A Thing Called Love

Chapter 2

Rosemarie Albrecht frowned as Elvis Presley invaded her mind yet again.

She was sitting at the long table that occupied the teachers lounge with a cup of coffee in front of her. The only people currently present were Ilse Kuhn a middle aged matron who looked exactly as one would picture a stereotypical strict teacher and Hugo Gutzman a small skinny man of 60 with a bald head and glasses. Neither one of them was very talkative and that suited Rosemarie just fine.

Nobody at school, teacher or student, knew that she was an Elvis Presley fan. No one that was except for her ex boyfriend Hans Schneider- but Hans would keep his mouth shut if he knew what was good for him.

It all started when Elvis became an overnight sensation. He elicited strong feelings of either adoration or hatred in people, so Rosemarie wanted to know what exactly the big deal was. She ended up falling in love with the sound of his beautiful voice in the process. Of course she had always thought that he was handsome, but she never fantasized about meeting him like some of her older students would. It was funny how things worked out sometimes, because now she did meet him and had nothing to show for it.

When they met, her heart was beating so fast she was almost afraid that it would burst out of her chest. She felt as if she would fall over any second when she escorted him to the main street. But he couldn't have known; she'd masked it well because she'd figured that the last thing he needed was a giddy fangirl when he had gotten himself lost already.

He had the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. And he was so tall, much taller than she thought he would be. The green uniform of the U.S Army was no longer a novelty around town, but he wore it like no other.

He seemed so down to earth and easygoing, a real gentleman. He looked so shocked when she addressed him by his last name- as if it wasn't printed on his uniform in large, bold letters. It was hard to believe that he had been here. Out of all places in the world. Rosemarie had spent her entire life here and if there was one thing that she knew, it was that nothing exciting ever happened in this town.

Rosemarie shook her head in a final attempt to banish Elvis Presley from her thoughts. It wasn't as if she was ever going to see him again.

"Der Schweinehund ist hier!" (The pig is here!)

A familiar voice screamed. Hans burst in, tossing an open magazine onto the table.

"Beruhig dich, Hans (Calm down, Hans)," Frau Kuhn scolded as though he were a child.

"Ja, ja," Hans mumbled as he stalked over to the coffee machine to pour himself a cup. "Warts' bloß ab" (Just wait and see).

Rosemarie picked up the magazine and scanned the article, which proclaimed that the famous Elvis Presley was currently stationed in her home town. Of course she was aware of this already, but something else about the article caught her attention. It listed his birth date: January 8th, 1935. Unless a mistake had been made, they were were the same age exactly, born on the same day, in the same year yet across the earth from each other.

Rosemarie stayed silent, like she always did when Elvis Presley came up at school. She hoped that her expression did not give anything away. She had barely discarded the magazine when Herr Gutzman picked it up.

"Oh Himmel (Oh heavens)," he muttered as his eyes scanned the pages.

"Sag I doch, (That's what I'm saying)" grumbled Hans. He joined the party with his coffee, looking at Rosemarie as if daring her to speak. When she didn't, he continued his rant about Elvis Presley.

Rosemarie lowered her head and placed a flat hand on her forehead while trying to push down the annoyance she felt.

God, what was it that she had seen in Hans? It must have been a momentary lapse of reason. Her mother held the firm believe that Rosemarie should be married by now. Gertrude Albrecht did not understand nor appreciate that these were changing times. Rosemarie would be twenty four in January, not forty four. She still had some time left before marriage and children became unattainable.