I put the bowl on my bed. Why had the waiter come to my room? His job was the restaurant, not the rooms. I decided to find out, and opened my door, after I had quickly slipped on an evening coat. I looked into both directions, but the cherry deliverer had disappeared. I had to follow him! So I chose to take the way to the staircase, perhaps I could find him. I hoped that my parents wouldn’t come out of their room and discover me. I was lucky. When turning around the corner I saw him. I recognized the dishcloth and the dark hair. Suddenly I stopped. I didn’t want him to notice that I sneaked after him. So I stayed in a good distance and watched him when he stepped outside into the darkness of the fresh July night . He held onto the railing and seemed to stare into the black water.
Now, that I had followed him that far, I didn’t know what to do. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to turn around and run back to my room, but I forced myself to stay. I made a step farther outside and felt the breeze playing with my hair. I looked at my waiter. He had taken the cloth from his arm into his hand and played around with it. Then all of a sudden he threw it over the railing, where it sailed away, carried by the wind. He sighed.
I gathered all my courage that I had and came closer. “Is everything all right?” I asked him. The waiter looked up. For a second he looked deep into my eyes, then he turned his face away again. Still I had seen that he was blushing. “Yes, everything all right,” he mumbled and continued staring into the ocean. But I didn’t have the intention to go away. “Tell me – why did you bring me the bowl of cherries?” The waiter seemed embarrassed. “ I don’t know. I just wanted to please you.”
We were entirely alone on deck. Despite the waves that were crashing against the ship, my voice sounded loud. “We saw each other at the dinner table tonight, didn’t we?” “Yes,” he smiled timidly. “The caviar…” Then he also gathered his courage. “What is your name?”