Thursday, 6:15pm

Delmart salad and burger bar, Andel, Prague

She’s sitting alone at a table. Her personal bubble sealed by a pair of headphones. Besides infusing her brain with moving melodies, they’re acting as a headband, keeping her curly blonde hair from going wild. Her eyes are fixed on the window in a dreamy look.

What is the music ringing in her ears right now, I wonder? What would it be like if I just waved at her and asked her?

My thoughts are interrupted. A man from across the aisle gets up from his seat, takes three steps and sits at her table. In surprise, she takes off her headphones.

“Můžu si přisednout?”, he asks. “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Czech”, she says in a strong Texan accent. He smiles. For some reason, it seems he is pleased with her reaction.

“That’s OK. Can I join you for a second? I have something I want to give away. I thought you might be the right person.”

She measures him with her dark blue eyes. “Sure.”

He reaches out to his bag and produces a white cup. I can see it has black inscription on it. Two lines of text. I’m curious to see what it is. But from where I sit I can’t read it without making it too obvious I’m not minding my own chicken salad with dried tomatoes and green olives.

“Do you think you could find use for this cup?” he asks.

“Actually, I just moved to Prague this Monday. A cup like this would come in handy.”

He nods. “It’s yours then”, he says and pushes it towards her. He starts getting up. She stops him. “Won’t you tell me anything else? What’s the story? Why are you giving it away? What’s the writing?”

He sits back in his chair. “A verse from a song I love singing. What’s your name?”

“Kate. And yours?”

“Jan.” He reaches out his hand to shake hers. “Welcome to Prague Kate. It’s a magical city.”

With that, he gets up and walks out of the salad bar.

Kate looks around the room, as if she wants to check if someone else saw what just happened. I look down at my Kindle just a second before her eyes would have met mine.

She puts her headphones back on. In a matter of seconds, her eyes are fixed on the window in a dreamy look.

The white cup in her hands, her index finger running along the letters of the black inscription.

What thougts are ringing in her head right now, I wonder?

I take my journal out of the pocket to write the story down.

Welcome to Prague Kate. It’s a magical city.

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Featured Image taken from unsplash.com, used under Creative Commons Zero