The raucous sound of my alarm goes off in my mobile. I roll in my bed and take the comfort of my white sheets. A beep emerges from the mobile. With one eye open, I unlock the mobile and see a voice message notification. I lazily hang the phone on my left ear while I grunt to my pillowcase.

His voice emerges clearly, as if he was whispering tin my ear. "Hey babe, Happy Birthday. I guess you are still sleeping. I miss you."

Harry and I are again a complicated mess. When my ego decides for me, I regret it quickly. I know in my heart that saying yes to another try with Harry is not what I want. But his empty promises of redemption and Daniel's absence brought me back to the starting point. 

I repeat the message. I need to hear it again. Harry's voice comes through. I key in number 1. His voice echoes in my half-awaken brain. One more time. Same message. And, again. I'm stuck in an endless loop of self-flagellation. I finally push the phone as far as my will can muster. It lands on the carpet beside my bed.

My inner devil awakens with Harry's message. Can't believe I will spend my freaking birthday alone.

I now wish that I should have taken Marie's invitation. What was I thinking?

I get up, pick up the phone from its landing runway, and type a quick message to her. Maybe I still can salvage my day. I wait for those three dots to appear, which they do in a split second.

My heart lights up, hoping I won't suffer the consequences of my incredible stupidity in deciding to spend my birthday away from human beings. People that I now consider my friends. 

The three dots stop. "Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, Natalie. I'm really sorry but I made plans for this weekend. We'll have celebratory lunch on Monday?" (Happy birthday, Natalie)

Tears fall involuntarily from my eyes, and my hands are quick to wipe them away. I type a reply that makes me sound nonchalant about it, shove the phone under my pillow and wrap myself in my duvet, cutting the light from coming through.

Tears continue falling. Maybe I can call Emily?

The phone rings. I slide my hand underneath the pillow and retrieve the device. I extend my finger towards the call button and slide it up to reject the call.

It must be him again. And Harry is the last person I want to talk to right now.

The phone rings again and my hand slams it shut. I really don't want to hear his voice right now, especially when I am moments away from uncontrollable sobs.

The phone perseveres and rings for a third time and I end up giving up. I prepare my mind for the fight we're about to have. It's as sure as rain falling from the sky.

"Hello?" I say coarsely, trying to control my sobs.

"Why the hell you're rejecting my calls?" his German accent cuts through sharply.

"Daniel?" I wasn't expecting his voice on the other line.

"Yeah." He sounds surprised by my reaction.

"I thought it was Harry..."

"Oh." His voice denotes a slight disappointment in my disclosure. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." I respond.

Why is he calling me? I haven't exchanged a single message with him since I found out his plans about moving to Berlin to join his model lookalike of a girlfriend.

"Where are you right now?"

"At home. Where else would I be?"

"Are you still in bed? It's almost 9."

I sigh and look at my duvet and the small water stain covering its top. "So what if I am?"

"You are not spending your birthday wallowing, are you?"

"That' the big plan... wait, how do you know it's my birthday?"

There is a slight pause on the other side. "Human resources." he responds. "Get up. Shower and get dressed. I'll be there in thirty minutes."

"Is there a supersonic way to travel from Berlin to Dusseldorf that I'm unaware of?" I chuckle at my comment. Even knowing he is not there, I'm still happy to hear his voice.

Another pause. Are these deliberate?

"Hello? Daniel?" I check if the call got disconnected.

"I'm not in Berlin. Thirty minutes." and he hangs up.

Eighteen hundred seconds go by at the speed of light. The door bell rings incessantly, and I know he is standing on the other side of the door.

I open the door and Daniel stands with a set of red balloons in one hand and flowers in the other.

He beams. "Hey birthday girl."

My eyes sparkle with his sight, and my heart skips a beat in his presence. I wrap him in a warm embrace. My heart realises he is the human I've been waiting for on this very Saturday, even if my brain is still too stupid to realise it.

"Happy birthday," he whispers softly while we merge in a tight embrace. "My mother made breakfast for you."

"Breakfast for me? She also asked HR about my birthday?" I say with a smirk.

"Don't start cracking your little jokes, Kleiner."

He takes my hand, which surprises me.

"Let's eat. You must be starving." He says and leads me towards his parents' place.

His mother had set a small white table in the garden for the four of us and the smell of waffles coming through was divine.

"I was looking for you from out here, but you were really well hidden in that tiny apartment." Daniel jokes.

"Dankeschön. Es riecht köstlich." I say to my gracious host. (Thank you. It smells delicious.)

