The Adventures of Elisabeth and Frederick - Part 3

"One of my favourite artists is coming to Berlin in about two weeks," said Elisabeth one night.
"Who's that?" Frederick replied.
"Escapade - he's this absolute sensation in the music world, he mixes all kinds of tones and genres into one huge visual and auditory experience. It's mostly things you can lift your arms to and dramatically sway from side to side. Or slow dance."
"Is that a hint?"
"I never hint. Will you come with me?"
"Of course I will. But you should know that us Berliners take our dancing very seriously."
"Can you teach me?"
"It can't be taught. It's just letting yourself be transported, as if you were floating in water and the strong currents moved you. Just like that."
"Sounds like pretentious bullshit to me."

They spent the concert never leaving each other's side. Frederick enjoyed himself immensely, and to Elisabeth's delight, he lifted her onto his shoulders when Escapade played her favourite song. They left themselves to be immersed in the mood and the sweat of the wild crowd and eventually, they shut out the world, remaining the only two people that mattered on earth that night.

Elisabeth often saw their relationship as an out-of-body experience. Sometimes, when they lay intertwined at night, or when she would watch him stack his books alphabetically in a shelf she had helped him put up, she saw them in their undeniable love bubble. It scared her, as she had been in another love bubble not long before she had chosen Berlin, and all the passion then had turned sour very quickly.
When Frederick had asked her to move in with him, Elisabeth said no. It was a choice divided between fear and the desire to maintain some independence. She had calmly explained this to Frederick, who had shrugged in a rather un-German fashion: they spent so much of their time together, why not make it official?
"Because then there would be no more mystery between us. We'll know the smallest, most insignificant details about one another, like how often you do your laundry or how long it takes me to brush my hair in the morning."
Her long hair was her pride and joy.

"I already know that," he replied without sulking. Instead, he reached over to her nightstand, grabbed her wooden comb and proceeded to brush through the reddish brown mane on the head of the woman he loved.

The Adventures of Elisabeth and Frederick - Part 2

Their adventures began with a spontaneous trip to Prague. They walked and explored every part of town and found people who would take their picture without running away with the expensive camera.
The weekend turned out to be far too brief, as these moments always are, but it left a lasting impression on both of them. Frederick realised that Elisabeth was a better traveling companion than anyone he had known before. When they fought, it didn't take long for them to forget or find a relatively diplomatic solution, usually one that would require no clothes at all and nothing but each other's embrace. Elisabeth understood that Frederick, unlike the boys and men she had known before, was the opposite of someone who liked to create unnecessary drama out of thin air. His jealousy episodes if one can call them that were tempered and overwhelmingly short. And more than that, he never gave her a reason to be jealous.
Their conversations deepened with time. They spoke of their absentee parents as well as the ones they loved very much.
Elisabeth told Frederick of her fear of being lonely and the difference between that and being alone. The latter she didn't mind. The former was something her loveless mother had settled on her. It wasn't good, but it was nevertheless a part of Elisabeth, one Frederick would learn to love.

With the passing of months, Frederick's need for Elisabeth grew. It never manifested itself through grand displays of meaningless declarations or through boundless despair when she turned out not to be where he wanted her. His affections became more frequent. A touch of his fingers against the warm skin of her neck, a soft kiss on her forehead when she slept or a deep sigh released into the forest of her long hair when their passion had been given into.
He adored her backside and she clawed in to his broad shoulders, as if they would save her from drowning.
It was not long until they fell into moments when all they would do was study each other. They craved to know the smallest and most intimate mannerisms of the other: the way their breathing slowed down when they had fallen asleep, how their neck strained after hours of work, how tension could be spotted in the way they wrote.

Little notes made their way into Frederick's pockets.
The most frequent one read: "I love you more than chocolate".

The Adventures of Elisabeth and Frederick - Part 1

E: The first time Elisabeth saw Frederick, he was standing at a ticket counter, chatting to a man with more tattoos than plain skin.
She looked twice. One of those rare moments when your eyes want to see what they have already seen again. A closer, deeper look - one that is needed should those eyes ever learn to love what is before them.
Frederick was a German of ancient Prussian descent, tall and built like the noble wardrobes of old. He wore a golden crown of thick hair on his head, reminiscent of his ancestry.
But what drew Elisabeth to him at first were his eyes. Bright green, like the freshly mowed grass on top of an untouched hillside.

F: Frederick had had a bad day. He was meant to go lose himself in the latest Hollywood blockbuster, something he did often and with great pride, but his friends cancelled their plans at the very last moment. He went all the same, even though the prospect of sitting alone in a dark room made him somewhat uncomfortable.
There at the ticket counter, he met Elisabeth. She too seemed to be on her own, yet much more comfortable with that fact than him. Elisabeth spoke first, something which Frederick would always cherish.
Holding up her ticket, she asked: "And you?"
He smiled: "Touché".

The film finished two hours later, but Elisabeth and Frederick did not go their separate ways until the early hours of the morning.

First, they fell in love with Berlin.. then with one another.

Caught Up With The Shadow

He almost didn't catch up with her.

Almost.

