Across the Continent of Love

"What's my favorite color?"

"... green?"

"Yes, that's right!" Alex grinned at Beatriz as she took another sip of her coffee, their third together in the span of three days. She had been nothing short of a breath of fresh air for him during his stay in the city; his mind was always clear around her, and he felt almost like he could face the world again. They were on a coffee date by the river in Budapest, surrounded by old architecture and the sounds of a violin being played by someone nearby. Every fiber of Alex's being wanted to hold her hand right then and there, but he held himself back. He wasn't sure if she liked him like that or not, and he didn't want to scare her away. Luckily enough, they were talking about his favorite things today; it had started off with favorite foods and drinks, and as she got more comfortable with him she had started asking more personal questions.

"And okay... what's my birthday?"

"It's June 13th..." Alex smiled widely at her, "that's my birthday too!" His eyes lit up; here was someone else who shared his birthday with him! Beatriz blushed slightly at the fact that she had already picked this question out from the bucket; she knew just how much this would please Alex, which made her heart flutter all the more. She thought of how cute it was that they shared a birthday together - it was so perfect.

"Right again!" Beatriz jumped up from her seat and clapped her hands once with glee, before sitting back down next to Alex. He couldn't help but laugh joyfully along with her as they both gave each other knowing looks. "I think I'm doing pretty well at this! How many left do we have left?"

"Only two," Alex replied softly before taking another sip of his cappuccino, "alright... what's your favorite season? And favorite place to visit?" He leaned in close to her as he asked this last question, making sure that only she could hear him over the sound of the violinist playing by the river. Beatriz bit down on her lip unconsciously and looked away from him; she put down her coffee cup and clasped her hands together nervously on top of her lap.

"That... those are two different questions."

Alex frowned and leaned back against his chair at this response; he had been hoping that she would choose one of these questions for herself instead of asking them for him to answer like she had done for every single one before now. It was as if she didn't want to continue their game anymore; he hoped that it wasn't because she was upset or disappointed by anything he'd said so far. He looked over at Beatriz, who appeared to be deep in thought as she turned towards the river and stared out into the distance while sipping slowly on her coffee again.

"Do you know how many people jump into this river every year?" Beatriz asked suddenly after a few moments of silence between them; Alex shook his head slowly at this question and waited patiently for Beatriz to continue speaking, "Well... it's about 30 - 40 people per day! They're probably all tourists who don't know any better, you know? They see this beautiful river and think 'this is it!' You see all these beautiful buildings around us," She gestured towards the buildings surrounding them across from the riverbank where they sat, "and they think 'wow! This is where I want to die!'" She chuckled softly after finishing this last sentence before looking at Alex again; waiting for him to respond in some way or another.

Alex's eyes widened at this response after a momentary pause; he hadn't ever considered why so many people jumped into rivers before now - maybe because deep down inside he didn't really want to dwell on those kinds of thoughts? Or maybe because changing topics always seemed to be easier than facing reality? Either way, Beatriz made very good points here; he looked out at the beautiful water flowing gently past them before turning back towards her again with a smile on his face.

"I never thought about that before now," He admitted softly as reached out towards Beatriz's hand across from him on top of their shared table between them. When their fingers touched for only a brief moment before retreating back into their own personal space between them again Beatriz felt butterflies fill up her stomach in an instant: oh god did she like this man! Her eyes locked onto his face as their eyes met awkwardly across from each other - neither one wanting to look away first - until Alex finally sighed deeply into his mug and took yet another gulp from his cappuccino.