Belonging

C5: Aleksander

I shrug. "I guess people don't really like it."

"Oh." He says. "That's okay, as long as you do."

"Where did you go?" I ask nervously.

"Hm?"

"Y-you said you got back from the airport." I say quietly.

"Oh, right." He smiles, "I went to Paris."

My eyes widen. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Did you see the Eiffel Tower?" I ask.

"It was more of a business trip." He tells me.

"Oh." I say. "So no, then?"

He shakes his head, his eyes alight with amusement. "How about one day we'll go together, and we can see the Eiffel Tower?"

"Really?"

He nods.

"Yes please." I say, wringing my hands together.

His eyes seem to fill with warmth. "Alright, then. Next time I go to Paris, you can come with me."

"Really?" I repeat.

He chuckles. "Yes."

"Thanks." I say, even though he's probably just saying he will now, but will most likely forget if he ever does go to Paris again.

"I have to go somewhere else tomorrow." He tells me, "I'll be gone when you get back from school. That's why I wanna take you out for dinner today."

"Oh. Where are you going?"

"Amsterdam." He says.

"What for?"

"Just some more business." He smiles.

"What do you do?" I ask.

"I don't wanna bore you with it." He says with a small laugh.

"You won't." I insist.

Amusement lights up his features. "Trust me, I will. And besides, you're destined for greater things than the boring stuff I have to do."

I pause for a moment. Nobody's ever told me anything like that before.

"Petro told me you're going to do swimming in school." He says. "Why don't we go get you some stuff for it afterwards?"

"Like what?"

"You'll need the school swimming kit, they sell it at some shop in a centre by where we're going." He informs me.

"Oh, okay."

"Do you like swimming?"

I shrug. "I've never done it before."

He furrows his eyebrows. "What?"

I look at him.

"You don't know how to swim?" He questions.

"No." I whisper. "Isn't that what they're going to teach me to do?"

Amusement lights up his features. "No, honey. You need to already know. The swimming team at your school is for competitions."

"But.. I don't know how to swim."

He smirks, leaning back in his seat, "don't worry, I'll get Petro to change it for you."