006: Moments like this

It wasn't long before I was on my way home. The sun showed itself from its best side and has been since this morning. No wonder the pictures from the photo shoot turned out so well. I even still had the roses in my hair because I thought they were absolutely gorgeous. With them I almost felt like a princess.

Modeling had been a good distraction for me. In the meantime I had calmed down a bit again. I even whistled softly to myself and walked through the beautiful park. How I was looking forward to summer! I was the typical summer girl. Summer, sun and hot temperatures - that was so wonderful! What I was most looking forward to was that most of the cloudy weather would evaporate.

I also coped with the spring. There wasn't a season that didn't suit me. Sometimes modeling made me feel like a chameleon. After all, we had to prepare for each shoot individually. The fresh air that I breathed in on my little walk felt incredibly good. She strengthened me from within and visibly relaxed me. But I thought about what I could do with the early evening. Dusk had already set in and the sun was already going down.

Maybe I should hurry a bit, I didn't like walking alone in the dark at all. I should have paid even more attention to my surroundings. I hadn't realized I'd left the park and headed straight for a busy road.

The sound of engines pulled me out of my thoughts. Before I could look around, I saw a red Ferrari coming towards me at a very high speed. "Oh god, please don't!" I yelled, so shocked I couldn't move.

Go on, I thought, come on, move! My mind was swept away, and I still couldn't move when I should have. Actually, I had no intention of dying when I was only twenty-six years old, apparently a higher power saw things differently.

If only I had paid attention to my surroundings, like I always did! But no, I stupid cow had to drift off in my dream world. That was also something about me that I didn't really like. I was a passionate dreamer and that's why it had to happen at some point.

And yet fate was kind to me. In a flash, something threw itself on me, wrapped its arms roughly around me and rolled onto my side with me. I bumped my head and the poor roses were shredded too. The most important thing about the whole thing, however, was that nothing had happened to me and my rescuer. Or rather stalker.

When I looked up, my pupils dilated. His gaze was also in my eyes. "Are you all right?" he asked me, but I heard his voice muffled. Tears were running down my cheeks for a long time, which I blamed on my sensitivity.

He gently brushed them away and looked at me questioningly. I wanted to answer yes, but my mouth was bone dry and I just couldn't manage to get a single sound out. His arms were still on my shoulders.

His expression turned worried. "Please talk to me, Giulia. are you in shock Do you want me to take you to the hospital?” Jakob kept talking to me and somehow he really sounded like he was really worried about me. I was finally able to react halfway. I shook my head violently and coughed. His weight was gradually becoming too heavy for me.

Nevertheless, I didn't move, this unusual moment of closeness was just too beautiful for that. There should be several moments like this. His eyes had taken on an unmistakable shine after my rather sparse reaction. He even seemed visibly happy about it.

But the relief left my face in the next moment. He had a nasty scratch on his left cheek. Isn't it because of me? But there was one good thing about the discovery: I had finally found my language again. "What are you doing here?" I asked breathlessly.

The corners of his mouth turned up, but unfortunately only very slightly. Then he said quietly, "It doesn't matter. It's much more important that you get back on your feet." I blushed as he was still lying on top of me and made no move to get up even though he basically hadn't said anything else just then. If only indirectly.

A little embarrassed, I said: "Um, yes... Can you please...?". "What?" he asked me. Apparently he really didn't understand that I couldn't get up with his weight still on me. He also seemed a bit confused to me. “Well… get off me. Otherwise, uh, I can't get back on my feet like you wish," I stammered and could almost feel my cheeks blushing.

All the same, Jakob finally stirred, albeit a little slowly and still not quite coming to himself. It probably didn't go unnoticed by him either. He even gave me a hand, which I gratefully accepted. After we brushed the dirt from our clothes, I looked at some decapitated rose petals.

A little sadly I said: "It's a shame about the beautiful roses, I liked them so much". Without hesitation, the man bent down in front of me and collected the three flowers. He pressed two of them into my hand before he got closer and closer to my hair with the other one.

At first I didn't understand what he was trying to do, but then it dawned on me. He wanted to put them in my hair, which was completely disheveled from his rescue operation. That was so sweet! I almost started to melt and tried tensely to keep still.

The first rose was quickly positioned again, but he had to smooth out the second one first. "Does that fit?" he asked me very politely, whereupon I only breathed a soft yes. He quickly put that in my hair too, as well as the third.

I looked around. There was no sign of the driver who almost ran me over. The hustle and bustle on the street just continued normally, as if nothing had happened. "That asshole!", I heard Jakob hiss next to me and when I looked at him a bit horrified, he said: "Excuse me, but... you know yourself that it's pretty dangerous here".

Was he blaming me? Oddly enough, I just really didn't care. "You probably saved my life," I admitted without thinking to him, whereupon he stroked his hair, slightly embarrassed. Of course, they were perfectly gelled, apparently he could not do without gel.

He breathed in a little helplessly, then whispered under his breath, "Isn't it a kind of duty to help other people? It's clear that I won't just walk by". After his words, my face went a little white. He almost seemed like a stranger to me, like Justin before.

