Caitlyn spent the morning walking through the city. Some of the buildings were beautiful, little gems down lanes away from the hustle and bustle. She sat in a café looking onto a square near the centre of Amsterdam and took out her notebook. She was brainstorming ideas for her blog. She hadn't felt safe enough to walk the streets with her laptop so she decided she would take notes and pictures then upload them when she got back to her hotel.
She ordered a coffee and croissant and watched the people going about their lives. She liked to make up stories in her head about the people she saw. The middle aged man that just passed was wearing a suit. She decided he was in a high stress job with a wife in kids back in their countryside house but a mistress in the city, when he was "busy at work in the evenings". The young couple walking hand in hand looked awkward, they were newly dating and still figuring each other out. She hoped they would make it. She snapped some pictures of the buildings around the square, including the people rushing by and noted down the name of the café and her thoughts. After a while she packed up her things and left to explore more. Hours later she made it back to her hotel room and flopped onto the bed. Her watch informed her she had done nearly 21k steps today.
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Caitlyn had fallen asleep on her bed, still wearing her shoes and was woken up with her phone pinging, 2 notifications. She opened the first messaged from her best friend first, then the second, which made her smile instantly.
Miche- Hey love, hope you're enjoying your first proper day away. Missing you already! Remember to send pics. Love you 😘
Bob- Hi Caitlyn, hope you're okay today. I was wondering if you wanted to call tonight?
If yes, let me know what time suits best x
Caitlyn- Hey! Yes I would love to. I'm just going to grab some dinner, is 8pm okay for you? x
It was only 5:30pm so she opened her laptop and began to type up the first part of her blog for Amsterdam. By 7pm she threw her shoes on and walked to a nearby supermarket to pick up things for snacking on. She decided she wasn't brave enough to eat in a restaurant alone just yet. She made her way back to her room and got comfortable on her bed and waited for Bob's call. Shortly after 8pm her phone buzzed.
C- Hello?
B-Hi Caitlyn, hows you? Did you have a good day?
C- it was good actually. I walked loads, took some good pictures for my blog and explored the city. Hows your day been?
B- it was okay thanks. I went into the office for some meetings and met a friend for lunch.
They talked for nearly three hours. It was never awkward, it felt comfortable to Caitlyn. Something that surprised her. She was usually very shy but there was something about talking to Bob that was easy.
C- I think I should go. I am falling asleep. All the walking today is catching up with me.
B- No worries, it was really nice speaking to you Caitlyn. Can we maybe do it again?
C- Of course, I would actually really like that. Night night!
B- Goodnight darling
The call ended and Caitlyn sat staring at her phone. Did he just call me darling? Nobody had ever given her a cute name. She walked into the bathroom and caught herself smiling in the mirror. A complete stranger was becoming the most important thing in her day, it was crazy. When she woke the next morning she was still smiling from the previous evening. Today was going to be a good day. She revisited some of the places from yesterday, this time bringing her laptop to write on the go. Sitting in another café having some brunch, she decided she should probably decided where she was going to go next. After scrolling some backpacker websites and looking at things to do, she had booked a lovely hotel in Zandvoort, a beach resort not far from Amsterdam. It was quite hard to find a place to stay because the Formula 1 was visiting this weekend but most people would be away by the time she got there on Monday morning.
Caitlyn-Hey, just checking in Miche, I am missing you too but Amsterdam is beautiful. I've booked a small hotel in Zandvoort for Monday to Wed next week then who knows. Love you😘
Caitlyn- Hey Bob, I've hired a bike for this afternoon so I don't know when I'll be back later. Also, I've booked to move on to somewhere called Zandvoort next week, Mon - Wed. It looks quite small and has a beach ⛵
Bob- Sounds great, are you going to see the windmills and tulip fields?
Bob- I kind of need to tell you something, can I phone just now?
