“So, Annalise, that new officer of yours, he’s really handsome! No wonder you two can’t keep your hands off each other. If I were you, I’d make out with him on every corner too.”
Oh God, she probably saw us outside the theatre… or she just plain follows me trying to dig up some dirt so the management could fire me and the position would be hers.
“That’s none of your business what I do when nobody sees me. And I would really appreciate it, if you stopped following me around.”
“I have better things to do than follow Your Highness around. It’s just you two were so into each other that you didn’t even hear me passing by.”
A couple of girls next to us giggled; no wonder, if Gretchen talked any louder, the whole company would hear her.
“That’s fine, don’t be embarrassed.” She continued and turned to me so I could see her sarcastic smile. “He is very, very handsome. And I’m really happy that you permanently turned to the officers. Much better choice than your little Jewish ex-boyfriend. By the way, does your handsome officer know that you two were almost inseparable?”
The desire to lift my leg off the barre and give Gretchen a nice kick in her snake’s mouth was becoming more and more overpowering.
“Adam was not my boyfriend. We lived not too far from each other and he was escorting me home, that’s all. And, yes, Heinrich does know about him.”
“Fine, don’t get so defensive, I’m just teasing you. So if you’re officially with your new ‘German boyfriend number two,’ does that mean that your ‘German boyfriend number one’ is available?”
I couldn’t hold back a little chuckle when I heard that.
“You can have him all for yourself, you two are going to be perfect for each other.”
“Good. Because he already came here a couple of times and was asking me out.” If she was waiting for some type of reaction from me, I couldn’t be happier that that maniac finally switched his attention to somebody else. Not getting any upset feelings from my side, Gretchen tried one more time. “I just wanted to make sure that you were fine with that.”
“Absolutely fine. Go right ahead. Green light.”
I hope he’ll strangle you one day – he’s really good at it!
By the end of the day I was so exhausted that I fell asleep right in Heinrich’s car, as usual, sent by him to get me home safe. I woke, with someone gently shaking my shoulder – it was Heinrich’s driver, Hanz.
“Fräulein Meissner, we’re home.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I hadn’t even noticed I’d fallen asleep. Thank you, Hanz.”
He got out of the car and opened the door for me.
“Thank you again, Hanz. Goodbye.”
“Uh, Fräulein Meissner, wait. I won’t be able to pick you up tomorrow, Herr Friedmann will be out of town for several days.”
“Really? He didn’t tell me anything.”
“The order just came through a couple of hours ago. As a matter of fact, we’re leaving right now. He told me to pick him up right after I get you home. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Fräulein.”
“That’s fine, I’ll take a bus or ask my father to drive me. Tell Herr Friedmann not to worry about me. But where is he going anyway?”
Hanz lowered his eyes.
“I can’t really tell you, Fräulein. It’s kind of… confidential.”
Of course it is. He’s an SD agent, stupid me.
“Oh… I see. All right then. Tell him I wished him good luck with… whatever it is he’s doing. And I’ll see you soon, I guess?”
“Sure, Fräulein. Goodnight.”
He saluted me and drove away. Great.
As I was entering the house, I almost got knocked off my feet by some shabby young man, with his hair sticking out in every possible direction.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Fräulein.”
“Uh… hello.”
My father, who was standing behind the strange man’s back and was seeing him off (I guess), seemed to be caught by surprise, noticing his own daughter at the door.
“Annalise! I thought you would be home later…”
“Umm… no.” I looked at the stranger and back at my father. “Who’s this?”
“That’s Josef. He’s… helping me with one particularly difficult case. Josef was just leaving.”
Josef, who seemed to be very relieved to hear that, quickly nodded at me and snuck right between me and the door out to the street.
“Papa. What’s going on?”
“Nothing, Süße. How was the rehearsal?”
“Good. Who was that?”
“I already told you. He’s one of my assistants and was helping me with my case.”
“Papa, I’m not stupid. You’re telling me that that man is a law student?”
My father, who was now clearly lying right to my face, just shook his head and said, before going to his study, “I know that you’re not stupid. That’s why you should just forget you ever saw him, and keep your mouth shut.”
I sighed. Was it just my family or had the whole world gone mad?
Chapter Seven
I was looking in the mirror in Giselle’s dressing room (as a prima-ballerina she was entitled to her personal room) and still couldn’t believe that I did it. First time in my life I had all the attention on me and I did “fantastic,” according to Frau Martha who never praises anybody. But earlier that morning, when the same Frau Martha called me and told me that Giselle twisted her ankle and wouldn’t be able to perform for some time, I thought I was going to faint.
It’s every ballerina’s dream to dance solo, no doubt, but it’s one thing to just dream about it and quite another thing to actually carry the whole performance on your shoulders. Because, if you’re a soloist and you fall, maybe nobody will even notice. But if you’re a prima-ballerina and you mess up, that’s a major problem that can cost you your future. My hands were shaking before I made my first exit on stage. But I quickly pulled myself together, and danced the whole two-and-a-half-hour act “flawlessly” (again, according to Frau Martha).
