A Tale of Two Translators

A familiar voice broke him out of his reverie, but when he looked up he could only see the back of someone in a neon blue beanie and tan snowboarding pants talking on her cellphone. He'd been surrounded by German in the background all day, but, to his surprise, he was able to understand what was being said without much effort. "Hey, you want to get something to drink? I don't want to be alone with him." Who didn't she want to drink alone with? His curiosity was piqued.

He watched her go through the beat-up metal door below a flickering red and blue neon sign that spelled out "The Golden Roof" below some train tracks. Angry, industrial music blared out when the door opened. People were standing around in groups or hurrying past, eager to get to other doors under other neon signs that spelled other words further down the street. The wet pavement reflected the lights of the neon signs and street lamps up and down the street and made the whole scene light up, while still covering half in shadow. Steam rose up from the sewer below, obscuring parts of the scene briefly, before dissipating in the light breeze. The rumble overhead of a passing train drowned out the words of the bouncer who nodded at Wade as he walked through the same metal door.

.........

Anja took a big swig from her beer and then ran her eyes across the people starting to congregate on the dance floor. She normally didn't like industrial music; it was too angry but today it matched her mood. None of her friends were free and she just wanted to lose herself in the music and dance away the frustration of getting laid off. She needed that job! She had almost all the money she needed to pay for the flight to Nepal and get to the Mount Everest base camp. Now, who knew how long it would take before another project or another job came up?

"Anja, hob' di lange ned g'sehn. (Anja, hi! Long time no see!)"

Anja looked up and saw the last man she wanted to see right now sit down next to her. He was wearing that same beanie he always wore, the one with the marijuana leaf that he thought was so cool. He set his jacket next to her on the bar counter. His t-shirt had the name of some snowboard magazine on it.

"Hi, Jörg."

"That really sucks what happened with your client, doesn't it?"

"Naja, you have to expect that sometimes."

"Is there something else for you guys to do?"

"You already know! Nothing at the moment. Gabi said, something might come in next week. With the way things are, who knows?"

"D'you need money?"

"Nein." She turned away from him and took another big gulp of beer. She was going to need it, if he was staying around.

"Hey, if you need some, I have a client, for my personal business, y'know. He always needs pictures of pretty girls like you"

"For the last time, I don't want you taking pictures of me." She snarled and stormed off, leaving her unfinished beer on the counter.

What an asshole! I wanna just punch his lights out! Anja said angrily to herself. There was another bar across the dance floor. She wormed her way through the crowd and ordered a shot. She gulped it down fast. A couple of guys, with short, spiky hair, making their voices deeper than they were, came over and invited her for another shot. She pushed past them and disappeared into the crowd. Swinging her arms over her head, swishing her hips side to side, working out her anger in time to the music.

Fucking asshole, she spat, thinking of Jörg. He's so full of shit. Everyone in the office hates him, if he wasn't such a good graphic designer he'd have been gone long ago. Well, if she had to go, she was going to take him with her! She was starting to get thirsty, the heat of the room was making her throat dry. Looking towards the bar, she saw a familiar face.

When he first came in, Wade saw a shot of blue by the bar, but as he moved towards it, the wearer stood up and walked away. Wade followed the blue beanie with his eyes until it disappeared into the crowd on the dance floor. Now, an hour later, Wade was still sitting at the bar counter, going over in his head what else he could do to earn money besides freelancing.

"Hi."

He looked over at the voice and it was the girl with the blue beanie and snowboarding pants standing next to him. The darkness and flashing lights of bar made it hard to make out her features, but there was something familiar about those eyes and mouth in the searching look she gave him for a moment. Wade took a closer look at her. The makeup and hair were different, but ... "Anja?"

"Richtig!" She smiled, not the friendly kind of smile you flash when you see a friend, but the kind makes the other person think you'll strike out at any moment. "Was hast du getan? (What did you do?)" Anja slapped him on the arm. "I knew you'd mess this up. I knew it. I told Gabi we didn't need someone new coming in, they wouldn't understand the project and now look what's happened!"

Wade could smell the Jägermeister on her breath. How much had she had to drink, he wondered, she had hardly said a word to him in German the whole day. Now, she could hardly get the words out fast enough, she was so angry.

