in my mind) If you'd like to talk to me about anything, here is my email: billy.alexander.wright@gmail.com or you can look for me in Wattpad (where this story will also be published) under the user @Billy_Alex_Wright Without further ado: Characters: Alexander - Me, a boy of 16 Christopher - My brother, 2 years older (still mad at me) Minakami - Japanese boy, same age as me (kind, daring and helpful) Ekrem - Turkish boy, 2 years older (warm, caring and sweet) -------------------------------------------- Part 3 Fairy Tale 2 (Czech Republic) Third time's a charm... until now, that is. Out of every phrase I had, that had been the most disappointing of all. Just because it was the third that meant it was special? It didn't make a lot of sense if I thought about it. That day I postponed my second appointment with the golden-haired boy, I wasn't in the mood for having another date or whatever that was. We visited the Powder Tower, the Castle of Prague and the Astronomical Clock which, I must admit, improved my mood considerably for various minutes. I don't know what was about that clock that I liked but it was weirdly pleasing, for a moment I even believed on the power of constellations, the old magic of stars. That day we went back to the hotel early too. It was odd. I looked at the teachers and my brother with curiosity, we didn't have many activities in the schedule. It was unusual, almost as if the purpose of the trip was staying at that hotel, not visiting the city of dreams that surrounded us. That thought bothered me a little. When we were done eating, I ended up going back to my room. At least there I could be alone. I had just found the remote when the door opened suddenly, an endless number of laughter came from the other side. "Alex?" It was my brother and some girl, it took them a while to notice I was there but when they did they seemed surprised, even a little annoyed. Due to their laughter and his hand on her waist, it was easy to imagine what they were planning to do. "What are you doing here?" I looked at them, lying on the bed. "Resting?" "Well, go rest somewhere else. I'll be busy." Was that an order? Really? I sat up. "Where? No, I'm not moving, this is my room too." "Alex..." Chris turned his back on me too put his hand on the girl's cheek, almost as if he was apologizing to her for the inconvenience I was causing. "I told you too leave, Alex." "You can't kick me out," I said, defensive. It came out more annoyed and aggressive than it should have, I wasn't sure where that anger, that courage was coming from. "I won't go." "Alex..." his voice was menacing, a warning. Then I noticed the girl's hair: golden blond. It was the sister of my date. "Of course," I thought. Like always, like with our neighbors all those years ago, he had all the luck while I... didn't. It was too much, I rolled my eyes and damned the universe. "This is my room!" I yelled. "If you are going to do something go to her room, I'm here!" "Guess, this is also my room." "Yes, but I'm not kicking you out." Chris stood away from here, forgetting her for a second. His patience was short and I had made it even shorter. He walked to my side and leaned towards me, taking me by the arm. "Why is it so hard for you to listen? To do me a favor? I need a little privacy so come on, disappear. Now." "I..." I didn't know what to say. I was angry, Chris was too, and my words could make nothing but make things worse so I let myself get carried all the way to the door until it closed behind me with a loud bang. I sighed, annoyed but sad too. "Perfect." I sat against the door, defeated. My mind went back to that moment in Japan when Chris locked me out after throwing my bento boxes out of the window. The memory almost made me smile, it all seemed so childish now, a year and a half later. Yet, here I was again: the door closed, outside, alone. I looked at my right, to the corner where the elevator was, waiting for Japanese boy to appear so he could dedicate me a discreet smile, just like last time. I waited and waited but no one showed up. I took out my phone and looked through my messages. I had created a group conversation with Ekrem and Minakami but, just as I thought, neither had said a thing in several hours. However, both had sent an endless number of photos of the two of them, together: they had visited a Buddhist temple, eaten sushi and went out shopping to Akihabara. I closed the phone with force. "Good damn it," I squeezed my eyes. "What I would give just to be with them." If I was feeling like that, I couldn't even imagine what Baruk must have been feeling. My mind got distracted. It was so weird, I had always seen him and Ekrem as the perfect modern couple but now... maybe things weren't as perfect as I thought. Maybe they weren't meant to last as long as I thought. I stayed