Hello, here I am again. I have finally had enough ideas and desire to write something new again. Let's see how it develops further. I'm currently already sitting on a new story but let's see when this comes out. For now, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Greetings Petit Erik
1.5.2021
Finally, a few days off! Jenny felt a weight fall off her shoulders. Working every day and sometimes 7 days straight. And then there were the boys. They were quite independent but that was not always the case. Sometimes they were quite clingy and Jenny had to take care of them. So she had taken a few days of vacation, which was not until the end of May. And this vacation she did not want to spend at home. But she first had to make the boys understand that.
"And what should we do during that time?" asked Mackintosh.
"We'll just stay here," Lerik scrawled on his whiteboard.
Jenny flipped him the bird.
"Sure, and when I come back, the house will be in ruins. Nothing there! I would have rather thought of something else."
"And what would the Mademoiselle have thought of?" asked Borchert, leaning forward threateningly.
Jenny also leaned forward so that their noses almost touched. Borchert was surprised that she didn't even flinch when she saw his unmasked face so close to her.
"I would have thought," she said, moving even closer, "that you would just come along."
A gasp went through the room.
"You want to take us with you on your vacation?" asked Derik.
"Sure. Why not. I'm sure it would be fun."
"And where would you like to go?" asked Piterman.
"I was thinking Cologne."
"Cologne?" everyone asked in chorus.
"Of course. First, it's a beautiful city, and second, it's very easy to get there."
"And how?" asked Wilkinson this time.
"Well, by train. It's quite easy. From Gare du Nord by Thalys to Cologne. Goes super easy and super fast."
Gerry raised his eyebrow.
"And how fast?"
"Something like 320 km/h."
Everyone's eyes widened at that.
"320?!"
"Yeah, 320, but you don't notice much of it. It's actually quite pleasant driving."
"And how long are we staying there?" asked Schaefer.
"I would have said about five days. I'm off from the 25th, and we could leave early right then."
Edenborn then asked: "And how long would that drive take?"
Jenny took her smartphone out of her back pocket. She quickly Googled and then read the result to the others.
"If we take the Thalys, it will take about 3 hours and 20 minutes. So not very long."
"Would we even have room there? Because we're not such a small number of people, are we?" asked Stolle.
"Do you mean on the train or where we're going to spend the night?" asked Jenny, turning to him.
"Both," he replied.
"Well, on the train it wouldn't be a problem but at a shelter I wouldn't be so sure."
"Sure, who would want someone like us with them?" asked Panaro sarcastically, pointing at his face.
Jenny gritted her teeth and an angry glint entered her eyes.
"I don't want to hear that again," she growled between clenched teeth.
"I remember exactly what I told you on your first day here about feeling sorry for yourself."
He looked at her and her eyes looked like they might spark. He rather ducked down a bit in his chair and gave her an apologetic look.
She grumbled: "Better that way."
Then she turned back to the nice subject.
"Well, accommodation shouldn't really be an issue either. Cologne is big. We can pick something out comfortably."
"Do you think that would work?" asked Warlow skeptically.
"Sure. Don't you guys worry about it. I'll do it."
A murmur punctuated with hope followed.
While the others passed their time with God-knows-what, Jenny went to her room, grabbed her laptop and surfed the Internet for accommodations in Cologne for herself and the boys. Soon she had found something, called the address she had found and inquired whether there were still places available for her and the men. When she received a positive response, she screamed and jumped for joy and immediately printed out all the information. She then ran into the living room and rounded up all the phantoms.
"Guys, I found something"; she declared joyfully.
She passed the pieces of paper and everyone read through it. In the end, they were also very pleased with it.
"Okay," Jenny said, "the very important question: should I book?"
Everyone looked at each other and then there was a unanimous nod.
"Finally, a vacation," Piterman said, "I've never had one before."
Jenny replied, "Well, high time to give it a try."
As everyone sat together like this, Jenny talked about all the things they could experience in Cologne. She Googled what sights there were in Cologne and then let the boys decide which ones they wanted to see.
"I'll put it this way," Jenny started, "the cathedral is a must-see, so it's mandatory. For the other things, feel free to choose."
Thus she placed her tablet in the middle of the table and let all the phantoms look at it. She had already deliberately written down a second item. Kerik looked over at her.
