Inglourious Romance -- Chapter 8

Eine Klein Nachtmusik

Quentin entered the set and found Christoph sitting at one of the tables. He smiled and sat across from him. “We’re gonna start filming soon,” he said to Christoph, who looked up with a smile.

“Alright, I’ll leave in just a moment.”

“So that girl you invited to watch the scene yesterday...” Quentin then transitioned to.

Christoph raised a brow and sat forward. “Amaya? Yes, what about her?”

“She's my storyboard artist. You interested in her?”

“I...just thought she would like to watch,” Christoph answered uncomfortably. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“So you are interested in her. You think she’s pretty? Did you get her number?”

“No! It’s… not like that, Quentin.”

Quentin laughed, apparently amused by Christoph's reluctance to admit that he was interested in Amaya. "It's okay, Chris. She's cute. You should hang out with her more." He then grinned impishly and got up from the table. Christoph followed, hoping the subject would be dropped.

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Amaya stood on the set for the underground bar where she helped place tables and other props for the extras in the scene to use. Jeff and a few other men were moving an upright piano into place to set the ambiance of a basement pub, and Amaya glanced at it. The piano looked really heavy, and she wondered whether it could be played.

The extras arrived on the scene, and she knew Christoph didn’t have many lines for this part; he was supposed to come in after the shootout. Quentin arrived, too, and he began directing the actors and extras into their places. He instructed ‘Wilhelm’ in what he was supposed to do, and Diane Kruger arrived to play the part of Bridget von Hammersmark. Amaya grinned when she saw Micheal Fassbender. He was incredibly hot, but she knew he was so far out of her league that she’d have to grow wings to catch him. But he was nice to look at.

Once everything was in place, Quentin cleared the crew out, and Amaya stood over to the side as the actors took their places. She spotted Christoph in his costume off to the side with his script in his hand. He looked so focused and so cute that she blushed when he looked up and almost caught her staring at him. He didn't look in her direction, so Amaya assumed that maybe he hadn't noticed her.

“Go talk to him,” Jeff said, nudging her. “He doesn’t come in until after the shootout.”

Amaya blushed harder. “I…I don’t want to be in the way…”

Jeff chuckled. "Oh, you could never be in his way according to him," he said. Then, "Hey, do you want a water?"

Amaya nodded. "Sure."

Jeff wandered off to go get bottles of water as the actors got into their places. As soon as Quentin called, “Action!”, the entire set went completely silent, and Amaya watched with her arms crossed as the scene unfolded. She had drawn some storyboards for this one, though they were a little rough and incomplete. Her drawings had focused on the main actors in the scenes rather than the faces of the extras, which she had only outlined in the background and shaded in. Christoph was silent as well, though he did make a few glances over to Amaya, which caused him to smile to himself. He glanced over at her only when he was sure that she was not looking at him.

The scene entirely took several hours to get done, as well as plenty of retakes. Once it was finally finished, Christoph’s scene was being prepared. The soldiers took their places, and already Christoph was hunched over the evidence laid before him. Quentin called for action again, and Christoph picked up the shoe that Bridget von Hammersmark left behind. Christoph had a few takes, going about his lines differently in each one, before it was finally done.

Quentin called for a wrap on the scene, and soon everyone was packing up and filing out to leave. Christoph and Quentin headed back to Christoph's dressing room to go over some scenes together and discussed his lines for the next scene they’d be working on. Quentin admired Christoph’s work ethic, as well as his immense talent. If it weren’t for this Austrian, Inglourious Basterds would not be, and for that, Quentin was thankful.

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When the set had cleared, and the actors and other crew left, Amaya had picked up her things and was about to leave as well, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her. She really wanted to know whether the piano she had seen earlier was playable. When she pushed the middle C key, she was surprised to find that it worked and the key was in tune. She took a quick look around, making sure no one was near, and then she pulled the bench out from under the piano and sat. She wiped her hands on her jeans and thought for a moment. Then, she began to pluck out the chords to a song she had long memorized: Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers" from The Nutcracker.

Eventually, Quentin left, leaving Christoph last to leave. He was about to get back to his hotel when he heard music playing on set. Curious, he made his way to the set slowly, and caught a glimpse of Amaya at the piano, hands dancing across the keys playing a tune he recognized well. He crossed his arms and leaned against one of the walls quietly so he could admire her playing without interrupting her. She seemed completely unaware that anyone was still left on the set and that she had attracted attention to herself. Her back was turned toward Christoph as he leaned against the wall and watched her play. When Amaya finished the song, she removed her hands from the piano keys, somewhat lost in thought.

Christoph could not wipe the smile away from his face. She played beautifully, and he wanted to let her know that. He slowly made his way over to her, the room filled with silence. He sat himself down beside her on the small bench and looked at her. “You play so well,” he started. “Where did you learn to play like that?”

Amaya had no idea that he had even been watching her. She was sitting in a moment of quiet contemplation, wondering what else she could play when he sat next to her and spoke. She jumped, startled by his presence. "I-I...!" Almost immediately a knot of nervousness had formed in the pit of her stomach; she couldn't believe he had caught her playing.

