Edge of Tomorrow (68 page)

The Baron sure knows how to
pick them!
he thought as he approached the couple to
greet them.
Festen bruste! Wunderschön!
Firm tits! So attractive and beautiful!

Hatch and Kurt acknowledged each other
boisterously in German, then Hatch introduced Syd to him as his
fiancée.

Kurt switched to accented English and said to
her, “Well, my dear, I hope you know what you are doing! The Baron
is quite accomplished in mischief making!”

Syd could tell by the glint in Kurt’s eye
that he really liked Hatch and was spoofing her.

She laughed as she shook Kurt’s hand
with a strong grip and said, “That is part of the Baron’s
charm,
Herr Zimmerman
! As the
women here can no doubt attest!”

“I choose not to comment further on
that subject,
Fräulein
Steppe! Come, let me get you a table near the piano. Perhaps
we can persuade the Baron to play for us later,” roared Kurt as he
led them through the crowded, smoke-filled room to a table for two
with a “Reserved” sign on it. They both ordered frosty mugs of dark
Austrian beer.

Syd asked Hatch, “Did you call ahead? This
table was reserved.”

“I didn’t call. We must have bumped
somebody. I
am
Baron von
Hüber!” he chuckled as he sipped some cold beer. “How do you like
it here?”

Syd had scanned the place quickly, noticing
its numerous tables and chairs; the 15' by 15' well-worn dance
floor full of couples dancing to a polka being played by a man with
an accordion; the long, ancient bar along one wall with its
hand-carved posts and backdrop; and the framed original oil
paintings on every wall. She loved the place!

“It’s awesome, Baron!” she said, meaning it,
“but I probably should have worn a skirt.”

“Nonsense! At least half the women here are
in pants! You look just great!”

“You’re prejudiced! This menu is enormous!
I’ll let you order for me,” Syd said.

They both had
wiener schnitzel
with sweet and sour red cabbage
and German potato pancakes. They both cleaned their
plates.

Syd commented, “I was really hungry! Must
have been the exercise earlier. That was the best veal I’ve ever
had! It melted in my mouth!”

“Everything here is good. They’re quite
famous for their food, as well as their atmosphere and
entertainment. If you look carefully, you’ll see many non-locals
and tourists in here.”

The place was filled with smoke from all the
smokers, and the noise was quite loud from the crowd singing along
with the accordion player. Hatch fished out a cigarette and lit
it.

Syd said, “Since they say secondhand smoke is
worse for you than firsthand, I’ll have one of those, please.”

“I’m sorry, dear, I should have asked you if
you wanted one. Here you go,” Hatch said as he gave her a cigarette
and lit it for her. They smoked and watched the dancers and the
crowd for a few moments. Syd made a game out of trying to pick out
tourists.

Ten minutes later, as a waitress brought them
two new mugs of beer, Hatch happened to glance toward the entry
door and saw a small, thin woman enter the establishment
accompanied by a man about his own size.

He did a double take, then said under his
breath, “Shit!”

“What?” asked Syd.

“Elizabeth just came in the door! I was going
to call her tomorrow! This won’t be pleasant!”

“Relax, dear! We might as well get this over
with now,” purred Syd.

“That big guy with her is Karl Schmidt, her
driver/bodyguard, and he’s always armed—we, of course, are not,”
mused Hatch.

“You expect
that
kind of trouble? Don’t worry, if it comes
to that, I’ll lift my shirt and flash my tits at him, and while
he’s distracted, you can use your Nepalese Kung Fu on him,” laughed
Syd as the two approached their table.

“Be serious, Syd!” he hissed.

Underneath her facade, Syd was being serious.
She checked out the big man and determined that his gun was under
his left armpit. Then she focused on the countess. She was about 5
feet 5 inches tall, thin with slender hips, and small breasts that
were on high beam. She wore a long, black dress that reached the
ankles of her booted feet. Her hair was dark auburn and reached her
shoulders, and her makeup was exquisite. What really set her off in
this place was the diamond choker around her neck and the diamond
bracelet on her right wrist. Her eyes were emerald green, and they
flashed when they landed on Syd.

