the Poplar and the Gothic

1.

~It's well known that you need to understand art in order to love it. Is it the same with people?~

"It's beautiful," thought the slender blond woman standing in front of the painting, and that thought could be read from her lips. Like most other forms of fine art, this one awakened in her admiration. The picture showed a bouquet of cute pink flowers standing in a dark vase in front of a dark background. The artist did his job well when using the contrast between light and dark tones. For a long time, she thought of the possible deeper meaning of the painting as she always did; it helped her to fully understand ehat she was looking at. She found nothing here but the persistent contrast of light and darkness. She did not find the hidden message, which artists often left behind in paintings designed for people like her.
She took with her a little bit of admiration and stepped further down the long row of exhibits.
A little further, right across the hall from the tall window, stood a tall young man, visibly tired of his surroundings, looking around. He was already bored, except for the view of the opposite side of the hall and the slender girl who had long since entered the hall and was just looking at the second exhibit. It was a statue called Amore e Psiche, two little angels standing in a hug.
She looked thoughtful, engrossed in the work. He had never seen anyone who, from afar, exuded knowledge and interest in where they were.
She wore a tight light blue T-shirt and a black skirt that ran from the waist down to just above the ankles. There he saw small full-heeled black sandals buttoned up around her white ankles. Ice-blond curls were falling down to half her upper arms. An old burgundy backpack was hanging over her right shoulder, along with a colorful pastel scarf. She was holding a brown sweater in her left hand.
The young man understood the admiration of art and the devotion that a man - or maybe only an artist - could feel towards the same, but the girl was clearly aware of the deepness of the work and not only what we see even if we don't pause before him. This was precisely the cause of his curiosity.
That curiosity dragged him to the Love and Psyche in front of which she was standing. And he looked. He looked at the statue not daring to look down to the left where she was standing, a little lower that him. Without a single strange gesture, she elegantly turned to the right, stepped past him and stopped in front of the next statue. This one was nothing special, but the girl gave herslef some more time in anticipation of the next wave of admiration. She didn't get it.
The young man, meanwhile questioning himself for what he was doing, again took his place on her right, this time in front of another painting. The space he held between them was a preventive in case she thought he was crazy and shouted that an unknown man was following her every step on the way.
She looked complitely relaxed as if she hadn't noticed him. For a long time, the young man walked the same direction, stood in the same place as in front of the previous exhibit, watched the distance between them and wondered if it was now high time to give up. The glances she gave him from time to time in the passage only exacerbated his curiosity.
Finally, after a long time, the girl turned and paused in front of the young man, fully facing him. She weighed him down with a questioning look. He retreated and swallowed the dumpling, thinking that his sispicious that she would think he was crazy would come true. She wanted to question him a little. He took another step for her, and she convinced herself that he may indeed follow her.
"Excuse me..." said the young man uncertainly. He was thunking for a long time and then repeated in his head what he sould say. "I..."
"I noticed you, yes." She interrupted. "And you don't look like..."
"Normal?" He added with a smile. She backed away, confused and didn't know how to react. She took a few steps calmly.
"I'm sorry if I scared you, I would look weird to myself too." He added, walking behind her. "You seemed so interested in all the exhibits that curiosity pulled me towards you and stupidity blocked my mind so I didn't know what to say." He explained openly.
"Let me introduce myself," he said, and she turned to him, still calm and seemingly cold. In her eyes, despite the cold surface, he noticed a bit of curiosity. It pushed him forward.
"I'm Kai de Loughrey." He reached out to her and quickly felt a powerful squeeze.
"I'm Vivian van Doren."
"I'm glad."
"Me too." Vivian said, continuing her walk. This time not to the next exhibit, but the exit. Kai didn't give up. Now he wanted to know more about her.
Vivian, Vivian van Doren... Danish? Belgian, Dutch?? He was thinking quickly.
If I don't keep her now, I may never find her again.
