0.21|when sightseeing|

0.21|from Sabah's hastily written notes on tissue paper: when sightseeing|

As the days sighed past us humans, I began to realize that after my little breakdown, Anthony and Auburn had started coming more regularly. Their visits very often didn't match but they came. I would find Anthony, at first shyly but after a couple of visits more comfortably, swinging the glass door and bestowing the world with a smile that made his face a lot more mischievous than he was, in the afternoons and evenings of Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays or just whenever.

Meanwhile Auburn has started mostly living in the shop during the weekend. She would be here by eleven because unlike you, Sabah, she actually slept and woke up late. Sure, it was kind of awkward to think that they thought I needed looking after as if the sadness, the darkness I held in my heart would one day swallow me whole but to be thought special and worthy of any sliver of concern was new for me.

I am not ashamed to pick favourites. The weekends became my favourite part of the week because from eleven in the morning to eleven in the night I could joke and fuss over someone who liked my company as much as I liked hers. In those days I hardly ever thought of Julia because with Auburn around, it was like I never lost a part of myself. I swear, in those days, I felt that if I had to die I would die then, at my happiest.

When you experience such happiness you don't want to turn the corner and find something that shatters it but as it is people walk on and so did I.

Where was I? Yes, the tour. Well, you see watching these two kids spending all their free time on me, made me want to do something special for them. Fridays were the days you could arrange something like that because Friday evenings were when they were together, sitting at their favourite table, Auburn pretending to correct papers and Anthony pretending to enjoy his coffee. I was lucky enough to see them turn from strangers to friends to the best of friends.

They found ways to hold hands and blushed like a tomato whenever they sustained eye contact for more than a couple of seconds but that was it. Whenever they seemed to be approaching "the moment", Anthony would start fiddling with his hair and Auburn would become very interested in the notebooks she was correcting.

Which is exactly what they were doing when I decided to intervene, "That's it, you two. Stop behaving like old bores and grab your jackets. We are going sightseeing."

Auburn closed the notebook she had been lining with red ink and smiled, "Sounds great. I haven't seen anything in the time I've been here."

"You?" I asked Anthony.

He got up, pulling his black jacket over his white and shrugged, "I've seen all the football stadiums."

I looked at them, disappointed, "You live in Madrid and Barcelona isn't far off too and yet you've not seen anything worth seeing? You two are weird people."

They were actually alike in some ways. They didn't like making first moves, learning Spanish was still not a priority for them, they didn't exactly excel at making friends, they over-thought everything and now, it seemed as if not sightseeing was another common factor.

"We'll take a taxi," I said, following them out of the café.

"Or we could just take my car?" Anthony smiled, excitement written over his face.

I straightened after locking up the glass door and looked from Anthony to Auburn, "He has a car? And I'm the only one who doesn't know?"

Auburn nodded, "Yeah, he dropped me home once."'

Anthony said dreamily, "She's a beauty."

"Your car is a she?" Auburn asked. "How sexist."

"Its not," he frowned. "The one in Germany is a he."

"Guys," groaned Auburn.

"And that tone isn't sexist?" he asked.

"Okay, okay," I waved my arms. "We just got out of the café and you two are already arguing. Are you only well-behaved when subdued by the smell of coffee?"

"Don't worry," Anthony slung his arm across my neck. "I'm always well-behaved."

"Oi, what does that mean?" Auburn asked from behind us.

Anthony and I laughed and continued laughing until we rounded the corner. I stopped as I saw the silver Porsche in front of me.

"He has a Porsche, of course," I muttered.

"Good thing?" he looked at me expectantly. "Bad thing?"

"I'm driving," I giggled like a girl and snatched the keys from his palm.

He gave me a wary look, "I don't think that's a-"

"-bad idea?" I opened the door and got in. "I agree."

"I call shotgun," screamed Auburn and jumped in.

Anthony groaned, "Great."

It took us a while to reach the Temple of Debod and so I had to listen to one full album of someone called Drake as well as the sound of the two of them bickering. Yes, outside the café, they found it impossible to stay quiet for long. If it wasn't how sexist the other one was, it was the weather or how the GPS needed fixing. After fifteen minutes of listening to them fight over whether brown bread was better than white bread, I shouted, "Shut up, you two."

"Sorry, Carlotta, its just that Anthony seems to have very wrong ideas about bread," Auburn said.

"Mein Gott! Let me clarify, Carlotta, it is actually Auburn who has no idea about bread," he stuck out his tongue at her.

"He is deluded!"

"She is lying!"

"Am not."

"Definitely is."

"You're the one who's lying."

"I never lie, liebe."

"See, you're lying."

"Nein."

"Don't nein me."

