Alessia checked her watch. It was already a few minutes past 3 o’clock. The meeting was about to end.

Her team leads reported the weekly progress. Fortunately there were only a few hiccups. Next week she would be in Cologne for an evaluation of a new software version for the logistics of the department.

“I’ll be out of office in a few. I’ll be reachable again in about an hour as long as there is a mobile connection.” she smiled at Harald. “We wish you much fun in Cologne.” he smiled back.

He was one of her team leads.

“We keep everything running.” He picked up his laptop.

Alessia took her own laptop and headed back to her office. She checked her email. There was nothing needing her immediate attention, so she decided to check them later, on the train.

Satisfied for now she folded her laptop and put it into it’s bag. Then she fetched her mirror from her purse to check if she was presentable. Alessia fixed a few minor imperfections until she was satisfied.

Then she tied the bag with her laptop to handle of her suitcase, grabbed her purse and rolled her suitcase in direction of the elevator.

After checking out she walked the few steps to the nearby train station.

According to the display the next train to Munich Hbf should arrive in 5 minutes. Seven minutes later Alessia sat in the S7 train to the central station. She found a place to sit.

The ride took about an quarter of an hour. As she arrived at the elevator up to the main hall with the platforms, it was out of service. The moving staircase as well. “Great!” she fumed. “This suitcase has wheels for a reason!” She looked at her suitcase and then at the staircase. It would be manageable she decided.

“May I help you?” someone with a deep male voice asked her.

Surprised Alessia turned around. It was a tall man, well with her 1,52 m statue she had to look up to most people, but he was definitely taller than 1.80 m and a bit chubby. His black hair with occasional grays sprinkled in reached down to his broad shoulders. The short beard was completely grey. He looked in her her eyes with his sparkling blue eyes.

“At least his eyes are not locked on my chest. Rare.” she thought.

He was wearing simple blue jeans and a black t-shirt. The shoes were hilarious. They were like gloves with single compartments for the toes.

“The suitcase is heavy. Do you really want to carry it up there? It would be nice though.” She tried a timid smile.

Alessia hoped he won’t strain his back or something like that. She took her bag with her laptop and slung it around her shoulders. Then she pushed the handle for rolling the suitcase back in its hold. The man picked up her suitcase for a brief moment.

“No problem!” he smiled confidently.

“I can handle this.” He picked up the suitcase with ease.

“Thank you, sir.” Alessia smiled politely at the old man.

Then she slowly started to climb the stairs to stay near her baggage. She looked back after a few steps and noticed he was close up and carried her suitcase with no visible effort.

He even kept up as she started to go upstairs in a normal pace. As they reached the top he set the suitcase down.

“Thank you!” she gave him a polite smile.

“You’re welcome!” He turned away.

He had an full backpack of his own as well, she noticed.

Alessia took her suitcase and reached the correct platform for the ICE to Cologne.

The train arrived only 6 minutes late. She left her suitcase in the baggage shelves near the entrance. Then she took her seat, and waited for the people to settle in.

Fortunately the seat beside her wasn’t taken. The man who helped her with her suitcase was on the train, too. She saw him taking his seat a few rows in front of her. A few minutes after the train left the station she started her laptop to read the rest of her email.

She wrapped everything up that would be an issue during her absence next week. As the train reached Würzburg she finally closed her laptop and put it away.

The meeting was scheduled next Monday at 9:00. Alessia took the train this Friday to have some free time in Cologne.

It was the first time she was in Cologne. Tomorrow she planned to do some shopping and visit various points of interest like the Cologne cathedral. She had nothing planned for Sunday, because she needed some time to prepare for the meeting. After that she would explore Cologne for a while. All locations were easily reachable via public transport.

She would travel back on Sunday next week. That left the Saturday for further exploration of Cologne. She already had a list of tasks for her voyage back.

Her timetable for the week thereafter was already full to the brim. She decided to have a short nap after leaving Frankfurt Airport after setting an alarm to wake up her a few minutes before arrival. Looking at the time it would be a short nap.