The next day I woke up with a headache. I groaned and rolled onto my back. It was Sunday and I finally had a day off.
I fed Meo and scrolled through social media as I waited for the moka pot to boil. With a cup of coffee, a book and my favourite blanket I made myself comfortable on the couch. Meo joined me and curled into a ball of black fur on my lab.
I blamed my headache on the weather. It had gotten hot and humid. I felt a thunderstorm coming.
I was reading and scratching Meo behind his ears when my phone on the coffee table vibrated with a notification. I finished the chapter before putting the book aside.
KillBill
online
Yo
1:30 PM
What are you up to?
1:30 PM
I'm boooooored af
1:31 PM
??
1:42 PM
Are you ever on your phone?
1:42 PM
I had seriously not expected to hear from Billie ever again. I might even have thought it would have been better that way.
I should be staying far away from someone who got under my skin the way she did. It was dangerous.
I smiled and texted back.
Wow such patience billie
1:44 PM
Shut up. I'm dying of boredom
1:44 PM
Nothing planned for your break?
1:44 PM
Not today. My parents are out sightseeing like we haven't been here 100 times and fin is with claudia
1:44 PM
That's his gf
1:44 PM
I began to write a reply but she was so quick to type I had to backspace and respond something new.
Remember what you said about that mexican place?
1:44 PM
How could I forget?
1:45 PM
I think im gonna hold you to that now
1:45 PM
Are you serious?
1:45 PM
I mean I don't have plans either
1:45 PM
Of course I will show you
1:45 PM
Inexplicably my heartrate picked up and my cheeks began to hurt from ginning at my phone.
I agreed to pick her up at her hotel in the evening. She reasoned that I had to keep all of my promises and convince her of the superiority of two-wheelers.
That was a plan I could get behind.
For the rest of the afternoon I had trouble sitting still. I did the dishes, cleaned up any clothes laying around and vacuumed the flat. It was not that big of a flat so I did it twice.
Then I tried to read but I did not even have the concentration for that.
~
When it was time to leave I gathered spare motorcycle gear, put on my jacket and grabbed my gloves and helmet.
On my way down the stairs I dropped my keys twice while spinning them between my fingers.
We are just going to meet up for some food, I rationalised myself. Billie doesn't know anybody in London, much less anybody with knowledge of good places to eat. Getting all clumsy over this is stupid.
The weather was nicer now. I enjoyed the breeze on the way to the hotel. When the sun came out in London everybody in the street was smiling.
Billie had suggested to meet in the car park of the hotel. I figured it was easier for her to meet somewhere that was less public. It was difficult for me to imagine the amount of attention that followed her around. It must be like walking down the street with shoes that attracted every piece of gum sticking to the pavement in a twenty kilometre radius. In sum, not a very comfortable shoe to wear on a daily basis.
I spotted Billie leaning against a car and waiting. She beamed when she saw me and I dismounted to greet her with a hug.
While handing her the gear I had brought I asked, "Ever been on a bike?"
"Once or twice." She nodded and tried on the jacket. It was a too big on her but it would have to do for today. Actually, I would not mind seeing her in it more often. Especially together with the two braids she had done so she could wear the helmet comfortably.
"Good, so you know the basics then. Just do what I am doing, lean into the turns. We aren't going to fall over; that's just physics." I swung my leg over the bike. "Also you better hold on to me because this isn't, like, a fat BMW with a top case. Nothing is stopping you from falling off when I accelerate," I emphasised my words with a twisting motion of my right hand. "Don't worry, though. I'll be careful. I don't want your mum or Finneas to kill me or something."
"Finneas is just jealous he doesn't get to do this. He likes you too."
...likes you too, I repeated in my head as I watched her zip up the jacket.
Don't overthink it. Just don't. It's because of the break from performing.
I cleared my throat. "Before you put your helmet on... tap my shoulder twice if I'm too fast and three times if you want to stop for any reason at all."
"Yes, ma'am," Billie mocked my precautions.
I rolled my eyes and reached for my helmet. Moments later she sat behind me, holding on lightly to my jacket as we left the car park.
I choose to go right through the city centre, along the Thames, on A3212. There was a lot of traffic so the ride ended up anticlimactic. I had to put my foot down constantly at the stop-and-go pace and hardly got out of second gear.
By the time we reached the restaurant my left hand was tired from having to pull the clutch repeatedly. Not putting my bike's horse powers to use was a disappointment.
The Mexican place I wanted to show Billie was in a more remote part of London where the streets where lined with pubs and apartment buildings rather than skyscrapers, banks or office blocks.
I stopped right in front of the entrance. Luckily parking was never a problem with a motorcycle. We took our gloves and helmets off.
