Monika - Chapter 11

“So now that you’re here, do you mind telling me exactly why you need to stay with me for five days?”

The week before, Feliciano had called Ludwig and announced that he would like to visit Berlin as soon as possible. When Ludwig asked why, Feliciano did not give him a straight answer, but instead told him, “I’ll tell you when I get there.” This seemed rather odd, but he did not ask any further questions.

However, curiosity had begun to get the better of him. He would have been satisfied with “I just wanted to come for a visit,” as that was a rather common occurrence, but something in the Italian’s voice that night on the phone had suggested that perhaps there was more to it. They had not even made it out of the airport when he decided to find out what was really going on.

“Well, truth is,” Feliciano confessed, “I actually came to see Monika.”

“Oh?” the German asked, raising one eyebrow.

“Yeah. It turns out that we both kind of like each other a lot and so we decided to try being boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“I see,” Ludwig replied. His tone remained rather neutral, but Feliciano could tell that he felt more emotion more than he wanted to let on, for he could not quite keep his face as perfectly even as his voice. Perhaps the news did not surprise him, but there did seem to be a touch of happiness in his eyes. After having known him for so many years, Feli knew how to read even the subtlest changes in his expressions, and he decided to take what he saw now as a sign of approval.

“Yeah. I was actually wondering if you could drop me off at her house…”

“Oh, I see how it is. Now that you have a girlfriend, your best friend suddenly becomes your chauffer.”

“No, Ludwig!” Feliciano exclaimed, shocked that Ludwig would say such a thing, even as a joke. He couldn’t help but laugh at the same time, though, knowing that it hadn’t been a serious comment. “It’s not like that at all! It’s just that we only got together the same night that I called you and I really want to see her.”

“It’s fine, Feliciano,” he assured him. “Of course I’ll drive you there. Just let me know ahead of time if you’ll need to be picked up, ja?”

“No worries, I will.”

Feliciano could not wait until they made it to Monika’s home—that is, until they actually did. He could barely contain his excitement throughout the entire ride from the airport, but when Ludwig pulled into the driveway, the Italian’s anticipation quickly turned into anxiety. For a moment he wasn’t entirely sure he could stay outwardly calm. He continually had to remind himself that the Monika he was about to see was the same exact Monika he had met a number of times before, and that the only difference now was their relationship to each other.

He waved a parting goodbye to Ludwig as he stood on the doorstep. After watching him pull away from the house, he turned to face the door and raised his hand to knock, only to have said door opened in front of him.

“Hi, you’re here!” Monika exclaimed, stepping aside to let him in. She also took the bag he had been carrying and set it aside for him, as she considered it proper curtesy to help a guest with their luggage. “I wasn’t sure what time to expect you but I just happened to look outside and see Ludwig’s car.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t really sure either since I didn’t know how I was going to break the news to him. I wanted to tell him in person but I knew he would suspect something when I asked to come to your house. I kinda ended up telling him before we even left the airport though, so I had him bring me right here.”

Monika nodded in understanding but didn’t have much of a response, and when Feli failed to elaborate further, the two found themselves standing in a bit of an awkward silence. After a few moments, though, she came to the sudden realization that they had not hugged yet and extended her arms towards him, indicating that she would like one.

“It’s really good to see you,” she said, holding him in a tight embrace. “And this time we don’t even have any business to worry about.” This hug lasted much longer than any of their previous ones, and had a different feel to it as well. It was warm and comforting, and neither one of them wanted to let go. It seemed almost odd to Feliciano that Monika, who normally came across as very serious and business-like, would have such a soft, affectionate side to her, but he liked it.

As the two finally broke apart, Feliciano managed to steal a quick peck on the cheek from Monika, causing her face to turn that rosy shade of pink he found to be quite endearing. Both let out small, slightly nervous laughs, as they were quite unsure of themselves when it came to their new relationship.

“Well, now, look at the sweet little love chickens,” came a voice from a few feet away. The pair looked in the direction of the sound to see none other than Julchen standing before them with a huge grin plastered across her face. “Seriously, you two are adorable. I can’t even believe you actually convinced Monika to go out with you, Feli.”

“He hardly needed to convince me and you know that,” Monika retorted. “Build up my confidence, maybe, but it’s not as if my feelings weren’t there.”

“I know, I know. Jeez, learn to take a joke, sis. Anywho, you guys have any plans for the day?”

Feliciano and Monika exchanged glances, each one looking to the other for a suggestion. Feli expected that Monika would have thought of something, but when he realized that she seemed at a complete loss for ideas, he threw out one of his own.

“Maybe we could go for a walk around town or something? I’m tired of sitting down after that flight. I was sort of hoping we could get out and do something active.”

“We could, or…” Monika thought aloud, “if you really want some physical activity, we could take a football to the park and hang around there for a while.”

