It had been a while since you got to go on vacation. Money has been tight and the workload has been overbearing, but your boss was generous enough to give you a promotion and extend your vacation days—which is how you find yourself here, in Austria.

Americans are known to be … overly friendly, Europeans on the other hand are more reserved. You’ve been going on about your day as normal, sightseeing and overall just enjoying your time away from home. You haven’t really thought anything of the looks people have given you whenever you smile and nod or say hello randomly.

You’re on a tram back to your hotel when a larger man steps on, a few seem to be intimidated by his presence whilst others just kind of mind their business — you, however, decide to smile and wave at him when he looks in your direction. He freezes at the gesture, expression unreadable as he stares, as if trying to decipher something.