The first time Vanessa remembered anything about him, was the day he sat directly behind her in the lecture hall. She hadn't known how much time had lapsed since he first arrived in their engineering class. He could have been taking the same class with her for half a semester already, or he could have been here only for two days, but today, for the first time, she noticed him. And he, she realized with blushing cheeks and tingling sensation all over her body, had noticed her as well.
Tall, handsome, and stereotypically German — to be honest, she had no idea what that meant, nor that it would probably leave a bad taste in her mouth after she started to seriously read up on the holocaust much later, an ignorance shared with most of her American friends at that age — he was what a man should look like, she thought. A man that she had been waiting for all her twenty-something-year-old life, someone worthy of her, both in looks and in intellect.
Their forty-strong engineering class consisted of nothing but the best and brightest students from all over the world. Most of them Americans, but there were a few incredibly smart students from India, Malaysia, and China. There were hardly any Europeans. Europeans don't generally come to the States for undergraduate schools because college-level education is free in most European countries. But today, for the first time, Vanessa was aware of the presence of the three European, and more precisely, German students. One, in particular, caught her eyes, and his name was Daniel.
Daniel. She turned his name over and over on her tongue. She liked the name.
She had forgotten how she had gotten his Facebook. Those days, everyone wanted to be on Facebook. Nowadays, you are ancient if you have Facebook. No, back then, Facebook was all the rage. You knew you were a privileged college kid if your college had been 'allowed' to use Facebook. And everyone wanted an invitation. Vanessa had gotten an invitation from a senior she looked up to, and Daniel must have his ways too, because one of them added the other person on Facebook before they had even spoken to each other in class.
Vanessa, now thirty-six, read the few texts they sent each other after they were connected on Facebook on her laptop, which was propped up by two cooking books she had never read on the kitchen counter. Her neck hurt from staring at the screen too long, but this was too important. She had to read them before she went to bed.
Daniel: Thanks Vanessa! Good look to you too! I've seen you with a guitar today... Oct 4th, 2006 1:14 AM
The first text felt like it was taken in the middle of a conversation, but there was nothing else before it. Vanessa also had to read it thrice before she realized Daniel must have meant 'good luck'. She smiled to herself, because the perfect German student's terrible English spelling was one of the adorable traits that made her like him more, that even someone like him had flaws.
Vanessa: How did your first test go? I think I did okay. Must be because of your 'good luck'. — I am taking guitar lessons every week. What fun classes are you taking?? Oct 4th, 2006 6:40 PM
Vanessa kept on reading their exchanges. There were very few messages and most of them were nothing special, except the hint of hesitation and flirtation, like the following messages, packed with youthful passion, in between the words.
Vanessa: I didn't see you in class today. I was looking for you.
Daniel: Sorry to make you look for me. To make up for it, you should let me listen to you play guitar. What are you doing this Saturday? I would love to hang out with you.
Vanessa: I have only just started learning. I could play something for you at the end of senior year, maybe. — Let's hang out this weekend. My phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Daniel: My phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. Iye geceler.
Vanessa: What is 'Iye geceler'? I don't know that many German words. But I do know words like 'Uber'. I think I know it from Superman.
Daniel: 'Uber' means 'over'. And I am sure you can find out what 'Iye geceler' means. Let's make that your homework.
Almost fifteen years, and she still hadn't figured out what 'Iye geceler' meant. But having known who Daniel really was, she finally knew how to search for an answer.
On Google search, she typed the term, and added the word, 'Turkish' behind it.
Google Translate's mini-window popped up, and it showed the translation to be 'Good night'.
Vanessa sighed.
Fifteen years. Fifteen years had gone by.
She wanted to find Daniel. She wanted to tell him that she had finally figured it out, that she cared, that she had always cared but apparently not enough, and he knew that, that was why he disappeared from her life completely. And now, fifteen years later, Vanessa wanted to find him and tell him that she had never stopped loving him.