“Hey, that sounds like a good idea! Let’s do that.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Monika then disappeared into another room, presumably to find said football. Feli couldn’t help but watch her leave, and still felt a bit fluttery on the inside. He couldn’t quite figure out what about her made him this way. Perhaps, though, he would find out during his visit.

“She’s been so much happier this past week,” Julchen commented, interrupting the Italian’s train of thought.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, Monika was never really was unhappy, I guess, but she’s always been so serious. Something in her has changed since you two made your relationship official. She’s more lighthearted; it’s like her entire outlook has changed. Maybe it’s because she has something other than work in her life for once. She knows how to take a break and have fun now and then, of course, but at the end of the day, there’s always some paper to fill out that can’t possibly wait. But work isn’t all she tells me about anymore. She talks about you all the time.”

“Really?”

“Yep. You’re going to be so good for her, I just know it. Just promise you’ll take it slow, okay? And I mean damn slow. She doesn’t exactly fall for people often.”

“So I’ve heard,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to go slow. I’m not so experienced with this myself, to be truthful. I might flirt a lot but it’s pretty rare for me to even make it this far.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. I just really don’t want to see you guys screw this up, is all. She hasn’t always had the most positive attitude towards romance in the past and has really only recently started to come around. If something really bad were to happen between you guys, it could ruin her feelings towards relationships forever.”

“Well, we’ll try to avoid that at all costs, then!” Feliciano said with a grin, determined to keep everything stable between them.

“You’ll be alright,” Julchen assured him. “It’s just hard to not be a little protective, you know? Oh! Also, before I forget, you’re welcome to stay here for the night if you wish. Since you two just got together it probably isn’t appropriate for you to share a bed, but I won’t be around tonight so you’re welcome to use mine.”

“Oh, grazie, I think I will do that!” That would work out well, assuming it was also okay with Monika. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about making Ludwig pick him up, and he would have more time to spend with his new girlfriend.

“Ready to go?” Monika asked as she entered the room once more, now carrying a football under her arm.

“I am when you are,” Feliciano replied.

“Alright then, let’s head out.”

“Si, sounds good. See you later, Julchen! Thanks again!”

Feliciano immediately recognized the park when they arrived, as he visited it quite often with Ludwig. It was large with lots of open space, making it a perfect place for any sport. Coincidentally, it was one of Ludwig’s favorite places to play football in his free time as well. It seemed almost strange to Feliciano to be there with anyone else.

“But then again,” he said, gently kicking the ball to her, “maybe it just feels weird because we aren’t really used to seeing each other outside of work. This is kind of the first time we’ve hung out without some other business being the reason for it.”

Monika stopped the ball with ease, and kicked it back to Feliciano with a decent amount of force. He took note of this and, seeing that was how she wanted to play, aimed to the left of her on his next pass. She again made a skillful stop.

“True, though I would say you could count the dinner date as ‘seeing each other outside of work.’”

“Yeah, I suppose,” he agreed. When she aimed to the side as well, he had to run a few steps to catch the ball. He managed to stop it, but not with as much grace as she had. “Although you were still in Venice on a business trip.”

“Then I suppose the gondola thing doesn’t count either,” she mused. The two continued to pass the football back and forth as they chatted, challenging each other just a bit without having to make the other person run to catch it.

“I guess so… but it was fun!”

“Yeah, it was. I was really glad you did that for me.”

“Ve~, that was the night you kissed me on the cheek, remember?”

Monika turned bright red at the question.

“Yeah, I do, now that you mention it.”

“That was when I started to think that maybe you liked me back… I really hoped you did, because I really wanted to have more times like that. Lovino was so upset about it, though… he barely talked to me for two days except to bring that up.”

Monika stopped the ball and this time she did not pass it back. She looked at Feliciano with a serious expression and tilted her head ever so slightly to the side.

“Does he know about us?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Feliciano admitted. His face dropped when he told her; he had not planned on mentioning that to her, but he knew he had to be honest. “I’ve kind of been putting off telling him. I mostly just wanted to tell Ludwig first before anybody else, but even now, I don’t think I’m ready. I know he doesn’t like us hanging out together, so I can’t imagine how he’ll react to finding out we’re dating.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I don’t get why he always hates my friends… then again, the only person he seems to like is Antonio, and that’s only some of the time. I don’t think it’s anything against you personally—he just isn’t a people person, is all.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” she told him. Her face softened again as she relaxed. “I can’t expect everyone in the world to like me. There’s always going to be someone out there you don’t get along with no matter who you are.”

“Yeah… I just can’t help but wonder what he might think when I do tell him. But I guess for now it doesn’t really matter, so I’ll try not to think about it too much. I’ll just focus on right now instead! You can kick the ball over here if you’d like.”

“Hmm… maybe I will,” she thought aloud, moving the ball back and forth between her feet. “Then again, maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll try make a goal instead…”

Feliciano didn’t quite understand what she meant by that at first, but soon figured it out when she began to jog towards him with the ball. Apparently, it was time for a game of one-on-one.

