Fateful beginning of vacations

Chapter 34: My girlfriend, her parents and me

She put the phone aside. She went back to the kitchen and continued to prepare dinner. Suddenly, she got company in the kitchen.

"Did you just make a phone call?" her husband asked sleepily.

She startled. "Oh, Jochen do you have to scare me like that?" she asked, annoyed.

"Didn't mean to." he said as he sat down on one of the tall chairs at the center block of the kitchen.

"It's okay. Yeah, I just got off the phone. I guess Karl was acting out when he was just with Helen and Sarah. She asked me to drive her niece home." she explained to him.

"I didn't realize Sandra had brought company. How did that sleepover go, anyway?" he asked his wife curiously.

"It wasn't half bad, apparently. Sarah and Kathi, that's the niece by the way, just so you don't have to ask sheep that right away, know about it now and everything is fine. I think Sandra can tell you more details herself." she briefly described the situation to him.

"She would have come home yesterday if things hadn't gone well. You must have instructed Helen for the emergency or do I see it wrong?" he asked.

His wife flashed a wide grin, but he couldn't see it because she was handling some utensils on the stove. "Sure. Moms are a pretty nasty breed, always conspiring, you know. It was only meant for an absolute emergency and wasn't necessary at all. I told Sandra right away that it wouldn't do to worry so much."

"I can understand that it's a burden for her. Can't you?" he asked.

"Of course I understand, but if we look at the whole thing soberly, it's just not a leg-break or a fatal disease. Embarrassing and unpleasant perhaps, but nothing more. I don't want to play down the burden now, but it's no use to hide away all the time because of it. I think she's taking away a piece of her quality of life and I think by telling Sarah and Kathi about it, she's gained a piece of it back," she explained to him.

"I know what you mean. But she made the decision herself, whether it made sense or not. Hopefully it will do her some good in the future, that she finally got rid of it." he countered.

"We'll see. So I think dinner is ready. Will you go upstairs and get them?" she asked her husband.

"Sure." he said and left the kitchen, making his way upstairs.

"Say, are you going to squat behind the door much longer?" her mother's voice asked loudly.

Sarah startled. She was jolted out of her thoughts and had to realize that she was still sitting by the stairs to the upper floor, leaning with her back against the door. She stood up slowly. She was worried the next moment she might collapse again for some reason. Her legs and feet were doing their job, despite the uncomfortable position she was only now aware of.

"Sarah, I know you're there!" she heard her mother call out again. Sarah picked up the handle again and entered the kitchen anew. She looked briefly at her mother. She had apparently taken the meeting with her father in stride, too. She looked as if she had been crying. Sarah wordlessly took the chair on which her father had been sitting before and sat down. Both stared at each other for a long time without a word. In between, Sarah reached for her cigarettes and lit one. Again they stared at each other for minutes. Apparently neither of them wanted to speak first. Finally, it was Sarah's mother who broke the silence.

"Do you feel like talking? I can understand if not." she told her daughter.

Sarah shrugged and continued to sit silently across from her mother.

"I can understand you being disappointed. I would be too if I were you. Besides, I'm also disappointed that he's acting like a total ass." her mother continued.