Away From the Spotlight (48 page)

“Oh, come on.  You have to give me this one.  We only do this once and I want to do it right.”

“
All right
, but
I want it to be
just
you and me, okay?”

“I can agree to that.”

“Thank you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He kissed me a lot longer than he should have considering we were in a public place.

I tried unsuccessfully not to cry when we returned to the hotel to meet
Will’s
car to the airport.

Will turned to me and held my shoulders. 
“I want you to have fun.  I’m going to be working anyway so even if you were in London, we still wouldn’t see each other much.”

“A little is better than not at all.”

“You’ve had fun the
p
ast
few
weeks, haven’t you?
”  He tilted my head up to look at him.

“Yes.”

“Then continue as you have.  It’s only a
bout
ten
days
this time.”

He l
et go and I looked down again.

“I know.  It’s just hard to let go of you, and it’s even harder now
,
”
I said sullenly.

“We’ll have a lifetime.”

I smiled through my tears and Will kissed me before turning
away
to leave.

Pam and I were practically right behind him as we had to get to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, or Central Train Station, to catch an
eight o’clock
train to Stockholm.

The long train ride
to Stockholm
gave me
a welcome
opportunity to write postcards as I hadn’t sent any since
I was
in France. 
Pam and I
arrived
in Stockholm
just after Noon and did some sightseeing before
checking int
o our
small
hotel near Stockholm University.
  We walk
ed
around Gamla Stan, the city’s Old Town
, and did
a little shopping. 
Our evening out that night was
brief
when we realized how expensive it was to drink there.

The next day we
took
a boat tour of the archipelago at Pam’s request.  Pam was enjoying it immensely.  I thought it all started to look the same after a while
.  S
ince I was on a boat, I took the opportunity to snap a camera picture and text Will.

“On a boat again w/out u.  If u were here, I’m sure we could have found a quiet place alone.  Miss u.”

The return text
appeared
immediately. 
“I promise I’ll make up for it when u get here ;-)
ILY
.”

“
ILY
2”

I
became
sad
when I noted the
chill in the air and remembered being wrapped up in Will’s arms at night
on the Thames
in London. 
I wasn’t cold then
, a
nd, if
Will
were here, I wouldn’t be cold now.

The
never-ending
scenic tour finally finished
and
my mood improved when
we
visited
the Vasa Museum to see the Viking Ship. 
I had always been
somewhat
interested in Vikings since I
heard
a theory that red hair may have come from the
Vikings rather than the Celts.

That night, w
e went out to a
bar
near the
university
which was slightly cheaper than the
bar we visited briefly
the night before.  We
received attention from
some
Italian guys
which made
Pam happy. 
They also bought us drinks, which helped with our starving student
travel
budget. 
I tried to be sociable, but, honestly, I didn’t notice whether the
men
were attractive and witty or not.
All I kept thinking
about was
Will.

We spent the next day at
Skansen,
which was
sort of the Swedish v
ersion of Colonial Williamsburg, before getting on a
n
over
night train to Oslo
, Norway,
just after dinner.

We arrived midday
Thursday
in Oslo.
  We visited Vigeland Sculpture Park bef
ore checking into our centrally-
located
B&B
hotel.
The next
day, we
continued on the Viking theme,
visit
ing
the Viking Ships Museum
.  We then went to
the Kon-Tiki Museum and rested
back at the hotel
before we we
re to go
out
to a club
.

We picked the biggest club in Oslo and arrived fairly early
since
we
wanted to
have
dinner there and
had
heard that
there was
a long
line to get in
side
.  I wore the dress I had worn in Berlin as it was the only thing I brought for this sort of thing.  I giggled to myself when I remembered Will’s reaction to
it.

Pam and I were pretty popular that night.  First, at
twenty-five
years-old, we were on the younger end of the crowd.  Second, we had the two
redhead
s together thing going on.  Third, I think Will may h
ave been right about my dress.

Pam and I moved between the various rooms that played differing kinds of music.  We tended to go back and forth between the 80’s music in one room and the room playing
indie
British bands in another.
  We both were asked to dance a lot.  It was particularly fun when we ended up
in
a big group in the 80’s room acting very silly as we tried to dance like they did back then. 
W
e did it poorly and looked stupid, which made it even more fun.
 
I took a break to go to the restroom and
,
while waiting in the usual line, I decided to text Will.

