And they called it Bucky Love

Part 12 - Letting me Loose!

And so, the time finally came, around 10 days after we had arrived, that Tony decided I was fit to be let loose in amongst those poor Romanians.

He told me I was going to be attending the market at Piata Noribor, as this was a mainly fruit and vegetable market where Bucky had been seen a couple of times, plus which, with the amount of people there, it would (hopefully) be easier for me to blend in a bit more.

On the morning of my departure, Tony made sure that all my gadgetry was working, but didn't really say much to me, apart from giving me The Look and then nodding at me in approval (he was just so OTT with his emotions!). Steve and Natasha on the other hand,  came out to the edge of the woods by the roadside, to give me some last minute encouragement.

"Now don't worry" said Steve looking serious. "You know we'll be able to see everything that you can see" - I was wearing the super tech camera jacket - "We can hear you and you know that if you need us there super quick, just scrunch up a corner of the material and we'll be there"

"Thanks" I said, giving a shaky smile.

"Hey" said Natasha "welcome to our world" and she leaned forwards with a grin and gave me a little hug.

I gulped back a lump in my throat and decided it was now or never.

As I walked away from the two of them, I took a last look back and wondered if my life were about to change forever..........

-

The journey into Bucharest was made by bus.  It was crowded and I had to stand, but it gave me the perfect opportunity to do a bit of people watching.   I don't know if I'd been expecting the people of Romania to look like aliens compared to Americans, but if they were, they were also very good at disguising themselves as ordinary folk, going about their ordinary, daily business.

I recognized the familiar look of despondency on some faces, world weariness on others, and contentment on yet more.   I guess we're all just the same in the end.

I looked out and could see we were approaching the market.   It was bustling, and I started to get an excited feeling in the pit of my stomach – not only because of the sheer vibrancy of the whole place, but because I was fully aware that this could be the day when I saw the love of my life for the first time in the flesh, though I realized that was probably a tad unrealistic for the first day.

The bus stopped and I got off along with everyone else.

I followed the jostling crowds over to the market stalls and took in the atmosphere. It was actually amazing.  The place was bustling and bursting with energy.  There were people shouting, kids yelling and everywhere, the high pitched chatter of the locals haggling for bargains.  I immediately fell in love with the place.

I decided to have a wander through, just to get a feel for it, and then, when I'd got my confidence up,  try my hand at buying something – just to get that first bit of spoken Romanian out of the way.

I browsed the stalls, impressed with the varieties of local produce on offer. It really was a veritable feast for the palate.

Presently, when I came across a stall selling some particularly nice looking fresh juicy plums, I decided to go for it, as I was actually getting hungry by then anyway (typical me!).

It was pretty busy there, but I managed to get the sellers attention and pointed at the plums - "Er - cat costa asta (how much is this?)"

It obviously didn't sound quite as good as I'd thought, as the scruffily dressed man standing next to me made a small smirking sound.

I went red. At least I was trying I thought, making a mental note never to utter another word of Romanian in my life.

The man next to me then spoke "Cât costa astă?" he asked in perfect Romanian as he picked up a handful of the plums in his gloved left hand.  

"Patru lei" 

"That's four lei – a good price, you should get them"

Funny.......he didn't sound quite so Romanian now.

"Thanks" I said, and I turned to face my helpful assistant,  grateful for the intervention.

As I did (and I'm sure you've guessed it by now), in that very instant, my world turned completely on its head and I don't know how I got through without fainting – for the person I had been standing next to all this time, and who had just helped me ..buy
a load of fruit, was none other than the one and only Mr James Buchanan Barnes!