"What a dreadful day"


Lutz knew it was no longer possible to further delay the serious talk he had to have with Klara... So that morning, he walked over to her house and, as he rang the door-bell, he took a deep breath!

Moments later, Klara"s mother opened the door, and Lutz gave her a very nice smile...

"Oh, Hi! Mrs Milch... How are you? Is Klara here?", he asked...

"Good morning Lutz... I"m so glad to see you. Please, do come in... How are you? You"re more handsome than I remembered", she answered, smiling...

"Thank you Mrs Milch... I"m doing fine!"

"I"ll call Klara: She"s upstairs..."

"Thank you..."

Klara came downstairs and saw Lutz sitting in the living-room...

"Did you come to present your excuses?", she asked him...

"I beg you pardon?", Lutz calmly answered, although his heart was pounding...

"...Yes! For the way you acted the other night, at Will"s house... and yesterday... You prefered going with your friends than seeing me..."

"Oh, I see Klara... (...) But please, do sit down... I would like to have a friendly chat with you..."

As she sat she said:

"Well now, I"m waiting for your excuses!"

"...About the other night... the only problem is... I don"t see what I did wrong...", Lutz said, carefully choosing his words...

"You were drinking like a beast!", she answered.

"It"s true I was going to have my second glass of Champagne. Yes. If that"s what you call drinking like a beast... But you know what Klara? I think that if you left like you did, without even thanking our hosts, it has nothing to do with the fact I was about to have a SECOND glass... (...) I think you were frustrated because I had refused to obey your command...", Lutz replied...

"I told you not to accept that glass of Champagne..."

"...Yes..." Lutz answered, taking his time before saying: "You see Klara, I"m in the Wehrmacht, and I"ve been through a lot over the past year and a half... And I have no choice but to obey my Superior"s orders... But you"re not one of my Superiors, and I"m not at your command. Now, you"re a big part of my life, and I do love you... But you see Klara: My life doesn"t stop with you. I love my family... I love my friends... As I said, you"re a big part of it all... and I like that... But I will not drop all the other parts of my life because of you. And I will never yield to you control over my life!"

As Lutz kept looking at Klara, he could see she was stunned! He didn"t care about that, and continued saying:

"Now yesterday... it"s true... I"ve spend the day with my friends. But you were most welcome to come along with us, and have some fun. Instead, you chose not to come. Why? I think I know why! It"s because you didn"t want me to be with my friends! (...) You know Klara that I"m here for a few days... and that we"ll have plenty of time to be together, you and me... But yesterday, it was Paul"s very first day in Berlin, and we wanted to show him the City... Don"t you understand that?"

"...Oh, that Frenchman... with his Champagne..."

"I see you don"t like him..."

"No!"

"But you don"t even know him..."

"I don"t need to know him: I don"t like him, that"s all!"

"And I know you don"t like Will either..."

"I"ve never liked that guy..."

"And you"ve been rude with his mother yesterday, on the phone..."

"She"s stupid!"

"I see. But whatever you think about her, she was kind enough to invite you and your family to join all of us for her Christmas Eve party..."

"... Do you think for one second we"re going to go? I"ve told my mum that was out of the question! We"ll have our own small party here, and I expect you to be here with me..."

"But my family has already accepted Mrs Von Rundstedt"s invitation...", Lutz said...

"So what? Let them go, if that"s what they want..."

"(...) If I follow your thinking... I would be here with you... while my family -that I haven"t seen for a year and a half- would be on the other side of the street, at Will"s house, celebrating Christmas without me... Is that it?"

"...Yes! If you love me like you said, I expect you to be here with me!"

"I see..."

Lutz kept silent for a few minutes, then he slowly rose, stared at Klara for a few seconds, then said to her:

"I"m sorry to tell you that Klara, but I won"t be here for your "small" party! I"ll be with my family and my friends over Will"s house. And if you really love me, you"ll be there too, with your parents... Should you decide not to come, that will tell me a lot..."

"We won"t be there Lutz! And that"s final!", she shouted.

"...I hear you. You don"t have to scream at me, you know. I"m not deaf! (...) What else can I say Klara? I guess there"s nothing else to say... and I"m sorry for that, really..."

"Are you breaking up with me?", she defiantly asked...

"No...", Lutz gently answered... "I don"t need to: You"ve already done that! (...) Now I think it"s better for us to go our seperate ways... cause it won"t work for the two of us. And I wish you all the luck in the world: I do hope you will find happiness, Klara, I really do!"

Hearing that, Klara took one of her mother"s china vase and throwed it against the fireplace...

"I"ve seen Scarlet O"Hara last year doing that in "Gone with the wind"... nice film... but sorry Klara: It doens"t work with me!", Lutz said, grinning...

