That smile

What are you two standing around here so apart?", Wilhelm suddenly approached out of nowhere and cast a scrutinizing look at his roommate before he and Erik greeted each other with a manly handshake.

It had not escaped him that Sabine made an uncomfortable impression. So he stood next to her and put an arm around her middle.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly and looked at her waiting with warm eyes. She nodded and gave him a small, grateful smile.

Erik had not escaped this familiarity, of course, and drew his own conclusions from it.

"Didn't even know that you were dipping your stick in Maja's honey pot," he commented on the scene and took another sip, amused.

Sabine's features slipped easily and she was glad that she could hold on to her glass.

Wilhelm froze next to her for a second, before he deliberately pulled her very close to his side and kissed her on the temple.

"Envious?" He smiled provocatively.

A mocking sound escaped Erik. "Certainly not." He pushed himself away from the counter, put the glass back to his lips as he walked and let them stand.

"Thank you, Willi," said Sabine and had the feeling that she could only now breathe deeply again.

"Gladly, Bienchen", he replied affectionately and let go of her, "You stood here with him so lost, I couldn't help it."

“He caught me off guard. I didn't expect to meet him here. "

“To be honest, neither do I,” Wilhelm agreed, glanced over at the crowd and held out his hand invitingly to her, “Come on. Let's go back to the others. "

Sabine took his big warm hand and let him pull her along with a smile on her lips. She was incredibly happy to have Wilhelm at her side. He had promised her to take care of her and, as usual, he had kept his word.

In the course of the evening she unconsciously kept looking for Erik and one or the other time their eyes met. In a disturbing way, his own daring smile stole on his face, which she knew how to get her heart out of step for a few beats.

The later the evening got, the more crowded and confusing it got in the bar. Nevertheless, Sabine had managed to fight her way through to the toilet one more time. She needed these little breaks between all the talking and listening, because as an introverted person it was very exhausting and exhausting for her.

On the way back she made her way through the pack again, until strange fingertips timidly touched her bare shoulder.

"Sabine?", She heard an uncertain male voice and turned to him.

......

"Hey, not seen for a long time," said the young Indian and gave her a warm smile with his white teeth.

It jerked her chest and the faded memory of a particular moment from the past swept through her mind immediately. That was not possible!

Under normal circumstances, she certainly wouldn't have recognized him on the street. Far too much time had passed into the country for that. After all, they had been children the last time they met. But this pure warmth in the smile and this radiance in his gaze left absolutely no doubt who was standing in front of her.

“Sanjay! What are you doing here? “, Sabine showed herself both surprised and delighted to see him. Apprehensive, she took two steps towards him and gave him a friendly hug. She had to stretch quite a bit because he was sure to scratch the three-meter-ninety mark. He was still slim and not very muscular, but not as lanky as before. His half-length, black hair looked so fluffy and soft that Sabine - just like he did now - would prefer to slide her hand through it. His face was lined with a modern, well-groomed full beard.

"Sören told me about the class reunion."

"Sören? I haven't seen it tonight, "she remarked in surprise and looked over at her group of ex-classmates.

Sören Heincke was Sanjay's best friend when he was at school. Still, she was surprised that the contact between them had obviously not been severed over the years.

“He's not here either. He's working on some important research project and the deadline is close, "explained Sanjay." I only came back to the country on Tuesday and until yesterday I didn't know anything about the meeting today. "He scratched his beard and left it for a moment Look over Sabine. “Actually, I wasn't even planning to come here. But somehow I spontaneously thought that it might not hurt to at least have a look for a moment. That's why I'm so late. "

He smiled so openly at her again and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. Sabine couldn't help but return his smile.

"Tell me, don't you stutter anymore?", She was genuinely surprised.

He wiggled his head sideways, as was typical behavior for all Indians when they did not want to commit themselves.

“I've gotten used to it with great effort. In everyday situations it hardly happens to me anymore. But I have to be careful in stressful situations. It can quickly happen that I fall into old behavior patterns, ”said Sanjay, embarrassed, and began to shift his weight from one leg to the other. It almost seemed a bit like he was trying to dance. But Sabine knew better. He had always done that back then. He had never been able to just stand still in place. Even when standing he was always in motion. Some habits seem to stay with you for a lifetime.

"I think that's great", Sabine praised him impressed. When she thought back to the fact that as a child he could barely speak three sentences in a straight line, it was really remarkable how well he had articulated himself so far.

She heard his eyes briefly wander over her body.

"Yh-you look great by the way," said Sanjay and rolled her eyes annoyed at himself, which elicited a giggle from Sabine. Probably a clear case of the infamous demonstration effect.

"Thank you," said Sabine, flattered and briefly looked at the floor, "You look smart too."

He really did. He wore a dark blue shirt that was rolled up to the elbows, well-fitting, light-colored jeans, and white sneakers.

There was a short silence, in which both just looked at each other with a slight discomfort.

"Shall we go to the rest of the troop? Surely you want to see the others again. Almost everyone came, ”Sabine tried to break the silence.

"Nn-no, I d-don't think so", Sanjay surprised her with his answer and again controlled his breathing more consciously in order to suppress the stuttering, "none of them missed me anyway."

"Oh, okay."