Personal reasons

Saturday was largely unspectacular until the early evening. Amelie had thought for a long time whether she should tell Niels about Samuel, but in the end decided against it. Because a) she didn't know whether she was allowed to talk to others about her newly acquired knowledge and b) probably nobody would believe her anyway. After all, if she hadn't assured herself that Samuel was more or less flesh and blood, she would still have doubted her sanity. Samuel accompanied her in her mind through the whole day and by now she had made her peace with the fact that he and his supernatural world actually existed.

But she still did not want to accept that she supposedly possessed the soul of light, which was only to be born every few decades and later become an archangel.

A mute Niels, for example, who couldn't harm a fly and was simply kind to everyone, certainly had a much purer soul than she. Samuel just hadn't looked very closely at all the others and therefore declared hers to be so special.

It was only a quarter past five, but Amelie paced restlessly between the bathroom and the bedroom.

"Now relax, Amelie", Denise groaned annoyed from the living room, which Amelie always saw flitting from one room to the other in the corner of her eye.

“I have to look good, Denise! This is maybe my only chance. "

"You always look good. Damn natural beauty. That's why you don't have any girlfriends. "

Amelie stopped in the door frame of the living room.

"That went below the belt, even if it's a well-intentioned compliment."

During her school days she had always had trouble making friends with the girls in her class. They weren't teasing her, but she wasn't really one of them. Their presence was accepted, but nothing more. As a result, she no longer had any kind of contact with anyone from her school days.

Denise got up from the couch and took her shoulders.

"Let me take a look at you."

She studied the entire outfit. Amelie wore black tights with a dark red sweater dress over them, the length of which could be classified somewhere between mini and knee-length. She had twisted and pinned her hair up with a number of clips.

Denise grabbed her chin and eyed her face.

“Get something off the spatula, that's way too much. Or do you want to look like a curb swallow? "

Amelie shook her head in denial.

"Just. Subtle makeup is enough. Otherwise it seems much too intrusive and intentional. He won't even recognize you when he sees you so damned up. It's just a meal. "

Amelie then disappeared back into the bathroom and completely removed her make-up. The full half hour of work had been completely in vain. In the second attempt, she only put on some mascara, light makeup and did without the dark red lipstick that had actually gone so well with the dress. In the mirror her gaze fell on the black creole in her left ear. There was no way she could leave it on. Without further ado she put them in her jewelry box and pried small pearl earrings into her ears instead.

"Better?" She asked, posing in front of the TV so that Denise had to look at her.

"Much better. And now get out of the picture. Just sit down on the couch for a moment. "

"I think I'd rather go to the bathroom again."

With that, Amelie turned back on her heel and disappeared again into the bathroom before she stood in front of her shoe cabinet and puzzled over which shoes would best match the dress.

Suddenly a cold shiver ran down her spine and she shook herself briefly. One look over his shoulder was enough to see that Samuel had just appeared on the scene.

Amelie quietly closed her room door.

"Hey, I'm about to meet," she said apologetically.

Oddly enough, she felt guilty about Samuel. Probably because she was the only one he could talk to and pass the time with.

She thought she saw a twinkle of surprise in his eyes.

"Hence the unusual outfit."

She nodded in embarrassment and looked down at herself to her feet.

“I was just thinking about which shoes to wear on them. What do you think?"

She held up several pairs of shoes, but Samuel showed no reaction to any of them. Instead, he just looked at her.

"You're not wearing the earring," he stated soberly.

"I wore it all day, but it wouldn't have gone so well with the dress."

Involuntarily she had the feeling that she was on the defensive.

"Nobody would see him."

"I do," she contradicted.

There was a tense silence in the room and was finally cut by the high-pitched doorbell.

“That is definitely Sven. Then I have to go too. I'm sorry."

"I won't stop you."

Amelie bent down to pick up the simple black pumps and slipped her feet into them. By the time she straightened up, Samuel was gone.

She tried to shake off the guilty feeling as she clacked over the laminate to the front door. After all, there was no reason to feel bad. Because, unlike him, she also had a normal life far away from his strange intermediate world. And it wasn't her fault that she was the only receiving channel for him.

Denise had already opened Sven, who caught Amelie's gaze over her shoulder with his sympathetic dimples.

"Well then, have fun you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. "

Denise winked meaningfully at Amelie as she passed and left them alone.

Sven kissed her cheek as a greeting.

“You look great, Amelie. Next to you I feel really underdressed. "

Sven looked down at himself and eyed his simple black shirt and blue jeans. He looked amazing. And it smelled so damn good too!

“Thank you, you too. And you're not a bit underdressed. "

"If you say that, then it must be the truth."

He helped her gentlemanly into her jacket and held the door open for her.

Before they even reached the first flight of stairs, HP opened his apartment door.

He let out an appreciative construction workers whistle.

“Amelie! Man o man! I'm about to have a heart attack, "said HP and put his hand on his heart. To her surprise, he was actually fully clothed, except for his bare feet.

"I really don't have time now, HP," she tried to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

“Sven, old buddy, how did you get her over? It is always appropriate for me. "

"Probably because of your charming manner", Sven replied cheekily.

"My stunning beauty is probably too intimidating, isn't it?" HP mused aloud and smiled.  

"Do you want something specific, HP?", Amelie turned back to him, slightly annoyed.

“Nothing special, honey. What all men want. "

"Then go and get it somewhere else."

"Ouch ... you see what I mean?" He asked Sven.

"Try it a little more subtly," he advised with a wink and gently pushed Amelie past HP to the stairs with her hand on her back. And again she thought she could feel his body heat clearly through the fabric.

"I will heed it next time," smirked HP and disappeared back into his apartment.

"Just not," Amelie muttered and narrowed her eyes briefly. But as long as it stayed with their verbal battles and he was not physically intrusive, she could come to terms with it.

"Then go ahead. What is there to know about you? "

Amelie leaned a little forward on the table, curious. Sven had reserved a table in a small, Italian restaurant with a cozy atmosphere in the neighboring town.

“Not nearly as much as you might think. I'm totally bored ”, Sven replied with an innocent smile and took a sip of his Coke.

“Everyone says that. You don't have to start with the corpses in the basement right away. How did you end up in Dippold, for example? "

“Sounds fair ... The travel agency I work for has several small branches and a position just opened in Dippold. For personal reasons I urgently needed a change of scenery. "

"And where did you live before?"

"In cloths."

Amelie made big eyes.

"Honest? Me too!"

They smiled at each other.

“The world is small, isn't it? And what drove you from home to Dippold? "

Amelie hesitated for a moment and sipped her sprite before answering.

"Also personal reasons."