Daniel's mother smiles and gives me a tight hug. "Happy Birthday," she says, beaming.

"Waren die Orangen okay?" (Were the oranges okay?)

"Ja, perfekt."

"Oranges?" Daniel looks at me inquisitively while I sit down and pour myself some coffee. "What oranges?"

"I've been helping your mother with some groceries. She's been teaching me some German dishes and we keep each other company."

Daniel sits down amused and puts his right hand over his mouth, covering his smile. "How have you been speaking with each other?"

"Ah!" I enthusiastically release and giggle. I take my phone and open an app that has voice recognition and translates into another language we set. "Johanna, would you like some coffee?" I say into the app.

The app translates immediately and sings in an automated voice. "Johanna, möchtest du einen Kaffee?"

I signal to her to do the same to show to Daniel. Johanna takes her own phone and whispers. "Ja, gerne, meine Kleine."

"Yes, would love some little one." the mechanised voice repeats.

I stop at the recognisable nickname. "Kleine?" I look at Daniel, "Does it mean little one?"

He gives me an imperceptible nod and smiles. "I can't believe you made such a big effort to talk to my parents." He glances at his mother. "Or that you got her to use her smartphone! She hated the thing when I gave her." He stares at his mother amusedly. "Sie mögen also das Gerät aus der Hölle?"

His mother frowns in response.

"So, now you like the device from hell?" the app auto-translates and I crumble with laughter along with Daniel.

He stares into my eyes turning serious for a split second. "I'm glad I'm back home." Suddenly, Daniel gets up and rubs his hands on his jeans nervously. "I need to get upstairs to get something. Just wait one minute."

I nod enthusiastically and walk back inside his parents' place to see if Johanna needs any help. We're enthusiastically chatting away with the help of our trusty AI powered companion when we hear the door open, signalling Daniel's return.

"Sie sollten gehen. Es ist etwas für dich." Johanna says.

"You should go. It's something for you." the device translates.

I make my way back to the small patio and see a large canvas that is wrapped in a brown paper and a thin string. Immediately, I know it's a painting. One of his paintings. Daniel looks nervous.

"I made you something for your birthday... well, I was already doing it but I guess it was just in time for your birthday..." He grips the paper softly holding the frame as if he is holding the object that can dictate his death or glory. "It's okay if you don't like it... It's not my best... I am out of practice..."

I'm amused at his ramblings. He rambles when he's nervous. In English or German, but rambling is definitely his nervous tick. My stomach grumbles loudly, reminding me of my poker tell.

His eyes dart to me. "We can wait until you eat..."

I chuckle. "I'm not hungry." Just nervous as hell. I slowly release his hands from the frame. "Can I see my present?"

He nods and allows me to take over. I rip the paper off and stare at a portrait... of me. A painting of me sitting on the same patio where we are now. I'm sitting in one of the white seats with my legs crossed. Writing in my notebook while bathed by the moonlight.

I realise that all the nights that I thought I was writing in solitude, in fact, I was in fact accompanied by my own Michelangelo.

"I know... I know... the colour... is too much..." Daniel says while rubbing the back of his neck. "You can say you don't like it..."

"This is the most beautiful present I've ever got."

He gives me a surprised look and smiles shyly. I approach Daniel and place a lingering kiss on his cheek. His left hand lingers on my lower back in a soft embrace. My lips hover over his cheek in proximity to his thin lips.

"Daniel!" his mother calls from inside.

He releases the soft embrace, but his eyes still linger on me. "I should see what my mother needs."

I nod and feel my cheeks burn. "I'll put the painting back in my room. Maybe I could hang it? Do you think your parents would mind?"

"They won't mind. You really like it?" His voice is as insecure as a little child lost on the street.

"I love it. Go, or Johanna will shout your name again."

"Daniel!"

We both laugh heartily at the strain in her voice, calling for her son for the second time.

I go inside my small flat and stare at my painting. I take in every detail and try to memorise it as if it's a song being played on the radio. This is a melody and it's for me. I can hear outside Daniel's voice and his dad talking to each other.

I tap my jeans to retrieve my phone, but remember then that I have left it at the table after our translation jest. I leave my painting on the bed and make my way outside to retrieve it. My mother will appreciate this beautiful gift almost as much as me.

Daniel and his dad are still talking but their voices now carry inside the apartment. I reach for the phone when the automated device speaks.

"If you're painting again for this girl, it means something, son."

And with a single sentence, my already unstable world crumbles.