Sparks of Chaos by kevin caruso Page B

he asked her, “Maybe we could go to the movies and have a meal tonight?”
    “I’d love that, there’s a new movie in the vampire series that I’ve been dying to see.” She went on about how much she loved the books, movies and characters. “Are you on Team Edward or Team Jacob? Which one do you think she should be with?”
    Chase thought, what was it with girls and vampires, when they were younger they all wanted to be princesses. When they got older they were obsessed with having sensitive vampire boyfriends. He had taken a girl back home to see one of those dreadful movies. It was all he could do to make himself sit through the whole thing without getting up and walking out. It was even harder to pretend to like it and talk to her about it afterwards. Now he was going to have to do it again. Vampires weren’t real; he could certainly testify that he had seen a lot weirder things than vampires that were real. If only Birgit knew the truth, not that he could tell her what he’d seen or that she would believe him if he did. He had sort of stopped listening about midway through her vampire conversation and just realized she was waiting for him to answer. “The vampire one, I think.”
    “Good choice, that’s what I think too.” Smiling, she squeezed his hand and said “See, we think alike.”
    Looking at her, he forgot all about being annoyed at the vampire discussion and said “Are all the girls in Germany as pretty and wonderful as you?”
    “Yes, we have a wonderful selection, haven’t you noticed?”
    “Not really, if you find the right one, you don’t need more.”
    “Aw, that’s sweet.”
    “So you’re assuming I was talking about you, huh?”
    Birgit punched him in the arm as he laughed and told him “Keep it up funny man and you’ll be wearing the rest of that schnitzel home.”
    “You punch pretty hard for a girl,” Chase said with mock indignation and a chuckle in his voice as he rubbed his arm.
    “Let me get you a shovel, so you can dig yourself in a little deeper,” she said, matching his laugh. They finished their lunch and walked outside. The sun was shining deliciously when they stepped onto the street. Grabbing his hand she pulled him along toward their next destination. “I have another little German delicacy I want you to try.”
    Chase said with a mischievous grin. “Oh, and just what might that be?” 
    “I was talking about some nice dessert at a bakery down the street,” she said playfully punching him in the arm again.
    “Punching seems to be quite a thing for you isn’t it?”
    “You better stop now or you are going to get another one.”
    They walked down a quaint cobblestoned winding street lined on both sides with local cafes and small shops. They could smell it before they even saw it. It was that wonderful aroma of fresh baked bread that wafted from the corner store and immediately made their mouths water. Even though they had just eaten lunch it made them both hungry. It was a smell that reminded you of your grandmother’s kitchen on a cold winter’s day.
    The sign hanging from the wall above the door had a large twisted Pretzel on a dark brown wooden board with gold letters spelling  Das Gluck Backerei.  They practically floated in on the aroma to find a smallish store filled with a variety of baked goods in old fashioned wood and glass cases. Several types and shapes of breads and rolls, small individual cakes and tarts all fought with each other for their attention.
    “This is my absolute favorite bakery in the city. It makes me feel good every time I come here. There’s something in particular that I would like you to try.” Birgit pointed to a case toward the back of the store that held rows of eight different types of round fried pastries. “These are called  schneeballen .”
    “Snowballs?” he asked. Maybe this was a sign and not just a coincidence that the store was named the Good Luck Bakery and he was always on the lookout for more ways to