I Will Always Love You (3 page)

“Oh, this isn’t my first festival in Germany. I’ve been to other festivals
when I was younger and my family and I were here visiting. But I’m having
a really good time,” she said as she gazed into eyes that she thought were a
light blue just like a Chicago summer sky. She also noted that the white tee
shirt he was wearing was in perfect contrast to the thick, dark hair on his chest
that was poking out the top of the shirt.

“How long are you here for?”

“Only six weeks. I start college at the end of August.”

“So, you are eighteen years old?”

“Yes.”

“I will be twenty in December, and that is when I will go into the army for
two years. For now, I go to the university.”

What is your major?”

“Major? I do not understand what that is,” Stefan said with a perplexed
look on his face.

“Oh, I’m sorry. A major is what you are studying in school. What you will
do when you graduate
?
”

“Oh, now I understand. My ‘major’ is writing. I would like to be an author
when I am finished my studies and my time in the army.”

“If you want to be a writer, then why are you going into the army?”

“All German men must give two years to the German army when they are
twenty years old.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Melissa said as their friends returned to the table.

“I see that you and Stefan are having fun,” Brigitte said to her cousin.

“Yes. He seems very nice.”

“Would you like to dance, Melissa?”

Melissa looked up to see Stefan standing over her. She looked at
hercousin
who had a big smile on her face.

“Go,” Brigitte urged.

As Stefan led Melissa to the dance floor, she had butterflies in her stomach
for the second time that night.
I hope I don’t step on his feet
, she thought to
herself.

Stefan took Melissa into his arms as they began to sway to the music.

“You will have to forgive me if I step on your feet, Melissa. I do not have
much practice with dancing.”

She smiled up at Stefan, who at 6’ tall was several inches taller than
Melissa even though she was wearing high heeled sandals. “I was just hoping
that I wouldn’t step on your feet.”

“Well, I suppose we will both have to help each other on the dance floor.”

Dancing in Stefan’s arms, Melissa felt as if she were in heaven.

“Do you have a boyfriend in America, Melissa?”

“No. I really don’t have much experience dating,” she replied honestly.

“Good.”

“What?” Melissa looked up at Stefan with a puzzled look on her face. She
immediately saw that he was embarrassed.

“I did not mean, I um,” he stammered. Stefan looked into Melissa’s green
eyes, took a deep breath, and boldly plunged ahead. “I would like to see you
more while you are here in Germany.”

“I would like that, too,” she said as the song came to an end. “I suppose
that we aren’t too terrible at dancing. We didn’t step on each other’s feet once
during the entire song.”

“Yes. We dance very well together.” He led Melissa back to the table.

Brigitte stood up and announced, “It is time to go.”

“Already?” Melissa looked from her cousin to Stefan and back to her
cousin. She was not ready to leave the man who very quickly captured her
heart.

“Yes. Papa gave us a curfew. And if we do not make the curfew, then we
will not be able to come to the festival tomorrow night.”

“Then you should go,” Stefan said. “I definitely want to see you here
tomorrow night, Melissa.”

“Okay,” Melissa reluctantly said as Brigitte and Rolf exchanged a look of
amazement.

As Brigitte was saying good night to her boyfriend, Melissa was saying
good night to Stefan. “I had a really good time tonight.”

“So did I. I am very happy that I met you, Melissa. You are a very pretty
girl.” Stefan caressed her cheek with the back of his knuckles.

Melissa looked up into Stefan’s blue eyes and felt something that she
never felt before. She felt a complete connection with a man. She felt as if she
found her soul mate.

“Melissa, we need to go now,” Brigitte called as she and Rolf began to
walk out of the festival tent.

“I have to leave now,” she said with regret. “But I’ll be back tomorrow
night.”

“Good. I cannot wait to see you again.” He gave her a wide grin.

“Goodbye.”

“Not ‘goodbye’, Melissa.
Tschuess
.”

What does that mean?”

“That means ‘see you soon’,” Stefan replied.

With a smile, Melissa said, “
Tschuess
,” before she turned and walked out
of the festival tent.

* * *

“It looked like you and Stefan had a really good time,” Brigitte said on the
short ride home.

“Yes. He is very nice. But I don’t think that he is shy at all.”

“To tell you the truth, Rolf and I have never seen Stefan like he was
tonight. I cannot ever remember him asking a girl to dance. He must really
like you.” Brigitte glanced over to see her cousin’s reaction.

“Do you really think so?” Melissa asked with hope in her voice.

“Yes. I think so,” Brigitte said with a chuckle as she pulled her car into the
driveway of her parents’ home.

Chapter 4

“What do you girls have planned for tonight?” Karl Hoffman asked his
daughter and niece as they sat down to dinner.

