An Odyssey in Blue: An autobiographical novel by Joseph M Labaki

Author:Joseph M Labaki
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780992648459
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2018-07-03T00:00:00+00:00

9

AEG was a giant electronic company. It had a huge office in the centre of the city, not far from the river. There was also an offshoot branch on a hillside on the outskirts of the city, not far away from the tower with the revolving restaurant at the top. The offshoot itself contained two buildings with a distance between them. Dozens of engineers, designers and artists worked there. The company needed young, energetic, clever people to liaise among the three offices. It paid four marks per hour, but many people had left for different reasons.

Nervous, I prepared myself. I took Driss’s identity paper and put my picture on it. Prepared to be sacked on the spot, I took tram number eleven and headed to the hillside. When I arrived at 7 a.m., the door was open. Mustering up courage, I knocked on the main door.

‘Bitte schon, ’ I heard.

As I opened the door, I came face-to-face with a massive woman. She looked beautiful and sexy with few clothes on her shoulders, but her clothes and jewellery were expensive. Her room smelled of coffee and irresistible perfume.

Miraculously, she hired me, and I found her like a tyrant, taking and giving orders, running from her office to her boss. She twittered around from her office to others’. She spied on everybody and was nosy and touchy. She knew everybody’s date of birth and no one missed a birthday card, but she was at war with another woman, a secretary, just as important as herself but maybe not quite. The peace was the distance between them, but the telephone often broke the truce.

Carrying letters and documents, I shuttled among three buildings: the main one in the town and the two buildings of the offshoot branch. Taking the bus was awkward and subject to delay, but I always had to account for the time. As the time went by, I began to carry money. It was not in the quantity of a million, but it was tempting to run away from those ladies.

The relationship between Mrs Hermann and Mrs Schneider was acrimonious. I heard them shouting at each other and using vulgar words, like ‘shit’. I saw Mrs Hermann put the telephone down and plunge into tears. When I wondered why she was crying, she told me it was because of Mrs Schneider.

‘She isn’t good,’ she said. ‘If she were, she wouldn’t be divorced.’

I also heard Mrs Schneider accuse Mrs Hermann of being a sex toy. I saw them peering over each other’s desks whenever they had the chance. They accidentally met once in the canteen while I was having my break. They were both cold, tense and nervous.

‘You haven’t brought the cup back,’ said Mrs Hermann.

‘Have you paid for them?’ asked Mrs Schneider.

They squared up to each other. Suddenly, Mrs Schneider stretched out her big arm and ripped Mrs Hermann’s clothes. Pushing her back, Mrs Hermann grabbed Mrs Schneider’s necklace and pulled her like an animal on a leash.

I was terrified. I came between them, but my size was no match for the two big German women.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.