The Kiss

After walking out of Albertina, I wandered around the city with no intention of going to another museum. The weather was great; the air was favourable along with the cool breeze. It was a wondrous time of the year and the autumn foliage of golden yellow, brilliant orange and gorgeous red were embracing the streets.

After walking for a while, I chanced upon Wiener Stadtpark. I went in and sat on one of the benches lining around a pond. In the pond, there were ducks swimming gracefully, singing to one another—or perhaps—to the park visitors.

While being absorbed with the ducks swimming in the pond, I heard waves of laughter. I shifted my eyes from the pond to the bench opposite me on the other side of the pond. There was a couple sitting there; holding hands and laughing. One made jokes, the other was laughing and giggling. There was something that attracted my eyes to them—their attires. The man was wearing some kind of robe with Art Nouveau style; printed with geometric patterns and subtle swirls on mustard-yellow background —or perhaps gold— because I swear it glowed. The woman was wearing a lovely dress like these online burgundy prom dresses, also with floral prints with the same mustard yellow background, with a crown of flowers on her head. Nonetheless, they were both glowing amidst the autumn foliage—even the pond was glowing with their reflection. Can you imagine such a beautiful setting?

I looked in awe trying to memorise the scene so that I could draw it later. I dared not capture the photo of them because that would be rude, not to mention that I had to get consent first to be able to take their photo with my camera. I remember the incident when I was visiting Wiesbaden, the capital of Hessen, with my sister-in-law. She was capturing a photo of a building in front of her when a guy in a car screamed to her to delete the photo as he thought that my sister-in-law had included him in the photo. There was a heated argument and she had to show the photo on her phone to the man. The man laughed and drove off, never even bothered to apologise. Both my sister-in-law and I looked at each other while uttering ‘perasan!’ simultaneously.

Anyway, back to the couple. The man, I reckon, was at his mid-40s while the woman in her 20s. He had curly dark hair while the woman, curly orange. From the way they talked, laughed, hugged, kissed, I could tell that they were so in love with each other. I looked at them for quite a long time before they got up from the seat and walked. My eyes were still following them until they walked toward me. I was totally caught off-guard and was blushing. I could feel my heart pounding faster. Before they could say anything, I said hello to them and apologised for looking at them. They giggled and said they were used to it and told me not to worry. We talked a bit and they introduced themselves as Gustav and Emilie. When I told her my name is Amelie, we laughed. What a coincidence that we have a similar name!

“Where are you staying?” Emilie asked me.

“I stay at the Azimut Hotel in the city centre. Und du?” I replied while asking the same.

Emilie told me that they live in the Upper Belvedere, 2 kilometres away from the park. They invited me later to their home at 3 pm. It was 12 in the afternoon and I promised them that I would drop by later after lunch. After having lunch at a restaurant near the park, I turned on my Google map looking for the way to Upper Belvedere. So I followed the direction before reaching the majestic gate of Upper Belvedere. I went inside and to my surprise, it’s a museum!

I could not enter without having a ticket, so I bought one. I went straight to the information counter and asked whether Gustav and Emilie were around. I was told to go to the first floor. I was sceptical if people are living there because it’s a museum. Furthermore, the receptionist seemed composed and calm when I asked about them. I was certain that she was asked the same question a lot.

So I went to the first floor, peeking all the rooms looking for the couple. There were so many original paintings that my jaw dropped. Entering a large hall with a sign ‘Vienna around 1900’, there I saw Gustav and Emilie, immortalised. The kiss said it all, and the note beside them said:

Gustav Klimt, Kuss / Liebespaar, 1908 (completed in 1909).

This is for Prompt #22: The kiss that said it all, July 2020 writing prompts.