Scarlett heard him approach her before he had said a word. She turned back, suddenly icy again.

“Hi, hello,” he began breathlessly. “If this were a movie, you’d have given me your number in the time ellipses between shots.” He laughed, twirling his battered old cell phone in his hands.

Scarlett unabashedly looked him straight in the eyes.

The hope in his eyes almost faded away. As he opened his mouth, Scarlett-

“If you would like to ask me out, then ask me out properly. Even if your intentions are completely honourable and you just enjoy my company, do it like a man. Don’t hide behind the let’s get coffee sometime.”

She took a step closer to him, her eyes painfully penetrating his. But he couldn't look away.

“Be bold.” Scarlett took a deep breath and waited. This is where they all run and hide. The men today are nothing like they once were. They’re all cowards, hiding behind the “let’s be friends” or the “I don’t want anything heavy”.

“Are you always this friendly?” His feathers had been ruffled and yet he still looked… intrigued.

Scarlett was caught off-guard. For the first time in decades, Scarlett was caught off-guard. She had not lived this scenario out a thousand times before, she had no witty, deadly comeback, guaranteed to shut him down and make him go away. She was unprepared.

Scarlett let out a half-suppressed laugh. And then another, and another. She raised her eyes to meet his, finally emanating some warmth. She made no attempt to conceal the shining smile that followed.

“The thing is, if you’d like to see me again, I want to know that you want it above anything else in this precise moment. I'm not interested in a half-arsed attempt. If you want it, then show me that you do and how much.”

“Are you always this demanding?”

“I'm very demanding, yes, but this isn't it. Why would I spend a single instant of my time with someone who wasn't certain that he wanted to spend precious moments with me?”

Scarlett could see him processing her words quickly, trying to make a snap decision.

He cocked his head to the side, like he did in the cinema. Then –

“I think you’re interesting and I’d like to see you again.”

Scarlett kept her eyes fixed on him and extended a hand.

He took it with hesitation.

She blinked and through her smile, she softly said:

“Your phone.”

“Oh right. Yes.”

He handed it to her, shuffling his feet awkwardly. He looked to the ground, trying to conceal the little triumphant look on his face.

Scarlett typed her number and handed the phone back.

“Wait,” he said, as she began walking away. She stopped. “You haven’t told me your name.”

“No… I haven’t.” Scarlett smiled once more, finally turning away, and began her brisk walk to the tube station.

That was more than enough smiling for one day.

After The Second Film

“What did you think?”

His voice interrupted the post-film haze once again. Scarlett twitched with annoyance. This was one of the reasons why she went to the cinema by herself and never sat next to anyone.

After films ended, she always sat through the credits in silence, dreading the moment when the lights would be turned back on. They would drag her back to reality, kicking and screaming inside, parting once more with her true world, the reality that had been taken from her. She never liked to think about the fact that that world had never belonged to her completely. She was going to change that, once she had found what she was looking for. That would finally satisfy her and the thirst for recognition, the ultimate and sublime immortalisation in black and white. Scarlett took a deep breath.

“I think that it’s almost as disappointing as the first time I saw it.” In 1952, she silently added. “And now if you’ll excuse me-”

She wrapped her black faux fur around her neck, exposing her pale arms for a moment.

“You probably have somewhere to be, but listen-” he began, while Scarlett reached for her bag. “Give me your number, we’ll go for a pre-film coffee sometime.”

Scarlett turned around and, inexplicably, dazzled him with a smile.

“Why don’t you ring me at the end of the week and we’ll see…”

A promise lingered in the air between them. The man smiled back, surprised that he’d gotten her to gift him with a smile, and not a frosty one either. He searched his pockets for his phone, remembered something and turned to fish it out of his coat, lying over the seat in front of them.

When he turned back, Scarlett was gone.

Immortality At The Cinema

“I’ve seen you here before, haven’t I?”

The sudden flash of voice cut through the deep haze the film had left Scarlett in. As she fought to regain control over her senses, she turned her head slightly and raised her eyes to the figure standing next to the empty seats beside her.

“You have,” she replied. Her voice had an initial layer of coldness, something that was meant to put people off wanting to continue conversing with her, or God forbid, thinking she was approachable. Her British education had served some purpose after all. Distinctly unfriendly, but never discourteous.

The figure’s head bobbed in front of the light glaring from above. He must have been in his mid, maybe late twenties, longish brown hair tied up in a man bun and a tall, robust frame. He was Marlon Brando, with a modern twist.

Meeting people who reminded Scarlett of the past could have one of two effects on her. She’d drown in the few moments she’d give them of her life and then she’d spend a few hours sulking and searching for a release for her nostalgia. Usually this would materialise in the form of a mad film spree or five consecutive hours spent at the cinema. The other response was more violent and a whole lot bloodier.

This was different.

Marlon sat down next to her, his shoulder rubbing against hers. He was a lot taller than her. She liked that in a man. Errol had been about 6 foot 2.

“I think it’s one of her best performances. You know they said she went crazy after they finished it?”

“Her madness got her a second Oscar.” Scarlett surprised herself. Why was she engaging in any kind of conversation with this stranger? “That must be worth something.”