"What're you talking about? I've been working my ass off since I've been in this country trying to make enough to be able to stay and now that I had a job, you think I was just going to blow it all away by fucking up my first chance at a good job here?" Wade fended off her blows until she stopped. "The way I heard it, Gabi wanted to keep us on, to help with some admin work that had piled up but Jörg wanted the left-over funds all to himself, to pay for his part of the project, which the client hadn't canceled."

"Arschloch!" Anja slammed her beer on the counter. A few people turned their heads to see what was going on, but just as quickly turned back to what they were doing. "I knew it! He's been trying to get my clothes off and in front of his camera since the day we met."

Wade looked over at Anja, her head blocked some of the strobe lights, and the red and green flashes made it look like electricity was flowing off her hair.

"You know, he's got a 1,200 Euro camera locked in his desk?"

"I bet you could sell that for a pretty penny..." Wade thought enviously.

Anja leaned in closer so that her breasts were squashed against Wade's arm. "If we could steal it, we could make a little bit of money.)"

Wade felt his member jolt at the puff of breath on his ear as she said 'a bit.' He looked into her deep blue eyes, then down to those full lips he had fantasized about since first meeting her. Right now they were curled up in a slight smile. She was so close to him he was worried she could see how hard he was. He could smell her hair which smelled of jasmine mixed with a scent of sweat, either from the class or dancing.

"But what do we do if they find out?"

"Have you found something new?"

"No, not yet. And what I got doesn't even cover rent" he added ruefully.

"Naja. I need money soon too. Let's do it."

Wade thought of all his bills and his dwindling bank account. He didn't have enough money to stay and not enough to go, not that he could go back to the Republic of Cascadia, even if he wanted to. "If you can distract him, I can steal the camera. But how will we find the key?"

He rested a hand on her hip, which she took in hers and pulled it off her hip, holding her arm straight against her side.

"He is always taking pictures at work for projects. I will wait until he is done, then distract him and you can take the keys. Then, we could take it and then sell it. 50/50 split, sound good?" She ran a finger up and down his chest.

She was so close, he could feel her hot breath on his mouth, the spurts of her "s"'s and "p"'s made his member jump. Her breasts were right in his face and he had a hard time tearing his eyes away from her cleavage, his hands inches away from her perky butt... "Yes" he practically moaned.

"Super," she pulled away as he leaned in towards her. "We will see us tomorrow then." Wade held on as long as he could, giving her hand a quick squeeze before finally letting go. She blew him a kiss before heading towards the exit.

Chapter 4

"Wade, you do drink too fast. Drink slower, so you can enjoy the taste." Anja looked at him over the rim of her own cup as they stood together next to the office's coffee maker the following morning.

"I am enjoying the taste."

He inhaled deeply, the rich smell and smooth, creamy taste of coffee always calmed him down. It had been a while since he'd gotten to enjoy coffee made from freshly ground beans. The cup size was a little too small for him, but the coffee itself was klein aber fein (small but nice) as the natives themselves liked to say. "So, where's Jörg?"

"Shh! He's shooting something now. I'll distract him when he comes back and you grab the cabinet keys. Then we will take the camera when he leaves."

"But what if we get caught?"

"They won't find out. I'll distract Jörg so he won't see you take the key. Then once he's gone, we'll take the camera. No one will know!" Seeing his still worried, doubting expression, she stepped in closer. "You can't get a reward without taking a little risk."

He felt her hot breath on his ear and he couldn't help but gasp and his hips jerked involuntarily when she nibbled gently on his earlobe. She ran the tip of her finger along the other side of his neck. All while keeping her full, firm chest pressed against his. He ran his hands up and down her sides, he started to go down further, but she popped back up just then and took a slight step back. "Sound good?"

Wade thought back to the letter taped to his door to that morning, a reminder from the landlord that rent was coming up and he couldn't be late again. Another bill. He thought that by now he'd have a regular job and he would be able to pay rent worry free. Money's still going to be tight for a bit it seems, he thought resignedly to himself.

"Yeah, OK..."