You are gorgeous, Countess, I’ll give you
that! In a bony sort of way. But you would be. Hatch has very good
taste! I can’t blame Hatch for being attracted to you, but your
days of fucking Hatch are a thing of the past!

Hatch stood up when they got to the table and
said, “Elizabeth! What a surprise! I was going to call you tomorrow
and set up a meeting.”

Elizabeth was cool on the outside, but
seething on the inside. Kurt Zimmerman was there immediately and
pulled a chair up from another table and the countess sat in
it.

Hatch said, “Elizabeth, I would like you to
meet Sydney Steppe. Syd, Countess von Braten.”

Syd was waiting for “my fiancée,” but Hatch
didn’t say it, so she offered the countess her right hand to shake
as she moved her left hand to a position where her ring could not
be missed.

“Pleased to meet you, Countess. I’ve heard so
much about you,” meowed Syd—at least, in her mind it sounded
catty.

Elizabeth touched Syd’s right hand,
then put her hands in her lap. Without looking at Kurt, she said,
“A glass of
Grüner
Veltliner
,
Herr
Zimmerman
, if you please.”

The wine she had ordered was a refreshing,
dry, greenish white wine preferred by many Austrians.

Kurt bowed and said, “Yes, Countess, right
away!”

Syd shrugged and said, “We did come here
especially to see you, Liz.”

The countess frowned when Syd said “Liz.”

Syd continued, ignoring the frown,
“Hatch wanted to tell you face to face that he is engaged—to
me
.”

Elizabeth gave Hatch a vicious glare, then
looked at the ring on Syd’s finger. Syd moved her hand closer so
the countess could get a good look at it.

“Well! I suppose congratulations are in
order!” spat Elizabeth.

Syd smiled, “Now, Hatch will be married, just
like you are.”

Hatch struggled with what to say. If he let
Syd keep talking, things would get worse than they already were. He
finally said, “Well, Elizabeth, how did you know I was here?”

“When you didn’t show up on your regular
schedule, I had my people watch the airport for your plane. The
taxi driver who brought you here called Karl,” she replied with a
nod toward her bodyguard. “I could not wait to see you, so I rushed
right over. I see it is a mistake!”

Then Elizabeth switched to German and she and
Hatch had a heated exchange that Syd did not understand. Syd took a
sip of her beer as Kurt Zimmerman delivered the white wine for the
countess, then retreated.

Syd thought,
I
don’t know why I’m so pissed off at her! If I had been fucking
someone for over 15 years and lost him, I’d be upset, too! I guess
I shouldn’t be so harsh on her. She needs some time to get used to
the idea.

Syd picked up Hatch’s pack of cigarettes and
fished one out. She lit it with his trusty Zippo and blew a stream
of smoke toward the ceiling where it joined the cloud being slowly
stirred around by a lazy fan. It reminded her of smog over L.A. in
the heat of summer. Elizabeth now had tears in the corners of her
eyes as she pled her case.

“Hey, people,” Syd finally said, “you’re
ignoring me! I would like to take part in this conversation.”

Hatch and Elizabeth stopped talking and
looked at Syd.

Hatch said, “I’m sorry, Syd. That was rude of
us, but Elizabeth is leaving now. There is nothing more that needs
saying.”

Syd replied sweetly, “That’s too bad. Perhaps
we can talk some other time, Countess.”

Elizabeth stood and said, “Perhaps, perhaps
not. Good night.”

She spun and headed for the door with Karl in
tow. She never looked back.

“Well, she’s really pissed!” said Syd. “I
guess I can’t really blame her.”

“She’ll get over it. It’s not like I’m the
only one she’s screwing. She’s been a good friend. I’d hoped we
could part, but still be friends. I guess not,” mused Hatch sadly.
“She didn’t care if I got married as long as I kept up our affair.
That’s what the argument was about.”

“I don’t think I could go for that part,”
smiled Syd. “I guess I’m not royalty.”

“You’re a queen to me! That outranks a
countess any time!” chuckled Hatch. “How about a dance?”

“Love to! I hope it doesn’t go like that with
all your other women!”

