Nothing Without You

“I don’t really do rides.” It was about the tenth thing this guy claimed he “didn’t really do.” It was a blind date, and it was going about as well as I’d expected.

“Okay, well what do you do?” I sighed, really just ready to go home. I normally loved carnivals and fairs, but this was beyond dreadful already. I’d only met him about an hour before and I was terribly unimpressed. He was a good looking guy, tall and muscular, but his monotone voice and lack of interest in everything and anything made him awfully boring.

“Sports are cool. I like hockey.” Well at least he likes something.

“Oh, well I kind of meant- Nevermind. Do you play or just watch?” I asked, knowing this date wouldn’t have a magical ending, though I still wanted to be nice to him.

“Play or watch what?” It was hard to talk to him, he only seemed to listen to about half of what I said.

“Hockey. You said you liked hockey, do you play or do you just watch?” I honestly had no idea how I was going to get through this date.

“Oh. I don’t really know. Both I guess.” I started wondering how someone could be so blank and boring, but I was realizing it wasn’t just him. He wasn’t into me either.

I waited a few minutes in silence, almost hoping things would get better before blurting out “So honestly I don’t think we’re clicking. Maybe we should just call it a day.”

“Yeah that sounds good. Sorry about it.” He shrugged.

“It’s okay, no big deal. Thanks for coming though.” I felt bad I’d wasted his time, but I was happy he was being so nice about it.

“Yeah. See ya.” He waved and walked off, probably to go home.

I had driven over with my roommate, and I knew she and her boyfriend wouldn’t be leaving any time soon and I didn’t want to bother them. I strayed into the Budweiser building and sat down at their bar. It was an open building, free of any wall facing the street. It was nice to sit in a bar and feel the fresh air on my face as I had a drink. I watched as the sun threatened to set and all the lights of the carnival rides began to illuminate. It had the potential to be such a great night, but yet again, it didn’t work out for me.

I didn’t have great luck with men, whatever it was about me just drove them off. Men were often unenthused by me, which was so frustrating. I generally thought I was a pretty girl, nothing spectacular, and I always tried to be as sweet as I could to people, really I thought my interest in art and music was a good topic of discussion when it was my turn to talk about myself. But maybe I was just the type of girl that left something to be desired.

I thought a lot about this as I sipped on the beer I didn’t like. I wasn’t a beer drinker, but what else was I going to do at a bar? Or by myself at a fair for that matter? Just as I started to feel bad about the way things went, a man sat down next to me and ordered a drink.

I sat up straight, not having realized I was hunched over the bar slightly, probably looking quite pathetic. I glanced at him and was immediately intrigued. He had dark blond hair and a great build, his jaw looked like it had been chiseled by angels. I couldn’t tell if this guy was just mind blowingly attractive or if it had just been too long since I’d had any action. In either case, I was strangely interested, and that was out of character for me, because although men were generally unimpressed with me, I was normally, equally, unimpressed with them.

To my surprise, he met my gaze. I hadn’t meant to stare so long, I also hadn’t meant to get caught. I was sure he could see the embarrassment written on my face. “Hello darling.” He greeted me with a smile. He had a strange accent, one I’d never heard. It sounded like a mix of things and I began to wonder if he were a traveler or something.

“Hi.” I clammed up, which was in fact, in character for me. I was often nervous around new people, and maybe that was another reason dates never worked out for me.

“What’s your name?” I was surprise at his interest, but I had to wonder if he were just bored and wasting time like I was.

“Catalina. Cat is fine.” I felt awkward and shaking that was near impossible. “Yours?” I asked, trying to seem cool and collected, naturally I was anything but.

“Niklaus. Klaus is fine.” His grin was playful and apparently contagious.

“Well, Klaus, what brings you to an overpriced, crowded, fair bar?” I was trying to make conversation like a normal person but I knew how awful I was with social interactions.

“My daughter, actually. But she’s off riding rides with her mother now.” He chuckled and took a drink. I hoped my disappointment hadn’t shown on my face. I should have known he wasn’t some gorgeous bachelor looking for a date.

“How old is she?” I asked, still happy to make friends.

“She’s 5.” The look on his face made it so obvious that this little girl was his entire reason for living. "Mature for her age, I might add, so it's nice to get her to just focus on being a child and having a good time."

"I see." I smiled, wishing ever father talked their child like he did. "How long have you been with the mom?" I asked, not realizing how inappropriate that question was.

"Oh, no. We're not together." I couldn't tell if he was defensive over this or if he was just that uninterested in her. "We co-parent well, most of the time, but she's seeing my brother. Odd, isn't it?" He shook his head like it was so ridiculous, I'd guessed he hadn't realized how common that kind of thing was.

"Nothing unheard of." I took a sip and I was sure he noticed the face I'd made, I really had forgotten how much I didn't like beer.

"What about you? What brought you here? Obviously it wasn't the beer." I liked his humor, he had this sarcastic an slightly cocky way about him, but unlike most others, he somehow made that attractive.

