Back in Germany, Walter operated the mainframe computer at the bank. Margaretha moved to Sachsenhausen, the famous part in Frankfurt with lots of apple wine restaurants. Antje rented a former workshop that had been converted into a loft-like space. It consisted of one large room with a partition for the toilet without shower, and now she shared it with Margaretha. When Walter visited for the first time, he found the two girls on their own sides of the space, each of them stationed on a foam mattress on the floor. There were a few wooden boxes for clothing along the walls and some large cushions on the floor. It certainly did not appear comfortable or cozy, and the atmosphere had a frosty ambience to it.
Walter himself had been looking at the newspapers for some time to see whether he could find an apartment. In the weekend issue, he noticed an ad that sounded interesting because of the flat’s location nearby Westendstrasse. When he called the number, he reached the current resident of the apartment. As they talked about work and employers, they realized that both worked in the same bank and building. Walter walked over to the place and inspected the two-bedroom flat. He liked that it had a solid and complete quality. He moved into it, his first domicile rented by him alone.
Meanwhile, the person who rented the house in Hohenhausen bought his own farm in the next village. Hilde and Walter decided at this point to sell it. They found a buyer within a few weeks, and one day Walter walked with a lot of cash in his pockets through Frankfurt. He invested it wisely with the company he had worked for previously. The farmhouse sale freed up furniture he could use in his new apartment. Especially the bed, the nice wooden table, and the closet fit perfectly in one of the two rooms. Everything pointed in the direction of a perfect situation. Walter was working a secure job and living in his own, nice apartment, as well as a young, pretty girlfriend.
Margaretha spent a lot of time at Walter’s place. She used the facilities to take a full bath or do the laundry. There were initial adjustments in her new surroundings having to do with the lack of privacy. Time and tolerance cleared the atmosphere, and ultimately she got along well with Antje. Walter revived the connection with his mother and visited her on occasion. To supplement her retirement income, she had to work part time in the flower shop of the main train station.
Walter bought a color TV. Margaretha and he lay in his bed to watch Miami Vice or Dynasty, and the next morning she went to work from his house. This could have continued for a long time had not thoughts begun to surface in Walter’s mind, concerns about how to get out of it all. How to stop having to work every day? How to do something autonomous that would facilitate an income from work he liked to do? He started to feel unhappy for no obvious reason. First, it felt boring to be in the bank and work long hours with something, he never saw and could not touch, and with people, he could not really relate.
Consequently, his relationship with Margaretha began to change when she spent more time in her own place and other people. In the back of his mind, from the beginning of their relationship, he had always been mindful of the age difference. He knew he did not want to share her with any other man, especially since he had been her first real physical lover. Walter noticed other men looking at her, and eventually she would become curious about it and would try. This he did not intend to experience, but the thought had an inevitable taste to it. Nothing had happened, and there was no real threat anywhere, but once the disquieting thoughts started, they stayed in the background noise at all times.
He thought help was on its way when he heard about a physician, an internist with alternative approach, who allegedly did not hesitate when patients asked for help. Particularly in situations where they wanted to get out of work-related stress, which created a variety of psychosomatic illnesses, depression, or other feelings of ill-being. He made an appointment to see the doctor and talked openly with him about his job—the kind of work environment, the alienation at the workplace, and the effects it all had on his personal life. He asked the doctor straightforwardly whether he could help him to have some time for himself. To Walter’s surprise and big relief, the physician did not hesitate for a moment to fill out the required form, which certified that he could not work due to psychosomatic symptoms. Walter left the practice feeling liberated, a free man, and ready to do whatever he wanted to without showing up every morning at a place he did not want to be.
This perfect, harmonious situation lasted just about three months before Walter felt bored again. Sometimes twice a day he took long walks or bicycle rides in Grueneburgpark, but the gain in terms of increased energy and change of mood never lasted long. He had everything he ever imagined in one place at his disposal—a nice apartment, a loving girlfriend, his own transportation, lots of recorded music and time to listen to it, and money. Twice a month he went to the health insurance office and received a bundle of cash. He then placed the money into his antique closet from Hohenhausen and watched as the pile grew on the shelf.
Margaretha asked Walter for her brother Rudi whether he might consider having a roommate. Rudi needed a place to live in Frankfurt because he also wanted to attend the College for Social Work and work part time. Walter knew Rudi as a nice person. He was a year or two younger than his sister was and very organized and responsible. Walter mulled over the variation in his lifestyle and agreed to a trial. Once his new roommate moved in and Walter experienced the situation for a while, he began to enjoy it. He realized that Rudi was a quiet individual with a calm temperament who provided distraction from his boredom and company at the breakfast table, at least on weekends. When Margaretha stayed at the apartment, it felt like a little family gathering. The only interruptions in this temporary peaceful life of Walter’s were his girlfriend’s susceptibilities in a variety of external and internal body parts. She went to the homeopathic healer at least once a month, where she received not only homeopathic medicine to build up her immune system but also treatments for her back.
Anthony let him know that he completed Music College and wanted to travel Europe for some time. Walter replied that he looked forward to meeting him any time he wanted to be in Germany. When Anthony arrived, he asked to play in some clubs and bars that had a piano available. Very happy to have a visitor, Walter drove around town with him to investigate options to perform and make a little money.
When the musician found out about one of the last open-air festivals of the year, he asked Walter if he wanted to visit it. He stuffed the old red-and-blue tent, which his parents bought many years ago, into the back of the Variant. Off they went to northern Germany again, to the small town of Gunderstadt, where the festival was being held. They found a suitable parking spot, not far from the main stage, and assembled the tent next to the car. Anthony arranged with the festival promoters to play occasionally piano on a stage between sets of different bands. The friends could be seen on the festival grounds at different locations, playing some blues tunes together. Walter used his twelve-string guitar, and Anthony played his transverse flute and a percussion instrument. The event was a lot of fun and an extraordinary experience. Walter did not like Anthony leaving Frankfurt, but his friend had further plans and contacts in Barcelona, Spain, that he wanted to pursue and perhaps start a new life in that country.