THE CALL AT  NIGHT

It is November 1985. <in a small city near the north sea, the telephone rings. It is almost midnight. Nevertheless, Doris creeps out of bed and picks up the receiver. With a whispering, trembling voice, she asks ‘who is there?’ At the other end, her sister Inga is pleased. ‘Hey, Doris. You’re still awake?’ ‘Well, yes… Now I am. What’s up that you’re calling me so late?’ “Don’t you remember? Franz, who invited us for coffee a few weeks ago? What is it? Do you remember?” Inga waits for Doris’s reaction.
How could Doris forget him. He was a real heartthrob, tall and elegantly dressed. His hands were delicate, as if he never worked hard with them. And educated… empathetic like no other. They had met him in the café.
Inga and Doris have founded a regulars’ table in their favourite café, Café Eden. They wanted to distract Doris from the difficult separation story of her tragically ended marriage. The two sisters met there every free minute, trying to breathe some new hope into Doris’s sad mind.
The two sisters had written dark chapters in their history themselves in the past. Doris’s separation from her husband was supposed to bring a new turn to the relationship between the sisters.
Doris was all alone after the separation from her ex-husband. She had managed to project her whole life onto this one man. She had given up on herself without even realising it. She worshipped him. Was he the saviour who finally realised that she deserved more recognition than all the others. Her siblings had the parents’ favour and were allowed to study and received a respected status in life. One was a globetrotter, the other had the family and career dream. Only Doris’s needs were always overlooked. Together with him, she started a family. Oliver had everything: strength, courage, intelligence and he was stunningly handsome. He had a dark complexion, black hair and an athletic build. He was the opposite of Doris: full of self-confidence and a fighting spirit. When Doris’ parents died, a destructive quarrel broke out between the siblings, and Oliver fought for Doris for the family home of her parents. They fought bitterly together against their own siblings. The scars of the fight could never be erased. The deep wounds that are torn open again and again remain as scars. Doris had become blinded by the radiance of her Oliver. Blindly, she followed all his ideas and did not realise how much Oliver enjoyed leading Doris more and more into loneliness. She did not realise that there might be no way back. When he had her where he wanted her, he plunged the dagger and broke Doris’s heart. The disappointment became unbearable when she realised what was happening. Her ally, her idol, her meaning of life was breaking away from her. All of a sudden, he presented her with his divorce intentions. And before Doris knew it, he was already over the hills and far away. He took their children with him, and the only thing she was left with was an inner wreck and half of the house. Her soul was drenched in sorrow, like a sponge she soaked up desolation.

One day the doorbell rang, and Inga was standing in front of her. ‘Let’s bury the hatchet’… Doris was saved. A new and better time was to dawn. A time in which sisters and women would fraternise and stick together in good times and bad. It was a time of remorse and intense reflection on past mistakes. At least there should be a new image in which she presented a better picture of herself and Inga and her brother.

The sisters played cards together passionately, week after week in their favourite café, Eden. One day, a strikingly well-dressed man was sitting at the neighbouring table. He was to be a regular there, always with different companions. Doris had noticed him immediately and scrutinised him thoroughly. These constantly changing partners captivated her. What a successful man he was, who could meet with women of his choice. They were chic, elegant and at the same time disreputable ladies, and they all had a lot of laughter with him. Doris knew this type of lady; they were the ones she envied since her youth. They were ladies who shamelessly showed off their breasts and legs and everything else they had. They were so scantily clad that everyone was forced to recognise their sexual and narcissistic traits in just a second.
Doris turned away in disgust; the sight of such permissiveness reminded her of her own complexes. Stupid and ugly and with a mean mind – that’s how she saw herself. She would never have a chance with such an elegant man to have lustful conversations. To get envious looks from other women… That was her dream.

One evening, the time had come. Her good-looking table neighbour had been stood up by his date. Doris seized the opportunity and invited him. Franz didn’t need much persuading. Of course, he had also been watching the two sisters for some time. They introduced themselves to each other and spent a lovely evening laughing. She dreams of true love and her own happy ending.

After a long silence, Doris finally answers Inga, who is still waiting on the line.

‘Inga, I remember very vaguely. Do you mean the one who was always with the many acquaintances?’ Doris tried to appear uninterested.
‘Yes, don’t you remember Franz? The handsome James Bond from Eden! Of course you must remember!’
‘What is it…why can’t you call like everyone else? At a time when you’re awake? And talk about some guys…’
Inga was hooked. ‘Doris! He contacted me and invited me. Well? Isn’t that great news? That I have to pass on immediately?’
Doris was petrified. What do you mean he invited Inga? Why did he invite Inga? ‘Did he ask about me?’ Her feelings were now fighting within her. Why didn’t he call her himself? After all, she was the one who lived alone. Should she be sad now? Or maybe the rose-loving gentleman didn’t want to be rude and call a single lady in the middle of the night. She excused him for his little slip. Now Doris wanted to know everything. Maybe she would suddenly be close to her dream man.

‘Not exactly, Doris… why? He just asked if we could come to his house. He’s having some kind of meeting and his wife isn’t there. So he could imagine spending a nice evening with nice people.’