"No, it wasn't." I laughed, pushing the drink to the side. "I was actually on a blind date, but it didn't go well."

"Oh? What's the matter? Why didn't it go well?" He seemed interested in getting to know me, which was much more than I could say for some of the other guys my roommate had st me up with. "Did he look like hell or was he dreadfully boring?"

"The latter." I laughed, almost embarrassed. "But to be fair I'm sure he thought the same about me. He didn't seem into it at all. It lasted about an hour or so before I wondered here."

"Why didn't you just go home?" He asked, and although he was very light hearted, he looked a little concerned.

"My friend, Emma, she and her boyfriend drove me. They're round here somewhere but I really don't want to bother them." I sounded pathetic, or at least I thought I did.

"Well." He started, then took a second to finish his drink. "Let's make use of this. Walk with me." He held out his hand to help me off the bar stool, and honestly it took me a second to agree to this. He was as attractive as could be, and seemingly very nice, but he was a total stranger. I knew a few things about the world, things most people didn't know. I knew that vampires walked among humans like it was nothing, I knew that there were witches and other supernatural beings too. I'd never personally known someone like that, or I didn't think I did, and this Klaus guy could be anyone. I knew he could have been anything, like everyone else could be, but I had a feeling about him, like he was someone almost a little dangerous but trustworthy. "Come on Cat, what have you got to lose?"

He smiled at me like he was challenging me, and before I'd even known it, I'd taken his hand got up from the bar stool. "Fair enough." I had to wonder what the hell I was doing, and if I hadn't regularly drank vervain tea, I would have thought I'd been compelled.

"So what do you do for work, darling?" Klaus asked as we started walking.

"I work at a small motel, just outside of the French Quarter." I wasn't all that proud of my job, it wasn't at all glamorous or special, but it was enough to pay my portion of bills.

"What made you want to work there?" He didn't sound like he was judging, but I still felt a little embarrassed.

"Strictly the pay." I laughed, trying to be light hearted about it. "Well, that, and working at a bar just isn't for me. I was doing that for a while, and the tips were great, but I could only take so many crude comments and handsy men."

"You're a beautiful girl, I could imagine you got plenty of attention at a job like that." I hadn't expected to blush, I never did when someone said something nice about me, so when my cheeks started feeling hot I knew he was affecting me differently than other guys.

"Thank you." I'd said it quietly and hadn't really expected him to hear, but he nodded his "You're welcome." I didn't let too much silence slide by before I asked "What do you do?"

He looked somewhat taken aback by the question, like he didn't know what to say. "I don't, I suppose I'm just slightly well off." Something about that answer didn't seem quite right, but I let it go.

"Handsome and wealthy? Looks like I'm walking with the right guy." We laughed, and although he was just laughing at my humor, I was laughing from a bit of nervousness. Bold things like that didn't often come out of my mouth, but he seemed the type to find that kind of thing funny. I was right.

"You have no idea." He shot back, and of course at the time I didn't fully understand him, but it was something I would think back on much later.

After an hour or so of walking around, talking, laughing, even eating popcorn, I heard a jazz band off in the distance. I wanted to go watch the band, but I wasn't willing to ruin whatever it was I was doing for it, but somehow I got lucky. "Do you hear that?" Klaus asked with a certain gleam in his eyes. "Do you like Jazz?"

"I live in New Orleans, yes I like jazz." I laughed, making him roll his eyes.

We made our way over to the crowd of dancing couples. I intended to just watch, knowing my dancing was sub-par at best, but when Klaus took my hand and lead me into the depths of the dancers, I knew I was in for it. "How much of a dancer are you?" He asked over the loud music.

"Not at all!" I chuckled over my embarrassment.

"You're about to be." He smiled, spinning me before holding my waist and leading. "Listen to the music, feel the rhythm, and follow my lead, yes?"

I nodded, somehow feeling no pressure to do well. "I'm not good at this." I admitted, but there was a smile on my face.

"You're doing fine!" He seemed like he really know what he was doing, and of course I wondered if he'd ever been a dancer or instructor or something.

We laughed as we danced, making jokes and people watching. It was so strange, how we got on like we'd known each other for ages, deep down I hoped he'd ask for my number or something before the day was through.

Far too soon, I got a phone call, taking me from our fun. "I have to get this, just a sec." I said politely as I wondered off away from the music so I could hear.

"Hey, where are you?" It was Emma.

"Over watching the jazz band. Why what's up?" That question seemed stupid, but it was a bit late to take it back.

"Well we were going to meet up with you guys. How is it going? Is it a love connection?" She teased, thought unbeknownst to her, I hadn't been with him for the majority of the day.

"No, actually we kind of parted ways a few hours ago." I admitted, almost feeling guilty.

"What? Why? Why didn't you say something? You didn't have to be alone all day." She felt bad, that much I could hear in her voice.

"We just weren't connecting, it was like a complete flat line. But don't worry, I haven't been alone. I actually met someone at the bar." It sounded stupid I was sure, hanging out with a guy I'd just met at a bar, but it felt far less awkward than it sounded.