“In Oslo & having fun as u asked.  What r u doing
2
nite?

The response was fairly quick.  “
P
ub w/cast & crew.  U?”

“How did u hear phone?” I tried to change the subject.

“On vibrate.  Hoped
2
hear from u.  What r u doing
2
nite?”

“Dancing.”

“Really?”

“Yes.  2 80
’
s music mostly.  Very silly.”

“W/just Pam?”

“Big group.”

“Wearing ur club dress?”

“Yes.”

“Figures.  Told u it would make u popular.”

“U make it sound like it’s obscene.  It’s not.  Just a little short.  So is everyone else’s here.  No big deal.”

“Not obscene.  Sexy.  Colors beautiful w/ur hair 2.”

“G
lad u like it.”

“Understatement.”

“Wish u were here.  Sure I could find a dark place like in Berlin.”

“Me 2.  We need
2
do that again.”

“How r ur costars?”

“Good.  Don’t worry.  I only have eyes for u.  Anyway, not a romantic part.  I play kind of a dork in this 1.”

“Not playing against type this time r u?”

“Very funny
;-)
”

“
ILY
.  C
u
in
5 days.”

“Can’t w8. 
ILY
2.”

I rejoined Pam and the large circle of people she was dancing with in the 80’s room.  We continued to dance the night away until the
early morning
hours.

Despite the fact that we were able to sleep in because our train wasn’t until Noon, we didn’t get a whole lot of sleep
due to the lateness of the hour in which we left the club
.  We figured we could do a little on the train, assuming we could get a car to ourselves.

We arrived in Copenhagen
, Denmark,
around nine at night and since we had overdone it a little in Oslo, we ended up just crashing at our
pension
rather than going out on th
at
particular
Saturday night.

The next day, we needed a little hair of the dog
despite the passage of time since our last drink
and thought that the Carlsberg Brewery Tour would be just what the
d
octor ordered.  It was.  After the tour, we decided to visit the Tivoli Gardens Amusement Park. 
We had an early lunch first to sober ourselves up enough to go on some of the rides.

I took a picture
of
the park from the
Ferris
wheel and sent it to Will with a text.  “At Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen after Carlsberg
Brewery
Tour.  Ride not best idea after beer
:-(
  C u in 3 days. 
ILY
.”

The return message came back about two hours later by which time we had sobered up enough to handle the rollercoaster and were standing in line for it.

“U weren’t sick were u?”

I responded
since
we had a few
more minutes in line
.  “No.  Better now.  Going on rollercoaster now.”

“Glad ur having fun.  Jealous of u
@
club tho.  C u in 3 days. 
ILY
.”

“
ILY
2.  U working today?”

“Yes.
  I wrap day u return.  C u
@
airport.”

“Can’t w8.  My turn on rollercoaster.  Have fun.”

“U2.  Miss u.”

Only a few hours later, Pam and I needed to catch the overnight train to Amsterdam, where we planned on spending
the last
few days before returning to London.

Although Pam and I were having a good time, I was getting anxious to return to Londo
n.  I missed Will terribly and
was very excited at the prospect of getting officially engaged.  Consequently, the time in Amsterdam
dragged.

There was plenty to see
,
although some of the things to do in Amsterdam did not appeal to me.  I was not a recreational drug user so the offerings in that regard didn’t tempt me.  The
R
ed
L
ight
D
istrict also didn’t have much appeal.  Not only were there the prostitutes sitting in the windows, there were also live sex shows.
  Not my cup of tea.  I had
seen
one of the shows
as part of a European
tour
the summer I went to Cambridge.  I actually found it kind of sad and managed to get blazing drunk that night along with my friends on the tour.

We visited the Anne Frank House on our first day and wandered around the canals.  On the second day, Pam humored me
by
going to the Rijksmuseum, although I was never a fan of the Dutch Masters, and the Van Gogh Museum.

While out at dinner that night, I decided to tease Will via text to
get
his reaction.

“
@
show in Amsterdam.  Thinking of u ;-)”

The response was immediate.  “What kind of show?”

“Seen the shows here?”

“Heard about them.”

“I’m kidding.  Been 2 1 tho’.  Just not this trip.”

“
Really
?”

“Yep.  Was 19.  Interesting experience.”

“Not interested now?”

“Those who can
,
do.  Tho
se who can’t
,
watch.  I’d rather do than watch
-
a
ltho’ it’s been a while since Berlin.”