Left side: 24 years young, strict Christian upbringing, unremarkable shoulder-length hair, always well-behaved -- essential in her job in the hotel business, popular, 5'7'.
But at the same time and therefore on the right side: tomboyish, single, sex? Forever ago, only with her first boyfriend and that was rather disappointing; A-cup.
Anja Bimborstein stared at the sheet of paper in front of her: All the things she had just written down were manageable. But now on the right side, where she had noted down the negative points of her existence so far, adding the word UNEMPLOYED in bold letters was a real blow.
Eight years ago, she had started her apprenticeship at the Hotel BΓ€renburg under a lovable, if somewhat eccentric, couple named Weiler, who occasionally took time off, then disappeared for a few days without warning, as if they had vanished off the face of the earth. After her training, she had been taken on as an employee, as promised. The hotel had never made much profit, but all the employees always received their wages on time. They weren't very high, but Anja had still managed to put money aside for a rainy day, because she didn't have much of her own and lived rather frugally in an apartment belonging to the hotel.
Then Mrs Weiler had felt constantly unwell for some time, so that the Weilers, who had no children, sold the hotel for health reasons. However, they had not shown a lucky hand in selecting buyers.
The new owners had managed to run the hotel down mercilessly within the last two years. They tried to increase profits by making savings, but the savings led to a decline in service quality. Word got around about the deficiencies, the guests stayed away, and eventually the wages were also unpaid. It was simply a vicious circle. The colleagues looked for new jobs; Anja, who was the last to believe in the turnaround, stayed on board.
Then came the setback: the new owners unsurprisingly filed for bankruptcy, and the hotel closed three weeks later. The young woman had no choice but to take the few personal belongings she kept at the hotel home with her and register with the authorities as unemployed. The building was now for sale, and it was even possible that it would be foreclosed. She would be able to keep her head above water for a few months, even if she didn't find a new job quickly, and luckily she also had some unemployment benefits.
Once again, she stared at the sheet in front of her. Was she dividing it correctly to the left and right? Was she setting the right priorities?
Right now, she knew only one thing: she would not ask her parents for advice, at least not yet, because she would prove that she could find her way out of her crisis without their help.
However, she wouldn't worry about it tonight; she had arranged to meet her friend and colleague, or rather ex-colleague Susanne, in town. They would meet at Hemingways, a trendy cocktail bar in the city centre, and get hopelessly drunk. Susi had already left the sinking ship, or rather the hotel, half a year ago and found a job in another hotel, a little further out of town. However, she had been single for two weeks because her boyfriend had left her and was therefore feeling similar frustration to Anja. In the last few months, the two had rarely seen each other, as Susi was quite busy in her new job and had mainly spent her free time with her boyfriend.
Anja waited in front of the bar at 8 o'clock sharp, but it was assumed that Susi would be a little later as usual. For Susi, agreed times were rather rough approximations.
While Anja was waiting in front of the bar, numerous other people went inside, some inconspicuous, others extremely styled. Especially three women, who were also waiting briefly, looked really slutty. All of them were wearing shiny outfits that showed more than they hid, and killer high heels; and that too in the weather, which was much too cold for the season. But of course these sluts would rather catch a bad flu or something else than put on something practical and warm. The main thing was to attract attention at any price. The clearly oldest of them, Anja still estimated her to be under 40 (maybe that was only thanks to a lot of make-up?), was called Mascha, the two younger ones were called Reni and Jessi, that was the bleach blonde with the huge tits, where quite obviously a surgeon had had his hands in the game. Her nipples were clearly visible through the apparently very thin top. The heavy rings in the nipples were also clearly visible. Somehow this chick reminded her of the wife of... of... um, what was the name of that brothel king from DΓΌsseldorf? Or ex-wife, now? Oh well, it wasn't her world anyway, this plingpling, kisses here and kisses there, the constant giggling, all the operations and the stupid behaviour of these stupid turkeys.
Shortly after the women and their companions had entered the bar, Susanne finally arrived. Susi's hair was a little longer than the last time they met and much blonder than before. The two found a free table near Mascha and her annoying entourage, so that they could glance over to them from time to time without attracting attention.
The first cocktails were quickly ordered and drunk almost faster, the suffering of the last few weeks, the two women complained in great detail during this time.
'Do you actually like what you see?' Susi asked suddenly. Anja felt caught, but she had actually only looked to the neighbouring table a few times.
'Nah, not really. Just look at how slutty they all look, it's just not on. They're probably also stupid. No one who can think straight would dress like that.'
'But you look over there a lot.'
'Oh really, can you tell?'
'You'd have to be blind and also wearing opaque sunglasses not to notice. I wouldn't be so glib about saying they're all muddle-headed, maybe they just want to have fun. As it is, they're definitely having more fun than we are at the moment.'
Anja wanted to say something, but then held back. Both sipped their cocktails in silence. It was only when it came to the next round that a conversation resumed. Finally, they ordered a Hellsbells for Anja, Susi ordered Sex on the beach. The cocktails were brought, the 'hell bells' initially caused Anja and Susi to widen their eyes. In a glass that looked like an Erlenmeyer flask and was filled with a creamy white liquid consisting of caramel syrup, Batida de Coco and milk, there was a test tube containing strawberry puree.
That's what she got for ordering a cocktail she had never heard of before and that the waitress had said was best enjoyed on Halloween. Anja looked uncertainly from htheir glasses to Susi and back to her glass. If only she had ordered a drink she already knew.
'And how do I drink this now?' she asked her best friend, seemingly quietly.