Warm rain in winter E-Book

Birgit Clemens

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 88

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Bettina and Wolfgang have everything they could ever want: a successful company, two clever daughters, a beautiful house and a long-standing relationship. And yet their marriage is often in crisis because Bettina can't get a grip on her jealousy and Wolfgang pays little attention to his wife. Both have their own way of dealing with this estrangement: Wolfgang takes comfort in alcohol, while Bettina visits her friend in Berlin. But when Bettina returns from her trip, the house is empty and Wolfgang has died in hospital after a fall. There is no more time for reconciliation. How can she go on living? How can she process this pain? And why does she suddenly feel warm rain whenever her colleague Knut touches her?

Leseprobe

Chapter 1

Leisure time at last! Bettina and Wolfgang have been longing for a vacation by the sea. They love their work in Kassel, but after their daughters Michèle and Hannah fledged three years ago, they put their company at the center of their lives.

Their company is relatively small with six employees, but Bettina and Wolfgang still have a lot of work to do. Their days are usually very long and they rarely leave their office before 8 pm.

A few months ago, Wolfgang fired his long-time secretary Sarah at his wife's insistence on the pretext that Bettina now wanted to take over the job herself. It took Bettina a lot of skill to convince her husband of this, but she was not only very sure, she was also determined to have exposed an affair between Wolfgang and Sarah after they had exhibited together for three days at a trade fair in Hanover. However, she was never able to prove it.

There was probably a great deal of jealousy involved, because Sarah was a very attractive woman. Her slightly wavy blonde hair fell loosely to her shoulders and framed her even face with its large blue-green eyes and enticingly made-up mouth. No one could tell that she was already fifty-seven years old.

From a purely external point of view, she was the opposite of Bettina, who was almost the same age at fifty-five, but looked rather sporty with her self-dyed bright redshort haircut, which usually cried out for a hairdresser, shampoo and brush. Bettina's lips had probably never seen lipstick, not even a lip balm. She liked to pair the whole thing with oversized clothes, or to be precise, with a meaningless baggy look, which left open the question of whether Bettina was simply unkempt or deliberately wanted to make a statement.

Wolfgang had been hurt by his wife's mistrust; from his point of view, there had been no reason for it. On the other hand, he had liked the idea that Bettina seemed to be fighting for him. He realized that he had lost sight of Bettina a little and had forgotten to think of her as a woman over the years. She took good care of the household, the kitchen was always tidy, his shirts were always ironed. Everything seemed to be going well.

It never occurred to Bettina herself that she could be jealous. She thought she was just following an inner intuition. Female intuition or fear of loss? Both can sometimes lead you down the wrong path.

Sarah's resignation seemed to have settled the matter. But Bettina was wrong, because Sarah increasingly developed a desire for revenge, as she couldn't find a suitable job in Kassel and the surrounding area with as much independence, responsibility and good pay as she had with Wolfgang. She hated open-plan offices and didn't want to be an insignificant number in a large company.

She hadn't been feeling well since she was made redundant. She missed the friendly, familiar atmosphere and the respect and recognition of her superiors.

She liked Wolfgang very much, adored him formally, but love him? No, she really didn't!

That's why it had never occurred to her that Bettina could be jealous.

Sarah didn't actually waste any thought on Bettina, as she was never present at work and seemed to live in her own world.

Although Wolfgang was annoyed to a certain extent to have lost Sarah as a competent employee, from a purely economic point of view he was actually pleased to be able to benefit his financial situation in this way.

Business was tolerable, but after the Russian sales market was lost to him, his economic situation became increasingly problematic and recruiting new sales markets proved to be extremely difficult in the current situation.

Over the years, Wolfgang's family connections to Rostov-on-Don had helped him to a supposedly stable and extremely profitable sales market.

At regular intervals, Bettina and he used professional occasions to visit their relatives in Rostov. These included walks along Bol'shaya Sadovaya Street, the "Broadway" of Rostov, with the town hall and many other impressive buildings. There were also interesting stores to shop in. Strolling there had always been Bettina's favorite pastime, while Wolfgang had often met with important customers for dinner.

Beautiful memories of wonderful journeys and magical experiences, pleasant memories of economically prosperous times for them.

In addition to Sarah, they had to lay off two other employees from production as the order situation no longer allowed them to be employed.

Although they were not yet facing insolvency, their financial cushion, which they had built up over the last five andthirty years, not least through thrift, was visibly melting away.

Due to the general recession in Europe and therefore also in Germany, it was a bad time for a possible sale of the business. So Wolfgang decided to reduce the production of shelving walls and cabinets for commercial purposes and instead specialize more in the design of commercial premises on an interior design basis in order to be able to retire in a few years' time.