"Oh You! I hate you..."

"...Have you ever loved me Klara?... Oh, and don"t bother: I"ll find my way out..."

At that, Lutz left Klara and walked the short distance over to his home. He felt heavy-hearted, but also relieved...

He gave Will a call...

"At what time do you intend to leave to drive Paul to the New Chancellery?", Lutz asked his friend...

"At around 13h00... Why?"

"I"m going with you... Will you be wearing your uniform?"

"Of course... But... I thought you were suppose to have a talk with Klara today...", Will said...

"...Yeah! I just did! And I"m a free man now..."

"Oh?"

"I"ll tell you all about it later... And I"ll be at your house on time!"

"Fine..."

Of course, Will ran to the kitchen, where Paul was having a coffee with Ludwig and his mother, and he told them what Lutz had just told him...

"I feel sorry for him..." Paul said... "But I think Klara was not the right... person... for Lutz!"

"No, she wasn"t...", Will"s mother said.

"Anyway... Lutz is old enough to know what"s best for him...", Will replied...

"I"m sure it won"t take long before he meets someone else in Paris... I"m quite sure he never did anything with Klara: I"m sure she"s frigid!", Ludwig said, laughing...

"LUDWIG!", his mother shouted...

"...What? Hey mum... Lutz is young... he"s very good-looking... I don"t think he"s going to be all alone for very long, if you see what I mean...", Ludwig answered, grinning...

"Well... You"re too young to talk about those things...", she answered.

"Poor mum! We"re no longer in 1920 you know! I"m fifteen... Do you really believe I don"t know about all those things?", Ludwig replied, laughing...

"I"m going to have to wash your mouth with soap...", she said...

"Yeah yeah...", Ludwig answered, laughing... "Just try to put your hands on me..." he added, while running out of the kitchen, laughing his heart out...

Once Ludwig had left, she said:

"I don"t know what we"re going to do with him! He"s growing to fast... and I think your father and I have lost the touch. We"re getting too old for that... I wish you were here Will, to talk some sense into him..."

"Perhaps next summer, he could come to Paris and spend some time with me... You know mum: It"s not easy for him to grow up with two women... you and Karin... I know you"re doing your best, and I know dad is doing his best too... but nevertheless, it"s not easy for Ludwig... And most of the time, dad is at his office... Oh, I don"t blame him... but you know how it is..."

"Ludwig? In Paris? But... Where would he stay? With Lutz and you? You work all day long... so most of the time, you"re not at your flat... Ludwig would stay there all alone? All day long? I don"t think so!", she stated.

"Oh... But during his stay, Will could move to my house... and Ludwig could stay there with us. I have a good staff, and a good Chef... And most of the time, when I have to, I work from my study at home... so Ludwig would never be left alone...", Paul answered, smiling at Will"s mum...

"...Well... maybe... I"ll have to talk to your father about that. And anyway, we have lots of time before us to think about it, don"t we?", she answered...

"Yes mum...", Will answered, giving his mum a kiss...

"You"re a good son Will... You"ve always been!", she said, smiling at her handsome son.

"Now if you will excuse me", Paul said... "I"ve got a shower to take, and I"ve got to get dress. Remember: I have a NICE party to attend at the Neue Reichskanzelei!!!"

Later, when Paul came down, wearing his black full dress with a nice bow-tie, they all looked at him and Will"s mother said:

"My God Paul! You"re so handsome... If I weren"t married, I would marry you right now..."

"No chance mum: I would marry him first!", Will said, laugning...

They all laughed. Then Lutz got there and minutes later, the three friends left for the Neue Reichskanzelei...

The traffic was heavy on WilhelmStrasse... but eventually, they reached the Neue Reichskanzlei, where guards checked Paul"s invitation, as well as the identity of the other two in the car.

Seeing all was in good order, the guards stood at attention and shouted:

"Heil Hitler! Welcome to the Neue Reichkanzlei!"

"Heil Hitler!", Will and Lutz answered, being German soldiers. Paul remained silent.

"I can"t believe I"m here!", Paul nervously said, as Will was driving the car through one of the big gates...

"Oh... It"s just for a few hours... You"ll live to see the end of it, don"t worry! And remember: We"ll be waiting for you..."

"Thanks guys... I really do appreciate..."

Many cars were slowly making their way inside the Court of Honour, driving bumper to bumper... and when they neared the flight of stairs leading to the main entrance, Lutz said:

"Shit guys: Look at the two big nude statues over there..."

The three friends looked at the statues of two well muscled Greek Gods, cast in bronze...

