Chapter 15: Florian Talks

Florian's POV

At noon the kiosk was full, and nobody was talking to me.

That had never happened before.

I run the beer kiosk on the Herrsching shore, and I have talked to every customer I ever served.

I know their dogs. I know their divorces. I know who owes whom money.

Today twenty people stood in the sun with full glasses, and every one of them looked at the lake.

"Two Helles," a man said, and put exact change on the wood.

He did not say thank you.

By one I understood why.

The baker came down the path with his arms crossed.

Behind him came his wife, and behind her came Lena.

She wore her grey hoodie with the sleeves pulled down over her hands.

I put down the glass I was drying.

I had known the baker since I was nine.

"Come on," I said. "Sit. First one's on me."

"In March," the baker said, loudly. "Tell these people what you said to me in March."

The queue went silent.

I looked at Lena, but she was looking at the till.

"I was drunk," I said.

"You were proud," the baker said. "You leaned on that counter and told me you had a way to have any girl you wanted."

"You said she'd never say no, because she'd never know to ask."

"Baker," I said.

"I laughed," he said. His voice shook. "God forgive me, I laughed, and I gave you a pretzel."

A woman at the front put down her glass and walked off.

Then a second person left, and a third.

I have talked my way out of everything my whole life.

I opened my mouth, and nothing came out.

Lena finally looked up at me.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Four Men Thought I Was Unconscious, Now They Wait for My Yes from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.