“Try, yes. Succeed? Possibly. Let’s find out,” he said, moving to close the gap between them. When Monika realized this, she changed direction in an effort to avoid him and narrowly escaped. He kept close beside her, however, and after a few tries, managed to capture the ball and go the other way with it.

Monika let out a huff of frustration and quickly began to pursue Feliciano. She made several attempts to reclaim the football, but to no avail. In a final, desperate move, she threw her arms around Feliciano’s waist and attempted to toss him out of her way. Given that they were basically the same size, this task would normally have been difficult but not impossible. Because Feli had been taken by surprise, however, he kicked and flailed as he struggled to remove himself from her grasp, and she could not manage to do any more than drag him a few inches.

“Cheater!” he cried, though he laughed at the same time. “There’s no tackling in football! Ref! I’m calling red card!”

It wasn’t long before the two managed to trip over each other and fall to the ground, landing hard. They laughed as they lay in the cool grass and they forgot all of their worries, if only for a few moments. It felt nice to just goof off for once.

Feliciano was the first one to sit up.

“It’s getting a bit late,” he noted, looking up towards the sky. The light was beginning to fade, and the scattered clouds had started to turn soft oranges and pinks. The breeze had become noticeably cooler as well. Night would be upon them shortly.

Monika lay on the ground for a few extra moments, watching Feliciano in silence. For the first time, being there with the Italian in that dim lighting, she took notice of just how beautiful he really was. His soft features and large brown eyes made him look almost feminine, though she didn’t consider that to be a bad thing. She just wondered why she hadn’t realized any of this before.

“It is,” she finally said, shifting her gaze to the sky. After a few moments, she got back up on her feet and held out her hand to Feliciano. “We probably shouldn’t linger for too long.”

“Si. We probably should be getting back.” He took Monika’s hand and, with a bit of effort and some help from her, hoisted himself up. He definitely felt ready to leave soon as well. After a day of travel and excitement, all he really wished to do was sleep.

They soon returned to Monika’s home, where she offered him a beer. Finding it hard to refuse despite his tiredness, Feliciano decided to sit down with her at the kitchen table and share a drink or two. After all, it gave him an excuse to spend a few more minutes with her.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much planned for this week,” she told him as they neared the end of their beverages.

“That’s okay! It’s the little moments like the ones we’ve had tonight that I like the most anyway,” he assured her, raising his drink to signify that it was included in said moments. He took one final swig of beer and set the empty glass down on the table. “But now I really do need to go to bed, I think. It’s been a long day.”

“Of course; I’ll show you where Julchen’s room is.”

She led him up the stairs, past the door which he remembered as being her room, and to the end of the hall, where she stopped in front of a second door. He stopped beside her, assuming it was where he would be spending the night.

“She texted me while we were gone saying that she brought your bag in here, so you should be all set for the night,” she explained.

“Sounds good,” he replied with a smile.

He nodded slightly in a “goodnight” sort of gesture, and reached out to open the door. As soon as he put one hand on the knob, however, he felt something land in the other. It took him only a moment to realize that Monika had taken it in one of her own. He turned to face her and, before he knew it, she had taken a step towards him and rested her forehead against his.

“Hey, Feli…”

They were so close that he could smell the beer on her breath. His heart began pounding hard against his chest, and to him it seemed so loud that he wouldn’t be surprised if she could hear it.

She felt exactly the same way.

The two stood unmoving for several moments. Both knew what they wanted, but neither one dared to make the move.

Then, finally, Monika leaned in to close the gap between them, and placed her lips on Feliciano’s.

The kiss barely lasted long enough for the Italian to kiss back. He didn’t mind, though, knowing that he had plenty more chances ahead of him to kiss her again. He smiled, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before letting go of it.

“Buonanotte,” he whispered, and turned to enter the bedroom.

“Gute nacht,” she replied in an equally gentle voice.

Had he not been so exhausted yet cheerful at the same time, Feliciano would have felt a bit strange borrowing the bedroom of someone he did not even know that well. Given all of the other thoughts running through his mind, however, he frankly did not really care that much. He took his phone out of his pocket and set it on the night stand, quickly undressed, and flopped into the bed. In that moment, nothing could have felt more comfortable. He drifted off to sleep within moments of his head hitting the pillow.

He awoke sometime later to early morning sunlight streaming in through the window, and the sound of his phone vibrating on the table beside his head.

Wait, what? he thought as he sat up and rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. I didn’t think I had set my alarm before I went to bed last night…

When he picked up the phone to turn off the alarm and go back to sleep, he realized that it wasn’t the alarm at all—someone was trying to reach him.

Daisy? At this hour?

“Ciao,” he answered in Italian, thoroughly confused about why she would even be calling him at all.

“I’m sorry to bother you with this so early, Feli, but… your brother knows about you and Monika.”