Ingrid in Love

Chapter Twenty One

Not wanting to kiss in front of their parents, Ingrid and Noah said goodbye, exchanging a long hug. It was about an hour after they'd left Noah's house and Kommissar, Pieter and Ingrid were now on the OceanTrain riding back to Germany. At first, no one spoke. Ingrid had her head down, ashamed. Pieter then broke the silence, "Ingrid Calia! What in the heck were you thinking!"

Ingrid felt like crying. She kept her head hung in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry Dad" she managed to say.

"That's great Ingrid, but 'sorry' doesn't cut it. Where in your head did you possibly think it was a good idea to run away from home and go half way across the world without telling anyone!" Pieter scolded, "Your mother and I were worried sick, we were about to call the police!"

Ingrid could feel a lump in her throat, tears were welling up in her eyes. She felt guilty and horrible.

"Mom, Dad, I'm really... really sorry" Ingrid replied, sniffling, trying to hold back tears, "There's... there's no excuse for... for what I did. It was so stupid. I feel terrible and... I'm... I'm just so sorry."

Ingrid then broke down, crying tears of guilt. Kommissar put her arms around her daughter.

"I accept your apology, baby" Kommissar said, still hugging Ingrid, "I'm just glad you're safe."

"Me too. I missed you very much." Pieter agreed, "And, I'm glad you can admit that what you did was stupid, because it was, extremely. And, yes, I do accept your apology."

He patted his daughter on the back and then kissed her forehead.

"You do realize, though, that you will have to be punished" he added.

Ingrid nodded.

"But since your mom and I are such nice people" he said, winking at Kommissar, "Your punishment won't be too terrible. We will be keeping your phone until Worlds is over, that's all."

Nine hours later, the OceanTrain pulled into the Berlin station. Ingrid was relieved, her parents weren't too upset and her punishment wasn't nearly as bad as she'd imagined...