Draft: At the Stroke of Midnight

Prompt: End your story with a kiss at midnight.

24 hrs to be with him before you have to tell him who you are.

At midnight (as the clock strikes)

"I..." <-- kiss?

"I know, I've always known" he says <-- kiss?

"I'm never letting go", he whispers on my lips

"I never forgot", he whispers - then go into flashback

What do the 24 hours look like?

running around the streets of city (Prague?)
- showing her Prague
ice-cream, gelato
- The ball will be in winter, so this won't work. Maybe hot chocolate?
  - Is there a specific winter drink? - Grog (rum, sugar, lemon, black tea or water)
Wishing well
ball?? (Is he royalty or really rich?)

Who is he?

Really rich, a billionaire's son or has his own business? - architecture firm
Name? - Nikolas Bartos (common Czech last names - as per Google), age? - 30
Features? - brown hair, blue eyes, wavy hair, formal dressing sense (winter coat, formal/office black pants with belt, hair slightly gelled/combed back, checkered brown/beige scarf), about a head taller than Milena

Who is she?

Works in his business as?? - Junior interior designer
- newly joined and moved to Prague (it's been 2 weeks)
Knew (maybe loved?) each other when they were younger (first love?), just moved back to Prague after years (how old - her 13, him 14, but grown up together )
- Doesn't think Nikolas would remember...
Name? - Milena Ambroz (common Czech names - as per Google), age? - 29
Features? - light brown hair, brown eyes, dressing sense (think stockings and turtle neck dress, fuzzy earmuffs, cream coat)

Austrian Ball - https://www.ballderoesterreicher.cz/en last stop of the night (8 pm)

"The Ball, held at Žofín Palace on Slavic Island, is the highlight of the Prague ball season"
"The Austrian Ball has become a traditional international meeting point of personalities drawn from the political, entrepreneurial, and cultural spheres."
happens in January
- So the story will be set in winter
Midnight quadrille?
- https://www.zuckerbaeckerball.com/the-122-zuckerbaeckerball/AKTUELLES/the-midnight-quadrille-where-tradition-meets-the-joy-of-dance
  - Happens near midnight. starts at 11:50 pm

Places to visit

FRANZ KAFKA!!!!!

Letters to MILENA!!
- Find lines from here
  - “I miss(ed) you deeply, unfathomably, senselessly, terribly.”
  - “Dear Milena,
    I wish the world were ending tomorrow. Then I could take the next train, arrive at your doorstep in Vienna, and say: “Come with me, Milena. We are going to love each other without scruples or fear or restraint. Because the world is ending tomorrow.” Perhaps we don’t love unreasonably because we think we have time, or have to reckon with time. But what if we don't have time? Or what if time, as we know it, is irrelevant? Ah, if only the world were ending tomorrow. We could help each other very much.”
- Milena's motivation for moving to Prague?
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/travel/franz-kafka-prague.html
- Statue of Franz Kafka (bronze) - date starts here
  - https://www.google.com/maps/place/Statue+of+Franz+Kafka/@50.0886203,14.4117178,15.7z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x470b94e9b5365a33:0x5be787a8d3dcac33!8m2!3d50.0901225!4d14.4207344!16s%2Fg%2F11bzyxwdhm?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQyMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
- Old Town Square (4 min from the statue) - stop 2

Whose perspective? - First story, her perspective. Later, write a version in his perspective.

Her Perspective (01.05.2025)

Overview
- Left Prague at the age of 13, only to return 16 years later in the hopes of returning to the roots she left behind. A part of her always thought of Nikolas, and as his business grew, she was able to know more about who he had become from afar.
The Present
- Goes to a cafe to enjoy a break, and has only been in Prague for 1 week now. Nikolas comes up to her at the cafe, buys the drink for her and asks her for the one day as a date
  - He calls her miláčku (sweetheart) the whole time
- She hesitantly agrees, even though disheartened that he didn't recognise her, she decides to give it a day to enjoy his company because that is all that she will get.
- He takes her on the date (going to the different places in the sequence decided in the research section)
- Ball at night, dancing that particular dance (see above), at midnight she tries to step away from the dance "I can't anymore...", he holds her in place "I know..."
The Past (flashbacks)
- Sweet memories of them growing up
  - the "I will love you forever", "you have been the only one" memories
- Her leaving
  - left without a single word, cause she was too scared to say goodbye.

His Perspective - Coming soon

Recent Posts