March 8, 1940
Before I know it, a week has passed, and it's the evening of my date. I dance around my room as I try to figure out what to wear. Taking Frances' advice, I pull together something cute but warm to combat the chilly weather of Copenhagen in early March. I pin my hair away from my face and even put on a little bit of lipstick. When I walk downstairs, my mother stands up from her chair in the living room and claps her hands together.
"Oh sweetheart, you look beautiful!"
My father walks in from his study and a bittersweet smile forms on his face. "He's a lucky boy."
I sit down on the couch and wait for Jacob to get here. My leg starts bouncing, and I begin to fidget with the edge of my red dress. Frances instructed me to wear this one when I told her and Eva about my date. They were both elated for me and desperately wanted to meet him, but I wanted to get to know him first.
It had actually only been a few days since I saw Jacob. After my violin lesson with Mrs. Peterson on Wednesday, I rode to the bakery and told him that my dad demanded to meet him before we could do anything together. He seemed to be okay with this, although a little bit nervous.
"You're sure that your father isn't going to kill me, right?"
"No, I don't think so. Not in front of my sister, at least."
"Oh, okay. That makes me feel a lot better, thanks Ana."
My thoughts are disrupted by a series of knocks at the door. My father crosses the room and opens the door to greet him.
"Jacob," he greets.
"Mr. Clemensen," I hear.
"Come in."
My mother rushes over to the doorway. "Hello, Jacob. It's so nice to meet you! I'm Ana's mother."
"It's so nice to meet you too, Mrs. Clemensen. You have a beautiful home."
I stand up from the couch and walk into the doorway's view. His eyes widen when he sees me, and I hear him suck in his breath. He almost lets go of the bouquet of daisies that he's holding and he makes the motion to run his hand through his hair but stops himself from messing it up.
He looks incredibly handsome. Slicked back from his face, his hair is actually tamed for once. His tan high waisted pants make his legs seem even longer, and the blue of his sweater make his green eyes stand out behind his glasses. I notice that he's carrying a pack on his broad shoulders, but I'm not sure of what's in it.
"Ana, hello!" he stammers out. "You look... amazing. Incredible. Wow."
I try to hide my blush as a smile breaks out on my face. "Thank you."
Realizing my father was still standing next to him, Jacob's face turns a light shade of red, and he clears his throat. My mother comes to take the bouquet of daisies out of his hand to put them in some water.
"Behave yourself. Or else," my father warns.
"Yes, sir."
"Where will you be for the evening?"
"Østre Anlæg park."
"Have her home by nine o'clock. No later. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Satisfied, my father shakes his hand and kisses my forehead before going to sit in the living room. My mom tells us to have fun and ushers us out of the door after I put on my coat.
"So, why are we going to Østre Anlæg?" I ask.
"You'll see."
When we arrive at the park about fifteen minutes later, I understand what he means. He lets go of the pack resting on his shoulder and pulls out two pairs of ice skates.
"I love ice skating! How did you know?"
"Oh, I had no idea. I just really hoped you did so I wouldn't look like a fool."
The pond in the park is still frozen over, and snow remains in patches under the trees. The sunset reflects off the frozen water, painting the landscape with beautiful shades of pink, purple, yellow, and orange. Street-lamps cast shadows against the ground. The air smells crisp, the scent made stronger by a breeze that rustles the trees. I shiver from the cold and wonder if I'm in a fairy tale.
Butterflies flutter in my stomach when Jacob grabs my hand and pulls me on to the lake once we have our skates on. He holds my arm in his while we make laps around the pond. His cheeks become rosy as the sun begins to set further beyond the horizon and the temperature drops. I start to lose all feeling in my face, but I can't tell if it's from the cold or laughing too much.
He falls at least five times. Trying to impress me, he attempts to do various tricks, but all of them end with him on the ground.
I stand over him with a playful grin on my face. "You know, you should be careful. Some people might think you're falling for me."
He looks up from the ground for a moment and studies me. Realizing what he's about to do, I make an attempt to get away, but he grabs me and pulls me down onto the ice next to him.
"Well, what if I am? What would you say to that?"
"I'd say it's our first date. It might be a little early."
