Rolf Nagel - The End of the World Mafia

In order to enjoy the sunset during his walks, he always sat at the river bank on a park bench that he already considered as his own. On this particular day, he also approached "his" park bench that he could see already from a distance of about 300 meters.

However, what was that? This had never happened in all the years. Somebody was sitting on his bench! It looked like a conspiracy, an attack on his person.

As he approached, he noticed the curves of an elegant woman. However, he did not intend to approach this person. This was maybe a woman who he would fall in love with without this being reciprocated. He could not expose himself to such a danger. What should he do? He wondered how he could deal with this surprise. Should he pass by without a glance and forego the delights of the sunset? Alternatively, should he maybe sit down on the park bench beside her? Fully ignoring her concentrated femininity of course.

When he was only a few meters from the park bench, he was forced to make a quick decision. To his own surprise, he addressed the pretty woman saying, “Hallo, may I sit here?"

At that precise moment, he had no idea what that small question would mean for the future of mankind. Cheerfully and with a smile on her red lips, the perky person answered, "With pleasure, sir."

With a short "thank you“ he sat down next to her turning slightly away from her just to be on the safe side. He had been courteous enough in his opinion. He had no intention of continuing the conversation in any way at all. His growing anger also let little room for it, even though she was very pretty.

They sat several centimeters away from each other on his park bench, legs crossed in the same direction, something every psychology student would probably have interpreted as being a mutual expression of interest. Some time passed by without any communication between the two. Had this woman not launched the next attack, the story could already have ended here.

The young woman opened her outrageously expensive handbag and pulled out a gold cigarette case from which she took a lady’s cigarette. Then she continued rummaging around in her bag as if she was searching through a suitcase large enough for a journey lasting several weeks. Karl played his part as if he hadn’t noticed what was going on.

After a while, he heard her say, "Excuse me, sir, do you have a light?" Karl could hardly believe his ears. However, as he was a gentleman, he couldn’t just ignore the question. Yes, he did have a lighter in his pocket. As a non-smoker, he only had it with him for occasions such as these. The elegant piece was not used often, but it had a right to exist for just such situations.

Without taking a closer look at the feminine curves, he opened his jacket and pulled out a shiny lighter from his inside pocket. He loved this ritual and sometimes wished he were a smoker simply to be able to enjoy this masculine role more often. With an elegant flip of the hand, he opened the lighter cap igniting the flame with practiced fingers.

The young lady drew closer to the flame puffing clumsily in order to light the cigarette. Even before the cigarette began to glow, the pleasant, sweet fragrance of her perfume reached Karl’s nostrils. He couldn’t help but take note of well-rounded female proportions in her discreet cleavage. He noted how his body flew into unwanted surges of emotion. He felt a mixture of anger and unsuspected longing. His feelings were similar to those of a gladiator in the arena.

Wallowing in a haze of feelings, he heard the provocative voice of his neighbor once again, "Thank you, my name is Marian." He answered automatically, "Karl, my name is Karl Grosser." "Karl, were you born here?", he heard her ask in almost perfect German. The accent though implied a Romanic native language such as Spanish or Italian. Balancing between intimacy and respect, Marian chose well by using the combination of the formal “you” and first name which is unusual in Germany.

"Yes, I have spent my whole life in this city." He looked into her beautiful black eyes and noticed her subtly made-up facial features.

Immediately she added, "This really is a beautiful small town with a very special charm. It is probably even more beautiful to experience the city in togetherness. Unfortunately, I am here on my own today."

Karl wondered what she meant with this foolish talk of togetherness. He doubted that this direct manner corresponded with her natural upbringing. She couldn’t be one of those women professionally committed to prostitution, could she? Nevertheless he replied politely, "I could imagine a beautiful woman like you has a partner at her side." "That is unfortunately not the case, but that may change. What about you, Karl? ", he heard her say. Karl replied, "My work leaves me little time for that, that hasn’t happened yet."

He rejected the idea that Marian could be a prostitute. Impossible that that kind of woman could display such education and appearance. This was probably a lady from high society.

They chatted for a while about the city and its attractions when he suddenly heard, "Karl, I would be very happy if you would be my guest for dinner this evening and keep me company. Perhaps you can tell me more about your city? I hope you don’t mind me asking."

Beguiled and completely unprepared for this offer, Karl replied with a simple "Yes, with pleasure!" After he uttered these words he was surprised at himself and realized that he had unexpectedly agreed to a rendezvous.

A sudden loud crash rang out and Karl turned around, startled. Also totally horrified, his neighbor looked behind her. There they saw that two cars had collided. Marian's face was now even paler than before. In that moment of shock it had not been possible to distinguish that the loud bang had come from the crash. It sounded rather like an exploding bomb. The resulting shock was greater than the situation was actually worth. Nothing had happened to the passengers. They got out of their vehicles safely and unharmed discussing loudly who the party at fault was. Nevertheless, Marian had gotten such a fright that she became a bit hectic.

Marian turned back to Karl and said, "Fine, please allow my chauffeur to pick you up at eight o‘clock. Is that okay for you, Karl?"

She looked at him unrelentingly with a questioning glance. Again, he retorted automatically, "Yes! Yes, of course, with pleasure!"

Still thinking that stuttering was not really his thing, Karl pulled a private business card out of his jacket and handed it to her without saying a word.

"I am really pleased, Karl, so we will meet for dinner. Unfortunately, I have to go now." She stood up and walked towards the parking lot. This strength-sapping effort was indeed a bit too much for the inexperienced Marian. She was happy to have dealt with the matter so well.

From a distance, Karl saw her getting into a white limousine with a man holding the rear door open. Afterwards, the man got in the chauffeur’s seat and started up the engine.

A huge jolt ran through Karl’s body. What had just happened? He had just been torn out of his unchanging life by a few sentences. In just a few minutes, his evening had been planned without him having had the opportunity to oppose it. It was as if he was in a trance. He had not experienced anything like it in his entire life.

Should he be pleased? Or worried? Without his cooperation, someone had crept into his life. Moreover, someone from the female species, and he had not even able to use his male hunting instincts. Somewhat flattered he accepted his fate. His inexperience with the opposite sex was clearly to be blamed for the way his life had suddenly changed. What consequences would this have for his future life? It was all just terrible. However, there was no way he would give the date a miss.