• • •

About a half hour later, Kurt Zimmerman
announced to the crowd that they were in for a treat: the Baron von
Hüber had consented to play the piano for them. The regulars led
the applause as Hatch took a seat at the piano. Syd was surprised
when Hatch started playing Opus 354, Vienna Life, by Johann Strauss
instead of one of his usual show tunes. The audience went
completely silent as he played, and Syd was astonished! She knew he
was a good piano player, but had not realized that he was
accomplished enough to play the classics. She learned something new
about him every day!

When the piece was finished, the
applause was deafening. Hatch stood and bowed his head, then sat
down and started a melodic German drinking song as the crowd
yelled, “
Trinklied!
” As he
sang in German, most of the crowd joined in, hoisting their steins
of beer in the air. Syd wished she knew German so she could join
in.

After several more rousing German
songs, Baron von Hüber introduced Syd to the crowd as his American
fiancée. There was clapping, whistles, and some catcalls as she
stood and waved. The baron said he and Syd would sing some songs in
English now, since Syd did not speak German. Most of the crowd
spoke some English, so they were thrilled that the beautiful woman
was going to sing also. They opened with their favorite duet
from
Phantom
that they had
sung in Florida, then switched to some selections from
The Student Prince
by Sigmund
Romberg. Even though he had been Hungarian, his music seemed
appropriate to the surroundings. The crowd showed their
appreciation with clapping and stomping, and even joined in
on
The Drinking
Song
.

• • •

Even though there was still a large crowd at
2 A.M., Syd and Hatch were both tired and decided to leave, much to
the disappointment of the other patrons.

Hatch asked Syd, “We might as well stay over
so I can take my fencing lesson tomorrow—today it is, I guess. Do
you want a hotel room, or should we go back to the plane and sleep
there?”

“Your choice, dear. There will be no
hanky-panky either place,” laughed Syd. “However, there’ll be a
shower at a hotel.”

They took a taxi to the
Hotel am Johannplatz
and got a room
as Baron von Hüber and wife. When they got to their magnificent
room, Syd realized that their overnight bag was still on the
GS-V.

“I’ll call Janet in the morning and have her
bring it over,” replied Hatch to her query about it. “Let’s just
hit the sack now and get some rest.”

“OK, but I don’t have a gown. Come to think
of it, not even a bra.”

“It’s not like you’ve never slept naked
before, sweet thing,” laughed Hatch. “I’ll only look, not
touch!”

“Well, we could snuggle a little, I
guess.”

• • •

The next morning, Janet delivered their
bag to the hotel. They had breakfast in their room, then showered
and dressed. Syd chose her lime green shift dress, which she belted
at the waist. She was able to squeeze her breasts into her soft,
cotton tee shirt bra. Her comfortable Easy Spirit flats completed
her ensemble. Hatch called Baron Hans von Hochsburg, his Fencing
Master, and made an appointment for 2 P.M. They hired a taxi and
Hatch told the driver to go to St. Stephan’s Cathedral,
Stephansdom
, one of the outstanding
attractions in Vienna. Syd had said she would like to see a little
of the city while they were there. Hatch knew the city quite well,
so he pointed out interesting landmarks out the taxi’s windows.
When they reached
Stephansdom
, the taxi driver mentioned to Hatch
that he was also a trained tour guide, and for a few extra
schillings would show them around and explain interesting
historical facts. Hatch didn’t think that was necessary, but hated
to deprive the man of the extra money he would make, so he agreed.
The driver pulled into a “No Parking” zone, waved to a watching
policeman, and led them toward the entrance of the
cathedral.

The driver began his patter, in English
as Hatch had requested, by saying, “This is the city’s symbol. It
is called ‘Steffl’ by us locals. It can be seen from very far away.
Construction began in 1303 and has been going on ever since. The
south spire—
Stephansturm
—is
believed by most to be Europe’s most beautiful gothic tower, and
stands 137 meters high.”

They climbed the 343 steps to
the
Turmerstube
—the Tower
Room. From there they enjoyed the view of the green hills of the
Vienna Woods, as well as the historic city’s sea of roofs, and the
famous ring road.