The Rejected Alpha

Chapter 17

“Well William, this is your B&B” said Heinrich as they stopped in front of a Hotel. “You will notice that we call all accommodation places here a Hotel” said Heinrich. “Here is my number if you need anything while you are staying here” as he handed William a piece of paper.

“Thank you” said William, but all he could think of was Kelly. Will he see her again, this is her town, she is from aristocratic descent, her father is some sort of big shot, she probably has a boyfriend here, a count or duke or whatever, the thoughts kept on running through his mind.

“You need to snap out of it” said Sebastian as they walked into the Hotel.

“Good evening Mr Von Tromp” he heard a woman’s voice. “We have been expecting you. I hope you will enjoy your stay here with us. I am Mrs. Jennifer De Mornay, but please call me Jennifer, no Mrs or anything like that.”

William looked at the elderly lady in front of him. “Thank you Jennifer” he said, “but I couldn’t possibly call you by your first name. That is not the way I was raised”

“Okay” said Jennifer, “but you will not call me Mrs anything. I have a name and it is Jennifer”

William could see the determination in Jennifer’s eyes, and he thought it best not to argue.

As William was lying on his bed, after taking a long shower after his trip, he decided to explore Wiesbaden a bit.

“You must go to the local pub” responded Jennifer when William asked her what he could do. “The town is quite small, and that is where the young people normally hang out”

When William walked into the pub, he saw that indeed, the place was packed with young people. He decided to walk to the side of the pub, as he saw a restaurant section, and he was quite hungry.

William stood at the entrance section, waiting for a waiter or waitress to show him to a vacant table, but no-one came over.  Eventually a man dressed in a black suit and white shirt, wearing a bow tie came over.

“Guten Abend, bitte nehmen Sie irgendwo Platz” said the man.

“Good evening” responded William, “but I don’t speak any German”

The man looked at him and seemed quite annoyed and turned around and walked away. He saw the man talking to a young lady, and motioned in William’s direction.

“Good evening” said the waitress, “please take a seat”

“Thank you” replied William as he waited for her to show him to a seat, but she turned around and walked away.

“I guess we need to take a seat then” said William to Sebastian who just huffed at him.

“What is wrong with you” asked William as he sat down.

“My mate is in Howick, and here we are trying to figure out what we are. We could have just hunted for something to eat, but you insist on wasting time. We will not find out what we are by sitting here” Sebastian said and William could feel his frustration. “Don’t even dare to think of Kelly tonight” growled Sebastian, “I have had it with her in your thoughts”

Just then the waitress returned. “What would it be sir” she asked. William looked at her and he felt a strange pull towards the girl.

“I don’t know yet, all your menus are in German” William said with a sheepish smile on his face.

Without a word, she turned around and walked away.

“Well, this is going to be fun” William tried to speak to Sebastian, but he could sense that it would be futile to even try.

The waitress returned later with a small device in her hands. “This is a translator” she said, “you can type the word into it, and it will give you the English meaning” and with that she walked away again. What a strange place, William thought. I heard that German people  are blunt, but this takes the cake.

Pizza seems good, he thought as he recognized the one word on the menu.

Kartoffel, William typed into the translator. Potato, he got the response. “Who in their right mind puts potato on a pizza?”

William spent the next 10 minutes translating, and when the waitress returned to take his order, he decided to take whatever she recommends.

“Beer” he heard the waitress say as she put down William’s pizza. “We have your normal beers, but every pub also brews their own local beer, you should try it, it has a strawberry flavour, and it will go well with your pizza of choice.

“One strawberry beer it is then” replied William. He watched the waitress as she walked away, took a beer mug and dipped it into a huge VAT of beer, just scooped it up and came back.

“Okay, something new every minute here” he thought.

William finished his dinner and decided to stay a bit. Maybe he could learn something by observing the young people, then he wouldn’t stand out like a sore thumb the next time he goes into a pub. The rest of the evening William looked at the people, learning how they greeted each other, seeing the respect they clearly had for the older people. The extremely polite manner in which they treated the waiting staff. “The waitresses back home would love to work here” he thought.

As William got up to leave, his waitress approached him. “Want to have a drink with me” she asked. “I just finished my shift and maybe I could help you get accustomed to your new surroundings.”

“Why would you think this is new to me” asked William.

The waitress just laughed at him, “I meet a lot of new people in my job, but you, you are quite unique” she said. “Let me guess, you are from South Africa” she said.

William looked at her, “How?” is all he could get out before she continued. “My name is Paige, and yes, you might look German with your muscular build, blond hair and blue eyes, but your manners, I have seen that only once before, definitely South African”

“Well, you got me there” said William. “William Von Tromp” replied William, and he could swear he saw a momentary change in her eyes when he introduced himself.