Before he could say more, Anja kissed him. Wade forgot about everything else as soon as Anja pressed her full lips against his. Those lips that had intrigued him since he first met her, pressed insistently against his. All too soon, just as he started to run his tongue along her lips, which still tasted slightly of coffee, she stepped back. He was hard again, he hoped she couldn't tell through his cargo pants. He could still feel her breasts pressed against his chest, even after she stepped back. He caught his breath and squared his shoulders.

"Let's do this!"

She glanced quickly behind her and motioned for him to go back to his desk, "That was the door to the photography room. Jörg's coming back. Come in after we've been talking for a while and I have him distracted." She whispered and walked over to Jörg's desk.

"Hi Jörg!" Anja smiled as she walked up to him. "Do you still want to show me your photos?"

"Was? I thought you weren't interested?" he looked up at her suspiciously.

"Hey, I was drunk and angry last night, but I've thought about it." She batted her eye lashes at him. "But first, I want to know what kinds of pictures you take before I say 'yes'."

"Ja?" Jörg's face brightened up immediately, "You'll see, they're really good. Maybe, one day, you'll be lucky enough to model for me!"

After a while, Wade heard Anja's familiar laugh and lilt. "Haha, ja! Auf gehts! (Haha, yeah, right on!)" He craned his neck across the room and could see Anja and Jörg engrossed in the computer screen at his desk in front of them. Neither paid Wade any mind as he came towards them. He saw the key to the cabinet on the corner of Jörg's desk. He was turned slightly away. If Wade could just sneak over there, he just might be able to get it.

But just as he was an arm's length away from the key, Jörg turned around and saw Wade bent over. "Huh, what are you doing there?"

"Oh, sorry, I lost my eraser. I think it rolled over here. Ah, hier ist es." He crouched down on all fours and came up with an eraser he found under the desk.

Wade saw Anja shooting daggers at him before she turned back to her target and batted her eyelashes at him. "So, Jörg, I heard you have some awesome pictures of the mountains from your trip. Can you show me?"

"Ja, klar! (Yeah, of course!)"

Jörg opened a new folder. Anja moved the image he opened to the bigger monitor so she could see it better. She shot a meaningful glance at Wade, who sat at the other corner, where the key was.

"So, this was when me and my buddy were riding down from the peak and we saw this eagle soaring right above us!"

"Nice, nice," Anja whistled appreciatively.

Jörg was totally engrossed in Anja, and her low cut shirt as he told his story. Jörg leaned to the side and whispered something into her ear, while taking a look at her cleavage, which she had probably made available for just that purpose. He could probably draw the shape of her boobs from memory by now, Wade thought grumpily to himself, not that he couldn't do the same thing.

Wade lifted one hip off the counter, as if he had an itch, reached down and grabbed the key. He held the small piece of brass in his hands for a while before slipping it into his front pocket. Afterwards, Wade stayed on the desk for a few minutes, not really listening, heart racing fast. He kept expecting Gabi or someone to ask him what he was doing with those keys, or for Jörg to start looking for them.

"Wade, Wade!" He looked up to see Anja staring expectantly at him, from where she was leaning over Jörg's desk, who was shamelessly staring at her cleavage. "Oh, sorry, yes?"

"We are going to get a coffee. Do you want one?"

"No, thanks. I have to get back to work. Great photos, Jörg" Jörg, gave only a cursory wave, as the two walked off to the break room together.

As soon as the two were out of earshot, Wade sat down at the desk and after making sure no one was around to see, opened the cabinet drawer and pulled out the camera. It was pretty nice: A Ricoh camera with a nice telephoto lens, there were some other bits and pieces that seemed to go with it, so he grabbed those as well. He quickly wrapped it all up in his jacket before quietly closing the drawer and putting the key back where he'd found it.

"Did you get it?" Anja whispered as she came up to him, a new cup of coffee in hand.

"Yep," Wade patted his backpack and opened it, letting her look inside.

"Great! Keep it there until Gabi comes by when she walks us out," Anja moved back to her desk and disappeared behind the laptop, not talking again until Gabi came by around noon.

"I'll call you if anything new comes in," Gabi extended her hand to Wade after walking him and Anja to the door, "I'm really sorry about this. The client unexpectedly canceled the rest of the order. But there should be something coming in next week."

