Mrs Martin and Mr Blohm Episode 30: What grows together, stays together

By that point, Regina was already certain: whatever this was with Mr. Blohm,

it was going nowhere. They were simply worlds apart. It was so obvious.

When the food arrived, Mr. Blohm looked even more appalled when he saw the liverwurst sandwich in front of Mrs. Martin.

And Mrs. Martin, for her part, looked equally unimpressed when she saw the boring Caesar saladplaced in front of Mr. Blohm.

Sunshine Is the Only Winner Today

Pragmatically, she thought to herself, Thank God the sun is shining.

Regina normally never took a lunch break. The only reason she had agreed to this lunch date at all was because she simply could not free up any evening for dinner with Mr. Blohm.

So he had suggested lunch instead, and Regina had agreed — which was now clearly turning out to be a big mistake.

At least she was lucky with the weather that day, Regina thought.

Otherwise she would now be sitting in her showroom working and wouldn’t see any sun at all.

So at least that was the small advantage of this entire lunch with Mr. Blohm.

Regina tried to see something positive in it.

She turned to Mr. Blohm and wished him a good appetite, forcing a slightly strained smile.

At that moment, Regina could tell from Mr. Blohm’s expression that he was desperately trying to find a topic — anything that might connect them again — because it was painfully obvious how completely different they were,

and the silence only made it worse.

At the same time, Mr. Blohm was still annoyed that Mrs. Martin had canceled his beautifully arranged romantic lunch at a proper Italian restaurant and had instead insisted, at the end of April, on sitting outside on a bench at a coffee shop simply because the sun was shining.

To Mrs. Martin this seemed extremely important, Mr. Blohm thought.

Even though he loved the sun as well, exchanging a good Italian restaurant for a coffee shop simply because of the sunshine felt completely unacceptable to him.

For Mr. Blohm, it was already beginning to feel hopeless that anything could rescue the awkward silence and their disagreement about the lunch location.

Even the earlier discussion about the correct word when ordering a beer with Sprite —Alsterwater in Hamburg or Radler in Munich — had gone nowhere and seemed completely unnecessary in Mr. Blohm’s opinion.

So Mr. Blohm decided to change the subject completely.

Perhaps he could still find something they had in common.

Searching for a Topic

Never give up hope was Mr. Blohm’s motto.

He asked Mrs. Martin whether she played golf.

Regina was shocked by the question.

It really couldn’t get any worse now. Golf? Seriously? That’s the last thing I like, she thought.

Regina loved sports — skiing, tennis, jogging, Pilates, swimming, and yoga — but golf?

Oh God, she thought, now this man also plays golf. That means this will never turn into any kind of love relationship.

Regina answered very briefly.

“No, Mr. Blohm, I don’t play golf. And on top of that, I don’t like it,”

Mrs. Martin said while enjoying the first bite of her liverwurst sandwich.

Mr. Blohm continued, perhaps thinking he could still impress Mrs. Martin.

“Mrs. Martin, you must know that I played a lot of golf around Munich, partly because at the time I was a member of the German National Men’s Amateur Golf Team.”

Mrs. Martin seemed completely unimpressed, but Mr. Blohm kept going and asked,

“Have you ever even tried golf, Mrs. Martin?”

Mrs. Martin could practically feel how passionate Mr. Blohm was about this supposed sport. He was almost glowing while talking about it.

Mrs. Martin replied shortly:

“No, Mr. Blohm, I don’t have to try it.

It’s enough for me to see it on television and realize that this so-called sport is far too slow for me. On top of that, it takes endless time to play, and to me it looks more like a walk in the park—with a stick in your hand—than a sport at all.”

Now Mr. Blohm was clearly irritated and thought to himself, This woman has absolutely no idea what she is talking about.

Then Mr. Blohm began talking about his incredible golf achievements while pushing his Caesar salad around on his plate.

And he simply would not stop talking about golf and his accomplishments.

“I have seen many different golf courses all over the world and have played at a level that actually means something to someone who understands the game.

You sound as if you do not understand anything about golf at all, Mrs. Martin.”

Mrs. Martin thought, What a blowhard… now he also has to point out that he is someone special in this golf world.

She answered coldly:

“Whatever, Mr. Blohm. I do not like golf. It does not interest me, and I cannot imagine that you will convince me otherwise.”

And Regina just sat there thinking, Oh God… when will this lunch finally be over?

