Blue Glass

Free Falling

"It's good to see you, Lea." Manfred's face was barely visible over the sides of the huge collar of his greatcoat, which were turned up, presumably as a sort of disguise.

"It's good to see you, too." I shook his outstretched hand and left it at that.

"I was going to reconcile myself to the fact that you would be too busy to come."

"So was I," I said. "But my boss is a good person, and a little lying can go a long way."

I immediately wished I could take that last part back the moment it left my mouth.

Great.Now he'll think I'm nothing more than a conniving liar--

To my surprise, Manfred started laughing.

"I agree," he said. "Do you want to walk around a little? I could show you some of Schweidnitz if you'd like."

I honestly felt like I was dreaming as I sailed along the sidewalk alongside Manfred, our hands discreetly clasped. I felt like I could fly, like I was weightless with joy. Manfred's fingers were cozily twined with mine, and I nearly swooned when he occasionally squeezed my hand, running the pad of his thumb up and down the side of my index finger.

If the effects of touching him were immobilizing, this was absolutely dizzying. The warmth shooting up my hand was enough to set my body on fire. I was surprised I hadn't fainted earlier. All this, and this was just his hand.

Imagine what would happen if--

"You're so quiet," Manfred said as we strolled through market square—known as the "Ring" by the people of Schweidnitz."What's on your mind?"

"I haven't been to this part of Germany before," I said, although that was the absolute opposite of what I had really been thinking. "Everything is so untouched by technology and human beings in general. There are so many forests, so many species of animals..."

"Have you been to Germany in peacetime?" We stopped at the fountain in the middle of the square.

I nodded. "But it was mostly Berlin and Munich—the big cities.We were never asked to go this far out."

"I see." Manfred sat down on the edge of the fountain, pulling me down next to him. We watched the people go by, now mostly women and children since all the healthy able-bodied men had been drafted. My eyes flitted to his profile, drinking in the sight of his face at such close proximity like a dying soldier on a battlefield drinks water.

If only the war would be over soon. Then we could sit like this everyday, all the time. I would never get tired of looking at him...of seeing him--

"What are you staring at?"

A blast of heat shot up my face. I blinked, daring to meet Manfred's gaze, which brimmed with amusement.

"Oh—nothing."

"Liar."He squeezed my hand again. "If there's something on my face, you ought to tell me."
"I find it hard to believe you would ever let yourself go out with anything on your face." I inched closer to him. "You are,after all, a celebrity, aren't you?"

I thought I saw something come into his eyes at that, a sort of sullen dissatisfaction. "Mmmm."

We lapsed into silence. I could feel the awkwardness slowly begin to descend over us like a curtain over a stage and fought to keep the conversation buoyant.

"Was your family happy to see you?" I asked.

I had expected the topic of his family to animate him. Manfred's placid expression didn't change, but I thought I saw his eyebrows move together ever so slightly, whether from irritation or confusion, I didn't know. "Of course they were."