I smiled at my own reflection even though I was still breathing heavily, more from anxiety than from dancing. I got a standing ovation. Too bad Heinrich wasn’t there to see it, he would be so proud of me. I took a long hair pin out of my tight ballerina bun. That pin, which my grandmother got me for my eighteenth birthday, looked more like a knife with three long sharp ends on it; no wonder since it had to hold my waist-long braid together for more than two hours. The regular pins that the other girls normally used just wouldn’t do the trick. I closed my eyes for a second. I could finally relax. The feeling of relief was immense, and my breath finally started to slow down.
Suddenly I heard the door knob turn, and when I opened my eyes to see my visitor, my heart dropped. It was Sturmbannführer Reinhard and he just locked the door behind him. Not knowing what to expect this time, I slowly, without him seeing it, took my sharp hair pin and hid it under one of the layers of my skirt. If he tries one of his tricks with me again, I’ll stick it right into his neck without any hesitation.
Reinhard, with one of his insolent smiles, slowly clapped his hands together several times.
“Bravo, Fräulein Meissner, bravo! Very well done.”
“What are you doing here?”
Even though I tried to sound calm, this man always used to put me in a paralyzed state of fear; the memories of our last “meeting” especially made my heart race so fast that I could almost see it beating through my dress.
“Just wanted to congratulate you on your debut, let’s put it that way.”
He slowly walked right up to me and put both his hands on my shoulders. I felt like a ton weight was pressing me down into the ground.
“Life is an interesting thing, Annalise, don’t you think? It’s all about the opportunity.” He was looking into my eyes through the mirror reflection without blinking. “The company’s prima-ballerina hurts her foot and now you can shine. Great opportunity. Do you want to hear about an
even better example of an opportunity? SS Sturmbannführer threatens to report you to SD, and what do you do? You come across a certain SD Standartenführer, I have to give you that, you even made sure that he occupied a superior position – and jump right into his bed. And there you go, you’re all safe now. I think it’s a great example of an opportunity, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t jump into anybody’s bed.”
I could still hold his gaze, but my hands had already started to slightly shake. I was hoping Reinhard didn’t notice that.
“Really? That’s not what I heard.”
“If your source is Gretchen, she has a very long tongue.”
He smirked and squeezed my shoulders a little.
“No, she’s not my only source. But that doesn’t matter now. I’m just glad to know that at least you’re sleeping with a Nazi officer.”
“I’m not sleeping with him.” I tightened the grip on my hair pin just in case.
“Sure you are. You caused me a lot of trouble by telling your new lover on me.” He lowered his head to the level of mine without releasing my shoulders. “One very undesirable report even ended up in my personal file, and that really upset me. Do you know what happens when I get upset, Annalise?”
Unfortunately, I knew it only too well, from my own experience, so before he decided to break my neck or smashed my face on the mirror, I said the first thing that came into my mind that was supposed to make Reinhard at least think about murdering me right there and then, “He’s not my lover, we’re getting married.”
A shade of surprise, mixed with doubt, crossed his face, and he straightened out behind the chair.
“Really?”
“Yes. So if you do anything to the SD Standartenführer’s future wife, you’re going to get into even more trouble.”
Reinhard finally let go of me, and I let out a little sigh of relief. I had no idea how I was going to get out of all this, but at least I wasn’t dead, and that would do for now.
“That’s funny.”
“Why is it funny?”
“Well, you got so mad at me after my little… anger fit, completely justified, it should be noted.” Justified?! You almost broke my neck, you bastard! “And you’re getting married to a man who shot his wife in cold blood. I find it very ironic, don’t you?”
“He didn’t shoot his wife. She committed suicide.”
“Shooting yourself twice in the heart is quite an interesting way to commit suicide.” Reinhard smirked. “Well, good luck to you then. I hope you’ll live a little longer than the former Frau Friedmann.”
With those words, Reinhard unlocked the door and finally left me alone. I slowly leaned back on my chair, still squeezing my improvised “weapon” in one hand. What the hell did he mean she shot herself twice in the heart? I was pretty sure that it was physically impossible, but why would Reinhard say that? Just to scare me? That didn’t seem right either. Even though he was a sadistic psychopath, so far he had never lied about anything.
I realized that I’d never spoken to Heinrich, himself, about the circumstances of his wife’s death, but he certainly didn’t look like a man who could kill his own spouse. Well, I guess I’ll just ask him about it when he comes back. Oh, no!!! I told Reinhard that we were getting married, and it’s the same thing as putting a poster right in front of the SS Central Command Office. I guess I messed up, and messed up royally after all…
It was Sunday morning, and my whole family and I were going to the nearest Protestant church for a service. Not that we were such big church goers (to begin with, we were all still technically Jewish, because by the Jewish law baptized or not baptized in any other church, the baby remains Jewish), but my father insisted that it would be good for our image. I just shrugged; I didn’t mind the church, so I picked out my longest and most modest dress, put on my most modest coat, and followed my parents and Gryselda.