Quick thoughts. 1000 km per hour. They run through his head.
Coffee shop on top!
Suddenly he remembered the cafe at the top of the gallery they were in.
"Excuse me, Vivian, would you like to have some coffee with me up there... on top?" Say yes. Please.
"I don't know you. It's a little weird, isn't it?" She said with a pleasant smile.
I don't care, there's nothing I can lose. If he insisted, I would accept, it was her next consideration.
"One coffee? Please." Kai said, uncertainly slipping his hands into the pocket of his black pants.
"Okay. I'll drink black tea." She replied confidently.
"Great!" Kai smiled as she walked past him to the stairs they had just descended from.
They walked silently.
"Where are you from?" Kai asked by the way.
"I'm Dutch. I live in Utrecht." She replied and tured to him. "And you?"
"I live in Austria. In Vienna, actually," he said, climbing the sairs to the bar.
"Utrecht, then. You must have a bike and probably don't drive a car." Kai said with a laugh. He didn't like stereotypes, but this one was inevitable.
"Yes, the first part is correct. I do have a bike. The other one is not; I passed my driver's licence last year." They laughed. She didn't like stereotypes either, but this one seemed even fun.
"And you, Vienna... Hmm..." Think for a moment. "You must be listening to the stories of the Habsburgs and Maria Theresa every day. About Austrian power throughout history, you know..."
"Yes, I listened to it at school. Everything in these stories related to Austria was described in superlatives." Kai replied.
"Oh, the crowds..." Vivian noticed as they reached the top.
"There's a small table..." Kai reached the table in quick steps, waited for Vivian, and settled down.
It took the waiter time to come and that gave them plenty of time to talk.
"How come you're here? Alone?" Vivian asked with her armes folded, leanung against the table in front of her.
"I have long planned a small tour of Europe. I wanted to see all those famous galleries and museums that our continent has to offer, so I finally got in my new car and set off. The car is also my home now. From Vienna, my first stop was Ljubljana, Slovenia. Then I went to Trieste and Venice... And now I'm here in Florence." He explained. "Getting to know you." He added.
Vivan laughed at him and for the first time showed flawless white teeth.
"You mean, you don't stay in hotels or anything?" Vivian asked in amazement.
"Yes. I'm staying in the car, actually," Kai replied with a smile. "And you?"
"I... Honestly, I'm doing the same thing as you. Only, my vehicle is a train, not a car." She said through the joke and then went on. "From Utrecht, I first went to my brother in Berlin and visited a couple of galleries there. Then I headed south to Frankfurt and Munich, Vienna, and across the Alps, I came here." She explained. "Getting to know you."
Kai's smile spread from ear to ear. The waiter finally came and gallantly took orders from them.
As their desk stood near to the fence, Vivian leaned back with her right hand and looked across. Because of that view of Florence, she felt the grace and gratitude the she was there.
"Vivian... Alive?" Kai asked, after a fleeting pause.
"Yes, it's a Latin name. And what does your mean? Kai?"
"The sea. That is Filipjno meaning. In Scottish culture, it means warrior." He explained.
The waiter then brought Kai's black coffee and Vivian's black tea without milk. The smell of coffee rose with the steam and disappeared in the breeze of a sunny day. From the few small speakers on the terrace came the quiet voice of Troye Sivan as he sang What a Heavenly Way to Die. It was almost the end of the day, around 7PM, and as it was a warm July day, the sun was still in the sky.
"I've seen you enjoy art. It seemed alien to me." Kai commented over his cup of coffee, glancing first at the teasooon between Vivian's long fingers and then up at her gaze. Eyebrows raised, she looked surprised.
"Don't overdo it. I just looked at the paintings." She replied and continued to stir her tea. "I am, however, aware of my sometimes exaggerated admiration for paintings and art in general... I tried to change that, but... Some things deserve the attention and time they were given. I don't know how to explain it to you." She paused for a second and turned her gaze to him, who was watchung her calmly. She felt that he had heard and elaborated on each of her words. After a while, which she used to come up with a way to explain her state of mind when it comes to art, and which Kai didn't interrupt for a second, she tried to explain herself.