"I understand how that goes. I hope we can work together again," Wade shook her hand rather sheepishly, hoping the camera wouldn't make a lot of noise as he adjusted the straps of his backpack. Then he walked down the street with Anja.

After they had gone a way, Anja wrapped her arms around Wade's neck, "I found a buyer for the camera. Shh! Not so sound, someone from the office might hear," she whispered. "He'll meet us in the near of here later tonight at The Golden Roof." She looked to the side and quickly kissed him on the lips licking his lips with her tongue, before thrusting into his mouth when opened eagerly to her. He hungrily kissed her back, sucking gently on her tongue and lower lip before pulled away again as the person walked passed them. "So, cutie, we will see us tonight, at 20:00. Ciao, ciao!"

If you get better at German by drinking German beer what does kissing an Austrian girl do? Wade wondered, as he watched her walk away., she still tasted of coffee and he could still taste her on his lips. He walked in the other direction. He passed by an old archeological site. The dig and excavation had been abandoned, at least for now. In these troubled times no one wanted to spend money on such frivolous things as learning about the past. If you don't know about the past, how can you understand the present? Wade reasoned to himself as he considered the steps leading down, the yellow tape marking the site as private had been taken down. No one else was around, he decided to risk it and descended the stairs.

The site had a medieval façade with a golden roof. The wooden frame of the balcony was covered in faded frescos of a king and his court at some sort of dance contest, the dancers below the royals contorted themselves into bizarre shapes as they vied for the prize of a golden apple held by one of the women of the court. As he neared the building, his shoe hit against something metal. He looked down and saw a small piece of copper with an engraving on it. He picked it up and saw that the engraving depicted a similar scene to the one shown on the balcony. They were vaguely like the Hebrew writing on the fresco, but seemed to spell something different.

Before he could examine it further, noise from above startled him. Wade put the piece of metal into his pocket, the one not holding the camera. He waited for the pedestrians overhead to pass by before hurrying up the stairs and continue on towards his apartment.

Chapter 5

Wade watched the steam rise off the plain, cheese pizza he had just gotten from the Turkish pizza stand. He could feel the heat from the fresh-out-of-the-oven slice through the thin paper plate. The wind blew a great cloud of steam over him. He turned towards the smell of grilled sausages and potato dumplings farther down the street. All the food vendors had taken up one side of the street. People meandered in and out of the archways and fountains along the other side of the street. The ornate, wood-carved store signs clashed with the signs painted onto the bright, white tents of the food stalls.

Stepping through the cloud of steam, the street lights and neon signs shone more clearly to him than before, even the conversations of the people around him came more clearly to him. He heard someone call out to a vendor: "Zweimal Currywurst, bitte. (Two curry-wursts, please.)" and without pausing, thought: Warum willst du solche fastfood-Scheissee, mit diesen leckeren traditionellen Essen dabei (Why do you want that fast food junk with this tasty traditional food here)?

He meandered slowly through the crowded street as he ate his pizza, occasionally moving to a side as a large group of people charged down the sidewalk. He knew the club he was supposed to meet Anja at was somewhere down this street, he just didn't know how far down specifically. At last he saw it, The Golden Roof. The light on balcony over the metal door certainly gave it a golden look. If dancers inside were anything like the widely contorted figures on the wall leading to the club were any indication, it was going to be a wild place. He paid the entry and went it.

He stood in front of the door gripped the camera in his pocket even tighter. He looked into the crowd for Anja. She was somewhere in here. His ear pricked at the sound of that familiar lilt: "Wade, halliallo! Do you have the camera?" Anja came towards him, her blue beanie covering her hair and the tips of her ears. Wade nodded after a quick peck on the cheeks and lips and patted his jacket. "Super. Mogscht a Schnapsal (Great. Do you want a schnapps)?"

"Ja," Wade nodded.

"Hier, prost!"

Wade clinked his proffered shot glass with Anja's. He sniffed the drink, inhaling the strong, fruity smell. He tilted the cup towards his mouth and let the thick liquid slide down his tongue. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the strong taste of peach. The alcohol burned and warmed his insides. His chest felt like it was glowing.