“We are going to the festival tonight, Papa,” Brigitte answered as she
spooned a helping of warm potato salad onto her plate.

With a furrowed brow, Karl looked at his daughter. “Again?”

“We had a good time last night, Papa. And Melissa even met a boy.”
Brigitte looked at her cousin sitting across the table from her and gave her a
wicked grin.

“What is this? A boy!” Karl exclaimed. “I am not sure that your parents
would approve, Melissa.”

Melissa’s jaw dropped as she stared at her uncle.

“Now, Karl, stop teasing Melissa. You know that she is allowed to date,”
Inge said to her husband.

Karl threw his head back and laughed. “I know. I know. But I could not
resist teasing her.”

Brigitte rolled her eyes at her cousin who was trying to regain her
composure.

“So which boy did you meet, Melissa?” asked Inge.

“Stefan Koehler,” Brigitte answered before Melissa had a chance to.

Inge nodded her approval. “Oh, he is a very nice boy, and he comes from
a good family, too.”

“Just make sure that he treats you like a lady, Melissa,” Karl remarked.
“And remember, you are only here for six weeks. There is no need to ‘fall in
love’.”

Melissa looked down at her plate.
It might already be too late
, she thought
to herself as she pushed the food around on her plate.

“They are just spending some time together, Papa,” commented Brigitte.
She turned her attention to her cousin. “Melissa, we better go now.”

“Okay.” Melissa, still deep in thought about Stefan, stood up and followed
her cousin out the door.

“Do not pay any attention to my father. He loves to tease everyone,”
Brigitte said as she got into her car.

“I know,” she said absentmindedly as she thought that maybe her uncle
was right. Maybe she and Stefan should only be friends and nothing more.
But it is already past the friendship stage, at least for me
, she thought as
Brigitte put the car in gear and zoomed off into traffic.

* * *

At the festival, Melissa and Stefan were inseparable. They danced
together, ate together, and talked incessantly. “Melissa, do you want to go for
a walk?” Stefan asked.

“Okay,” she agreed as she stood up.

“Do not get lost,” Brigitte teased as they walked away from the table.

“I could not stop thinking about you last night,” Stefan said as Melissa fell
into step next to him outside of the festival tent. They began to walk on the
side of the road under a clear sky with thousands of shining stars.

“I thought about you, too.” She gave him a shy grin.

Stefan nodded. “I was thinking that you are here for only a short while and
that it might be better for both of us if we were just friends.”

Melissa stopped in her tracks.

Stefan turned to face her. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Is that how you really feel about me? That you only want to be my
friend
?”

“I am just thinking about what is best for both of us. I do not want either
one of us to get hurt.”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Stefan. But I have to be honest with you. This
might sound crazy because I know that we have only known each other for
twenty-four hours, but I already think of you as more than just a friend.”

“You do?” He reached over and took Melissa’s hand in his own.

“Yes, I do.” She looked up into his blue eyes and continued. “It’s hard to
explain. I’ve never felt like this before.”

“I think of you as more than a friend, too.” Stefan drew Melissa closer to
him. Engulfing her in his arms, he leaned dow
n and gave her a sweet and soft
kiss. She closed her eyes and melted. Reaching up, she pulled Stefan closer
to her as the kiss heated up. Melissa slowly parted her lips to allow Stefan to
invade her mouth. Moaning softly, she surrendered to all of the passions that
she was feeling.

After a few moments, Stefan pulled himself away from Melissa. He
looked down at her, and in a thick voice said, “I think this may become very
complicated.”

“I know. But I can’t help myself.”

“I feel the same way. But we need to be adults about this and not do
anything hasty. If you know what I mean,” Stefan said as he looked deeply
into Melissa’s green eyes.

Melissa lowered her gaze as she blushed. “Yes, I know what you mean.
And you should probably know that I am still a virgin.”

“Good,” Stefan said with a grin. “So am I.”

“Really?” Although Brigitte told Melissa that Stefan did not have much
experience with girls, she was still surprised to hear this declaration.

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No, of course not. I was just a little surprised.”

“I wanted to wait for the right person. And I think that I have found her.
But, I still want to take things slowly. Is that okay?” he asked tentatively.

“Yes, that is fine.” She gave him a big smile.

“Come.” He once again took Melissa’s hand in his own. “We should get
back to the festival.”

Chapter 5

Melissa was thoroughly enjoying her vacation in Germany. During the
day while Stefan was working his summer job, she and Brigitte went
sightseeing and shopping. They usually had company of Inge or some of
Brigitte friends. Melissa was learning so much about Germany and its
culture. But no matter how much fun she was having during the day, Stefan
was always on her mind. She would count down the hours until they could be
together again.