like that for a while, my head down, hidden. When I finally had the courage to open them again I waited for a minute, two, ten, thirty for Minakami to appear out of that elevator. Nothing. Wasn't the third time supposed to be a charm? The last one? Where, then, was the boy for me? Had I lost my luck? Or was the golden- haired boy really so forgettable? Or maybe he wasn't, maybe I just wanted more out of life now. "No," I told myself. "Princes don't just arrive, you have to go get them." That was true, how could I keep forgetting? I stood up and left the hotel. I sent a message to the golden-haired boy asking him to meet me on the café, like last time. Then I started walking. After a while, I received his response: I see you there. I arrived at the café long before he did, so much so that the place had just opened for the day. However, I hadn't eaten yet so I ordered another cappuccino and another trdelník. "Get ready," I told myself. "Second date, second hanging out or whatever... I can do this." I closed my eyes and started murmuring my mantra: "third time's a charm, third time's a charm, third time's a charm." When I opened my eyes the waiter was there with my order on a tray, looking at me as if I was crazy. "Thank you," I said. It wasn't the best coffee in the world but it wasn't terrible, the trdelník, however, was marvelous, almost out of a fairy tale, like the city. "The other boy won't come today?" I was a little surprised to hear those words since I didn't recognize the voice that said them. I looked around, not sure of who had spoken to me until I realized it had been the waiter, there, standing a few feet away from me, watching. "Sorry, what?" "The blond boy, he won't be coming?" The waiter repeated. "Aren't you going to see him today? You came yesterday together, right? I'm sorry if I'm being nosy but the curiosity beat me, where you in some sort of date?" I doubted it for an instant. "Wow, you do are very nosy and far too curious for your own good but... yes, I think so, it was some sort of date." "Oh," the waited looked over his shoulder, nervous. "It's just that I didn't want to say this if you are waiting for him again today but... whatever. See: I think he is definitively not for you." "He isn't?" The waiter had caught my attention. "Don't misunderstand me," he added. "He doesn't seem like a bad person but he also doesn't seem... how to put it? Interesting? He doesn't seem like someone who has a lot to say, like he wasn't even alive, you get me? Yesterday I heard you talking and talking but he was barely listening. You deserve someone who gives you more attention than that." "Oh, really? Like who?" The waiter put they tray under his arm, drew a sly smile on his face and gave me his hand. "Alexjei, but you can call me Alex." That almost made me laugh out loud. "Alexjei? That's your name?" "Yes, what so funny about it?" "No, no, it's just that... my name is also Alex. Alexander." It was then that I heard him laugh for the first time. There was something special, something unique in the tone of his olive skin and how pronounced his cheekbones were, contrasting nicely against his soft hazel eyes, the sweet brown of his hair and his almost pointy nose, refined. His whole face had delicate expressions, his features had been softly sculpted. "Can I?" He asked then, kind. I nodded and he sat next to me. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Alex. And believe me, from one Alex to another: that is not something I often say." "I would never dare to think so." I replied. "Us, the Alexes of the world, are really selective, aren't we?" "Completely, I must say you are an Alex from head to toe. On and, by the way, thank you for following my recommendation and trying out the trdelník. Not everyone follows my recommendations." "Well, I'm not everyone," I said that with a smile but I couldn't hold it back, I started laughing, embarrassed. "I know, I know, that was a cliché, I'm sorry but I had to say it" Really, I had to, or am I not allowed to say a cliché once in a while? After all this was Prague, this was my fairy tale city and I had just found my prince. "Maybe some things are better being clichés," I was about to say something else when another boy entered to the café. "Sorry, I have to... waiter." "Go, go." Alexjei stood up, he had to take his order after all. He moved with grace, his movements were elegant, soft but firm. He go next to the other boy and smiled, asking for his order. The costumer order and, then, laughed to something Alexjei said. For some reason, I saw that as something sweet. When he walked next to me he leaned towards my ear: "My shift ends at five, why don't you come to see me and we can go do something fun?" I almost blushed with that. I nodded, payed my bill and left the café. I had several hours ahead of