"What else did you write down?" he asked.
"Chocolate museum," she replied, grinning at Panaro.
He grinned back like a honey-cake horse and turned back to the tablet.
After some time, they decided what all they wanted to see. They had also decided on the Hohenzollern Bridge, the Cologne Zoo, Schildergasse and much more.
"Let's hope we'll make do with the few days," Brawford said.
"Don't worry," Jenny replied, "we'll make it. And we might manage two things some days, too."
Thus, they all chatted some more until Jenny said goodbye and went to her room to book the vacation. She wondered what it would be like.
A few weeks later
Vacation at last! Today was Tuesday evening and tomorrow it would finally start. They had all decided that they would not go to sleep so late because they did not want to leave so late in the morning. They had all already packed up their clothes and were now in joyful anticipation of tomorrow. Erik was fidgeting with joy and excitement the whole time they were eating dinner.
"Hey, are you okay?", Crawford asked him.
Erik looked at him.
"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just looking forward to tomorrow."
"Yeah, me too. But don't you think you're getting a little too excited?"
"Nah, why? I'm just a little more excited. That's all."
"Okay," was all Crawford said, and turned back to his food.
To be honest, Jenny felt the same way Erik did, only she tried to hold back her fidgeting. Fortunately, she succeeded quite well, so that no one spoke to her about it. 10pm then everyone said goodbye to their beds so they could be rested in the morning.
The next morning it was time to get up at 7 am. Jenny was already afraid that everyone would look totally hungover, but she was surprised. In fact, all the phantoms looked very lively and refreshed. This made her feel even happier and soon they were all sitting down to a quick communal breakfast. There was extra strong coffee for everyone to get them through the day. They all excitedly talked about how they could hardly sleep because they were already so excited about the trip. Jenny smiled and continued to nibble on her roll, letting them revel in their joy and happiness.
Soon after, however, they all had to get ready because 9:00 their train was leaving. So they quickly washed the dishes, dried them and put them in the cupboard, while the others quickly ran around the house and got their things already. Of course, they picked up their colleagues' suitcases at the same time. In the dressing room they put on their jackets, Jenny thought the coats and capes were too over the top, put on their masks and wigs and they were ready to go. Of course, Soot and Ayesha also came along, because without them Panaro and Kerik would never have come. So together they went with Jenny to the metro station, from where they would then finally go to the station.
When they finally all arrived at the Gare du Nord station, they were already jittery and waiting for their train to arrive. 15 minutes later, the time had finally come. The Thalys pulled into the station and stopped in front of them. The boys almost rushed to the door but Jenny was able to stop them so that the other people could get off first. Once everyone was outside, they went inside the train, sat down in their seats, which were pre-reserved given their large numbers, and looked outside. They could hardly wait for it to start.
Thirty minutes later, it finally started. Slowly the train started and they pulled out of the station. The gentlemen were all glued to the window looking outside. Soon the train picked up speed and they couldn't see everything outside. Jenny leaned back in her seat, relaxed, took out her Airpods and looked out the window. Across from her sat Gerry, who kept his eyes out of the window the whole time and didn't let himself be disturbed. Jenny had been right, he noticed. You really don't feel the speed. So he continued to look out the window while a few other phantoms did the same or dozed a little.
After 3 hours Jenny got up and went to the meanwhile deeply sleeping opera ghosts. They had all fallen asleep over time and had not been disturbed. Jenny went to each of them, shaking their shoulders lightly, which at first earned her a grumble but after she told them they would be there soon, they woke up abruptly. They all adjusted their clothes, Jenny put away her airpods, got their suitcases from the overhead racks and waited anxiously.
Soon Jenny's eyes grew wide and she looked out the window. She could already see the Cologne Cathedral in the distance. Joyful goose bumps rose up her arms. But she didn't want to tell the boys about it. Soon they crossed the Hohenzollern Bridge and entered the train station. They got up, went to the door, and when the train was stationary, they got off in joyful anticipation. Jenny led them off the platform, down the stairs and through the station. They got a few strange looks because they looked like a tour group but otherwise all was well. They opened the door of the station, looked to the left and stood rooted to the spot.
In front of them stood Cologne Cathedral in all its splendor. Majestically it was enthroned above everything and everyone. The "small" group of opera ghosts including Jenny moved slowly forward.
