"Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value."

Albert Einstein

The next day dawned dull and dark, with no trace of a golden October. As expected, Lisa had a lot of regrets. She had already made a mental list while getting up. The offered ride had made it to the top of the list. The more she chewed on that memory, the more desperate her proposal seemed. Desperate and willing, as if she'd wanted to hook him up. Ingratiating. How absurd.
Interestingly, she didn't regret the three cocktails until she habitually shaved her legs in the shower. After the first leg and three bleeding cuts that made her bathroom look like a sex offender's battlefield, she broke off. After all, no one would see her legs today. At least, if she had her way.

Lisa was putting the last of the Band-Aids on her injuries when the horn honked outside. Bummer. That would mean that a banana would have to serve as breakfast. Hastily she slipped into jeans, a shirt, and her favorite sweatshirt jacket.

After a critical look out the window, she decided on her tan winter coat. This time she also packed her gloves.

Outside the door, Lisa was met by her colleague Sascha. Smiling, she walked through the wind toward his car. They had met at the test in Hamburg and had actually both made it to the relay. While studying together for the helicopter pilot exam, a friendship had developed between them. While Sascha had been assigned to duty group E after her return from the training course, Lisa did her work on the A shift. From time to time, when their different work schedules allowed, they met for a beer, a coffee or to go jogging. Lisa liked him and found him attractive, too, with his blond surfer hair and stormy gray eyes, but between studying and movies, they had both chosen friendship.

"Morning." Sascha drummed a tune on the steering wheel. No matter where he was, the music accompanied him. Either from the radio, headphones or as at this moment, just in his head.

"Hey. Thanks for remembering to pick me up." Lisa lowered herself into the passenger seat of his blue Audi.

Sascha finished his piece and drove off. "Not a thing, but I actually would have expected that losses wouldn't be expected until after today's event." He gave her a searching sideways glance. "Man, you look like death. A date?"

"Your candor is so heartwarming," Lisa grumbled, glancing in the mirror behind the sun visor. Unfortunately, he was right. In her purse, she found lipstick and eye shadow. "Girls' night out," she added and set about fixing it.

After a red light allowed him to take a more detailed look at her, he commented on the result. "Now you look like a dead doll."

"Chuck or Annabelle?"

"Does it make a difference?"

Sighing, Lisa grabbed a wet wipe and disposed of her brief foray into show business.

They met in a parking lot outside Hanover. About half of their colleagues were already there. Lisa and Sascha greeted those waiting and trotted on over to Lisa's boss, Johann von Paula, who was having an animated conversation.

Lisa tried not to make a face when she recognized Christian Eberl as his conversation partner. The department head of Service Group B didn't like her very much, and the feeling was absolutely mutual.

Johann, on the other hand, radiated his characteristic cordiality. "Lisa, Sascha. I'm glad you're here. It's a wonderful morning for boßeln, isn't it?" He rubbed his hands together and looked around scrutinizingly. "I guess we're still missing a few, but then again, it's not nine yet."

Exactly, the perfect time to have a social day with his colleagues. Don't even get her started on the old-man version of street golf that awaited her. Just without golf clubs. Lisa seriously doubted that there was anyone under the age of fifty who could appreciate boßeln. Out of affection for Johann, she refrained from grimacing.

Lisa and Sascha greeted the two older colleagues politely with a handshake. She didn't necessarily like shaking hands with everyone, but if you wanted to run with wolves, you had to howl with them. Christian just nodded briefly and moved away. Rude fop.

"Christian's lapdog is still missing. That's bound to cause trouble," Sascha whispered in her ear.

Johann glanced after Christian and shook his head slightly. "He's a really good pilot, but character-wise..."

Sascha tried to help out. "... he's a rat?"

Lisa hid a smile. "With the emotional depth of a boil?"

"Nice," Sascha muttered.

Johann laughed and raised his hands defensively. "You two! A little more respect for age and experience."

"Age is not an achievement," Sascha grumbled, nodding at them and walking over to some stragglers.

Lisa's gaze went over the crowd. The more colleagues appeared at the meeting place, the thicker clouds appeared in the sky. It promised to be a mixed day. "We have respect for most of them. By the way, I'd like to join your team based on my own experience last year."

"Is that ambition awakening? I thought you hated boßeln?" wondered Johann.

"Well, you throw a ball down a path. It's not necessarily my highlight of the year now, but the winning team got there half an hour faster. That counts."

Johann shook his head. "Young lady, in terms of traditions, you're a disappointment."

"Fortunately, you're not a big fan of traditions yourself, generally speaking."

"True," Johann conceded. "Except when it comes to boßeln and kale, that's where the fun stops."

"That's why I'm here, just for the fun." There were worse things. Visits to the gynecologist, for example.

"Good attitude. Things will work out for you. So, I'll see if anything is known about the grouping yet."

Lisa glanced after him. Although he was already over fifty years old, Johann had more energy than most people she knew. His gait, his posture, even the way he spoke showed dynamism and strength. Enviable.

"Hey, is it the light or are you actually even paler than before?" Sascha had approached her from the side and was looking at her critically.

"The boss mentioned the kale."

Sascha screwed up his face. "Ah, yes. The lunch. How nice." Then he pointed at Christian. "I just thought maybe you noticed your special friend had arrived."

Her eyes followed his prompting and fell on Phillip, Christian's lap dog. Three years older than her and a pilot on Christian's shift. After her transfer to the squadron, he had initially kept flirting at her in a pushy manner, which was probably more due to his attitude toward women in general than their looks. She knew the type. Anything that didn't take refuge in the trees at the count of three was considered fair game, regardless of whether there was sympathy or not. In her case, definitely not. Phillip had something of a slimy toad about him.

Maybe it was because of her rejection or the dislike his boss had for women, but since the very beginning, he was constantly trying to put obstacles in her way.

Objectively, he was certainly good-looking with his short dark hair and symmetrical features, but Lisa found this mixture of ingratiation and self-absorption that he displayed very pathetic.

"Boßeln, kale and the whole family united. Can it get any worse?" murmured Lisa to Sascha.
That's when they both saw Johann approaching them. "The grouping is set. Sascha, you're with Christian, Max, and Werner. Lisa, you're with Lars, Konni, and Phillip." With that, he rushed on.

Sascha boxed Lisa against the arm. "Glad you asked."