25.5.2009
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Director Stein was among the fourteen Icelanders in 1985 selected to receive the highest honor in Iceland, the Knight's Cross. In the evening there was a party at the Director's home. Besides the regular guests, there were a few well-known individuals from the ranks of the employers, two bank directors, four board chairmen for government companies and two or three minor politicians.
Didi Stina had been recruited to oversee the open-faced sandwiches and, therefore, stayed mostly in the kitchen where she managed two serving maids who brought the open-faced sandwiches to the guests. Solla friend had assumed responsibility for the spirits, but beforehand had gotten detailed instructions from John. According to his own account, John was a specialist in mixing the most popular cocktails such as vodka and ginger ale, Cuba Libre and whiskey in water on the rocks. Besides those drinks, the trays held wine and non-alcoholic beverages.
The guest of honor, Director Stein, who was also the host for the evening, had, for some time, been preparing the manufacture and export of a fish processing unit which he himself had designed. This equipment skinned, filleted and packed headed and gutted fish. The trial production was finished, and the unit had gotten rave reviews at a big trade show held in the Sports Stadium and at two trade shows abroad in Germany and Holland. Director Stein had spoken of little other than this equipment, and marketing was the major current issue.
Among some thirty applicants for a private secretary's position under Director Stein was none other than Miss Sigurfljod Elisabeth Riis, that is to say, Bertha, John's friend and classmate. She was the only applicant, whatever this meant, who was at the party to honor the Director on the occasion of his receiving the Knight's Cross.
Bertha was therefore very much at home and took advantage of her situation to the fullest. After she had maneuvered the Director into one of the small, inner rooms toward the back of the house, it soon became clear that her chances of winning the position had increased considerably. When the Director stood up and pressed a lengthy kiss on her lips, it was clear that the position was filled.
Madame Sigrid was not happy with this. Although Bertha had been one of John's favorite friends since they were classmates at the Reykjavik Gymnasium, there was something mysterious about her that was difficult to pinpoint. Director Stein, in fact, was much older than Bertha; he was 62, and she only 26. The age difference was 36 years. There was, on the other hand, a widely held opinion that Director Stein was quite a lady's man, though discreet. And then Bertha's closest friends knew that she had always been attracted to older men, not least men who projected an air of great calmness and
physical ability. Director Stein did both; there was no mistaking that.