There's No Rose Without Thorns

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Rush

June 16, 1926

     The French woman would be in a rush, she carried a purse over her shoulder as she was dressed in a blue and white dress. She was surprisingly swift, especially since she was running in heels. She carried an envelope in her other hand as the sound of her heels clicking against the pavement was the only audible thing other than the slight bustling of people ahead of her. She dreaded having to meet the crowd and getting past it; but if she was to deliver this letter and finally try to get into fashion school; then it was worth it. She sighed heavily, her slick, sheen, and clean black hair was put presentably up into a bun as she exhaled, taking a deep breath in and stopping. She then would collect herself mentally, dusting off her dress as she gazed around, meeting the eye of somebody across the street as she gave a wave and now walked calmly yet in a slight rush down the sidewalk. The lady looked down towards the ground and thought of what she was to say at her interview. She then began to just quickly walk, not trying to run into anybody. She murmured the words she planned to say later, murmuring the words under her breath as she practiced the friendly tone she'd use. As of now she was submitting her plan B, in case they shut her down like many had before. 

The girl felt the warm, gentle spring breeze hit her skin. She tried to calm herself, and she chose to solve that how she solved many other problems, sight-seeing. She gazed up at the calm cafés and shops. She looked lovingly at the libraries, one of them was one she often snuck out to have some "me time" in when she was a kid. She had the most extravagant memories. A warm, calm smile slowly tip-toed across her face as she thought of her life if she had gotten this job. Or if she had decided. Any of the career choices she wanted to pursue was fun. She could be a professional dancer if she had wanted to, or she could be a world-class chef. Of course, most of these were fantasies but she truly believed they were possible, not taking a second thought for her point and time. She thought that people would see that women really could pursue in their dream careers. She never had a second thought of being a housewife. She always wanted to work for herself. And often, thoughts of negativity crept into her mind, telling her,

Maybe your ambition is the reason why you don't have a man. Why must you be so bold? Nobody likes a lady who can't keep their mouth shut. 

     She always shook off those thoughts as her negative-side trying to pull her away from her dreams. She often shook it off as satan trying to pull her down from her hopes. And she was a religious person, one of the many attributes of women her age in her time. So it was no big deal for her to have wandering thoughts such as that. Just as she was reaching her destination, she took her gaze off of the buildings for a singular second, and just as she looked over, she crashed into somebody.

"Oof--!"

     She exclaimed, immediately getting on her knees to gather her papers. As she gathered her papers she straightened out her outfit with one hand, the other holding her papers as she tried to look over and console the one she carelessly bumped into.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry, are you...?"

     She hesitated for a moment, laying eyes on the person in front of her. It seemed to be a pale-skinned man around her age. Sixteen to seventeen perhaps. His eyes were piercing red tint as his raven-black hair fell in subtle waves to the back of his neck. Her heart skipped a beat, she was both in fear that she had bumped into a man of his stature and in worry if he was okay. She instinctively held out a hand, a hand which was adorned with a frilly white glove. The man in front of her grunted and was flushed with embarrassment. 

Before he even looked around to see who had bumped into him, he glanced around anxiously to see if anybody had witnessed him falling. As he looked up and saw her, his eyes widened. He hesitantly took her hand and brushed himself off, murmuring a sheepish "sorry" as he gazed at her. She would smile and giggle, replying reassuringly with,

"Nonon! It's okay, don't worry about it!"

      As she spoke, she waved her hand to dismiss the manner. He smiled at her a bit, it wasn't a wide, ecstatic smile, but it was something that showed that he wasn't unhappy about anything. She looked at him, and held out her hand,

"Well, since I bumped into you so abruptly, I think it's only fair that I introduce myself,"

     She began, the man in front of her now locking eyes with her as he straightened his posture, being about seven inches taller than her as she held out her hand and continued,

"I'm Avrielle DeFrancis,"

       The girl spoke, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she looked down at the ground for a moment, proud yet at the same time embarrassed at her name. Just then, a firm grasp was cupped around her hand as she looked up at the boy in front of her. He then spoke, not confidently but at least speaking,

"...Ich bin Fritz. Fritz Kleinen. Es ist schön Sie kennenzulernen."

     Avrielle's eyes lit up with recognition for the phrase. She had known German her entire life, she had learned it by heart. Everybody always considered her weird for liking the country, but she did, and she knew nothing could stop her from loving the country she so admired.

"Danke! Dir auch!"

     Fritz's face looked downcast before she began to speak back to him. His expression then lit up as he heard the words come out of her mouth. He smiled and shook her hand gently, his touch firm yet unwilling all the same. Just then, Avrielle looked over at a clock after a moment of their hands releasing from each other. She gasped and looked back at Fritz, a look of rushed intention on her face as she huffed out, 

"Oh. I have to go! treffen uns morgen zur gleichen Zeit hier!"

     She rushed out, dashing away to her destination as she glanced back at him. He had a starstruck expression on his face as he called back, surprisingly in English, though he had a heavy German accent,

"I'll see you here tomorrow, then!"

     She smiled, and took one more gaze back at him before she looked forward and rushed off to where she was meant to truly be, trying to collect her thoughts together whilst readjusting herself to look presentable.