"So I was thinking for a long time now how humanity can endure the beauty that is given to it through a painting or a statue? Architecture? All I can do is watch. That's it. Too little." She revealed although she knew he couldn't understand it. Just like everyone else. Whoever she talked to about this phenomenon didn't say anything but "Via, you're a real artist."  This put her off the track and so after a while, she chose not to share her strange thoughts with anyone. She doesn't need any recognition for being an artist. She had always known that. She used to fight that. It ysed to hurt her. Simple everyday things didn't suit her, such as, for example, people who thought that by paying dinner at a restaurant once, a woman would diminish the man's masculinity and humiliate his capabilities; or maybe the fact that most people still think that global warming is a stupid thing to worry about. It made her mad that the society she lives in is patriarchal and that everyone is talking about morality. Who respects it? A bunch of moralists without a single bit of morality. Everyone sees the weakness of society, and no one is aware that just they are the part of it and that perhaps just they could do somethung against the common sinking into the ruin. No one cared.
"Then some kind of delirium occurs ans takes over. It just depends on how strong it is." Kai pulled her out of her thoughts. "And that depends on how importatnt the painting or statue is to you."
Vivian winced and blinked a couple of times to convince herself she wasn't dreaming. The first time she heard someone supplemented her thoughts and agreed with her. He understood. She couldn't believe it.
Too good to be true.
"Is this happening to you, too?" She asked, still silent, startled.
"It was happening to me time ago, then I combined two with two and realized how much that nonsense of feeling was hurting me. Admiring a piece of paper or stone. Maybe I don't even understand it the way I should. Maybe I'm not in the right place at the right time to understand."
A vertical pit appeared between Vivian's eyebrows, prompting Kai to think about what he had just said. He just insulted art.
A piece of paper or stone. That phrase goes through their heads.
"Sorry. It sounded stupid." He said and laughed at his stupidity. Vivian looked at him and burst into laughter with him.
"You're the first one who didn't only looked at me bluntly with the comment "Oh, Vivian, you're a real artist." He also said something and understood what I was saying.
"I'm glad," Kai said to her immediately after a sip of the coffee.
"What do you do? Are you studying?"
"A few weeks ago I graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and sent the job applicayions to companies across Austria. I hope at least one of them will bear fruit. Untill then, all I have to do is wait." The explanation was followed by a long sip of coffee. "And you?"
"I study the history of arts. I'm now in my third year of the Faculty of Humanism at Utrecht University... Maybe I get a place as a teacher in a high school or something. If not, at least I'll know that I tried to get where I wanted to go." She explained and sipped the last drop of her black tea.
"We sould get going," Vivian remarked. With a twinkle of an eye, she noticed a waiter slowly wiping tables. Apart from him, she saw on the roof a woman leaning on her palm, thoughts as far as space, with a large glass of white wine in front of her. The glass was nearly empty, and she, elegant in a narrow burgundy set with legs crossed, paid no attention except for the red sunset.
I'd rather not. Kai thought but still stood up and took his belongings as slowly as he could. He headed for the waiter at the other end of the terrace.
Vivian was waiting for him right behind, lifting her little white headphones from her bag. She pushed one end into a modest black Samsung S6, which she then tucked into the right pocket on her skirt. She slipped the other one around her neck and left it there. Prepared for a long walk to the hostel where she intented to stay that night, she pondered what she would listen to this time as she walked.
Khalid? Maybe SYML? Novo Amor & Ed Tullett?
Finally, she remembered that the last two released a new album of experimental music a few months ago.
Some time ago, she created a playlist and named it The Poplar and the Gothic. There she included all those pieces she thought were absolute elite. She didn't listen to them for fear of slowly freezing them if she pressed the replay button too hard.