Even the sun could not make up for it anymore. She couldn’t enjoy it—not even her liverwurst sandwich. She simply wanted to go back to the showroom and not spend a single second more with Mr. Blohm. This lunch was nothing but a waste of time.

And then it suddenly burst out of Regina—she simply could not hold it back anymore.

“Besides, Mr. Blohm, as I understand it, you were an amateur on this national golf team and not even a professional. You know, Mr. Blohm, I really don’t like amateurs. I definitely prefer professionals. I hope you understand that, Mr. Blohm.”

Well, that really hit hard. Mr Blohm had to steady himself after hearing Mrs Martin say that she prefers professionals over amateurs.

Regina’s Silent Horror

Mr. Blohm then simply added, very quietly and with great composure:

“Mrs. Martin, I received the Silberne Lorbeerblatt in 1988 from Richard von Weizsäcker, 

which is the highest state honor for sporting excellence in Germany—in case you are not aware of it, Mrs. Martin. It is awarded by the Federal President for outstanding achievements such as world championship titles or exemplary conduct. Just in case you don’t know what the Silberne Lorbeerblatt means. And I am very proud of that.

I do not care at all whether I was an amateur or a professional.

I did something good for the country.”

Mr. Blohm’s Last Attempt

And no matter what Mrs. Martin might have said next—and, surprisingly for Mr. Blohm, she didn’t say anything—he decided to take the opportunity to change the subject and move the conversation away from golf. It had become quite clear that Mrs. Martin did not understand much about golf anyway which Mr. Blohm found rather petty, especially since golf was his great passion. It was also clear that no consensus would be found between Mrs. Martin and Mr. Blohm on this topic.

“So, Mrs. Martin,” he said calmly, “how do you like Hamburg so far?”

Regina was delighted by the question. Finally, a topic that truly interested her and one she could actually speak about. After all, she had now been living in Hamburg for six months and had previously spent almost fifteen years in Munich.

Regina would never have left Munich because she disliked the city—quite the opposite. She loved Munich. The only reason she had left her beloved city was to finalyend her on-and-off relationship with her exboyfriend Paul, combined with an unexpected job offer at La Perla in Hamburg.

The only other city where Regina could ever imagine living, besides Munich, was Miami. Hamburg had never really been part of her plan.

Even though Regina had been born in Hamburg, she had never grown up there.

Her father came from the Munich area and her mother from Hamburg.

When Regina was still a small girl, the family moved south to Bavaria, and therefore she never developed any real connection to Hamburg.

After six months in Hamburg, Regina had come to a very clear conclusion:

Hamburg simply wasn’t for her. And for one main reason—its location.

It was simply too far north, where statistically the weather is usually worse than in the south.

As you, dear readers, already know, Regina loves the sun. And in Hamburg there are hardly any real options to escape the weather. Going even further north—to the island of Sylt, for example, or to Sweden or Denmark—usually doesn’t improve the weather either.

Regina turned to Mr. Blohm, who was still sitting next to her on the bench.

“In Munich, Mr. Blohm, you have to understand,” Regina continued, “things are very different. As you surely know, since you have spent so much time there playing golf, the weather is often better. And even if it isn’t, you always have options.”

She continued enthusiastically.

“You can drive to the mountains and reach wonderful ski resorts in Austria—Kitzbühel, for example, is only about an hour and a half from Munich.

Or you can go to Switzerland, which is about four hours by car.

Because of the higher altitude, the weather is often better there.

And in the spring, you can simply escape to Italy in about three hours, where it is usually ten

degrees warmer than in Munich itself.”

She paused briefly before adding,

“You see, Mr. Blohm, Munich simply has so much more to offer than Hamburg.

This constant drizzle here can really wear you down.”

Mr. Blohm watched Mrs. Martin while she spoke. Regina was talking like a waterfall, and even Mr. Blohm could clearly recognize how important sunshine was to her.

After this flood of words from Mrs. Martin, Mr. Blohm finally replied calmly:

“You know, Mrs. Martin, everything you are saying about Hamburg is simply a weather myth.

There are statistics that clearly show that Hamburg actually has more sunny days than Munich.”

Dear readers, as you can see, even when it comes to the question of Munich or Hamburg—which is the better city—there will be no agreement between them.

Do you want to know what happens next? Stay curious. Because Mrs. Martin and Mr. Blohm are not just worlds apart—they seem to be planets apart.

Will this lunch still take an unexpected turn?

Make sure to keep a few cases of SYLTBAR in reserve, because this story is only just beginning. Episode 31 will be released next Sunday.