"That was probably underwhelming," I apologized after getting off the bike.
"Nah, just a fuckton of traffic." Billie looked at the dilapidated building with scepticism. "Looks kinda sketchy to be honest."
I peeked through the windows at the flickering neon open-sign. "Don't worry. I've been here, like, ten times and I haven't been murdered yet."
"I'd do anything for food so..." she shrugged, "wouldn't be the worst way to go."
The restaurant was completely empty and we choose a table by the window. The waiter greeted me when he brought the menus. It was hard to decide what to get which is why we ended up ordering a bit of everything.
The kitchen here took its time to prepare the food. After ordering Billie and I just talked. About the tour, traveling and our family. When we talked about our childhoods I told her about Germany and we ended up drifting into political subjects.
"...can you even be so dumb? It's so frustrating, like, fuuuuck! I sure as hell am going to try and stop it but a re-election is still likely." Billie finished her rant when the food arrived.
It was steaming and the delicious smell made us forget about the frustrating last topic. We were silent for a while, too occupied with burning our mouths. Billie wiggled in her seat, chewing and nodding at the taco in her hand. Seeing her so content made me smile.
We both must have been really hungry because in the end every last bean and crumb was devoured.
"Ooof." Billie leaned back with a burp.
I patted my stomach with satisfaction. "I can't believe we just ate all that."
"You were right though, this place it really good."
We sat, each lost in their own thoughts. I had learned that she was not uncomfortable with silence. Simply being around her had made my day much better than I had expected it to be in the morning.
When I stared out the window an idea popped into my head. There was something I would like to show Billie. It would somehow not be fair to keep it from her. Especially if the only argument against it was that spending more time with her meant I would end up likingher even more.
When the waiter came to pick up our plates Billie got out her wallet. I felt inclined to stop her because I usually payed for the date.
No, I stopped myself. This is not a date.
I asked myself if I should insist on paying separately. Would that make me overly complicated? Just take it. It's not like she can't afford it.
Billie paid for the food and gave the waiter the tip of his life.
"I want to show you something," I started as soon as we were outside in the warm summer evening. "I mean, on the way back. Is it ok if I don't drop you off right away?"
"Depends on what you're showing me, Mara."
"I don't want to ruin the surprise."
"Dude, I don't even like surprises."
"It's nothing big. I promise."
"Ok, but-" Billie stopped me from pulling my helmet over my head- "under one condition. You make up for the slow way here."
I felt a wicked smile take over my face. "Is that a challenge?"
~
To avoid traffic I took a detour over the motorway.
When I pulled up to the acceleration lane I touched Billie's intertwined hands over my stomach to make sure she was holding on tightly. Then I twisted the throttle.
The bike's weight shifted off the front wheel. I was not mental so a wheelie with a pillion rider was not something I needed to try. I made sure the wheel never lost contact with the pavement completely.
I clutched and kicked up into fifth gear, skipping fourth and smoothing out the acceleration. With a look over my shoulder I changed lanes.
The hissing wind reminded me that this was not Germany and a speed limit did exist here.
It was not like I was in much danger to go over it. Speed hit differently on a naked bike, literally. Air pressure hit the rider in the chest like a solid force. Billie could not feel that because she was behind me but there were other ways to get a feeling for the speed. Looking down and seeing your foot centimetres above the racing pavement could get your blood going as well.
It never ceased to excite me. Speeding past the cars and lorries made me feel free like nothing else.
The danger of it was perhaps something I chased too.
Billie had shifted, leaning her weight more against my back and her helmet on my shoulder. I would have loved to know what was going on in her head.
After a few kilometres we reached the exit I wanted to take. My legs had started to feel cold from the wind. Even after we had left the motorway and were back in the city I did not feel the arms around my torso loosen.
We arrived where I wanted to go much too quickly for my taste.
I stopped in a side street next to a small alley between two apartment buildings. Now that we were standing I could feel the heat radiating off the engine.
I tapped on Billie's arms as a sign to get off the pillion. She had the biggest grin on her face when she took off the helmet.
Her cheeks were red and her eyes wide from the adrenalin rush. "Damn! I swear to god, I thought we were flying."
I messed up my hair when I took off the helmet. "I told you, you can't compare it."
Billie laughed at my attempt to smooth my hair down and reached up to ruffle it even more. "I wanna do that again."
"Anything you want," I said, forgetting that I could not promise that.
"Soo..." she looked around, "you wanted to show me this boring ass street?"
"No." It was difficult to contain my excitement. "Come with me."
_______________________________________
The Windmills of Your Mind - Dusty Springfield