me to kill but nothing a small tour of Prague couldn't handle. It was odd thinking how a moment ago I felt so abandoned and now, with just a few words from him, I was on top of the world. "Oh, hell," I thought when I looked at the clock and remembered the golden-haired boy. I sent him a text, cancelling him without much explanation. He didn't say much but accepted it easily enough. That only confirmed how little interest he had in me, yet, I couldn't care less now. When the clock struck five, I was outside the café, waiting impatiently. "Did you miss me?" His voice appeared next to me, making me jump. That seemed to amuse him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you but I couldn't resist it." It was weird how nice he was, how seen I felt beside him. His clothes were different from the waiter's uniform. He dressed like he was: elegant, soft but firm. A little too discreet, maybe. He wore boots, I had never met a boy who used boots and the shirt he was wearing had a symbol in it that resembled a snake, matching perfectly with the black jacket he was wearing on top. "Were are we going?" I asked, curious. "Oh, well, you see dear Alex, since you like clichés so much, what about visiting one? You are here as a tourist, right?" I nodded. "How observant. What gave me away?" "Your face," Alexjei answered. "It is impressed with every corner of Prague." "Well, it's just because it's Prague. Or haven't you seen it? It looks..." "Straight out of a fairy tale," He finished for me, smiling. I didn't try to hide it, I sighed heavily, happy. God, it was unbelievably wonderful to be next to someone who got you that well, he seemed to always say the right things. Alexjei walked with me to the Charles Bridge. Yes, I had seen this city in a couple movies or internet pages and, even though I didn't know it in its entirety, that bridge was definitively famous. "Okay, I agree," I conceded. "This bridge is a cliché." "Hey, some things are better being clichés," he said. I smiled again. Was he always going to say the right things? It was like and I had the same mind. We walked along the bridge. Alexjei showed me every stone, every artist around us, it was magical even with the dozens of tourists, the people asking for money on their knees with their foreheads almost against the floor. The castle in the distance, looking over the city. In the end, the sunset dyed the sky with the most splendid colors and, for an instant, I really was in a fairy tale. "Do you see that statue?" He asked me, walking behind me. I tried to look at where he was pointing but feeling his breath in my neck, his chest against my shoulder, it almost made me lose my breath. I nodded, almost mute. "That is John of Nepomuk." "John who?" "Of Nepomuk," he repeated. His finger was pointing to a big green stature with rusty black details, it was the stature of a man with beard and a funny hat, a halo of five stars around his head. He seemed religious, there was no doubt. However, it was art too. "Who was he?" Alexjei stood next to me, my shoulder and his were touching. Why was I so observant about that? Was I really so excited to be with him? I tried to focus. "He was Prague's Archbishop, a great title, a great honor. But that's not what's interesting about him. You see, here there once was a king and a queen, a long time ago. Perfect royal couple except for the fact that the king didn't trust his queen. He thought she was sleeping with another man. Imagine the scandal, the queen choosing another man above the king himself. The king asked her if she was indeed sleeping with another but she always denied it, never admitted it. However, they were both religious, devout to the core and, because of that, the king figured that if his queen had done something she shouldn't have, the only person she could tell was, of course, the confessor of the church." "Oh, this is a very religious and dramatic story." "All stories are religious and dramatic my dear Alex." "I didn't meant to interrupt, carry on." "Well, it turns out that she, being the queen, of course that the person she confessed to was no simple priest, it was the archbishop himself. John of Nepomuk. So the king went to visit him and, with his kingly power, ordered him to tell him if his wife was in fact being unfaithful and with whom. Now, remember these were medieval times, in that time, you couldn't disobey the king." "Yet, John didn't talk." "Yet, John didn't talk," Alexjei repeated. "People loved that John put the religion above the king himself but of course the kind didn't like that. In the end John was thrown to the river from this very bridge, just over there. Come. See that fence-like thing? There, just where the five pointed cross is, there is where he was thrown." "Right there?" Alexjei nodded. "Right there, in fact if you look at