Chapter 20

Saturday night came and went. My phone stayed quiet all day. I made sure my phone was fully charged. Of course it was. I checked if I could call my son and I spoke to him briefly. So I could call, but perhaps there was a block on my incoming calls or something like that. Phones were Sylvia’s domain, not mine. Understanding the on and off button was all I needed. I didn’t call her either. I was not chasing my own slave over there. If she didn’t call, there must have been a good reason for it.

Sunday afternoon finally the call came, and I was relieved to see besides Sylvia’s number, her picture in a small circle above it.

“De Groen residence, this is Katja speaking,” I said, mimicking a high-pitched voice.

Sylvia laughed. “Oh, so you are partying with my husband over there, Katja. Good for you.”

Not exactly what I expected. “It’s good to hear from you, Sylvia”, I said in a normal voice. “Didn’t you have time to call me yesterday? Been partying all night?” By saying that, I made it simple for her to justify why she didn’t call yesterday.

“Sort of”, she laughed. “Koen, did you realise next Saturday is already another club night?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. Jutta invited us, and I said we would accept.”

“I’m calling you because of that. You know, driving hundreds of kilometres to Holland, and a few days later again nearly a thousand kilometres, seems such a waste of time. Since Martin is going as well, he offered me a lift to Feuerburg. I know it means that you will have to drive alone, but I know you don’t mind that. So I hmm, I already accepted the offer. Unless you have strong objections, it would be a very practical solution, don’t you think?”

“I’m not sure this is a good idea, Sylvia.” Another excuse to stay longer over there? Well, it’s not like that never happened before. The visit to a nephew in Switzerland comes to mind where she intended to stay a week and ended up being a month away, always extending her stay for a few days. And she did dislike driving long distances.

“We could skip this club night, Syl. There will be other nights we can attend.”

“No, I definitely want to go, Koen. My intention is to find a practical answer, and I find it astonishing that you can’t see the impracticality of this.”

“You just want to stay a few days more with Master Martin”, I teased.

“Of course not! How do you suddenly come up with that? You will not be jealous, are you?” She gushed.

“Do I have reason to be?” I asked.

“Don’t be silly”, she snapped.

“OK. Perhaps I’m going a few days earlier, and spend a few days in Bavaria. The high mountains there are amazing, very different from the hills we have here in the Netherlands.”

To my utter surprise, she reacted not jealous at all. There had been some uneasiness between Jutta and Sylvia the last time we were there, but I was not prepared for how she reacted.

“Yes, you should do that. You know I don’t like heights, so this is a good chance to properly explore the area there.”

“I will. Tell Martin to drive safely. These Germans drive like madmen.”

“OK, I will see you next Saturday in Feuerburg then.”

“You are loved by me.” I said.

“Love you too.” It always sounds so meaningless. Love you too. What is love? Baby, don’t hurt me. Baby, don’t hurt me. No more. It had been good to hear her voice. I loved to be alone. Now I was. I just wanted her to be with me. Perhaps I was jealous after all. But this was Sylvia. Without faith in her fidelity, I would lose everything. I trusted her. I trusted her with my life. It’s not like our marriage had been one bed of roses. Because of insecurities on her side and mine and the lack of communication about it, we have had misunderstandings that had hurt us both deeply. Luctor et emergo was the motto of Zeeland, one province of the Netherlands: I struggle and emerge. We always overcame our problems and emerged stronger.

So I picked up the phone and dialled Jutta’s number.

“Guten Tag Hotel Edelweißhafen, wie kann ich Ihnen helfen?”

A cheerful woman’s voice greeted me in German. As I was on the verge of hanging up, I had a sudden realisation that Club Kinky Kinta was concealed amidst the mountains, and the hotel was Jutta’s primary means of sustenance.

“I would like to speak to Jutta, please.”

“I’m afraid she’s not available at the moment. Perhaps I can help you. Is this about a reservation?”

Fighting my instinct to say ‘No thank you’, I said “Yes, I would like to make a reservation for tomorrow. Sunday is the day I will be leaving.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid it’s not possible. There is a private meeting in the hotel during the weekend, and all the rooms are fully booked. We would love to accommodate you from Monday to Friday, though.”

“Jutta has invited me to spend the weekend as well.” I said.

“I will have to check, if you don’t mind. What was your name again?”

“Koen de Groen.”

“Grun?”

“No. Groen. G R O E N, like in green”, I spelled. We ended the call after she validated my number. Within two minutes, my phone sang the Sanctus tune from Fauré. I loved that piece of music. Now and then, I deliberately let the phone ring for half a minute, simply to bask in the soothing melody.

“Master Koen?” Jutta’s voice sounded almost breathless through the phone.

“Yes, this is Koen de Groen speaking”, I answered formally.

“I just spoke to Ingrid. She’s such a silly girl sometimes. That’s the problem with the new staff. They are all willing, but they need to learn so much.”

“She was quite correct, as a matter of fact. I’m sure you’ve told her not to accept random invitations for the weekend, so I think she did the right thing.”

“No, I have instructed all of them. If you would call, they would transfer that call directly to me. I will speak to her about that.” It sounded like that would not be a pleasant conversation.

“Don’t do that. No harm was done.” I felt for the girl who had just done her job. “Anyway”, I changed topic, “Sylvia is getting a ride from Martin and Helga to avoid wasting time on extra travel, so I thought I might take you up on your offer to come early.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful. Could you come tomorrow? I would love it to spend some time with you and getting to know you a bit better. I might make some arrangements to take a few days off. It’s been ages since I last had any. If you would like that, of course, Master Koen.” The last bit came out uncertainly, almost shyly. I pretended not to notice.