"Uh, guys?" said Jenny, "please don't catch any flies."
Immediately they flipped their mouths shut again.
"Welcome to Cologne," she said to them, "We'll have plenty of time to look at everything later but I'd like to get to our accommodation first, okay?"
The boys nodded, still following her in amazement.
When they arrived at their accommodation, Jenny asked for the room keys, handed them to the boys and together they went to the floor that was reserved for them.
Jenny said to them, "Punch out among yourselves who is going to go to the rooms with whom. My room is back there and two more people can go in with me."
She grabbed her suitcase and ran to the end of the hall. The phantoms conferred among themselves briefly and in the end it was decided that Murphy and Stolle would join her in the room. The two opera ghosts grabbed their suitcases and ran after her.
When they got to her room, Jenny was packing her clothes into the closet. She looked over at the two of them and grinned.
"Hi," she says, "which one of you likes to sleep upstairs?"
Murphy's hand shot up, while Stolle looked rather less than enthusiastic about it. Jenny looked at him.
"Is that face because you liked sleeping upstairs too, or because you don't like sleeping upstairs?"
He said, "I don't like sleeping upstairs. I've never been a fan of it. Don't worry, you're not taking away a place for me to sleep."
With that, he flopped down on the bed, which was downstairs. Jenny nodded and went up a ladder to a small floor where there were two more beds.
Murphy squatted at the top, musing to himself. The floor was built relatively close to the roof, so Jenny also had to tuck her head in so she didn't bump into anything.
"Which bed do you want," he asked her.
"I don't care," she replied, "but if you don't mind, I'd take the one on the right."
"Okay," he said, and walked over to the left bed, which was across from Jenny's. She sat down on it and tested out the quality of the mattress.
"Hmm, not bad," she said.
She took off her shoes and lay down, closing her eyes and just being glad to be there. And before she knew it, she was asleep.
The next time she woke up, it was 4 pm. She sat up and saw that Murphy and Stolle were also asleep. Their masks and wigs had been placed on the nightstand next to them and they were comfortable in their beds. Carefully, Jenny got up, minding her head, and quietly walked down the stairs. Then she grabbed her wash bag from her closet and went into the bathroom to freshen up a bit. While she was in the bathroom, she thought about what she and the boys could eat. There was also a large communal kitchen at the end of the hallway. She decided that she would have a big community cookout today.
After she finished in the bathroom, she changed into breezier clothes, wrote a note to the two boys so they wouldn't worry, grabbed her purse and room key, and left the room. She strolled around downtown, went into a few stores and looked around. Soon she found what she was looking for. Unbeknownst to the Messieurs, she had decided that today would be pizza, and homemade at that.
She browsed the store shelves, rattled off everything on her list, and then headed back to the hotel. Of course, the boys were awake again. How could it have been any other way? Jenny got her things into the kitchen, put a few things in the fridge, and took the rest of her things to her room. When she entered her room, Murphy and Stolle were putting away her clothes.
"You're back," the former said.
"Yep," she replied, "and I was about to bring something for dinner tonight."
The two men looked interested, but said nothing more.
Later that evening, all the opera spirits were in the kitchen with Jenny, preparing pizza. She had given them different tasks and the teamwork worked surprisingly well. Soon the pizzas were topped and Jenny put them in the oven. While the pizza was in the oven, everyone set the table together and when the pizza was finally taken out of the oven, they all enjoyed it.
"Guys," Jenny munched, her mouth full of pizza, "I wanted to ask you something."
Everyone looked at her in silent anticipation.
She swallowed her slice and said: "Because tomorrow is Ascension Day and the bells are ringing in the cathedral, I wanted to ask you if you'd like to listen to this?"
They looked at her with wide eyes.
"What time would that be?" asked Derik.
"The bell ringing would be 9:40. I say if we got up at 9, got ready and went to the cathedral afterwards, it wouldn't be a problem. The ringing doesn't take that long either, so we could comfortably eat breakfast afterwards."
They discussed everything for a little while and because Jenny knew the boys and knew they would like to hear this, she got her way. And to be honest, the gentlemen wouldn't have it any other way. So they didn't go to sleep too late, because tomorrow they finally wanted to hear the fat Pitter in real life.
