Shocking Friday

Friday the thirteenth. I’m not superstitious but what a day this has been. Alphonse cancelled a trip to Prague in order to spend all day with me but I had one important interview I absolutely had to have this morning so Alphie and I didn’t get together until about 11. The rest of the afternoon went really well and he was his usual affable and smart and witty and generous self. I called my mom at about 4 in the afternoon and let Alphie talk to her. She loved his Spanish-French accent but she advised me to be wise and not jump to conclusions – if he loves me, he has to show it, not just say it. I told her I thought he was completely sincere and open – no secrets. Alphie’s French is good but mine is not and although he speaks German and Spanish well he prefers English so that he can learn it from a native speaker – me. We actually switch back and forth a little. I have learned more about the wine business from Alphie in two hours than probably most people need to know in a lifetime. His family also owns several poultry farms and an olive processing plant. Their vineyards are actually their lowest income generators but Alphie has cleverly decided to use that business as leverage to begin selling much more expensive (and higher quality) French wines. Those sales give him additional income. He wants me to meet his parents next week. I asked him how can I do that if I have to work? He said just tell my Director that I need two days to travel to Spain for a very special occasion with my boyfriend’s family and if they value my work they will understand and if they object then I’ll know where I stand with the bank and they are not worth working for. I said he was right and I would do it. We drove to Zurich and back twice today, just for fun. Alphie drives one of those cars manufactured by the Bavarian Motor Works and they, as far as I’m concerned, are not the most comfortable cars. I’d rather be in a large Ford sedan. I asked Alphie if we would be driving to Madrid. No he said. Good I thought. He said we should spend the weekend in Munich or Milan. I said I liked Stuttgart better. He said ok, we’ll get ready and go and we’ll have a very nice time. All that happened about two hours ago. We came back here and I made us some Earl Grey then, almost without warning, I told Alphie my big secret. I showed him this page. He seemed intrigued at first and then he turned to look at me and said this was super super super risky for a woman in my situation. He looked genuinely shocked. I said I was sorry he was so surprised and he was just silent and walked out without saying a word. I called him on the phone and he didn’t pick up. I closed the page and went to his apartment and he did not answer. After about a minute, I came back here and started crying. I was so sorry I had disappointed him. I thought he would like seeing another side of me. He knew I was a nudist – sort of – so why was he so surprised? I cried quietly for about five minutes and then there was a knock on the door and I knew it was him from the rhythmic knock that he uses. I didn’t open the door for about thirty seconds because I didn’t want him to see the tears in my eyes. When I finally opened the door, he immediately took me and kissed me so lovingly I just melted. The relief was overwhelming. He said not to worry and I was old enough to decide what I wanted to do. Then he asked, with a big smile on his face, if my photos were there and I just had to lie – I said no. He said he was going to take a shower and pack and he would see me in an hour and we would go wherever I wanted. We should be in Stuttgart in about three hours. By the time you read this, we’ll be halfway there. Love,