Narcissus

Chapter Thirteen

We got the tram to central station, and I found myself 'accidentally' sitting next to Mrs Elderflower. She chose to turn away from me and look out the window, so I surrepticiously inched closer until our thighs were touching, and I saw her cheeks turn a light shade of red. I smirked, and stayed sat like that for the rest of the journey.

We arrived and she almost ran off the tram, but when we stood in groups I 'accidentally' found myself standing right next to her, my hand occasionally brushing hers, as her face seemed to be a constant shade of light red. We began another tour around the city, heading to the Oude Kerk, the oldest building in Amsterdam, a large, if not slightly ugly church. Once we arrived outside the church, we didn't actually get to go inside for another twenty minutes, as Dave forced us to stand outside, droning on about every single little detail about the church from who built it and with what materials to the current status of it. I recognised where we were - the Oude Kerk was situated right in the heart of the famous Red Light District. However, Dave had cleverly navigated us so that we avoided the main 'attractions' of the Red Light District, instead walking down relatively normal-looking streets.

We walked inside the refreshingly air-conditioned reception, one by one getting our cards swiped, then entered the church. It had an exhibition on, and I was blown away as I entered.

Everything was red. Not the building itself, not the pews or chairs or golden flaked pillars. But a translucent sheet of red covered every single window. The art installation, according to the information board in the reception, 'brings the Roman Catholic visual idiom back into the building, and is a reminder of the fury and destruction of the Beeldenstorm that preceded the Alteration of 1578. "It was immediately clear to me, during my first visit," said the artist, "that the Oude Kerk is a place that already works by itself. What the church needed was an extra layer to change the public's perception of the space." '

Whether you notice the artists intention or not, it couldn't be denied that it was incredibly visually stunning. So stunning, in fact, that Mrs Elderflower forgot she was ignoring me.

"Wow." the blonde breathed, standing beside me.

"This is wonderful." I muttered, and she turned and smiled briefly at me. The red light smoothed out her features so she could easily be mistaken for my age, and although I much preferred seeing every little detail of her face, every single eyelash and every single line, she still looked incredible, and my breath caught in my throat. Then she realised what she was doing, and turned away quickly, striding as fast as she could without making a sound in the almost silent church. I rolled my eyes and just walked away.

We left the church around half an hour later, but as we began to walk away from the Red Light District, I noticed something. It was a shop, that looked rather like a normal cornershop from back home in England, however the products advertised in the window were quite different.

"I'll be one sec." I whispered to Rachel and she grinned as I ducked into the shop, my plan to buy something then catch up with the group, without anyone noticing.

However, someone did notice.

"What are you doing!?" came a steely voice as I shoved something into my bag after paying.

"Uhh... nothing." I grinned.

"Clearly, you're doing something." Mrs Elderflower hissed, looking around herself with wild eyes at the various Cannabis products on display. Massive, 10cm long rolling papers, hundreds of grinders, weed in every form including butter and lollipops, pre rolled joints, hash, weed t shirts and socks... anything to do with weed you wanted, it was there. And Mrs Elderflower was livid.

"Honest, I'm not!" I swore, but I couldn't quite hide the massive, shit-eating grin on my lips as she held out her hand.

"Whatever you just bought, hand it over. Now."