After an apprenticeship as a carpenter, Wolfgang studied interior design at a young age because his father wanted him to. Even though Wolfgang dropped out after six semesters, he was still able to benefit from his studies in his later business.

True to the motto "People need plans", Wolfgang had planned Bettina's and his life from start to finish. Bettina loved him for it and, even after twenty-six years of marriage, was still full of admiration for her handsome and successful husband. She was happy to follow him in his decisions. She hoped that his approaching retirement would mean more attention for her as a woman and wife, as emotional closeness had fallen by the wayside over the years. While Wolfgang had once loved her beautiful lingerie, which he had even given her himself, it had long since lost its effect. Wolfgang no longer noticed her at all.

Bettina suddenly saw the need for action and came up with a number of ideas to enrich her married life, especially in view of her husband's affair with Sarah, which she hoped had just been averted. Part of this plan was that after three years of reorganizing the company, they both wanted to hand over responsibility to their employee Knut for three weeks. Knut felt like he was part of the company's inventory, having worked for Wolfgang for twenty-three yearsand was therefore familiar with all the processes and used to working independently.

As a sign of appreciation and trust, Wolfgang had officially granted him power of attorney on the occasion of his twentieth anniversary with the company. Following his elevation to authorized signatory and entry in the commercial register, he was now also authorized to carry out judicial and extrajudicial transactions and legal acts.

Chapter 2

It's 6 a.m. and the alarm clock wakes her from her deep sleep:

Vacation, finally vacation.

Bettina hops into her kitchen, presses the head of the coffee machine and then disappears into the bathroom. Hot shower, cold shower; refreshed, she returns to the kitchen wearing only a bathrobe to prepare both breakfast and packed lunches for the breaks on her way to Rügen.

Wolfgang prefers the rough North Sea: low tide and high tide, strong westerly winds, light rain with storms, plus a baseball cap and a waterproof jacket - an absolute delight for him. SPO, St. Peter-Ording: beach as far as the eye can see, about twelve kilometers long with fine-grained sand and an unimaginable width. At low tide, the offshore mudflats invite you to refresh yourself and discover the unique flora and fauna. The mudflats are alive!

But Wolfgang's arguments failed to convince Bettina this time. This is probably because of her grandma Erna, who spent her whole life on Rügen. As a child, Bettina was allowed to spend her vacations with Grandma Erna every summer. Rügen - that's Grandma, Grandma - that's Rügen.

While Wolfgang is still sorting out his sparse hair after the shower and putting the finishing touches to his beard, Bettina puts on her new jeans with the matching striped blouse that she bought especially for this vacation. She describes the outfit as her personal vacation preparation. It was actually a good decision because these new jeans and the blouse are neitherfaded nor washed out and even match her actual size.

Quickly put the comforters and pillows over the balcony railing, smooth the sheets and put the nightwear in the laundry basket.

Before Wolfgang is fully dressed, the bedroom is in order and all the windows are locked ready for departure.

To express her anticipation, Bettina tries to give her husband a loving hug, and Wolfgang allows her to do so. She whispers tenderly in his ear how pleased she is that he has agreed to Rügen. Slightly stiff and seemingly out of practice, Wolfgang holds still - presumably he has no choice for the sake of peace.

Bettina finishes her second cup of coffee with relish, albeit a little rushed, while Wolfgang leisurely sips his rooibos vanilla tea, sweetened with a little sweetener - his ritual. During a month-long internship in Tokyo, he learned how to enjoy tea properly. When he is ridiculed for his ritual - and this happens again and again - he smiles stoically and explains: "My wife does yoga in the garden to relax, I just drink tea." Hardly anyone dares to add anything to that.

The idyll is suddenly disturbed by the shrill sound of the telephone. "Let it ring, darling, we're almost 'on the road' to Rügen!"

But again and again the shrill ringing of the landline. Bettina suddenly has the feeling that it must be something important.

Your daughters - has something happened to them?

Do you need help?

Does Michèle perhaps have a problem?

She wasn't feeling well at all yesterday. Was it appendicitis after all?

Did she possibly go to the clinic?

Or Hannah? She's always stressed, always running at full speed. Could she have fallen down the stairs in a hurry like Bettina herself did two years ago? In a moment of inattention, she suddenly found herself lying at the bottom of the stairs with a broken lower leg - completely helpless, as she is generally unable to bear it.

In a matter of seconds, Bettina's thoughts flash through her head like little lightning bolts. Obviously Wolfgang is not entirely comfortable either, and he decides to take the phone call after all.

He recognizes that it is the company number.

"Yes, please? Knut, you?"