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Sara walked down the street near her apartment to go to the tram stop. It was a hot, sunny day for once in Bruxelles, and her apartment near Place Stephanie was ideally located to reach anywhere in the city quickly. She glanced up at the blue sky as she reached her stop and felt the sun burn her face as she did so. She was about to rejoice in the feeling of this long-awaited moment when the smell of dry urine hit her nostrils. She scrunched her nose in disgust as the waft first hit her and glanced at the lamp post and the seats near the tram stop. Yes, there were dried up lines all around the lamppost. Her immediate thought was that the city had gone to the dogs and she uttered a silent curse. She moved away from the zone as quickly as she could and focused on herself and the date she was heading to.
Yes, today was her first date with Doug the expat, whom her colleague from work, Kimi, had set her up with. Doug was Kimi's friend from the music academy Kimi frequented twice a week. Kimi had thought that Sara and Doug would be a good match. Kimi had shown them each other's photos and had given each of them a general idea of the other's lives, and both had agreed to meet. It was true, now that she'd been single for over three years, Sara felt she was ready to meet people. And she knew that such organic ways of meeting or being introduced to people never happened anymore. Sara fidgeted in her handbag and brought out the deodorant that she always carried with her. She rubbed it discreetly on her underarms, and while she did so, she noticed the seemingly homeless person enter the tram at the same time as her as the doors closed. She could smell her fragrant deodorant immediately being overpowered and drowned by this man's body odour that had caked on him, along with his dried-up sweat and the grime of several days or weeks of not having showered. She quickly scrunched up her nose and walked to the other side of the tram to avoid having to breathe next to the man. She rolled her eyes and thought about how the city was getting from bad to worse.
Doug was waiting for Sara at the Ma Campagne tram stop. He had received an SMS from her saying she would be arriving in about ten minutes according to the ETA on the STIB, the public transport app in Brussels. He was looking forward to meeting Sara, as Kimi had said that she felt they would have many things in common. They both spoke English most of the time. They both had travelled from other countries to come and settle in Brussels, and they both liked the idea of travelling in the future. This seemed like a perfect starting point for Doug. He hadn't been on a date for about a year now, though he did chat with some girls occasionally on a popular dating app. But meeting a woman in real life hadn't happened in some time. He walked up and down nervously at the stop. It was a Saturday afternoon, and the stop was pretty crowded, so he stopped as he realised he was being stared at.
The people at the stop started to get up, and Doug realised that a tram was pulling into the station. He was sure it was the one Sara was in. As the people got out and the others at the stop got in, Doug moved out of the way. He waved as he saw Sara reach up to where he was, and they both looked at each other as the crowd seemed to scatter around them. For a moment, time seemed to stop. Doug saw the dark hair and olive eyes peer at him, squinting in the sun. Sara saw Doug with the sun directly behind him. His silhouette seemed surrounded by a lining of light. She noticed him smile, and she let out a sigh. She seemed to like what she saw.
They nervously shook hands, neither sure if they should kiss on the cheek as most Brussels people did. They giggled as Sara moved ahead to land a kiss, and Doug looked unsure. Finally, they just said "Hi" and "Hello" and walked towards the street, moving away from the tram stop. Sara had noticed she liked the odour that hit her when she'd leaned towards Doug. It had been musky and had an undertone of coffee, she thought to herself as they walked on the thin footpath. Doug said he'd parked his scooter near the park, which was two minutes away. When they reached his scooter, he took out a small backpack from the baggage carrier. It seemed to be stuffed. Putting it onto his back, Doug suggested that they go for a walk in the park.
The park had a gated entrance, and Doug and Sara walked in, making small talk. Doug asked her about her day and what she'd had for breakfast. Sara heard her tummy rumble as she thought about food and told him that she'd just had a piece of bread some hours ago. She told him about how Kimi had been excited at work the day before when she'd told her that they would finally meet the next day. Sara noticed the strong scent of the white flowers as they walked on the cobblestoned path leading to the little pond at the centre of the park. There were several benches there. She was happy to see that there was one free, and just as she thought that, Doug asked her if she'd like to sit. She was pleased as he seemed to have read her mind. She sat next to him, and for a few minutes they just took in the pretty view of the pond and the wildflowers scattered around it in the grass and the magnificent willow tree sweeping the water as it towered over the edge. The beautiful architecture of the buildings beyond the park's walls on the other side created a picture-postcard scene. They both smiled at what they were seeing and faced each other.
"I thought you would like to drink and eat something as we get to know each other," Doug said as he opened the backpack and took out a couple of plastic glasses he'd brought with him from his kitchen. He had a small bottle of red wine or apple juice as choices, as he didn't know what Sara would like to drink. Sara looked incredulously at Doug as he offered her the choices. While she was still deciding, he took out a plastic box that seemed to contain some sort of muffin-looking goodies in it. Sara said, "We can have the red wine, and it's so sweet of..." but was cut off by the strong smell of fish that rushed to her nostrils as Doug opened the box. She looked at him, and he said, "I love cooking my mother's recipe for fish cakes. I hope you like them."
Sara was still reeling from the suddenness of the odour. She looked at the fish cakes and remained absolutely still for a fraction of a moment. She could imagine Doug making the fish cakes for this moment together. She could imagine his kitchen and the effort he'd have put in.
She thought about what she would say next and broke into a huge sincere smile. "You know I'm a very difficult person for most foods, but how in the world did you know I love fish!?"
Doug smiled as Sara enthusiastically picked out the first cake from the box and bit into it.
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