"Does that mean I get a second date?"
Not answering him, I hoist myself up on to my feet and skate away. He races after me and eventually wraps his arms around my waist to spin me around.
"Answer me, Ana! Do I get a second date?"
"Maybe," I giggle.
"What do I have to do to turn that into a yes?" He starts tickling my sides, and I have a hard time breathing between the laughter.
"Yes, fine! I'll go out on another date with you!"
Looking victorious, he lets go of me. My heart skips a beat as he takes his hand in mine, placing a kiss on the back of it. He pulls me closer into his arms. I can barely breathe as he caresses my cheek.
"You're so beautiful," he murmurs. His warm breath fans across my face and feels incredible compared to the cold air. I can count the faint freckles that are scattered like stars across the bridge of his nose. But what really gets me is his eyes. On closer inspection, they look like kaleidoscopes that shift from green, blue, and hazel. Just like that, in the middle of a frozen lake under the winter moon of Copenhagen, I realize that I could easily fall for this boy. Something about him just draws me in like a moth to a flame.
I think that he's about to kiss me, but he raises his arm and checks his watch. "We should get going. I need to have you home in thirty minutes," he whispers in my ear. Blushing, I pull away from him and skate back towards the edge of the pond.
As we're heading back towards my neighborhood, we whisper while walking down the dimly lit sidewalks. I find out that he studies law at the University of Copenhagen, but really has a passion for photography. His family consists of him, his father, his mother, and his twin brother. That's why his father named the bakery Twin Treats. He likes working for his father at the bakery, although he wants to do something more. He then asks me what I want to do with my life.
"Uh, I don't know," I reply sheepishly. "There's so much that I want to do. I feel like I could go anywhere in the entire world, you know? I think I want to continue playing the violin. Maybe be a music teacher?"
Jacob nods at this. "You would be amazing at it. You're incredibly talented. One of the best violinists I've ever heard."
I pause for a second. "Wait. How would you know? You've never heard me play."
His face reddens immediately, and his hand comes up to rub the back of his neck. "Ah well, I have. I was at the concert you played in a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to take some pictures, and I thought it would be a good place to do so. But then you stepped out on the stage, and you were... the most lovely thing I've ever seen in my entire life."
He continues on, "I was so distracted that I didn't realize that I was late for work. I was running through the crowd, and I might've accidentally bumped into you. I guess I have a habit of doing that."
"Wait, that was you?" I ask in amazement.
"Yeah, it was." He laughs nervously. He looks down at his feet, attempting to conceal his red cheeks. "Then I hit you with the door in the bakery. You were even more beautiful up close. Somehow I lost the nerve to ask you out both times, and I regretted it. I knew that I couldn't let you keep walking away again. So I took my chances and asked you out when you were with your sister. I think my chances turned out nicely," he finishes with a grin.
At this point, we had reached the front of my house. We stop underneath the light of the street, and I raise my hand up to touch his face. I rise on the tips of my toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. When I move away, his eyes are wide, and his eyebrows are raised in surprise. He recovers quickly though and leans in close to whisper in my ear.
"Come by the bakery on Wednesday, after your violin lesson. For our next date."
"I suppose I can do that," I agree. He kisses my forehead and bids me goodnight before walking down the street. Opening the door, I see my father sitting in the closest loveseat reading a book. A dying fire still burns in the fireplace and the faint sound of music drifts from the radio. The warm air inside the house makes my frozen cheeks burn.
Without even looking up, my father acknowledges my presence. "You're five minutes early. I'm impressed. Did you have a good time?"
At that, my face lights up. "It was amazing. He's so kind, papa. He studies law at the University and loves photography." I go on and on about how great the date was, and how much I learned about Jacob.
My father looks a little sad at first, but he then says, "I'm so happy for you, darling. He seems like a nice kid."
I kiss him goodnight and run up the stairs into my room. Before I climb into bed, I put my nightgown on and notice that my mother has placed the vase of daisies right next to my bed.
Picking one out of the glass, I smell it and revel in the warmness it brings me. I still hold the daisy in my hand as I fall asleep, thinking about the boy with kaleidoscope eyes that has found a place in my heart.