16"Honey, let me fix your tie, it's a little crooked." She stood looking just slightly down at the knot, since it was almost at eye-level due to their height differences. Marlene tugged on the bottom part of the tie and pinched the top a little. "There! Much better!" Rudolf smiled at her. "You're going to be a great wife, Marlene."
She grinned and hugged him around the neck tightly. "I can't believe I'm going to be Mrs. Marlene Marilyn von Strastler..." Rudolf kissed her on the forehead before ending the embrace. "Ach, I'm running a little late, but I'm going to be calling the movers today at work." He hurriedly grabbed his house and work keys off of their bedside table.
"I'm sorry I didn't get around to making the coffee, Rudolf!"
He smiled at her, looking back before opening the door and exiting. "Darling, don't worry about it. Have a lazy day and lay around. I'll get coffee and a lunch on my way there and on break. I'll see you tonight. I love you."
"I love you, too!" Marlene spoke from the opposite side of the apartment. She sighed happily and leaned against the bedpost and then just let herself flop over backwards on the bed.
"What to do today," she said in a whisper, aloud to herself. "I should tidy the apartment up, get a little packing done, and surprise Rudolf by bringing over some lunch so he won't have to go out this afternoon…" And for a second, she almost thought of calling her mom and telling her about her engagement, but that wasn't possible considering her mother wasn't born yet.
What a convoluted deal! She thought and added a playful laugh.
Marlene was strolling down the streets towards the printing press in the equivalent to the modern day sundress. As she reached the printing press and went in, saying hello and waving to the workers busy keeping the ink dark and the paper smooth, she heard some noise from the back room. It wasn't the usual noise that Marlene was accustom from hearing from there. It was either Rudolf dealing with a customer, or at least an old fan fluttering loose documents around. This time there was a voice of a female, and Marlene knew from currently living in this time, that there weren't many female workers.
It's probably just a record player or something… or a gramophone. I should check just to solve my curiosity.
She approached the door and looked through a small window into the office. Indeed, Rudolf wasn't the only person in the office. Some gramophone. As Marlene stared through the thick glass in the heavy wooden door, not concentrating on the voices, or the actions, she was concentrating on the woman. She's familiar, I've seen her somewhere. Was it at a café? At the party last night?
Then it finally dawned on her where she had seen her and who she was. It was Karolyn, Rudolf's ex-fiancée. Marlene pressed her ear to the door and listened to their conversation, though she knew it wasn't really her business.
"But I love you, Rudolf, you can't dessert me!"
"I love Marlene, she is my fiancee now, not you."
"Rudolf, love me, hug me, kiss me, anything! Tell me you still love me."
Rudolf slammed his palm hard onto his desk. "I do not love you Karolyn. I loved you, but it was brief, and it was puppy love. Get out of my office."
"Rudolf, I want you back!"
"You just want me for my money. If father hadn't told you how well I was doing out here you wouldn't have bothered coming. That's the only reason you used me for, anyway."
Marlene couldn't help it, she opened the door and acted like nothing had happened.
"Honey, I brought you some lunch that I made you so you wouldn't have to go out!" She glanced at Karolyn who was donning a funeral-esque outfit, complete with the dark veil and appeared to have dark mascara lines streaming down her face. "Oh, it's you. I remember you."
Karolyn's nose wrinkled up. "You're the girl that stole my future husband! You're probably not even 18!"
Rudolf punched his metal filing cabinet, slightly denting it. "Girls!" He looked at Karolyn with a cold glare of distain. "Karolyn. I asked you before, leave my office." Then he turned to Marlene. "Thank you very much, dear." He walked over to her and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "I spoke with a few of my workers and this Friday we're going to take apart the furniture that can be taken apart and move it all to our new apartment. It won't be too hard."
Karolyn stabbed her thin black stiletto into the wooden floor, surely leaving a mark. "I always get what I want! I should get you, too!" She looked hard at Rudolf. Rudolf just rolled his eyes and muttered something about spoiled rich brats under his breath.
"As for you, little girlly girl, you're a man stealing bitch!" Karolyn raised her hand close to Marlene's face pretending to strike her and then backing down. "You have so much to learn." She backed down and stormed out of the printing press. Marlene blinked and released a breath that she didn't realize she had held. She stood still while Rudolf approached her.
"What in the world was that, Rudolf?"
Rudolf sat on the edge of his desk. "That is what I call a spoiled, rich, socialite. I'm sorry about that. She didn't have any right to raise her hand to you."
Marlene nodded. "Just, make sure that doesn't happen again." She handed him his lunch in a little paper bag. "Enjoy your lunch? I've got to get home and do some packing of the little things for this Friday."
"See you tonight," he called as he began to open the bag and smiled at the little sandwich with an apple, a crescent from a local bakery, and a thermos of iced tea.