Inglourious Romance

Vienna

The next morning found Amaya curled up in a tight little ball in the blankets of Christoph’s bed with her head under the pillows. For most of the night, she wanted to be close to Christoph, so close that she slept with her arms wrapped around his arm or her head resting on his bare chest. If he slept on his side and got away from her, it didn’t take long for her body to find him and snuggle up to him.

Christoph tended to be a bit of an early riser, and ‘sleeping in’ for him was usually an hour or two more than he normally would sleep before getting up to make coffee and read the paper. When Amaya had discovered his side was empty, she snatched his pillow and curled her arms around it as she slept off all those long days she had worked. She hadn’t realized how exhausted she had been until she laid down to go to sleep. Amaya had slept soundly the entire night.

She awoke a little later in the morning to the smell of coffee brewing just in the next room, and she could hear faint sounds of him moving around in the kitchen through the closed bedroom door. Amaya’s eyes popped open, and she peeked out from between the pillows of the bed to look around and get her wits about her. She realized that she was at Christoph’s apartment in Vienna, and he was just in the next room, probably making breakfast again. The thought made her smile and she hugged the pillow against her body as she lay there quietly, absorbed in her own thoughts.

Amaya turned over in the bed and squinted as she looked at the clock on his side. She reached over and grabbed it, holding it close to her face since her contacts were not yet in; it was around ten in the morning.

She put the clock back and rolled back over to reach for her glasses resting on her Kindle on the nightstand. Why she didn’t think to put them on first and then check the clock, she had no idea, but she lay in the bed a few more minutes, surprised by how well-rested she felt.

Finally, the smell of coffee and food enticed her into getting up where she went into the bathroom and brushed her wild hair and then her teeth. After she was finished, she washed her face, put on just a little makeup, and then got dressed.

She wandered out of the bedroom and found Christoph in the kitchen cooking what appeared to be some omelets, toast, and…she couldn’t figure out what else he was making. He had a very nice flat screen television in the living room, but there was also a small one mounted to the wall in the kitchen. The smaller television in the kitchen was turned on to the news, the volume down low so that only he could hear it, and he began brewing the coffee and finding the things he needed in order to make omelets and toast for the both of them. 

Amaya smiled at seeing him with his glasses on and glancing up at the television, unaware that Amaya was awake.

The coffee that he brewed was a medium roast and the sweetness of the ground coffee beans filled the air. It soon mixed to the smell of egg, cheese, bacon, peppers, and onions frying in a pan. As he cooked, every so often his lips would stretch in a smile that seemed to have no cause. It was because his mind would inevitably, and without fail, wander back to the fact that Amaya was sleeping in his bed in Vienna, and that she didn’t have anywhere to be. 

He had enjoyed the feeling of her cuddling against him throughout the night. When he slept, he would often turn to his side since that was what he was most used to, but he would wake to feeling her arms find her way around his waist. He’d simply smile before falling back into his dreams. He wondered how much longer she’d be asleep, but he didn’t mind how long she slept, as long as she was comfortable. 

She quietly came up behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and then kissed his cheek. “Morning, Sweetheart.”

The feeling of Amaya’s arms wrapping around his waist had startled Christoph for only just a moment before realizing it was her. He craned his head enough to see her from the corner of his eye and grinned. “Good morning, Darling,” he replied with a playful tone of voice. “Breakfast is almost ready. The coffee should be brewed now if you want some.”