Lisa & Rokko - Missed Chances (english version)

Chapter 5

Helga was just about to pack the last pieces of clothing into her suitcases when Lisa came into the living room. Her determination to finally be honest with her parents wavered for a moment. Oh right - her parents were leaving for the Black Forest tomorrow to visit Agnes and Boris for two weeks. How could she have forgotten that again? The last thing she wanted was to ruin her parents' well-deserved vacation, especially since they rarely took time off. But if she didn't tell them the truth now, she would just keep putting it off. She felt awful for having lied to them for so long.

"Sweetie, did you get off work early today?" her mother greeted her cheerfully. "Would you like something to eat?"

"Maybe later. Where's Dad?"

"He's downstairs in the basement, looking for—"

Before Helga could finish her sentence, Bernd had already come upstairs. In his hand he held his old camera and a matching roll of film.

"Lisa, you're already here! Now we can still have dinner together before we set off." her father beamed.

"Mum, Dad, could you please sit down? I have something to tell you."

They did as their daughter asked. Lisa sat in the armchair, her parents next to each other on the couch, looking at her expectantly. She took a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts on how to explain everything to them. But she quickly realized she couldn't and just started talking.

"It's about my relationship with David," Lisa began hesitantly. "It's a long story, but I think it's time I told you the truth."

Her parents listened closely. Even though their expressions showed concern, they didn't interrupt her once as she described the events of the past few years.

"And then David and I... we separated. Our marriage hasn't been what it used to be for a long time, and we—or rather I—decided it would be better if we went our separate ways." That was probably the understatement of the year, but she kept that to herself. What mattered now was that they finally knew about the separation. She had told them the essentials; the details were between her and David.

"I know you've been worried, and I probably could've spared you a lot of sleepless nights if I'd just come clean sooner. But I honestly didn't know how to tell you without making you worry."

After dropping the bombshell, complete silence filled the room. She had been staring at the coffee table in front of her to avoid their gaze, but since the silence dragged on, she finally looked up and met her mother's shocked face. Then, suddenly, loud laughter filled the room. She turned toward her father.

"That was a good one, sweetheart, but you've got the wrong day—those jokes are for April Fools'," he chuckled, already starting to get up and resume what he'd been doing before.

"That wasn't a joke, Dad," Lisa said firmly, making it clear how serious she was. The smile vanished from his face, and he sank back down onto the couch.

"You can stay here as long as you need, I hope you know that, sweetie," said her mother gently, sitting down on the armrest of the chair and placing a comforting hand on her back. Bernd, who had found his voice again, was less understanding.

"Of course you can stay here, sweetheart, but maybe you should still try to patch things up with David. You don't just throw away a marriage like that."

That was exactly what she had feared. But how could she expect him to understand when he didn't know the whole truth?

"Bernd!" Helga exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief.

"It's true, Helga, dear. Young people these days have a little disagreement and throw in the towel right away..."

"It's about more than just a disagreement," Lisa snapped, standing up and heading to her room.

When she sat down later in her favorite spot upstairs, she felt both relieved and uneasy at the same time - relieved that the truth was finally out, uneasy because her father had reacted exactly as she had feared. She could still hear her parents downstairs discussing the situation and their differing opinions, trying to keep their voices down, but not succeeding very well.

---

The next morning, as Lisa sat in her office drinking her coffee, she replayed the events of the day before in her mind.

She had just barely managed to stop her parents from postponing their trip after learning the news, and after much back and forth, they had finally left as planned that morning. She had forgotten about their vacation at the time of her confession, but now she was actually relieved she'd told them the truth right before they left. That way, the heavy burden of her secret was gone, and with her parents away, she didn't have to face more questions for now. She could focus on work instead.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at her door.

"Mrs. Plenske?"

Petersen stepped into Lisa's office.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to inform you that a short-notice board meeting has been called for today."

"What? Why am I only hearing about this now?"

Max didn't quite know how to answer, so he simply said, "There have been some new developments that could greatly affect the company's future."

Just then, Lisa's phone began to ring, sparing Max from further questions.

"All right, see you later then," she said, picking up the receiver.

---

When she arrived in the conference room three hours later, everyone else was already there. She sat down in the empty chair next to Friedrich.

"Are we waiting for anyone else?" she whispered to him.

"We're all here, Mr. Kowalski. You can begin," said Max before Friedrich could respond.

Mr. Kowalski? Now she was imagining things, she thought, until the man at the projector finished setting up his presentation and turned toward the table.
Lisa couldn't believe her eyes. Standing right in front of her was Rokko.