"What?!" She exclaimed, knowing how unlike me that was. "What's his name? Is he hot? Are you going to let him take you home?" Her eccentricity made me roll my eyes.

"No! Relax." I found my cheeks getting red again and it was annoying. "His name is Klaus, and yeah, he's gorgeous." I said quietly, not knowing where he was. "He's been so nice to me all day and I've been having a good time. I like him, you know, just based off of first impressions."

"That's awesome! Well why don't you guys meet up with us and we can get something to eat?" Food sounded great, I hadn't thought much about it until then, but I was starving.

I quickly agreed and gave her a location to meet us. I probably should have made sure my new date was fine with meeting my friends before agreeing, but hunger fogged my judgment. I made my way back to Klaus, who had migrated to the outside of the dancers. "Everything alight?" He asked.

"Yeah, my friends Emma and Jared wanted to meet up to eat. Do you want to come?" He looked slightly uneasy, like he wasn't all that sure about it. "Come on Klaus, what have you got to loose?" I asked, mimicking him from earlier. How could he say no?

"You sound like someone I know." He said, raising his eyebrow as he began to walk with me.

"Couldn't imagine who!" I joked, feeling better than I had in a long time. I was elated with happiness, just from finally letting go of all the stress of my life and giving in to having a good time. It wasn't often that I got this kind of time, and even if I never saw Klaus again after this, I knew it would stay a fond memory.

When we got to the table we'd agreed to meet at, after picking up some food of course, we were greeted by my friends who'd beaten us there. "Hey! Thought you got lost." Emma snickered, giving me side glance.

"Nope." I gave her a playful glare, urging her to keep her mouth shut as she pretty openly gawked at the man next to me. As Klaus and Jared went through introductions and getting aquainted, Emma kept mouthing to me how hot Klaus was and how lucky I'd gotten, not to mention a few "What the fuck" statements. She looked more eager about this than I was and I couldn't help but find it funny.

"So, Klaus, where are you from?" Emma asked as she delicately drove food into her mouth. "Obviously not from here."

"Here and there I suppose." For some reason he didn't really seem to want to answer her question.

"So what are you doing in New Orleans then? Do you travel or live here?" She was asking everything I was too shy to ask, and I wanted to thank her but I also felt bad for seemingly making Klaus a bit uncomfortable.

"Currently I reside here, New Orleans seems to be the place I always come back to." He had a very easy and smooth way about him, but I could tell he was trying to tiptoe around something.

"Where do you work?" Her curiosity was similar to mine.

"Got lucky I guess, I don't necessarily have a line of work currently." He didn't eat much, maybe he was nervous? He seemed too confident and maybe a bit too arrogant to be nervous.

"Lucky? Sounds like you want to live in a box." She laughed, though if she knew that he was actually pretty wealthy, from what he'd told me anyway, she wouldn't have said that.

"Something like that." He smirked, having the decency not to brag.

I could see Jared looking a bit irritated with Emma. He must have been jealous over her interest in Klaus, but I knew she was just interrogating him for my sake. She was a good friend, I knew I would have to talk to Jared about it later to ease his mind.

After talking for a while, I noticed the sun was going down. It was such a great night, I wasn't ready for it to end. "Hey, let's do the ferris wheel together." Jared suggested, though my fear of heights plagued me.

"I don't know-"

"Of course." Klaus stood, giving me that face like he was challenging me again.

My nerves were going haywire as we all took our seats. As quickly as it ascended, I thought I might die. Emma of course got a kick out of my nerves, which is probably what brought it to Klaus' attention. "Are you that horrified, love?" I was too petrified to react to the name.

"Yeah, kind of." I tried to laugh it off but when we got stuck at the top, Jared tried to "rock the boat." Which of course meant rocking the whole damn thing back and forth, which of course the worker below yelled at him for. "You guys are such children." I sighed, trying to shake the nerves.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and felt slightly better. I smiled at my foreign date, almost trying to thank him with my eyes. It was hard to enjoy anything from so high in the sky, but the cool night breeze on my face was nothing to complain about, nor was the smell of popcorn or the sound of the carnival below.

When we got off the ride, a call came to Klaus' phone. "Yeah?" He answered, and Emma and Jared bee-lined for one of the games ahead. "Yes of course princess, I'm on my way." He hung up and sighed. "Sorry for the short notice, but my daughter is requesting I win her some stuffed toy she wants."

"Oh of course, I'm so sorry I kept you so long, I'm sure she's been waiting for you." I felt bad for making his little girl wait. I honestly forgot he was there with people.

"No trouble. I quite enjoyed your company." I smiled, and I was sad to see it end.

"Thanks for making my day better. I had a great time."

"Yes, until we meet again Cat." I nodded and said a silent goodbye to someone I was convinced I'd never see again as he walked away form me. He was like a fleeting memory already, one I wasn't quite ready to let go of.

Little did I know, I wouldn't have to, so long as I could reserve my patience.