To be honest, I never would have believed Jake to think like that. He amazed me even more now. "Unfortunately, not many people see it the way you do," I said. "I know, take care Giulia," he replied, wanting to leave, but I couldn't, no, didn't want to let him go. Not after he saved my life.

So I followed him and grabbed his arm. His eyes bored into mine, but he wasn't angry or triumphant - I hadn't forgotten that he just wanted to lay me - but so soft I was almost afraid he might crumble.

what should i tell him The truth, I thought. "Um, I want to thank you! It's not every day that my life is in danger and you save me. And besides…” I started and had to swallow a big lump. "And also? Is there something wrong with you?” Jakob wanted to know immediately and searched my face for scratches. How sweet! "And besides, I don't want to be alone right now," I murmured, hoping he hadn't understood.

Unfortunately, he was very comfortable with that. "It's good," he said. “To thank you, I would like to invite you to a café. It would be best now,” I said, concentrating on sounding as normal as possible again. Astonishingly, Jakob replied: "I'd love to, but you should know that I would save you again at any time without hesitation".

His words warmed my heart immensely. It's been a long time since a man treated me with such respect. It was all the more incomprehensible to me that Jakob was otherwise the playboy from the picture book. Still, I was wary of him. But that didn't stop me from replying to his answer. "Thanks, that's good to know," I said, whereupon he said that he knew a very nice café.

"Are you really alright?" Jake broke through the awkward silence that had spread between us as we made our way to the coffee shop. Somehow I was quite glad that he wanted to talk to me. "Yeah, it's really nothing. I'm just a little concerned about your bruise,” I countered, glancing at his affected cheek.

Jakob then looked at me with a smile. Then he said: "Just burn a little bit and that will heal too. The main thing is that you are safe and not injured”. I was beginning to get the feeling that he was up to something, but since I had absolutely no proof of it, I pushed the thought into the corners of my mind.

I thought almost feverishly what I could say to that. Luckily, the man took the floor again. "I'm incredibly happy that nothing happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself for that," said Jakob. "Why not?" I wanted to know quietly, because I couldn't believe what he had just said. “Quite simply because no one deserves it. Well, there are a few people I wouldn't care about, but you're not one of them and I don't want to yell at it," he admitted to me.

Why couldn't he just be so nice all the time? He totally confused me with his strange behavior. First he was a horny macho and now he was... yes, he was a normal person. I wasn't stupid. I knew it was probably just a ploy on his part, but something deep inside told me he really had no ulterior motives.

Maybe I was just gullible, I didn't know. However, I still distrusted him. I didn't even know this guy. What did I know great about him? His name was Jakob Di Izmir, he was twenty-two years old and the little brother of Tizian, my best friend.

It was this man who pulled me out of my thoughts. "We are there. Where would you like to sit down?” Jake asked me as we stood at the entrance of a really fancy coffee shop. "I would suggest we move to a quieter corner or else the media will say we're a couple," I suggested with a small grin, which he even returned.

I continued to stand there, waiting for him to finally go inside. After all, it wasn't for nothing that he stood in front of me. "After you," he said a little uncertainly, stepping aside. He wanted to let me go first? Okay, now I was sure that he had taken something. After all, he was also known in part for not being quite the charmer.

With slightly shaky legs, I finally stepped past him while he watched me closely. Almost too accurate for my taste. "Thank you," I mumbled so quietly that he actually couldn't understand it, which he did very well. He said it wasn't a problem.

I quickly looked for a quiet corner, which I even found and not a minute later we were sitting across from each other at the table. The walls of the café had been painted a soft red. The window sills, on the other hand, are cobalt blue. The room was lit with rather classy chandeliers, which I liked right away. Even the dark brown furniture appeared to be antique.

I kept looking around admiringly, but then Jakob said: "That's exactly why I love this café so much". "Because it's so old furnished?" I wanted to know. "I agree. Somehow I've always found the style beautiful, I guess I got that from Ian," he actually addressed his older brother. But since I was afraid of a change in his mood if I asked him about Titian, I said euphorically: “I feel the same way. I think this cafe is really classy”.

In the next moment, however, I devoted myself to the map. This showed me a plentiful selection, so that I first had to think about what to take. My counterpart, on the other hand, didn't even look at it. Apparently he knew his stuff so well and already knew what he wanted to take.

My eyes kept darting helplessly over all sorts of offers. “If I may give you a tip, definitely have the iced coffee. This is by far the best I've ever had,” Jake advised, for which I was quite grateful. "But I would also like to have something to eat, do you happen to know more about that?" I asked him.

He seemed to think about something, but then his face brightened. As enthusiastic as ever, Jakob said: "They make very good turkey schnitzel with paprika here and the sauce is really awesome!". "Actually, I just wanted a little something," I replied, laughing at his enthusiasm. "If you want, we can share it. There won't be any problems with the staff here,” he let me know, somewhat precociously. Of course I said yes.

A waiter came up to us and took our order. Now all we had to do was wait for our order. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to behave towards Jakob. This encounter with him has been very nice so far, but unfortunately I couldn't yet know that saying goodbye would be anything but that.