During the service Norbert kept twitching his leg – he couldn’t wait to go see his girlfriend before his football practice started. I slightly pushed him with my elbow and shook my head. He just rolled his eyes at me. I tried my best to concentrate on what the minister was saying, but my mind kept wandering back to recent events.
I don’t know why my father’s movement caught my eye, I guess he did something very unusual that attracted my attention, but I clearly saw him slowly placing a Bible on his lap, reaching into his pocket, and sliding some papers in between the pages. My mother was sitting between us intentionally straight, I thought, so nobody could see what he did. Then, after that maneuver, my father carefully returned the Bible back to its place. I couldn’t wait till the end of the service to ask him what all that was about. An even more interesting thing happened later: a young woman, sitting next to my father, reached for “his” Bible and supposedly started looking for a passage the minister was reading. I couldn’t see her too well, but I was pretty sure that I saw her putting something into her pocket. Probably my father’s note or whatever it was.
Back home, when I finally confronted my parents about what I saw, they both bluntly denied that anything that I mentioned ever happened, and then made very big eyes at me and whispered, “Don’t talk to anybody about anything like that! That’s conspiracy, and conspiracy is next to treason! We can all be arrested if you just mention anything like that! Keep your mouth shut.”
That was definitely, too many orders to keep my mouth shut, for one week, and now I had absolutely no doubt that my parents were up to something not quite legal. Not feeling up to revealing any more family secrets, I picked a book from the library and went straight to my room, where I nodded off pretty soon. My mother’s voice woke me up when it was already dark out.
“Süße, Heinrich’s here. He and your father want to see you in Papa’s study.”
“Oh, no…”
“What’s wrong, dear?” My mother was a little surprised because normally when she’d tell me that Heinrich had come over, I would run right by her, with the happiest smile on my face.
“Oh, nothing… I think I’m in a lot of trouble, that’s all.”
“What did you do, Annalise?” She looked concerned now.
“I said something very, very bad.” I got up from my bed, straightened out my wrinkled dress the best I could, and quickly fixed my hair. “Now I guess I’ll just have to go and get what I deserve.”
I passed by my confused mother and went to my father’s study with a very heavy heart. Of course by now Reinhard probably had told every single officer about my upcoming “wedding,” and now Heinrich would have to explain to everyone the reason behind the whole confusion.
When I reached my father’s door, I slightly knocked on it even though it was open. After my father, who didn’t sound too happy, told me to come in, I just stood in the entrance looking at the floor. I honestly couldn’t face the two men sitting across from each other.
“Well, here she is. I guess you talk to her now, Heinrich,” my father said. I took a deep breath. Here it comes. The “talk.”
Heinrich got up from his chair and walked to me.
“I came to talk to your father about something important, but he told me that I have to ask you.” He took my ice-cold hands in his and said what I expected to hear the least, “Annalise Meissner, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
I finally lifted my eyes from the floor and looked at Heinrich. What? Did he just ask me to marry him? I heard my mother, who followed me all the way from my room, gasp behind my back. I realized that I had to say something and slightly nodded, still in complete shock.
“Yes…”
“Oh, Richart, how great it is!” My mother rushed to hug me and Heinrich. “Our girl is getting married! Congratulations, you two! I’m so, so happy for you!”
Gryselda ran in hearing my mother’s screams and started hugging us as well.
“So wonderful! So wonderful! We have to celebrate. I’m going to make such a dinner!”
Finally, I interrupted the happy chaos. “If
you’ll excuse us, I need to talk to Heinrich just for one minute. Alone.”
As soon as we entered the library, I closed the door and began by apologizing.
“I am so, so, so sorry! I know why you’re doing this, it’s all my fault, well, actually, it’s Reinhard’s fault, he scared me to death and the first thing that came into my mind, was to tell him that we’re getting married and… so you don’t have to do this just because… you know. It’s completely my fault and—”
“You talk too much, you know that?” Heinrich interrupted my apologizing speech by placing a finger on my lips. “I would have asked you to marry me eventually anyway. But now I guess I’m going to have to write Reinhard a gratitude note for speeding the process. You didn’t even say hello to me yet.”
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
“I really, really missed you.”
“I really, really missed you too. Any more trouble you’ve gotten yourself into while I was away, or is that it?”
I smiled and put my hands on his uniform. He looked so handsome in it, so powerful, so strong… It was interesting, that with all my animosity toward all the other men in uniform, I really liked how Heinrich looked in his. And soon I’ll be this officer’s proud wife.
“No, that’s it.”
He lifted my chin and lightly kissed me on the lips.
“Let’s go back to your father. I have a strange feeling he’s putting rat poison on my plate right now.”
He always knew how to make me laugh.
“He would never do that. You’re one of his best friends.”
“Yes, and also a Nazi officer who’s marrying his Jewish daughter. He must be delighted!”
I just shook my head and followed my future husband to the living room, where my parents were already drinking champagne, waiting for Gryselda to set the table.
The Girl from Berlin, #1 Page 8