by Pea Jung
Of course, I notice that Jörg is watching me closely as he passes me to take the call. I act as if I have no idea of anything.
Jörg’s behavior confirms my fears. Now I need some unbiased information, and that’s why, immediately after my shift, I make my way to his wife.
Daniela is surprised, and not very pleased, about my unannounced visit. However, she offers me a cup of coffee.
“Can you imagine why I’m here?” I ask.
She looks at me coldly, which doesn’t really surprise me. “Is it about your wondrous reinstatement?”
“It is,” I confirm.
“I’m saying nothing,” Daniela retorts.
“I have to say. Your performance at my apartment really convinced me. I never doubted for a second, that you actually wanted me to work for Jörg again.” I’m trying to remain polite.
“How dare you speak his name!” Daniela scolds. “I swear to you, if this guy hadn’t promised Jörg the winter garden, then I would never have been ready to have you back onboard. Never.”
Slowly, I’m getting angry. “It’s true then? Yes? Marek Held is financing the winter garden? Can you not imagine, that I’d like to know, under what circumstances I was asked to return?”
“Can you imagine how I felt when I heard that you were there? I never expected that from you. You should have brought Jörg to his senses!” she hisses at me and I realize that there is no point talking to her any longer.
To smooth the waves, I mutter: “I’m not responsible for your husband. But I will not be a part of this farce any longer. I’ll quit, today.”
“No, please don’t! The contract isn’t signed yet. Can’t you wait, until the matter with the winter garden is resolved?”
“What? You must be crazy. I shit on the winter garden, on Jörg and first and foremost on Marek,” I swear, although I am actually sorry for Jörg. He has dreamed of the winter garden for years.
Furious, I leave Daniela and call Jörg immediately, because I don’t want Daniela to warn him.
“I quit,” I hiss down the phone.
“Josi? What…”
“I was just with Daniela and she has confirmed that you took a bribe.”
“Josi, I…”
“I don’t want to hear it. It’s over. You won’t see me again,” I assert disgusted. “And do not dare call Marek. I’m going to talk to him myself.”
Before Jörg is capable of a response, I have already hung up.
Then I try to reach Marek. In vain. He’s not in the office, at his home nor at my home. He doesn’t answer his cell phone either.
Wandering aimlessly, I drive through the city and catch myself driving down the street with the apartment where I worked for Marek. As I see Henry’s car in one of the parking spaces, I step on the brake and turn quickly into one of the small side streets.
An uneasy feeling creeps over me. He’s not… he isn’t, right? We never talked about it, but for me, it was clear that he should not live out his fantasies with other women.
Spontaneously, I park my car and hurry to the building. Unfortunately, Henry spots me as he’s watching the apartment from in his car. He gets out and comes towards me.
“Josefine, what are you doing here?” he asks, seeking to create a friendly tone. He looks nervous. My look is enough to make him cave in. He presses his lips together and stops.
In the parking space directly in front of the building, I recognize Marek’s car.
“No!” I breathe and shake my head.
“Don’t go to the apartment now,” he advises me but lets me pass when I don’t listen to him.
Behind me, Henry whips out his phone. He will not reach him, just like me.
I press my thumb on the scanner in front of the apartment. No one has deleted my imprint from the system! The door opens softly and I glide silently into the apartment.
I listen intently for a brief moment and hear weak noises coming from the living room. The cloakroom is empty, but two pairs of shoes are sitting outside the living room door.
I can not hold myself back any longer. This time, I will not observe in secret. With quick steps, I storm towards the living room and pull the door open. Immediately, Marek jumps up from the chair, where he always sat to say goodbye.
“Josefine?” he says almost silently and I cross my arms before my eyes fall on the half-naked blonde woman in lingerie who is just standing up from the ground.
“Mrs. Preu?” I scream horrified and it becomes clear why Marek isn’t wearing a mask.
“I can explain.” Marek raises his hands appeasingly.
“Thank you, but I think I’ll pass,” I say barely audibly, from tight lips. For a moment we silently stare at each other. Just when Marek is about to say something to me, I burst. “You asshole!” I yell at him and run out of the apartment.
I race down the stairs because it would take me too long to use the elevator. Marek follows me, and I hear him behind me call: “Josefine, now wait and let’s talk.”
“Leave me alone,” I cry and accelerate even more. “I hate you. I really hate you.”
Blind with rage, I storm out of the building, and when I briefly look back, I run into a wall. The wall is called Henry and he holds me tight. Just as I loudly start to push against him and fight back, Marek arrives.
“Come, in the car!” he tells Henry, who doesn’t let go of me. Reluctantly I go into Marek’s car and he sits beside me in the backseat.
“Henry, would you please retrieve my shoes from the apartment?”
“Yes,” growls Henry and closes the car door.
Marek turns to me, as his hands reach for mine, I withdraw. “Don’t touch me!”
“Okay, okay,” Marek snaps, and takes away his hands.
We sit in silence for a while, both staring straight ahead. Only when Henry hands Marek’s shoes into the car and excuses himself does either of us move, because Marek has to tie his shoes.
