A Flight's Desire

Chapter 11: The City's Magic

Amsterdam. Even the name seems magical. It was the first city to legalise same-sex marriage in the year 2001 and one of the first cities to ban the consumption of tobacco in places where you are surrounded by people. The city has more bikes than people and it is more than just a tourist destination. It was the perfect place for Robin as it was the second largest city of coffee consumers. If Budapest hadn't caught her eye first, she would have definitely chosen to live in Amsterdam. She could imagine spending her life riding a bike around the town among tulips and canals. One piece of information that made her love the city even more was that if someone died and they didn't have relatives, a poet would write a poem for them and sing it during the funeral. That was such a touching thought that made the city one of her favourites. The poets wouldn't have an obligation for the bet and yet, someone would be mourning them.

"Did you know that the city has 150 canals flowing through it?" She gave out a random fact to Ben as they walked down from the airport while admiring the sudden peace. It was good to stretch their legs out before the twenty hours of the original journey that waited for them in the opposite direction.

He looked at her and smiled at himself. "I did. And eight windmills."

She gaped as they continued walking side-by-side, keeping their distance from the other for comfort. "One thing that I've heard about you is that you know almost everything about countries. What is one interesting random fact that you can tell me about this city?" She asked, trying to engage him in something that he was comfortable in.

"Well," He thought about it that way. "I wouldn't say 'everything', but I know random facts that I try to keep to myself in order to not annoy the other person. Are you sure about this?" He second-guessed whatever he was going to say. "I am a walking talking-"

"Weird book of encyclopedia." She completed the sentence along with him. "God, I love that show. I can't believe that it is ending soon, even though I knew that it was going to, it feels strange really."

"Like a house being brought down."

She blinked, hearing her own words said back to her. "Exactly," she nodded. "I thought I was the writer."

He cocked his head to one side. "I may have some hidden talents."

"I know you do. I've always wondered why you haven't released an album yet."

Ben had talked about wanting to create something that was his, which was why he tried venturing into fields other than acting. He had always been a piano player and somewhat of a singer. He could play the guitar if he wanted to but he was still looking for inspiration to release an entire album of his own songs. "I'm working on it," he said, looking at the ground beneath him. "Maybe I could ask you to help me."

"Oh, I am a horrible player! I'm taking the guitar with me because Melody," She realised that she couldn't rant without introduction. "My sister-in-law. She wants me to focus on my love for music for some time."

"Have you been ignoring it?"

"Not exactly. I haven't had time to concentrate on it for a while. And now that the baby is on the way-"

"Baby?"

"I'm going to become an Aunt or an Uncle!"

"What?" He laughed.

"It is our way of guessing the baby's gender. My brother and his wife don't want to know, which means that I don't know either. That makes it all the more exciting." She smiled. "So the baby is on the way and I thought this would be a great time to start practicing again."

"So you live in Budapest and they live in L.A."

"I've lived in Budapest mostly but my home is with my family in L.A."

"I know how that feels." Being an actor, he was constantly moving between different filming locations, which were mostly set in different countries. He was so used to staying away from home that going back always brought nostalgia to him.

"And...." She looked at him and the look in his eye made her realise what he was doing. "Oh, smart guy!" She hit his arm with her right elbow playfully. "You are trying to make me talk about myself!"

"Ah, dang it!" He kicked himself. He wasn't that good of an actor off-camera after all, having been caught in the act of misdirection.

"Come on, you have got to give me something as well!" It was surprising how she could catch onto what he was trying to do.

"I thought you would know everything." He shrugged.

"Come on. It isn't true and you know it." She emphasised. "So tell me....ten random facts about Amsterdam and we can continue getting to know each other."

Ben started to tell her about the city and the details that she already knew, which had her amazed at her own general knowledge. "Now, how do we go forward with this?" He asked her.

"Asking the questions? Five questions each and then switch?"

"Perfect. You go first." They had forgotten about the real questions that they wanted to ask the other, enjoying each other's company.

"Alright." She looked at the clear white sky for a second before asking him what she wanted. "Wait, before we start....and this is not a part of the five questions. If you want to take photos, just stop and tell me. I don't want to miss some places that we are going to visit soon."

"Are we going to the Anne Frank Museum?"

"We have six hours to go anywhere we want to. Lets go to the museum and remember the part about the pictures."

"I will say the same thing to you."

"Done deal." She put her hand forward and they shook on it.

And thus began the series of questions that they started to ask each other. Ben was completely invisible to the public eye and Robin did her best to not call him by his name, just in case someone heard it and their little trip broke up. They took pictures together, as well as separately, and it may have been the magic of the city that made them think that they were old friends rather than new acquaintances. They rented cycles and drove around town to the places that they wanted to visit while getting to know the little details about each other. 

They realised that both of them hated mayonnaise and that they would choose vanilla over chocolate. "But cookie dough is an exception," Ben had told her. He found out that she was scared of clowns and heights while he was afraid of the unknown and heights. The two got into a small discussion about the oblivion after which they discussed the songs that were based on it. They completely forgot the pattern of the questions that they had decided to follow because there was a lot to talk about.

Eventually, they got tired after a while and decided to go to a compact cafe at the end of the street that they stood in to get something to eat. "Do you like coffee?" She asked him, opening the door for him to enter first.

"Coffee is my religion."