Thorny kind of love 2 - Loose-ends

Chapter 1

Bell's POV

"Enjoy your weekend Bell," Jena says as she hugs me. "I'm working remember," I say raising my one eyebrow. I watch as Jena gets in her car and drive out of the university parking lot, she received the car last year as a birthday gift from her dad. Jena and I have become very close since I arrived more than almost two months ago, she helped me cope with the language barriers amongst students, I remember how fragile and alone I was when I first arrived, I cried almost every day, hiding in the toilets, fearing that I had made the wrong decision to come here and study, but Jena was a true friend. I have made two more friends, Noah and Sarah, they're dating and are some of the nicest people I know.

Noah is African-American and is studying music, he reminds me of the younger version of Denzel Washington. Sarah is very fair and has blond hair, blue eyes, and much smaller than the tall Noah, she is studying culture and religion. Jena and I are both studying Urban Landscape, but Jena is studying a different module to mine. During break time we all usually hang out together. Thinking of them, they join me walk out of the university entrance, we chat a little and part ways. They have to take a bus ride of 20 minutes to their apartment, whereas I take a slow 10-minute walk towards my apartment.

I love the walk home, I never get tired of the little shops and all the activities happening on the streets, I quickly pop into Zerin, it's a grocery store and Luka is a very friendly shop owner. He goes out of his way to make me feel welcome and though he struggles to speak English, he at least tries, especially if I can't read the German labels. "Bell." He greets me with a warm smile. He is a little plum-sized old man with grey hair and green eyes. Luka and his wife Grenta have started their grocery business almost 10 years ago, they're both retired teachers, their only child, Merle, are married and tries to visit every as much as she can because she lives in Munich and is also a teacher and she hardly gets breaks. Grenta is always so excited when her 1-year-old grandson visits. I first met little Matthew a month ago and then thrice again after, I have grown very fond of him, he will look out for me to pass the shop whenever he visits, "Bwell I missed you." He would say hugging me.

"I have mushrooms today." Luka's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. "Wonderful thank you," I say excitedly. I love mushrooms and Luka hasn't had to sell for almost 2 weeks. "When is little Matthew visiting again?" I ask Luka. "They will come next weekend," Luka confirms in a much-excited tone. After we chat for a few more minutes, I get a few more items from the store, pay, and leave. I walk past the restaurant where I work and head up the stairs to my apartment. As I'm unlocking my door, my phone rings, I put down the grocery bag and answer, "Hey Bell." The familiar voice of Zander makes me smile. "Hey, Zander." I answer. After Zander and I met on the airplane, we have stayed in contact and went out together a few times, not as a date but as friends, he was a very spontaneous type of person and I enjoyed his company, I met his parents, family, and friends a week ago when he invited me for his university graduation ceremony, he had a lovely family and very supportive. I took Jena, Sarah, and Noah along and they loved Zander, Jena was mostly fascinated by Zander.

"I wanted to know if you could please do me a favor please." Zander almost sounded desperately pleading. "Of course, what can I help with?" I say. There is a silent pause on the other end of the line, "Could you give me Jena's number please?" I can't say that I was surprised, I had noticed how close Jena and Zander were at the graduation ceremony, I smile, they're in love with each other. "Of course I will, but with her permission," I say. Zander is once again silent, "Alright then, I will wait." He sounds a bit disappointed. "She will give her permission Zander, don't worry, I'll text her now," I say. "Thank you Bell, I owe you," Zander says sounding very relieved. We continue chatting for a while and then we end the call.