But then she remembered that this flight had been delayed. That meant that she would miss the flight from Berlin to New York. Oye, she said to herself. She put her hands on her face and shook her head.

She might have to stay overnight in Berlin. But that would cost a lot of money, and Ida was saving her money to purchase a grand piano.

Ida had a friend who lived in Berlin. Ida had known this woman since she was very little. They were both raised in Russia, but then Ida had decided to come to New York and her friend married a German man, so she moved.

Ida wasn’t that fond of her friend anymore. But if she could stay the night at their house, she would save about 120 Euros; 70 for a hotel, 20 for a cab ride, and 30 for food. She could manage one night with her old friend.

But maybe she wouldn’t need to. Maybe her flight home would be delayed. Maybe she could spare a lucky penny. If she wasn’t lucky, though, she would have no way of finding her friend. She hadn’t contacted her in years, all she could remember was that her name was Anje Croton, and she was married to someone by the name of Erich Croton, and that they had two kids, and lived in Berlin.

Ida would figure that out later. The only thing that excited her was that she would be able to go to Café Au Lout. When Ida was younger, she travled to Berlin many times, because she had entered a Piano contest, which had taken place in Berlin. She had discovered the Café, and had always dreamed of going back.

For some reason, Ida loved the Café’s Elderberry tea. She had never heard of it before, and the minute she tasted it, she knew she loved it. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had many other things to do, she would come to Berlin just to get a sip of the tea. Since then, she started drinking tea. She had started exploring all the American tea brands, but never found any of them as wonderful as the Elderberry tea. Ikea made an Elderflower juice that came in a box, but it tasted fake to her. The only American brand that she sort of liked was Tazo Tea. She liked this brand not really because of the taste, which wasn’t that special, but because on each of the tea packets, there was an interesting note.

In fact, she just remembered why she had asked for hot water. Because one can’t bring liquid on the plane, Ida had brought a numerous amount of Tazo Tea packets. She took one out from her handbag, ripped it open, plopped in her cup, and stirred. She sipped her tea, finally with a little real satisfaction.

She wished she could listen to the music Mr. Bombompsky and his friends had made.