“What are you doing here?” he asks at the same time, and his voice sounds muffled because he is bent down so deeply.
“What am I doing here? Is this a joke? As it stands, I have every reason to be here,” I complain.
“Kitten…”
“Don’t call me that anymore!”
“Ok,” sighs Marek straightening up. “Josefine, you want an explanation? You got it: I’m not even sure what’s going.”
“But…”
“And that’s why I ask again: what are you doing here?” He looks at me with interest and suddenly I’m the one who’s accountable.
“I discovered that you convinced Jörg and Daniela to reinstate me at the widow. You bribed them with financing.”
“Well, you couldn’t call it coercion. I simply opened a few doors,” he notes mildly.
“Why did you do that?”
“Do you even have to ask? I wanted to fix what I had broken.”
“So it was you after all?”
“No, I did not call Daniela. But whoever it was, he found out about it through me.”
“You could have told me.”
“I could have,” he concedes but doesn’t elaborate. My angry look pierces him and he sighs: “please, you were happy that you had a job again and that Daniela was not resentful. I didn’t want to take this illusion away from you.”
“All right,” I swallow and turn away from him. “I could forgive you, but this…” I murmur and point my chin contemptuously at the apartment.
“This? What do you mean this?”
“Do I have to explain to you, what I saw? It looked to me as though…”
“This is precisely the point: it looked like, but it wasn’t,” explains Marek loudly and he sounds believable.
Am I letting him wrap me around his finger? “Marek, listen to me. Pl
ease don’t fuck with me. Tell me the truth, even if it hurts me.”
“It is the truth,” he roars and tears at his hair. “Damn it, Josefine. I met with Ms. Preu here, because I want to sell the apartment. She was there when I arrived and called to me to take off my shoes because the living room carpet was freshly cleaned. I, being an idiot, didn’t question that and when I went into the living room, she came in behind me half-naked.”
“Aha. And you got comfortable in your chair and watched her as she showed you the freshly cleaned carpet in more detail,” I fill in defiantly.
“I was taken in by her, clearly. Call me guilty. But I swear to you, I would never have touched her” mumbles Marek.
Do I hear something like despair in his voice? “Wonderful. Great. Well, it seems I was taken in by you. But it didn’t just happen to me once,” I accost him sharply.
“I love you,” I hear Marek whisper. “Someone is playing a game with me and now I know that my own lawyer is involved.”
“You know what? I love me too and that’s why I need to get my life in order. Sort your own shit out, before you make any declarations of love,” I scream at Marek and at each of my words, he seems to become smaller. “By the way, I’d like my apartment key back. Throw it in the mail box when you get a chance.”
With these words, I get out and make my way to the small side alley, where my car is. Shaking I put my car key in the ignition and leave, weeping over the steering wheel.
“I love you too,” I cry.
Chapter 24
I scared myself with my severity. However, I told Marek the truth. My own life is a heap of rubble and it’s time I took care of it.
That’s why I call Walter, and after the initial pleasantries, I come to the point. “Your offer for the internship, is it still valid?”
“Of course. You can start anytime.” Walter seems happy.
Later, I talk to my mother. “I want to sell dad’s apartment.”
“Sell? But you’ve been hanging on to it all these years. Why do you suddenly want to sell?”
“I’ve realized that this apartment has been an obstacle in my life. Ultimately, it is just an apartment. It can’t bring Papa back to me,” I explain quietly. “I want to get an education and simply rent somewhere. Maybe even a smaller apartment.”
“What does Marek say?”
“I… Marek and I had a fight. I don’t think we’re together anymore,” I whisper.
“You think?”
“I think I broke up with him,” I say quietly. “Anyway, it felt like it.”
“So be it. You shouldn’t make any hasty decisions now. Come to us for a while. Then you can travel with Walter to your internship.”
“I don’t know,” I defend myself, but I don’t think the idea is so bad because then at least I can sell my apartment more quickly and look around for a new place.
Said and done. In the next few days, I contact a real estate agent, clear my belongings and goods out of the apartment completely, and take only the bare essentials to Walter’s and my mother’s. Luckily I can store the other stuff with Anja because she has enough space in her basement.
I meet Jörg outside the apartment just as I’m leaving. “You’re really moving out?”
“Yes, and I really quit,” I say dryly.
“I’m still allowed to be worried about you,” says Jörg and holds out an apartment key to me. I take it questioningly. “I ran into Marek and he gave me the key.”
I swallow hard. “Has he… I mean… Did he say anything?”
“Not much.”
“Aha.”
“He just said that he probably won’t see you much in the near future, and because you want to sell the apartment, you need the key.”
How did he know that I want to sell the apartment?
“Your face speaks volumes. Why are you so mad at him?” asks Jörg, curiously.
“Apart from the fact that it’s none of your business, you know very well why I’m mad at him. You have these financial transactions going on behind my back and I had assumed that I was able to work for you again because Daniela and you were in agreement about it,” I snap at Jörg.
“Oh, Josi, that was months ago, it’s almost ancient history. I don’t know why it should upset you now.”