"I'll do what I want to do."

"You won't."

"Will."

"Won't."

Needless to say, when I saw the Temple of Debod, I was the happiest during the whole ride. "And here we are-The Temple of Debod!"

As we walked up to the gates of the temple, I told them, "The Temple of Debod was actually an ancient Egyptian temple located near Aswan-"

"That's in Egypt," Auburn whispered to Anthony.

"Wow, I had no idea," he whispered back, sarcastically.

"Quiet," I shushed them as we entered the temple. It's a beautiful landmark. I love how it symbolizes today the possibility of change and acceptance when the world is so keen on creating borders and fighting over differences. "It was started as a small chapel for Amun, the sun God and over centuries, emperors and officials added to its decorations. Augustus had a hand too, you know."

I looked up with them as we passed an archway. The air was sweet and light and the sun was on its way to set for the night, splashing the sky with a myriad of orange, red, gold and something like glitter but not glitter enough. Its difficult to describe it because its not just on the sky and the sun but on the water too.

We reached the edge of the temple which joined with the lake. A salty breeze ruffled my hair and clothes and settled on my lips as I talked, "-the Aswan Dam would have destroyed the temple and because they wanted to thank Spain for helping save the temples of Abu Simbel, the Egyptians gifted it to us. It was reconstructed here. Isn't it-?"

"Ola," a man approached us. "Lo siento, pero ¿puedo tener un autógrafo ? Soy un gran , gran fan."

Auburn and I turned to look at Anthony at whom the question was directed. He looked totally clueless, "Uh? Apenado. Mi español...a little...how do I say it? Weak...um..."

"Débil," I provided. "And he says he's-er-sorry but could he please have an-er-autograph? He's a huge, huge fan."

The man looked at Anthony waiting excitedly. It was a huge deal for him to meet the Real Madrid midfielder in person, I could see that. I stared at Anthony. He had got so famous so soon, or maybe he always had been, but most of the time we forgot that he had this other life where he was not just a guy at a coffee shop but a world-class footballer and celebrity. I half-expected him to stutter and blush but he smiled suavely and extended a hand for the pen and paper.

As the fan took a selfie and chatted with his idol, Auburn whispered, "Are you by any chance a tour guide in disguise?"

I laughed, "I used to be one. A long time ago. How did you guess?"

"You really were a tourist guide? Wow, that must have been so cool," she said. "And well, you talk totally like a tour guide. Nobody remembers all the technical stuff about monuments unless they're a tour guide. Why did you stop?"

I looked across the water, the remnants of laughter weighing down like a grimace on my lips, "I met David."

"Hey, you two!" Anthony called. "Say cheese!"

Turned out Anthony loved clicking pictures while Auburn hated them. I didn't mind usually but Anthony had clicked around a hundred and he was not stopping anytime soon. The news about him being in the area must have spread somehow. Every now and then someone would walk up to him and ask for a picture or an autograph.

We had to leave when some rowdy fans turned up and started asking weird stuff about Auburn and I. These two couldn't understand most of it but I did and so I dragged them firmly to the car.

"I'll drive. You must be tired," Anthony said.

"You don't know the route," I said. I did feel tired, it was true. My knees hurt and my back felt like someone had driven a stake through it but judging by his disappointed face I was pretty sure he had no idea about the route

Auburn took the keys from Anthony and said firmly, "I'll drive. I have excellent memory."

And she did.

This time I sat in the back resting my head against the window and propping up my feet against the opposite door.

"Why don't you want your pictures being taken?" Anthony asked curiously.

Huh, I wanted to say, lots of people hate being photographed. Some are just not photogenic, others are shy.

"Pictures are reminders," Auburn said, looking straight ahead. "They are like anchors...they make it very difficult to leave."

"Why would you want to leave?" he asked softly, the streetlights sifting their shadowy rays through his blonde hair and casting patterns on her arms.

"Why wouldn't you?"

[Translations

German: Mein Gott

English: My God

German: Liebe

English: Dear

German: Nein

English: No

Spanish: Hola...Lo siento, pero ¿puedo tener un autógrafo ? Soy un gran , gran fan.

English: Hey...I'm sorry but can I please have an autograph? I'm a huge, huge fan.

Spanish: Apenado. Mi español...

English: Sorry. My Spanish...

Spanish: Débil

English: Weak

Guys, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you all that I have very little, bordering on none, knowledge of Spanish/German and all sentences and words are courtesy of Google Translate so I'm really sorry if there are any errors. The Temple of Debod actually exists and I've put a pic of it up there.

Aaaand, you guys got to see #aubony in the outside environment! How was it? Vote+Comment and let me know.

Ilyall]