"I wish my mum could see that... she would be flabbergasted!", Lutz said, grinning...

Minutes later, Paul got off the car...

"Wish me good luck guys... I"ll need it!"

"I love you Paul... You"re not alone here: I"m with you!", Will answered...

Paul walked his way up the flight of stairs to the main entrance, over which stood a very large sculpted Nazi eagle...

"God bless me!", Paul thought to himself, before showing his invitation to another guard:

"Heil Hitler!", the guard said to him, as he showed him where to go...

First, Paul found himself in a small entrance hall, then was guided to the very large Mosaic Hall. Many guests were already there and Paul joined the crowd. He looked up at the very high ceiling and saw the huge stained-glass ceiling, lighted up by artificial lights...

The Hall was stunning, Paul thought. The walls were entirely clad in special reddish-grey Schnoell marble, and its fiery and smoky red color was most striking! Paul looked at a huge door at the end of the Mosaic Hall and admired its very large frame made of blue marble: The contrast was stunning, indeed! And of course, over that huge door stood the usual golden Nazi eagle, spreading its wings... What else! Paul thought.

Looking around him, Paul noticed that at regular intervals, the marble walls were delicatly inlaided with white birds... Again, the result was stunning! And what about the marble floor, Paul thought: It"s beatiful!

While Paul was admiring the Mosaic Hall, three mem walked over to him, and one of them said to him:

"I am told you are Herr de Brion... our business partner from Paris? I"m Herr Von Shultz... May I introduce you to the two gentlemen here..."

"Oh nice to meet you, gentlemen... Nice to meet you, finally", Paul answered, smiling at his German business partners...

"Nice meeting you too, Herr de Brion... We know we will have a chance to meet with you later this week... so for now, I suggest we all enjoy the party... (...) I saw you were admiring the Mosaic Hall! Would you like to see more of the Neue Reichskanzlei? That can be easily arranged, you know..."

The man didn"t wait for Paul to answer, and made a sign to a guard standing not to far. Before Paul knew it, the guard had walked over to them and was saying:

"Heil Hitler, Herr Von Shultz... Can I be of any assistance to you?"

Obviously, Paul thought, Herr Von Shultz was well known at the Chancellery... and no doubt this tour of the building had been planned well in advance!

"Yes my friend", Herr Von Shultz said to the guard..."We would like to have a little tour of the New Chancellery, to show our friend from Paris the greatness of the Reich..."

"But of course, Herr Von Shultz: I"ll be your guide!", the guard answered, beaming...

Oh my God! Paul thought to himself: There we go... feeling sick hearing about the "greatness" of the Reich. But of course, he had no choice but to go on that goddamn tour!

First, they went to a huge circular Hall, then the guide opened two very large doors, and Paul saw the Great Gallery right in front of them. He was stunned!

"That"s the Marble Gallery", the guide explained. "It"s bigger than the Gallery you have at Versailles...", he added, looking at Paul. "It"s only more modern in style... and the tapestry you see here, as well as all the others down the Gallery are from the Gobelin Manufacture, of course..."

Paul looked at the beatiful tapestry and asked himself if their guide would go as far as to tell them how much the Führer had paid for it! Obviously, Hitler was a newly rich, and wanted to make an impression on everyone visiting the building! Paul wasn"t impressed at all, but obviously, their guide was! He looked at the guide and wished he could kill him on the spot, to put an early end to the damn tour!

"Now gentlemen, please, follow me...", the guide said.

They walked down the very long Marble Gallery for a while, then the guide stopped in front of a very big door. Two guards were standing there, on each side of the door...

"Now gentlemen... These doors lead to the Führer Study! And if you look up over the marble door frame, you"ll see a big crest, with the letters "A" and "H" intercrossed... They mean "Adolf Hitler", of course!"

What else, Paul thought! How imaginative! he sarcastically said to himself!

Now Paul was really beginning to seriously hate their guide...

Looking back at the closed doors to the Führer Study, the guide said:

"But don"t worry: You"ll get a chance later to see the Führer Study! Now please, follow me..."

They walked to another very large Reception Hall, then to the Reichskabinettsaal...

"This is the room where the Cabinet members meet...", the guide said.

"Oh... Paul said... "And do they meet on a regular basis?", he sarcastically asked...

"... This room has not been used, yet...", the guide answered, with a stupid smile on his face.

"I see", Paul answered, grinning, knowing perfectly well Hitler was ruling the Reigh by signing decrees, not bothering to consult his lackeys...

The guide showed them a few other rooms, then they went outside to see the gardens...

"I"ve been told there"s a bunker somewhere over here", Paul asked the guide...

