identity | reus + lewandowski

1939

Christmas dinner had been disgusting, but bearable. Robert and I ate before we came to Mario's house, and I guess everyone else did as well; either way, I'll just say that Ann-Kathrin certainly had plenty of leftovers from the other night.

Things had been going fairly well. The men began to heavily drink, music similar to what Robert liked to listen to was turned on, and everyone got to festively talking and dancing around with their significant others. The subjects talked about were terrible things that I didn't want to discuss, like how entertaining the results of Kirstallnacht were, and how everyone couldn't wait for Nazi Germany to go to war with the rest of the world to show everyone how "great" and "strong" they were. As to why they figured a second world war was coming, I didn't know.

The doorbell rung close to midnight, and Mario excitedly ran to open it, knowing that Erik and his wife had finally arrived to join us in our festivities. I saw Erik first, and then his wife moved in front of him to greet us all. Immediately, I grew alert.

Marielle. The moment she lay her eyes on me, her face instantly fell. Her mouth widened. I think Robert knew, too, because the moment she tried to utter a word, he spoke. "Marielle, have you met Scarlett?"

Marielle instantly frowned out of confusion. "Robert, this is your wife?"

"Soon," He spoke, resulting in an eye roll from Marco. I sent him a shake of the head, to which he responded with a blunt wink, before turning back to Robert as he spoke. "She moved to Germany just two years ago."

"Oh," Marielle spoke, letting out a breath of relief. "You look peculiarly familiar to a childhood friend of mine..."

I let out a fake laugh. "Well, I'll take that as a compliment. I'd love to be as young as you."

She smiled. "You don't look a day older than twenty. Come to think of it, I've seen you everywhere here in Germany. I don't know how I could mistake you for the girl..." She shook her head, almost in dismay. "She was a Jew, I'm sure she's in a camp now. Or dead. But whatever, who cares?" She laughed, as did everyone else. I let out a lighthearted, horribly fake and faint chuckle before watching Marielle speak again. "Where's the wine?"

I turned to Robert, my eyes pleading. I wanted to go home. But he was drunk, too drunk for me to trust him with the car, and I couldn't drive. He kissed me—a full on, passionate, lust-filled kiss—and smiled with pride as he pulled away, listening to the other whistles that he aroused out of his stupid friends.

I cleared my throat and looked to Ann-Kathrin. "Where's your toilet?"

"Down the hall."

"Danke." Quickly, I stood and rushed to the bathroom, instantly closing the door and staring at my reflection. Look at yourself, I thought. You actually blend in with them. It wasn't something I was grateful for, yet at the same time, it was all that kept me safe.

There was a soft knock on the door, causing me to swing it open. To my surprise, it was Marco, who quickly entered the bathroom and closed the door. "What's up with you?"

"She almost let me off the hook," I muttered, not caring how on earth or why Marco was in here with me. "She almost told everyone."

Marco placed his hands on my shoulder. "But she didn't."

"But she knows." I responded, quickly breathing. It was a panic attack, or something close. I was hyperventilating, my eyes were burning, my face was growing hot. Marco grabbed my cheeks and stared at me with worry.

"Margaret, please. Calm down...you can't do this here, it's too dangerous."

"What are you doing in here, anyways?"

"I was worried about you."

I pushed Marco off of me, my voice whiny. "Go away, Marco. I can take care of myself, and I don't want anyone getting suspicious."

Marco leant in for something—a kiss on the lips, a hug, I didn't know—and quickly, I dodged it. He left me in peace. I remained in the bathroom for only a minute longer, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea, and reentered the living room to see everyone staring at me. Even Marco looked at me as though he hadn't just attempted to kiss me, causing me to frown.

"Is everything alright?"

"Oh, Elisabeth was just talking about how lovely your dress was." Ann-Kathrin spoke, with a smile. "We all wanted to see it. Guess we all just looked at the same time."

"Oh." I spoke, letting out a breath. "Well...how do you like it? I made it myself."

"It looks great on you." Erik spoke, resulting in a flick to the head from Marielle. My face reddened as I went back to Robert's side. He was drunk, staring into the abyss of complete nothingness; not even me taking my spot next to his side could arouse a blink to cover his azure eyes. That's it, I thought. We have to go.

"Well, thank you." I spoke, smiling. "Robert looks a little out of it, so I think we'll head home."

"But how will you get there?" Marco rose an eyebrow. "I mean, women can't drive. I'll take you both home."

Women can't drive? What a cheeky bastard, I thought. "Then how will Robert get his car tomorrow?"

"We'll work it out in the morning."

I twisted my mouth, ran my tongue over my teeth, and grabbed Robert's hand before standing, not really having a choice but to agree to Marco's plan, which I did. "Fine, then. Let's go."