Even water is harmful to the body if there is too mych of it.
It was a thought that regarded not only her taste for music but also everything in life. She didn't want to overdo anything, not even in love. She was afraid of betrayal and disappointment. What happens after that? Only a broken heart remains, and rehabs are too long.

"Shall we?" Kai asked, settling his bills with the waiter. Again, abruptly drawn from her thoughts, Vivian quickly raised her head and there she was greeted by Kai's wide smile and gentle eyes.
He had some strange dark brown, almost black eyes. They were so deep that it seemed to her that every second may come a moment where she would be able to step inside and wrap herself in his grace visible from afar. He had such short eyelashes that they weren't even noticeable. Thick eyebrows the same color as his eyes and disobedient bows on his forehead. His nose, just like his full lips, looked like it was carved out of stone by Verrochio's hands. He was taller by the head than her and wearing dark clothes. Wide dark pants and a narrow brown turtleneck. He had a stain on his sleeve. It seemed fresh so Vivian concluded he had got it earlier that day by eating somewhere. He had a pair of rings on his right hand and a thin black bracelet. He skilfully folded a little thing the waiter returned him to his wallet, then closed it and slipped it into his back pocket.
"Vivian..." Kai started walking. "I was very pleased to meet you. I'm proud of myself for approaching you."
Vivian laughed at him and without a word let him finish what he had started.
"Is there any way I can see you tomorrow?" Hope quickly overwhelmed him.
"I don't know what your plans are, dear Kai. Tomorrow you won't continue the journey? Maybe Genoa?" Vivian asked with a smile.
"I don't know myself either. I'd love to see you again. Where are you going tomorrow? To the train station probably?"
Elegant one, Vivian thought, when he threw the joke related to their previous conversation at her.
"Probably. I still haven't bought a ticket for further. I still haven't even decided where to go next, bit tonight I'll probably work on it." She admitted.
She had to think more carefully about the amount of money she had with her. She was modest, and if she wanted her "tour" to last as long as possible, she had to be smart. She had enough money for rides and food, but she was aware that hostels would need to be as reasonable as possible in future. She carefully weighed every cent and euro, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the journey she had long dreamed of.
"And what if we did it together?" Kai dropped without thinking. Then he paused in the middle of the stairway they were descending. She took a few more steps and then, noticing that she had lost her interlocutor, turned to face him. There were a few steps between them and too much anticipation.
All right, mate, calm down, you'll scare her away - he thought to himself, marveling at his openness.
God, is it normal to run into a random person in another country who immediately invites for a coffee and then to go on with him?
Vivian pondered , slightly taken aback by the offer and directness of the guy who stood before her. A stranger. Hand to heart, he had something she had never seen on anyone before.
Eloquence, understanding; he was fun and open, listening to what she was talking about.
"I don't know you." She admitted, shrugging, not neutral.
"Well, you're right, yes." Kai agreed , then crossed the few steps and narrowed the distance between them. "But look at it this way: if you don't come with me now, your curiosity and remorse may have to last for the rest of your life. When you grow old close to a man, and God knows how many children and grandchildren, you will be wondering what would have happened if you continued your journey with me. Don't you agree?" Kai opened his arms and looked at her, proud of himself and his arguments.
"You'll be here in Florence by morning?" Vivian asked.
"I think so, yes." He answered with a nod.
"Okay, then... I'll meet you right here tomorrow at 8AM." She decided, pointing her foot to the point where they were. They were standing on the warm concrete behind the Uffizi Gallery they had just left.
"I'll wait for you." He shouted as she walked away without saying a word.
He waited a long time for her to go far enough that he coild no longer see her from that point. Then he turned and from, once pastel-blue but now dirty-blue, backpack lifted a little white box. He opened it and pulled two little airphones into each ear. The sound of Radiohead's Creep was slowly heard.