A fist hits Doris square in the gut: Damn, he’s married. She could have guessed that. The lover burns a brand on this hot iron. But the fire was already blazing, and it was almost impossible to extinguish. She desperately suppressed the rising tears. Inga must not notice anything!
The time until the evening event passed far too quickly for Doris. She was incredibly nervous. It reminded her of her teenage days when she met a crush in the school corridor. It was terrible being trapped in her own emotional quagmire.
Doris and Inga had quickly found the house. He lived in a neighbourhood of villas in the suburbs. His villa was decorated in light tones and the entrance was decorated with columns and creepy frescoes. The park-like grounds reminded her of a cemetery. People have so much money, she thought, and live in a better burial chamber. It didn’t look like great romantic happiness to her. Rather a marriage of convenience in the American style. Doris felt uncomfortable, something was not right. She had a hunch, but it wasn’t clear enough to act on. Inside the burial chamber for deceased love, everything was equally as perfect.
Franz’s villa was slowly filling up with guests. Some of the many people recognised the two of them. They were Franz’s female acquaintances from the Café Eden.
Of course, everyone was dressed extremely elegantly and had arrived in their luxury cars. Doris was annoyed by this fact once again. She had been thinking about what to wear for days. She was sure that if everyone had come dressed like for a pajama party, she would have chosen her black silk evening dress with the lace décolleté. She would not have been able to bear the attention. She was not the woman who put herself in the foreground with what she had. So she would rather come a little more discreetly. But what if the noble wardrobe was desired? Then she was once again the ugly duckling that no one would even look at. Better no look than all the envious looks alone, she decided. And from that moment on, she suffered from it.
Finally the ‘meeting’ was opened. The host entered and greeted his guests.
Doris’s heart leaped when she saw him. How chic he was dressed again. The James Bond from the north of Germany… and she was in the same room with him. He was still talking, gesticulating around and suddenly pointed at Inga and Doris. Before Doris knew what was happening, everyone turned to her and stared at the two of them. Franz introduced her as the new ones and said that he was very pleased to welcome them to their circle. Doris felt queasy. ‘What does he mean by new?’ Inga whispered in Doris’s ear, ‘Don’t be so suspicious all the time and about every little thing. Relax now!’ Everyone clapped their hands and after Franz had declared the buffet open, he was surrounded by many female companions.

Doris became jealous.

Time seemed to have stood still. Doris was nervous and restless, while her sister was obviously having a lot of fun. Doris watched suspiciously as Inga chatted animatedly. Whole crowds of these pompous academic snobs were standing around her sister. In Doris, pure rage grew. She was a mother of young children and then in an alleged ‘happy’ marriage, with the super clean dream son-in-law. And anyway. Thoughts were racing through her mind. It was she who needed society. It was she who had to rebuild her life from nothing. It was so typical. Her sister just took over everything. One wave of anger after another now stormed through her head.
Without thinking twice, she went to the buffet and ordered a whole bottle of sparkling wine. And nervous with suspicious glances from her sister, who was becoming more and more relaxed, and her conversation partners, she drank one glass after another. Inside her, a battle was raging as to how she should deal with the situation. Go and confront Inga? Or just run away? She felt someone approaching from behind. Uncertain whether her emotional state had been discovered, she turned around. There stood Franz. Doris staggered and wished she were unconscious.‘Doris, let me‘ Franz hugged her gently. ‘My dear, you look beautiful. How do you like it with me?’ Doris was ashamed. Actually, since she had been at the party, she had only had bad moods. She couldn’t say that, she didn’t like being so rude.’His flattery struck her to the core. She blushed. ‘Franz, it’s nice to see you too.’ She returned his gesture. “It’s nice here. And so this is the house where you live with your family?” Doris bit her tongue. How brashly she had interrogated him.

‘No, Doris, I live here with my wife. I don’t have any children. We were never lucky enough… it wasn’t meant to be. >> Pause>> And you? Are you happily married and probably have many children, right?’ He patted her on the upper arm in a friendly manner. Doris swallowed. That’s what she got. If you stick your nose where it’s not wanted, you shouldn’t be surprised… Ouch, that was a slap, she thought.

‘Yes, I do have children.’ She acted uninterested. “It’s getting late, I think I’ll get Inga and go home. Well, thanks again, it was a great party.” She strolled with Franz to the coat rack and he  helped her, very gentlemanly, into her coat. Meanwhile, he explained to Doris: ‘Inga wants to stay a little longer. She has signed up for today’s lecture by one of our teachers. She’s not coming home with me. Do you actually want me to call you a taxi?’

WOM, the next slap followed. Doris staggered… What a cheek, what a scandal. How dare he, how dare she… What kind of lecture it was anyway. And why wasn’t she there? Why hadn’t anyone asked her? Doris gasped for air like a  carp on land. ‘What kind of lecture?’ She managed to say with difficulty. ‘Psychology!’ Doris had no idea what else she should have said. No wonder she wasn’t invited, she thought to herself sadly. How incredibly boring this whole event was actually. These pompous windbags… She didn’t want to be there any longer. “Please, will you get me a taxi?” ’Of course, Doris.’

Franz was standing in the doorway, waving to her as she got into the taxi. She cried silently, and only her tears would have been seen by anyone, had anyone paid attention to her. She gave the cab driver a little extra on top of the fare. Slowly, she walked a little shakily along the path that led through her garden to the back door and unlocked her house. It was dark and, above all, empty.

She realised immediately how much she missed her children and she longed for the wild and exciting everyday life with her children. You never had time for anything and you constantly had to do things you didn’t really want to do. But this bleak silence in the rooms of her house was unbearable for her. In the last few months, it had become increasingly clear to her that what she had received for what she had claimed about her partner was the biggest mistake of her life. Her idea of him, of everything… of herself had undone the bond of their love and torn it apart. Biodegraded… without remains. Inside, it just hurts even more. Like a phantom pain, she is haunted by her suffering. She drags herself to bed and hopes, as she does every night, that the following day will bring a little more
relief. And she swore that even if she couldn’t sleep that night again, she wouldn’t answer another phone call during the night.