“I don’t know if I’d trade my mental sanity for an award,” he replied, still rubbing shoulders with her. The lower part of his face began twisting. She realised after a moment that he was smiling at her. A big, genuine grin spread across his face, making his eyes almost light up.

Scarlett felt herself begin to smile. She forced her lips into a slight pout, a trick she had learned in Old Hollywood. Smiling had never been fashionable. The half-pout half-smile was a gracious way of demonstrating superiority and control over one’s emotions.

“You clearly have never been famous before.”

“Have you?” He turned around to fully face her. Marlon studied Scarlett carefully, trying to understand if he had seen her before and if he had just made a complete fool of himself. He cocked his head to the side, quizzically. His eyes were a pleasant shade of Lulworth blue.

Scarlett caught herself in time.

“In another life perhaps.” Technically not a lie. I’m completely out of practice, she thought to herself. This time, her half-pout transformed into a smile. He won.

“You and me both.”

“Are you staying for the next film?”

“I am. Although nothing could top Streetcar at this point. Not even a good dose of Gene Kelly.”

“I wouldn’t have taken you for a Gene Kelly fan.” For the first time since he had sat down next to her, Scarlett looked at him properly. She searched for something in him, but came up empty-handed. No. He was no Flynn.

“Are you kidding? Singing In The Rain is the greatest musical on earth. I used to watch it every time it rained for a good year when I was six.” He laughed self-deprecatingly and ran a hand through his hair, raising his eyes to meet Scarlett’s.

After a few long moments, he broke the silence. “You don’t blink a lot, you know?”

“Does it make you uncomfortable?”

He considered his answer.

“No.” He blinked.

Scarlett looked at the blank screen in front of them and readjusted her faux fur stola around her shoulders.

His hand appeared from the side.

“I’m…”

Scarlett interrupted him.

“Tell me after the film.”

They sank into silent darkness together as the lights over them dimmed and the blank screen suddenly, joyously flickered to life again.

Vamp Alive

The first breath she took after she had died was painful. A cold, stabbing sensation all along her throat that carefully but surely spread throughout her chest. The second became the gateway to an addiction. She never stopped breathing after that.

Scarlett, or Frida de Sirois as she was known then, had been an actress in the early 1930s. Born to a distant, rigid British aristocrat and one of her Austrian lovers, she had been pampered with culture from an early age. She had someone to watch over her and keep her away from the world outside the doors of their Kensington mansion at all times.

But fate had other plans for her.

Scarlett would never become a Duchess or a Baroness.

A chance encounter with Errol Flynn at a society event had opened her eyes to everything she was missing out on by letting her mother dictate her future. Before meeting that scandalous rogue, who had already left a string of broken hearts throughout the English upper class, she had been happy to let others decide what was right and proper and what was not. He changed all that in a conversation that lasted a heartbeat. Scarlett said goodbye to the comforts of her old life and embarked on an adventure with the Tasmanian devil. After two weeks together, he introduced her to Marc Anthony Reiss, who was already one of the most influential players in Hollywood. He promised to make her a star.

And she would have become, if it hadn't been for Brenner and his faulty Delahaye 135, or so they said. The two were arguing when he swerved to avoid that shadow that had suddenly pounced in front of the car. After the collision with something else, Scarlett passed out, seconds away from death, who already held Brenner in his grips.

“No” The shadow’s frantic voice whispered. “No, not like this, it was never meant to be like this”.

The soft, female voice repeated herself again and again, until –

“Forgive me.”

Had Scarlett been conscious, the pain of the shadow’s fangs ripping through her skin would have been intolerable.

It was as if she had died after all. Her family would not look for her after the disgrace she had threatened to bring upon their name. For all her mother knew, Scarlett was begging on the streets of Hobart after being discarded by that diseased Tasmanian, and for all she cared, the woman who was no longer her daughter could rot there. The Tasmanian had left her too and married that awful French actress. If that wasn’t a sign that she had fallen from grace, then she didn’t know what was. Even the dirty prisoner didn’t want her anymore. She was no longer virtuous, beautiful or noble. She was no longer worthy of her title.

The Hollywood people wouldn’t spend too much time looking for her either. She wasn’t a well-known face yet and other actresses were proving to be ready to take her place in the pictures. Errol would miss her, but he had his hands full, as he always did.

Scarlett put down her empty Starbucks cup. She had finished reading a long review of the latest film about her old lover. It was an “in-depth and explicit” look at the rape allegations that surrounded him. She shook her head. Errol could be persuasive and he was always very charming, but he had a heart of gold. He would have never made anyone do anything against their will, especially not something as intimate as sex. She blushed a little, remembering their time together. No, she thought. He would have never touched those girls like that.

She looked down at her vintage Cartier watch. Time to go. The show would start soon. She quickly checked her hair in the little pocket mirror she always carried around. Everything was still in place: the ends of her straight hair were curled, the red lipstick beautifully seductive on her lips, the shimmery eye shadow and black liner around her eyes playing with the contrast of her cat-like blue eyes. Not a single wrinkle in sight. Scarlett didn’t look a day over 24.

It was the 18^th of May 2014.