“Because I had to find out via Alfons Mader when he called you in the office.”
“Who?” Jörg looks at me blankly.
“Alfons Mader. Marek’s employee, who called to make an appointment with you.”
The change in facial expression which I’m waiting for does not transpire. Jörg shakes his head and his forehead wrinkles. “I have had no contact with an Alfons Mader.”
“But the call, Jörg! I talked with him before I got you on the phone.”
“Oh, that. That was just some stupid survey from the Held Company, which I didn’t do,” he explains.
Now my look is completely blank. I’m sure that I spoke with Alfons Mader. His voice was clearly recognizable. Ir was him.
There’s something wrong here. Is someone trying to get Marek in trouble?
“Jörg,” I start seriously and urge myself to stay calm. “The call Daniela received, it came from a man?”
“Yes?”
“Did he sound older or younger?”
“I haven’t talked to her about it. Should I ask her?”
I nod and Jörg immediately calls his wife. In the meantime, I think about how I should proceed. What is behind all this? And what has it got to do with me?
Jörg brings me back to reality. “Daniela says it was the voice of an older man.”
“Thank you,” I breathe and run off. My goal is Marek’s office.
Since I have not seen Marek for some days, I feel nervousness rising within me as I make my way to him. Marek hasn’t been in touch since I caught him with this lawyer. But I haven’t contacted him either.
The elevator takes me to the correct floor and this time I enter the office during the hustle and bustle of the working day. My way to Marek is blocked by a woman who has her desk outside his office. I’ve never had contact with her, even when I was together with Marek.
“Do you have an appointment?” she asks me.
“No, I’m Josefine Wagner.” I hope that my name triggers a reaction in her.
“I’m sorry. I can’t…” The woman is interrupted by a voice well-known to me.
“Josefine?” Henry is behind me.
“Henry. Thank God. Can I talk to Marek?”
“You’ve come at a really bad time,” Henry explains coming a little closer.
“Please, I’ve noticed something that could be important” I beg Henry.
Henry beckons me to him, but I turn hectically and hurry into Marek’s office.
“Marek…,” the sentence sticks in my throat. The whole office is full of people sitting around a large table. I notice a sinister-looking man in a silver-gray suit immediately, he’s the only one standing and looking out the window.
As the man turns to me, I almost succumb to the temptation to call out: “Yes, I did it. Whatever it was.”
The man has rather dark skin and looks menacing with his angular face, carefully trimmed three-day beard and sunken eyes, and this impression is reinforced by the prominent aquiline nose.
Against him, Marek looks like a pushover with his finer and softer facial features.
It’s still quiet in the room. No one says anything. I feel the urge to throw myself at Marek to protect me from the dark guy who continues to look at me intensely. Why can’t I shake the feeling that this man, after only one look in my face, knows me better than my own mother?
Marek clears his throat. “Gentlemen, may I introduce to you…my girlfriend? Josefine Wagner.” He subtly smiles at me and wa
its for my reaction. He gratefully accepts my slight smile with a nod.
The dark man raises his voice. Although he doesn’t speak loudly, his deep voice penetrates to my core and it is not surprising that everyone in the room immediately responds to his request. “Colleagues, let’s leave them alone for a moment.”
Within seconds, everyone has left the office. Who is this mysterious stranger, who has remained with Marek and me?
He will probably pull a secret service ID from his suit jacket. Or NSA, FBI, or whatever else there is.
Marek offers me a place to sit and I feel strangely intimidated as I take the chair beside him.
“Josi, this is Viktor Marshall,” Marek introduces the stranger and I must stop a laugh because I find this to be a very suitable given name. My pleasure dies now though as I look into the strict face of Mr. Marshall. He doesn’t look like a joker. “Good morning,” I say quietly. Finally, Mr. Marshall takes a seat next to Marek as well.
“Josefine, it’s good to see you. I wanted to call you anyway,” Marek begins and takes my hands.
“Has something happened?” I ask carefully.
“I’ve engaged Mr. Marshall because a few things have happened in my company, that are beyond my knowledge,” says Marek.
Is Viktor Marshall a contract killer, here to eliminate the black sheep of the operation?
Marek seems to interpret my facial expression correctly. He smiles and whispers: “Mr. Marshall is a profiler.”
“You have a mass murderer in the company?” I cry terrified and Marek laughs, though he doesn’t laugh quite as freely as usual.
Mr. Marshall twists his mouth. It should probably be a smile. “I am a business profiler,” he declares with that unmistakable voice. Involuntarily, I wonder why the man is not radio host or voice actor. His voice is fantastic. Granted, the rest of the man is quite good too but compared to my Marek he got dealt bad cards.
“Business Profiler?” I have to ask again. I’ve never heard of such a thing.
“Mr. Marshall is here to help me find out who among my staff is cheating me,” explains Marek.
“You’re being cheated?”
“Yes, quite seriously. But we have no clear trace of them yet. I suspect, as I said, that my lawyer is involved in the matter. That’s why she organized the little cleaning interlude, and she filmed it as well.”