Zorka allowed herself a few minutes guilty pleasure by staring at his handsome profile as she watched him talking to Mr. Ian Woon, the merchant who sold fresh food at the market. Mr. Ian Woon was always curious about the world around him, and never passed up the opportunity to strike up a conversation with the foreign visitors.

Her tummy did a little flip flop as he saw her out of the corner of his eye and flashed bright smile at her. “What gorgeous dimples,” she thought to herself.

“There you are,” he smiled at her, “Are you ready to get some lunch?”

“I’m famished,” she replied with an answering smile of her own.

“The choices here are almost endless with all of the fresh fruit and vegetable markets.” He waved his arm expansively to encompass the entire square.

“I’ll just have a fresh fruit salad. No coffee, but a bottle of water would be nice.” She said.
Rico turned to Mr. Ian Woon and said, “Two fruit salads and two bottles of water please,” as he pealed some Euros from his wallet.

Zorka and Rico sat down to eat their lunch and just enjoyed the comfortable silence while they enjoyed the fresh fruit. As Rico finished his last bite of fruit, he met her eyes and asked, “Tell me little Zorka, have you ever seen any of the world?”

“Oh yes. When I finished with my school days, I took a trip to the United Kingdom. I visited London, Bath, and the Cotswolds. I love Shakespeare and wanted to go visit his birthplace. Stratford upon Avon was beautiful. I especially like Anne Hathaway’s cottage, “she smiled at the memories.

“Have you ever been to the United States?” He asked curiously.

“No, but I think I might like to visit it someday. I’m pretty sure that I would love see what it’s all about, but I know that it will be way too modern for me.” She replied nervously.

“You don’t think you’d like to live in America?” He queried.

“Oh no, I’d feel so lost and unsophisticated in such a big modern place.” She said somewhat shyly.

“You would love California. When you decide to come to the States you can come to California and I’ll take you to Disneyland.” He promised.

“Oh, I’ve always wanted to go to Disneyland. I almost made it to Euro Disney once. I absolutely love Tigger. “She squealed with delight.

“I can see similarities between you and Tigger. You are both happy, fun loving and bouncy.” He teased.

“How would you know that? You just met me last night.” She teasingly asked.

“Zorka, I’ve heard all about you for years now. My Baba is your Kuma, she brags about her Godchild all the time. I just didn’t expect to find such a beautiful young woman. In my mind you were still a young child. You have definitely been a pleasant surprise.” He complimented.

She flushed with pleasure at the compliment and answered with a noncommittal, “Thank you.”

The squealing of the children in the school yard caught her attention, and she looked at her watch, “Oh look at the time. I’ve got to go!”

Count Dracula suddenly walked up and said, “I want to drink your blood.”

At the startled looks of the patrons in the square, Dracula looked around and said, “Oops. Wrong story.” And drifted out as quickly as he came.

“I’ll be here when you finish teaching this afternoon,” Rico told her.

“Why?” She asked.

“Because I’m going to walk you home and hopefully talk you into taking a long walk with me this evening.” He stated matter-of-factly.

“I will agree to a walk with you, if you will come speak to my class about America.” She negotiated.

“I would love to speak to your class, but I am not very good at Serbian.” He said a little uncomfortably.

“I try to teach my students that it’s important to try something, even if they are not completely comfortable with the situation. You talking to them in Serbian when you aren’t sure of yourself will be a lesson in risk taking. My students are from this small village and may never see anything outside of it. Many are third or fourth generation who have never been outside the village walls.” She enthused.

“Why don’t you see what fits your schedule and I will come and talk to the students? I have promised to take Baba to Belgrade for a couple of days to visit her cousins but I should be available early next week.” He conceded.

“I will plan a day for you and let you know when you get back. Now I really do need to go, the kids are ready to go in.” She said with regret obvious in her voice.

“I’ll be back here at 3:30 to walk you home.” He leaned over and gave her shy peck on the cheek.

She blushed with pleasure and murmured, “I’ll be waiting.”