the river in the bottom you can see a plaque where he supposedly fell and drowned. Is that dramatic enough for you? "Shut up." I rolled my eyes with a smile. Little by little, while the sun was drowning behind the roofs of the city of dreams, the people started to leave until the bridge was almost empty. Alexjei told me about his favorite clients at the café and I told him about how it was to go out with the golden-haired boy, about how my brother was angry with me. I was about to mention Ekrem and Minakami but I changed my mind. Instead of that, we stood there, side by side, our shoulders touching, looking at the stars appear one by one on the night sky. "It must be incredible to live here," I sighed, leaning against the stone, looking to the constellations far away. "It depends," Alexjei took a step towards me. "It's a beautiful city, yes, but everything is better with good company. Someone who listens to your advice about which dishes to try." I smiled like a fool. "You are a waiter, I'm sure I'm not the only one who follows the recommendations of the waiter." "Oh, that's what you think about me, other Alex? I'm just a waiter?" I took a step towards him, intimate, near. Alexjei didn't step back, I felt his eyes on mine, big, deep, with a forceful sight. I was about to look up again when I felt his hand touching mine. "You are definitively the best waiter I've ever had," I said in what was almost a whisper. "You date a lot of waiters?" "Not many," I joked. "One or two maybe." That made him smile. "Well, you know what they say: third time is a charm." I couldn't hold it any longer, when those words came out of his lips I threw myself in them. It was direct, passionate. There was something in that city, in that kiss that made me feel like I was in a movie, a story, a novel. It was magical, surreal. Better than the technology of Japan and the legends of Turkey. Alexjei didn't flinch, his hands took me by the waist, firm, confident, strong. His lips were thick, his mouth wide. I remembered the fire of Baruk, the sugar of Ekrem, my first time with Minakami. This, however, was different: Alexjei was cinnamon. Something magical, not too sweet and not to bitter, it was a spice, a something, a secret, something new. Alexjei was the best kisser I've had by far. To be our first kiss, it lasted far longer than I imagined, I almost lost the notion of where I was and who I was. It wasn't until I felt his hand sliding to the front of my jeans that I took a step back. Yet, his other hand, still in my waist, didn't let me. I tried to move away but he was holding me tight. I opened my eyes, nervous of being in public while he felt me but there wasn't a lot of people around. That, however, didn't made me feel less nervous. Thinking that someone could just walk by and see us made me uncomfortable, it was weird, different. In the end, Alexjei let me go. "What was that?" "A little adventure, drama and a touch of religion," he answered, confident and with that determined voice of his. "You'd never done that before?" "Feel someone up in public? Never, I..." I was about to say something else when my phone started ringing. "Oh, sorry, it must be my brother looking for me, I..." "Must go back, I understand," Alexjei smiled but I could barely see it in the dark. "I'm sorry but if you want I can go tomorrow to your café." That seemed to cheer him up. "You have time?" "I'll make time," I said immediately. What kind of answer was that? I felt a little clumsy. If Alexjei thought it too he decided to ignore it. "See you at the café?" "At five," he nodded. "That's when my shift ends." "Deal," I said as my phone started ringing again. I started running through the streets until I was at the hotel. Only then I looked at my phone. It wasn't Chris, it was a missed call from Minakami. I stopped. Why did I thought it was Chris? He didn't care what happened to me, of course he wasn't calling me. And if it wasn't him, "I could've stayed a while longer with Alexjei." I kicked myself mentally. It didn't matter, if the teachers were still allowing us to have so much free time like now, then there would be no problem for me to meet him the next day. The only thing that matter was that I, for the first time, had found a prince for myself, someone that would last more than a few days. Was I going to fast? No, surely not. Like Alexjei had said: "third time's a charm." Everything was too good, like a real fairy tale. ------------------------------------- I assume that, as a careful reader, you know what happens next, don't you? This is coming out on Christmas Eve, at least I'm sending this on that day so a Merry Christmas is due. However, if you celebrate something else: Happy Holidays to you. I hope that, if you are reading this on the 24th or 25th, this story will at least bring you some joy.