Travelling River

Nine

{River}

"You're from here right, do you have any suggestions for places to eat?"

My worries slowly melted away when we left the venue, knowing I wouldn't have to worry about the big guy at the door anymore. June seemed kind, she had a certain calm, yet chaotic energy around her. I'm aware that's a strange combination, but I don't know how else to describe it. I just felt at ease with her, even though I barely knew her. It was the type of calmness that would bring you some sort of inner peace when you were around her. Yet the chaos she brought with her reminded you she was only human, and somehow that instilled even more peace within me. I had caught myself staring a few times while we were waiting in her dressing room, something about her made that I couldn't keep my eyes off her. She caught me looking a few times, and I've never felt more stressed and awkward than I did in those moments. I really hope she doesn't think I'm some weird stalker fan or whatever.

"Uh yeah, well, technically I'm from Mosti, it's a 10- hour drive from here, but it's your lucky day, I'm fairly familiar with Raster. So what do you have in mind, my lady." Ew. Who says that. Well, apparently I do. I wish I could disappear right now, but then June start laughing.
"My lady, wow. Do you have some sort of medieval kink or whatever." I can feel my cheeks turning bright red, "Uh, no, sorry, I-" I stumble over all my words, "I don't know why I said that." I manage to get out. She looks at me, still a bright smile on her face, she's clearly enjoying this. "It's okay, my lord." She finally says. I want to die of shame, right here, right now, but I manage to smile back at her. It takes me a few minutes to recover, "So, what are you in the mood for?" The second it leaves my mouth, I regret the way I formulated that. I see a little twinkle in June's eyes, and from the short period of time I've known her, I know she's about to make another horrible joke. "Are you hinting at sex, my lord?" There go my cheeks again, I wonder if there's any blood left in the rest of my body, my cheeks surely must have taken all the blood, glowing as they are. June is trying to hold back her laughter, keeping a dead-serious face. "Well, yes, I thought that's what you meant by eating-out." I manage to joke back. Pretty proud of myself for that comeback, but then I see June turning red, clearly not prepared for any sort of comeback. "I'm sorry, too far?" I mutter. Staring at my shoes out of shame. Then she stops walking, laughter sounding like it's coming from her toes. She pats me on the back, the laughter now turned into the soundless type. I start laughing with her, my shame drifting away. It takes us a good few minutes to recover. "Okay, but seriously, what food do you want?" "I don't know, surprise me." She shrugs her shoulders. "Argh, I hate it when people do that, I barely know you! What if I take you to an Indian restaurant and you absolutely hate Indian food? What if I take you to a steak house, and you turn out to be vegetarian?!" I sounded more angry than I meant to, I was obviously joking, I just hoped June also caught onto that. "Wait, are you vegetarian? Or vegan even?" June had started laughing again, clearly amused by my rambling. "This is a life or death situation June, I need you to take me seriously." I tried to keep a straight face, but failed pretty quickly. "Okay fine, how about a cute cafe, a place where they have tea, maybe some pastries?" She didn't answer my meat- related question. I considered making another joke, something along the lines of 'Pastries, what do you think this is, France?' But I decided to shut up, and think of cafes instead.

It was a 15 minute walk, but June said she didn't mind. I told her all about this cafe, it was located at the river that ran through Raster. A locally owned little cafe named Brasberries. They had a cosy outside terrace where you could sit and enjoy the sun and the river. Inside it was filled will all sorts of different plants, hanging from the ceiling, filling bookshelves and decorating tables. They owned a whole collection of books that you could borrow during your visit, and a whole range of board games you could play. They served all sorts of homemade cakes and pastries, and my personal favourite, freshly made hot-chocolate from white chocolate. June was enthusiastic, she told me it sounded lovely. Once we got there, her eyes widened, "It looks absolutely, fucking, magical!" She yelled out. See, this is what I mean by chaotic, this girl looked so innocent, with her big brown eyes and the sage green, wide and flowy, linen dress on her body. Her long, brown, wavy hair, half up, with a bow in it matching the colour of her dress. You'd expect her to be well-spoken, some kind of literary genius, sipping a cup of tea while reading on the balcony of her mansion in the English country side. And while part of that may actually be true about June, she would also scream out things like you're fucking mental, and in true English fashion, reminding you after, that she meant that in the best way possible. The 15 minute walk, which took closer to 30 with all the joking, and the fact that we took a wrong route because I was maybe just a tad distracted, had been an absolute pleasure. The conversation with June had felt so incredibly natural, and we had talked about everything and nothing, which resulted in me feeling like I'd known her for ages, while still knowing practically nothing about her. I'd been afraid to ask her the simple questions, like her age, or where she was from. I wasn't sure if June was under the impression I was a huge fan, but even though I wasn't, I felt like I was expected to know these things.

June hadn't asked me anything either. At least, that was until we sat down.