“Oh! I—I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to surprise you like that it’s just… I heard you play and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

She felt the heat creeping into her cheeks when he sat next to her, still in his costume. God, he looked really handsome in that Nazi uniform. She mentally kicked herself into gear. “Er…I…uh…” she stammered, grasping for coherent sentences. “I…didn’t think anyone else was around…” She regained her composure. “I’ve…I’ve been playing since I was very young…” She pushed back a lock of her auburn hair. “My grandma was a piano teacher, and she was the one who taught me how to play.”

"You had a good teacher," Christoph told her. "What kind of music do you play?"

Amaya started to get a little more comfortable now. She really hadn't expected anyone to be listening, but it was sort of a relief knowing that Christoph really seemed to enjoy hearing her. Of course, she shouldn't be at all surprised considering he grew up in the City of Music. "I can play a little of everything," she replied. "I do a lot of classical, but I can do popular songs and..." She gave a slight chuckle. "...video game music." She ran a finger down the ivory surface of one of the keys. "I always did as well with music as with art."

Christoph grinned and crossed his arms comfortably over his chest. “You’re very talented, Amaya. You can do things many people spend their whole life only wishing they could accomplish.”

Amaya gave a slight blush. He thought she was talented? That was an impressive compliment coming from him, and it boosted her ego just a little. "Thanks. I've just always been creatively minded, I guess." She paused and looked over at him. "Um...do you want to hear something else?"

He smiled gently. "Absolutely...if you really don't mind playing, of course."

She thought for a moment before a smile twitched at the corner of her lips; she would play some Mozart for him. Surely an Austrian could appreciate that. She began plucking out the chords to "Rondo Alla Turca," and Christoph instantly beamed. He knew Mozart when he heard it, and she played the song so excellently that he couldn't help but watch her keenly as she concentrated on the music. Even more impressive was that she had no sheet music in front of her, so he surmised that she had it long committed to memory.

Christoph undid the top two buttons of his tunic. The costume fit him perfectly, although a Nazi uniform was attractive on nearly anyone -- or at least that's what Amaya thought. He then rested a hand on the keys. He was not as gifted as Amaya, but he knew a few simple little tunes. He started playing a few of the keys, which started a small melody, but he just then he had a wild urge come over him. He stopped and let his hand fall to his lap.

“Would you like to go to dinner with me?” he suddenly blurted, his head turning so his eyes could meet hers.

Amaya was completely caught off guard by his invitation. It had been one thing for him to show her around Berlin, but…he was asking her to dinner? Was he asking her on a date? She rested her hands in her lap as she looked over at him. He beheld a soft, hopeful look in his hazel eyes as he awaited her answer. He was handsome, and very down to earth. She liked his sense of humor, and she really didn’t have a problem with the fact that he was a little older than she. But he certainly didn’t look his age. Not at all. She really liked him. A lot.

"RIght now?"

He nodded, his eyes illuminated by the faint light of the set as he gazed at her. "Right now."

"Like a...date?" she asked, dumbly.

He chuckled. "Yes."

“O-okay,” she answered, still floored that he asked. “I’ll go to dinner with you.”

Christoph smiled brightly, and seemed as if everything had come together perfectly. He was afraid Amaya would not accept his offer at all. She hardly knew him, and he was so much older than she, but he felt drawn to her and he wanted to get to know her nonetheless.

“Wonderful!” he said. “We could go somewhere tonight if you’d like. Nothing extravagant, but somewhere lovely and quiet. What do you think?”

Christoph got up from the piano bench, offering her his hand so that he could help her up. She was shy, but he could faintly see the excitement in her eyes.

“That's alright with me,” she said, taking his hand and getting to her feet. She noticed that he was still wearing his Nazi uniform. “Maybe you should change first, Christoph. I don’t think wearing that SS uniform in the middle of France would go over too well with people.”

He blinked; he had forgotten he was still wearing it. “You’re right. I could actually get arrested walking around like this,” he chuckled before heading to his dressing room.

"Yeah, we don't want that," Amaya replied, following him.

Amaya stood outside Christoph's dressing room as she waited for him to change. She was glad she looked presentable in her purple long sleeved shirt with its low neckline, tan khakis, and her brown flats. She played with her silver sparrow necklace as she thought about Christoph and why he seemed so interested in her. She wasn’t particularly beautiful — at least not in her opinion — and he was an actor who would most likely make it really big after people saw this movie. He shouldn’t have an interest in her, and even if he did, he'd probably just forget about her if he made it big. But he was cute; she couldn’t deny that. And she liked spending time with him.

It had been a few minutes, for getting out of a Nazi uniform wasn’t necessarily easy with the layers, the buttons on his tunic, and the fact that he had to hang it up carefully so as not to wrinkle it or disturb the medals. Once he had changed, he returned opened the door to find Amaya still waiting for him. He was dressed in a baby blue button shirt, a smoky gray jacket, and khaki pants. Christoph was dressed so nicely, and Amaya had long figured that this sort of attire was the norm for him.

When he emerged from his dressing room, he held out his arm, offering for Amaya to take it. His smile was so charming, so sweet. It raised his cheek bones high, even with such a simple smile. “Come, I know of somewhere close to here that I know you’ll enjoy.”

She took his arm, but when she saw his adorable smile, she felt her face get hot. She knew she was blushing and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. She smiled nervously. “Well, I’m looking forward to it, Christoph,” she said. “If it’s anything like that coffee shop we went to, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”