If Only She Knew

3. Pieces of Her

What was she even doing there?

*

Two years ago...
Big Bucharest, Ariana and Joseph perspective

"What do you wanna know? I have no secrets," Ariana smiled.

"First... Where did you graduate?"

"Harvard. You?" Ariana said simply.

"The college in town." Joseph's smile didn't fade one bit. "National University of Big Bucharest."

Ariana laughed.

"I was close to being a NUBB student too. I sold my soul to Harvard and graduated early. What subject have you studied?"

"Mechanical engineering. Still studying. I'm going to get my Master's degree this year." Joseph made vivid gesticulations.

"Smart guy," Ariana commented, looking at him sleepily. "So what do you plan to do after having learned all this engineering?"

"Become an engineer, obviously." He waved his hand through the air.

"Oh, and me who I thought you might have a different motivation for studying engineering." Ariana waddled her head.

"Like what, say you?"

"Hmm, like a plan to build an electric shuttle mobile house and go live on the moon. Or contribute to humankind in some new way." Ariana chuckled now, dreamily.

"That would be a lonely life, wouldn't it? Also, what you mean can be done by an electric engineer, in collaboration with a designer, the car manufacturing industry and the NASA. I think? But to satisfy your imagination, yes, I actually studied engineering with a dream in mind."

"A dream?"

A dream? Did she even have one?

"I want to become a ship builder and in the end a ship owner. I really would love a sailor's life, I think. But I wanna create a ship, on my own. Then travel, out there overseeing the blue, blue oceans and seas of the world. The bigger part of the Earth is covered by water bodies, as you know."

"So you don't wanna be stripped and confined to the smaller part, i.e., the continents," Ariana pointed out.

"Right on cue!" Joseph smiled.

"You know, all this talk is filled with emotions and all but it still makes me dizzy, and I haven't even kissed alcohol today, and you know-"

"Hush, let's just go upstairs." Joseph winked as if he couldn't wait to suggest that.

"Do you wanna go upstairs?"

"What's in it for me if I'll go upstairs with you?" Ariana gave him her most innocent, mysterious look.

"You'll see."

*

Joseph led her up a flight of stairs in the common living building.

His flat, a musky smelling one, held that same warm and cozy atmosphere that the local downstairs had.

Joseph lived alone except for a certain white, fluffy Persian cat named 'The Mistress'.