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“Celine!” he interrupts me rudely. “You’re bothering me! If I’d seen it was your number, I wouldn’t have answered. I’m expecting an urgent call!”
Sorry, lies on my lips already, but I swallow the word.No! Just not the phrase which makes him so angry!
Apologies can be hoped for, his lecturing tone snarls down the winding alleys of my memory.One may ask for them to be granted, if necessary. But one may never demand it!
“Please forgive me,” I say instead. To be on the safe side, I cross out my reproachful thoughts that, after all, I can’t know what’s on his agenda, lest they still slip past my lips.
He doesn’t even hear my “Bye, see you tonight,” as the beep of the phone hanging up reminds me.
Cell phone in hand, I lean on the windowsill. I blink away the tears suddenly wanting to flood the corners of my eyes.Oh my God! When did I become so emotionally unstable?Well, I really didn’t need Kevin’s verbal ice shower.But why should I let him spoil my good mood?
The vibrating of the device in my hand snaps me out of my musing.
Kevin. He realized that he had hurt me!Without looking, I answer the call. “Hello, my bear?”
“Nah!” a Dutch accent giggles in my ear. “There’s noGroote Beer[13]here. Not even aKleine Beer[14]. Just your old, little aunt…”
“Mareike!” I loosen the corners of my mouth being tense from suppressed crying. I practice a smile at her little astronomy excursion. Even though the attempt at a happy facial expression fails. “Glad you called!”
“Am I not interrupting?” my aunt asks. “You sounded like you were expecting Kevin…”
Kevin.I sigh.
“After the storm comes the sunshine,” Mareike offers one of her life’s pearls of wisdom. “Believe me, you would be bored to death in a relationship where there is noonweer med donder en bliksem[15]. Am I right, Horst?”
The voice of her live-in partner can be heard from the background. “Of course, Mareike! Of course! Now if you would just tell me what this means…?”
I have to laugh. “Put me on speaker,” I prompt Mareike. Then I address Horst: “She means a thunderstorm with lightning and thunder.”
“If I didn’t have you, Celine!” Horst laughs. “Then I would be completely dependent on keeping the house rules.”
“What house rules?” I ask, though I already suspect it.
Horst lets out a cackling laugh. “Article one:MevrouwMareike is always right. Article two: IfMevrouwMareike is not right, then automatically arti—”
“Horst!” my aunt speaks up. “Je bent een idioot![16]“
I smirk. Being called an idiot by Mareike is something Horst had to work for with entire greenhouses of cut-flower presents. “The quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love.”But why does thinking about Mareike and Horst’s intimate bond sting so much?
“…love is the keyword,” I catch from Mareike. “Can you tell me the name of this author? The one whose romance novels you like to read so much?”
“Do you mean Sandra Pulletz?” This time I manage to suppress the sigh before it betrays me. “Why? Do you suddenly want to read German books?”
“Nee, nee, nee!” contradicts Mareike. “I just need a present for Horst’s goddaughter. But now, tell me why you’ve been longing for Kevin’s call so much…”
In brief words, I explain to my aunt my probationary period can end early.
Horst, who is still listening in over the loudspeaker, immediately wants to know if I’m being ripped off in the process.
“Nee, nee, nee![17]“ shouts Mareike again when I start explaining. “These technical terms trigger nothing butzooitje[18]in my head! Talk to my niece yourself!”
There is a rustling on the line, then I hear Horst’s voice: “What about her head? Another word for migraine?”
I laugh. “You really need to take a Dutch course for beginners,” I instruct him. “She doesn’t have a headache, just chaos in her brain!”
“Well, as if that’s something new…” Horst’s broad smirk can almost be heard. “But now for a word about you: don’t let yourself get tricked! You’re only protected from dismissal for operational reasons if the employer expressly waives it.” He takes a breath, but too short for me to interject. “This waiver has to be included in the employment contract; you hear me?”
“Yes, I know,” I start. “And it has been included.”
