Page 67 of White Room Virgin

“Saturday is fine. Shall we meet at the Odeon at 6 pm?”

“Yes!” I replied, almost a little too excitedly. That was easier than I had expected. “That suits me very well.” But then I suddenly found myself at a loss for words again.

Before another awkward silence could ensue, Daniela spoke up again. “It’s great that you called. Most people are too good for that now and only write a message at most.”

“Well.” I tried to sound relaxed. “That seemed kind of inappropriate here.”

Daniela laughed. “I’m glad about that. See you on Saturday then!”

“See you then!”

I hung up and took a deep breath. My heart was still racing, and as hot as my head felt, it was probably bright red. But I was also proud of myself. Knowing that I was going to meet her made my time with my parents easier. I looked forward to the date,feeling proud of having taken the chance. My conscience finally recovered to some extent, and I was optimistic. I wanted to do everything better in the new year.

Since I had almost completely banished my inglorious night with Daniela from my memory—which I had definitely done better than the night with Lucien—the image I had of her was only a blur. But I remembered her long blonde hair, her doe eyes, and her understanding smile the morning after when I had said goodbye in shame. The idea of going out with her and having a nice conversation helped me escape from my overwhelming thoughts, allowing me to sleep peacefully again.

31

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Jonah

The woman sitting opposite me had a brown bob—the long-haired blonde angel had vanished.

Daniela stroked her new hairstyle. “Nice, isn’t it?”

The sight irritated me so much that I must have stared at her stupidly and only managed a sheepish smile with difficulty.

“I thought you’d deleted my number,” she said teasingly. “It’s been a while.”

“Yes … No, I haven’t …” I replied, forcing a quick grin and trying to maintain eye contact.

I nervously picked at a napkin and wondered how I could still feel so embarrassed after all this time. What I had previously been able to suppress now hit me with full force. How I had hung over the toilet bowl at her house and vomited. Naked. After she had unsuccessfully tried to make me hard several times.

Screw eye contact.

“I hope you don’t feel bad about what happened anymore.”

She was kind of right about that. Why, actually? The person I’d experienced that embarrassment with practically didn’t even exist anymore. There was no reason for me to feel bad about it. And yet I could feel the blood rushing to my ears. I began to nervously shake my leg.

“Well … I still hope that I can laugh about it one day,” I replied with a weak smile.

Daniela took my hand and gave me a seductive look. “I’d be willing to try it with you again.”

I hadn’t expected her to get down to business so quickly, and I stared at her with wide eyes.

“I mean, that was your plan, wasn’t it? That’s why you called me, right?”

“Talk,” I replied in a raspy voice, cautiously retracting my hand back and placing it around the cup.

She smiled. “You’re sweet. Shall we go to my place? But we can also go to your place if you prefer. Maybe you’ll feel more comfortable there.”

I looked at her open-mouthed for a moment, then cleared my throat and sat up straight. “I think I made a mistake calling you. I’m sorry. I must have misjudged you.”

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What did you think of me?”

“I thought…” Unsettled, I paused and had to admit to myself that I must have had the wrong idea about Daniela. Although she would have climbed into bed with me on the first night, I had seen her almost like a saint. I wasn't aware that it was the devil's smile trying to seduce me that night. Somehow, facing this fact was scary. I had hoped that I would be the one to seduce her this time and perhaps soon call her my girlfriend.

“What did you think?” Daniela asked more forcefully.

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