Page 26 of Who We Think We Are

K ate and Mikelia walk to the station platform to catch a tram to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, where they’ll catch their train to the airport.

Once they reach the platform, they see their tram has been canceled.

They spot a bus across the street going to the train station, so they run and hop on.

After about five minutes, Mikelia says, “I don’t have my purse. ”

“Is it in your backpack?”

Mikelia checks her pack. “No, it’s not in here.”

“Did you leave it at the restaurant?”

“No, I remember having it at the tram platform. I left it there. Shit! My passport, credit cards, keys, everything is in that purse. You’ve seen how big it is.

I’ve got to go back. You go ahead to the airport.

Your flight leaves before mine. But I hate saying goodbye like this!

” They hug, and Mikelia gets off at the next stop.

“I hope she finds her purse,” another passenger tells Kate.

“I hope so, too.” At Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Kate finds a train to go to the Berlin airport. On the way, she gets a text from Mikelia: “Purse not at the tram platform. I’m going to the Polizei Berlin to file a police report. What a shitty way to say goodbye!”

What good is that going to do? They’re not going to find your purse for you. But yeah, this is a shitty way to say goodbye.

When Kate gets to the airport, she proceeds through security and shows her boarding pass on her phone and passport.

“Excuse me, madam,” says the agent, going into a small office off to the side of security and taking her passport with him. He returns a few minutes later and hands it back to Kate. “Go straight to passport control, Mrs. Hathaway.”

“I don’t have to go through passport control,” says Kate. “I’m traveling within the EU.”

The agent leans forward. “Are you really going to argue with me? You must go through passport control because I said you must go through passport control, Mrs. Hathaway. I recommend that you do not fight me on this.”

Kate decides to take his recommendation, and as she makes her way to passport control, she gets another text from Mikelia: “Got the police report and on my way to the embassy for emergency passport. The embassy was closed, but it is opening up to help me! I’ll make my flight!”

Kate texts her a thumbs up.

At passport control, the officer says, “Why are you here? You don’t have to go through passport control when traveling to Amsterdam from Berlin.”

“I know. That’s what I said to the guy at security, but he told me I had to.” Kate hands him her passport.

The officer scans it into his computer and says to Kate, “I’ll be right back.” He disappears into an office with her passport.

While she’s waiting, Kate gets another text from Mikelia: “The emergency passport costs 250 euros, and I don’t have a way to pay. I canceled my credit cards!”

Kate texts: “I’ll pay for it.”

Mikelia replies: “The embassy staff is very kind. He’s offering to pay for it himself, and I can transfer the money to him when I get home!”

The passport control officer returns and hands Kate her passport. “Thank you for your patience, Mrs. Hathaway. Go ahead.”

Kate takes a seat near the board that displays all the departure gates and texts Mikelia: “Amazing! I can’t believe it.

That stuff doesn’t happen! What is it with Germans and my passport?

I had to show it at security and again at passport control.

This is beginning to piss me off. My flight’s delayed thirty-five minutes, so I’m going to shop a little. Get something for Jake and the girls.”

Kate walks around and buys a watch for Jake, bracelets for the girls, and a Christmas ornament for herself. She sends a text to the family group chat: “Got you all Christmas presents! At the airport, leaving for Amsterdam.”

Jake replies: “Awesome! Let us know when you get to your hotel. xoxx.”

Kate heads to her gate. When she arrives, the boarding process has been completed.

She walks up to the desk, where the agent, a thirty-something-year-old woman with false eyelashes an inch long, almost-black eyeshadow, and overly filled hot-pink lips, is arguing with a man in German.

The man turns to Kate and asks her something in German.

“Sorry, English only,” says Kate.

“Are you trying to get on this flight?” he asks. Kate nods.

“They’re not letting us on the plane.”

“What!? The flight was delayed and we’re not scheduled to leave for forty minutes!” Kate points to the airplane at the gate. “The plane is right there!”

The man replies, “It is insane! They boarded the flight as though it was still leaving on time, so it is just sitting there with the door closed for the next forty minutes.”

The man goes back to arguing with the agent in German. While Kate waits, she texts Mikelia: “They’re not letting me on the plane.”

Before she can finish her text, the agent turns to Kate, so Kate hits send. The agent asks, “Are you Mrs. Hathaway?”

“Yes, Svetlana,” says Kate, glancing at her nametag. “I am Kate Hathaway.”

“Don’t think using my name will make this easier for you, Mrs. Hathaway,” says Svetlana. “That is the oldest trick in the book.” She says something in German to the man ahead of Kate and scans his boarding pass. He walks through the sliding glass door to board the plane.

“Oh, good, thanks,” says Kate, holding out her phone to show her boarding pass.

“Not you, Mrs. Hathaway. You must wait.”

“But I will miss my flight!”

“That is not my problem,” says Svetlana, who picks up her phone and talks to someone in German.

Kate can’t understand anything Svetlana is saying except “Frau Hathaway” and “reisepass,” which she knows means passport.

It is one of the few German words she has picked up in Berlin.

Svetlana hangs up and says, “Give me your passport, Mrs. Hathaway.”

“This is completely outrageous!” says Kate, taking a picture of Svetlana so she can complain about her to the airline.

“You cannot take a picture of me!” yells Svetlana as she flies around the desk and lunges at Kate. “Give me your passport and phone! Now!”

Kate jumps back and glances down the hallway. About a hundred feet away, three police officers are hurrying toward the gate. Without another word, she turns and walks away, pocketing her phone and passport. Svetlana is yelling something in German, but Kate doesn’t stop.

I’ve gotta get out of here. I am not getting arrested at the Berlin airport! Run! No, don’t run. That will just draw their attention. Walk until I get around the corner. And then run like hell!

Once she turns the corner, Kate runs for a couple of minutes and then slows to a quick walk, zigzagging through the airport, heading to the train station in the basement.

Every time she looks over her shoulder, the police are still in pursuit.

Kate hops on the first train that’s leaving.

I don’t care where it’s going. I’ve got to get out of here!

As the train pulls away, the three police officers run onto the platform.

Kate breathes a sigh of relief. They are too late.