Read Online Time to Let Go by Christoph Fischer - Free Book Online Page B

she asked her father.
    “I guess that will be fine,” he said magnanimously.
    At lunch Biddy greedily dug in and between bites kept smiling happily at her two companions. Walter ruled that it was not too late for an afternoon nap, especially after all the excitement, and he accompanied his wife to the living room. After she had nodded off quickly and peacefully, Walter tiptoed out of ear shot then marched with determination to the kitchen.
    “Now, tell me what is going on with you and your job,” he demanded to know.
    “Dad, there is nothing going on. Can’t I take a little time out to re-charge my batteries? Stop grilling me. I’ve had an exhausting day.”
    “I see!” he said and paced up and down the kit chen in agitated contemplation.
    “On a different matter, Dad, do you have Internet in the house?”
    “Yes, the computer in the study has Internet. Your brother wrote down all the passwords and codes on a piece of paper. If I can find it you can knock yourself out. It is even broad speed or whatever you call it. It all came free with the new telephone or something.”
    “Fantastic. Could you please try and find that piece of paper now? I need to check my bank account.”
    “You will let us know if you need money, won’t you?” Walter said instantly. “We can always help you out if needs be.”
    “Thanks Dad but I am fine. I got a huge lump sum as bonus payment last month and that should be completely untouched in a savings account.”
    “Well, ‘should be untouched ’ is not a statement coming from someone in control of their finances,” Walter said indignantly.
    “Never mind,” Hanna sighed.
    “I do mind, Pumpkin. You can lead the life you want and make whatever choices you like but you always need to stand on solid ground financially. Everything else then falls into place. Has all my time trying to teach you amounted to nothing?”
    “My finances are fine, Dad, even if I don’t always know the exact balance and things like that. I don’t think you appreciate just how difficult it is to live a normal life in the job that I do. I even make lists before I go on a trip so I will rememb er what I need to do when I get back, but I often can’t find the lists or can’t make sense of them anymore. Let alone find the energy because of the jet lag and night flights to remember to pay the bills. It is so easy to forget things, regardless of the gravity of the consequences.”
    “Most of your colleagues seem to manage to keep on top of it. I have never read that cabin crew are notoriously known for late payments and missing appointments.”
    “Be that as it may, you can rest assured that I am financially sound,” Hanna insisted.
    “I am only trying to help you my Pumpkin,” Walter said sharply.
    “I know but y ou would help me more by getting that piece of paper.”
    Walter sighed and went upstairs to his study to search through his papers.
    He switched on the computer and while it booted up he went to his large steel drawer unit and found the piece of paper on the first attempt under ‘I’ for Internet. It certainly paid off to invest some time in organising oneself, he thought smugly. He looked at the many folders of his family chronicle. At some point he would have to put all of this information on a computer file. He needed to make sure his children understood his filing system; otherwise they would never be able to make sense of it.
    He wondered if Biddy’s mind was l ike this collection of papers: a huge pile of memories that were useless without the right index? Or was the index right but the memories had all shifted and changed location? What a shame to see all her memories and experiences lost, all the accumulated life that was now gone from her mind and her life. But he couldn’t allow himself to get all worked up about it yet again and dwell on something that he couldn’t change.
    He heard Hanna come up the stairs and knock on the door.
    “Can I come in?” she said, but she had