The Hidden Path (WINNER OF THE BEAUTY AWARD for Spiritual)

An Unusual Arrangement

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

- Albert Einstein

"So, Beni. . . have you already decided what you are going to do, now that you've finished your military service?" Mum asked curiously.

She was probably eager for some sort of conversation to keep her mind entertained, while she was once again busy watering the many beautiful plants scattered all over the house. Mum was one of those people blessed with a green thumb. It definitely showed, but also kept her quite occupied. Because with so many flowerpots everywhere, it took ages until each and every one had been properly taken care of. . .

"Yes, I have," the boy in question, who was sitting beside me on the living room sofa, replied absentmindedly.

Oh? His comment tore my attention from the book I had been reading and I threw him a quizzical, sideways glance. He had never mentioned any plans for his future to me! But then again, I probably should not have been surprised. After all, this was Beni and communicating was not one of his major skills. At least not about anything concerning his own life. . .

"I shall study machine-engineering in combination with economics, starting this autumn," he stated nonchalantly, not even raising his eyes from Mum's stone-marble game.

"Hey, you've never told me!" I exclaimed, annoyed that he had not deemed it necessary to inform me about this important step in his life.

"You've never asked." Beni simply shrugged.

"That's a good choice," Mum approved.

"Are you doing it in Salzburg?" She continued to enquire, moving from the plants on the windowsill behind our sofa to those adorning the big window to our left, facing the sloping hill and street.

"No, they don't offer it in Salzburg. This course is held in Vienna and Graz only and I've chosen Graz."

"Graz. . .?! But you will be living in a different city!" I complained, "how often are you planning on coming home?"

Mum, who had seemingly lost interest in the conversation as soon as she'd received her answers, left us to go downstairs in order to also treat the plants on the first floor to some water. It never ceased to amaze me, how efficient Mum was in completing her daily household-chores.

"Well, since it is a four to five hour train-ride. . . probably every three to four weeks," Beni said matter-of-factly.

"What?! . . .but that means that we shall almost never see each other!"

"Don't be so over-dramatic!" Beni dismissed my concern, sounding bored.

"Over dramatic?" I bristled. How was I being over-dramatic, when all I had done was point out that Graz was far away from home! Which was undoubtedly the truth!

"You act as if I had told you that I am going to move to Australia," he accused me in an irritated tone.

"But. . . I thought that after this year of your military-service, we would see each other more frequently again and now it turns out that you're moving away permanently!" I whined, already imagining those many lonely weekends I would be facing in the near future.

"It's just for the duration of my studies," Beni tried to soothe me.

"Which will only take a few years!" I scoffed.

"You could always follow, you know, once you have finished school. . ."

". . .which won't be for another year! Besides, I don't want to leave Salzburg. I love the place!" I did. I truly felt that my home-city was among the most beautiful in the world and I had no intentions of moving anywhere else. . . ever!

"We'll figure something out," Beni shrugged dismissively, turning his attention back to his game.

Boys! Or more precisely: Beni!

I tried to focus on my book once again, but thoughts about all those lonely weekends kept me distracted: I saw myself sitting at home, or watching other couples interact and have fun at parties, while I was fading away, waiting for my ever elusive boyfriend to grace me with his presence.

While he was having fun in Graz!

This would be my fate, until - at some point in the distant future – we would somehow be reunited again. Because this was something I was sure of: – for some reason that I could not explain – we would end up together. One way or the other.

Where this recent conviction had come from, I honestly did not know, but it was there nonetheless. I guessed that it had slowly developed over time and become especially strong after our short break-up a few weeks ago. It really seemed that we did belong together. Only, we were still far too young for that kind of eternal commitment on top of a long distant relationship!

I suddenly realized that Beni was actually my first boyfriend and that I was only his second girlfriend. If we stayed together at this point in time, chances were that we would both feel that we had missed out on experiences with the other sex at one point in our lives and maybe even split up because of it.

Which would be a shame, really. . .

"Hey, Beni, I have a proposition. . ." I trailed, a bit unsure about what I was going to suggest.

"Hm?" He responded rather unenthusiastically, his eyes still glued to the game.

I wonder how many of those he's already played, I mused briefly, before again focusing on the topic at hand.

"You know how we won't see much of each other for the next few years," I started.

"Hm."

"So. . . both of us are going to go out, meet people, drink something and have fun. . ." I continued with my train of thought, finally closing my book.

"Yes. . .," Beni agreed, glancing at me briefly from under his long lashes.

"Well, I do think that we shall stay together, but probably not without any. . . 'accidents'. But those should not destroy our relationship. . . it would be a shame!"

Beni stopped playing and turned towards me, a quizzical look on his face. He was obviously wondering, where I was going with this.

"I want us to be honest with each other, because I think that a relationship is doomed without it." At that point, I had Beni's undivided attention. A rather rare occurrence.

"Therefore, I suggest the following: as long as we are not together physically, each one of us is allowed to have 'experiences' with other people. But we have to be sincere and open about it and have no secrets. Which means that we shall also have to inform those 'other people' about the fact that we are already in a relationship. Now. . . what do you think?"

Beni's face was scrunched up and he said nothing for a few moments, as he was probably considering the implications of everything that I had just told him.

"Alright. . . it sounds good, actually." He finally shrugged.

"So, you agree: no secrets and everybody can do whatever he or she wants." I smiled.

"Agreed." He grinned back.

Well, at this point I would just like to say that we honestly had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. . .

What do you think will happen now? What are your thoughts on our arrangement? Do you think I went a bit too far? (Not that I could change anything now )

And the little star sends a friendly orange sparkle to all those who have who have given it some attention recently :)

The picture was taken from DeviantArt and by Huwenjie.