He walked beside me, steady and unhurried, his hand still wrapped around mine, and as we headed for the station, I realised I wasn’t wondering where this was going anymore.
I was already in it.
Stefan
We stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the space opening out around us, tourists gathering, cameras raised, voices carrying in a dozen different languages.
Kieran stared up at the statues on top of the arch, then at its columns.
“Well?” I said after a moment.
He exhaled slowly. “It’s bigger than I thought.”
“They usually are.” I couldn’t resist.
He glanced at me, his lips twitching.
I held out my hand. “Give me your phone. You need proof you were here.”
He handed it over, and I stepped back to take the photo. When I was done, we stood there for a moment, watching the flow of people, the movement, the rhythm of the city at its most visible.
“This is very different from last night,” he said at last.
“How, exactly?”
“It seems less…” He searched for the word.
“Intense?” I suggested.
“That’s one way of putting it.”
I nodded. “This is the version Berlin shows everyone. Clean. Open. Easy to understand.”
Kieran glanced at me. “And the other version?”
I met his gaze. “That requires a little more curiosity.”
He smirked. “I’m beginning to think you’re enjoying this.”
“Oh, I am.”
“At my expense?”
I shook my head. “No—with you.”
He flushed.
My mouth appeared to have no filters this morning. Thankfully, Kieran didn’t seem fazed by it.
He scanned the landscape around us. “What’s that building over there, the one with the glass dome?” He squinted at it. “I can see people up there.”
“That’s the Reichstag Building, our parliament. There’s a sloping walkway that takes you all the way up. The view is spectacular from the top.”
He turned and stared along the Unter den Linden. “And what about that spire all the way over there, that looks like a needle. I could see that from the airport when I landed. What is it?”
“The Berlin TV tower in Alexanderplatz,” I told him. “It has a viewing gallery and a revolving restaurant. We could walk that way if you like.”
His face glowed in a way that had nothing to do with the sunlight. “Yes, please.”