"Oh yes Sir. It"s the Führerbunker! It"s over there... But of course, you can"t see it, since it"s 10 meters below the ground and protected by approximately 4 meters of concrete... but the small round concrete tower you see over there is one of its emergency exits...", the guide proudly said.

Paul looked at the place. How could he have known that, five years from now, Hitler would commit suicide in that bunker, and that the garden where he was standing now would be the place where the Führer"s body would be burned...

Again, they followed the guide, went up a flight of stairs that lead to a large porch, where their guide said:

"Behind those big French-doors is the Führer Study... Each door is 6 meters high and 2 meters large..."

What do I care, Paul said to himself!

"Now gentlemen, it"s time to join the other guests inside the Führer Study..."

The guide nodded to a soldier standing guard near one of the French-doors. The guard opened one of the doors and they all walked inside the Führer Study. Many guests were already standing there... making small talk...

"Thank you very much for the tour, young man!", Herr Von Shultz said to the guide...

"Yes... Thank you...", Paul added, smiling at the guide.

Once inside the Führer Study, Paul realized it was a very large room. As they were walking to a large fireplace, his business partners told him:

"Oh please Herr de Brion, please... excuse us for just a moment... There"s a gentleman over there we really need to pay our respect to..."

"But of course gentlemen... Please do...", He answered to them, smiling...

Paul was so relieved to be left alone for a few minutes...

He started to look around and continued walking to the big fireplace. Once there, he looked up over its mantle, and gave a look to a large framed oil painting...

"...That"s Bismarck you"re looking at...", Paul heard someone say behind him...

He turned and saw the goddamn guide standing there, smiling at him! Paul was desperate: How could he get rid of that man, he tought for himself!

"...I see...", he had no other choice but to answer... If only he could tell the guide he didn"t give a damn about Bismarck and all the rest...

"Did you know the Führer Study is 27 meters long and 15 meters large?" the guide stupidly said... "The ceiling over here is 10 meters high..."

"You don"t say... I see you"ve learned your lesson well..." Paul answered, not interested at all by all those stupid details...

"Oh yes...", the guide answered, with a big smile on his face, too stupid to realize Paul was fed up, and just wanted to be left alone!
"...Yes... And you see: All the walls here are clad in red Austrian marble... All the door frames are made of solid brown ebony, while the ceiling is clad in very, very expensive Brazilian rose-wood!"

This time, Paul didn"t answer, and didn"t even look up at the ceiling: Rather, he started looking around to see where he could go, to get rid of the damn guide once and for all!

But before he could make a move, Paul saw Herr Funk Walking over to him, with a broad smile on his face!!!

Oh shit, Paul thought: After the guide, now the old goat himself! What else after that? he asked himself...

"....Ahhhhhh, Monsieur de Brion... What a pleasure to see you again...", the old goat said... "And thank you so much for your nice gift to me: Thanks to you, at Christmas, I"ll be drinking the best Champagne in the world. Thank you!!!"

"Think nothing of it, Sir: It"s my pleasure!", Paul answered, smiling to the old goat!

"...And I do hope you enjoy your stay here in Berlin... Did you bring your wife along?"

(Ah! There he goes, Paul thought! He wants to know if I"m married! Or if he has a chance with me...)

"...Well Sir, I"m not married yet... But yes, my fiancée came along with me...", Paul answered, grinning... "You know how things are in Paris... My fiancée and I live together like if we were married... but I like to stay free... I"m young, and women are so beatiful...".

(What a liar I make, Paul thought to himself! But if the old goat thinks he"s going to put his hands into my pants, he"s in for a big disappointment!)

"... Yes, I understand... and you"re such a good-looking young man, it must be easy for you to find beatiful women...", the old goat answered, trying not to show his disappointment...

As Herr Funk said that, a chamberlain announced, with a very strong voice:

"Ladies and gentlemen: Der Führer!

As two big doors opened, Hitler came in, and was greeted by a loud "Heil Hitler", shouted by the crowd assembled in the Study...

From where he was standing, Paul could hardly see the Führer... But seconds later, Paul heard Herr Funk say to him:

"...Come my young friend... Let me introduce you to the Führer: I told him about you, and about the fact that you personify the future of the New Europe he wants to build..."

"Oh Sir... I"m not worthy of such an honour, you know", Paul replied, not wanting to meet with Hitler!

(What the hell am I going to do, Paul asked himself! This must be a bad dream: I"m going to wake up in a minute... and I"ll laugh at it...)

It was a bad dream alright, but he was not sleeping!

And before he realilzed it, Herr Funk had him by the arm, and was walking him over to the Fürher!

(Oh shit! Paul thought: That can"t be true! That just can"t be true!)

But it was all too true!

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