Crowds lined the streets outside the city hall, eager to find out about the election results. Marlene didn’t stay to wait, because she had a date with Zara and Bruni. They would listen to RIAS Berlin at Bruni’s place.
Chit-chatting about their lives, the three of them drank coffee – real coffee – and ate biscuits, all generous gifts from Feodor Orlovski. Marlene still thought it was immoral of her friend to maintain this relationship with one of the hated oppressors, but she didn’t go as far as to reject the food he provided. In a Berlin riddled with food shortages that would seem downright stupid.
When the radio announcer cleared his throat, and began to speak, Marlene could see the same stunned excitement in her friends’ eyes as she felt. The SED had lost by a landslide. In a massive a
