This was the night when everything would change for Krista.

The apartment was older than most and the walls bare of pictures, yet there was a homey feel about the place. It was humming with light conversation and laughter, couples grouped off into three sets of tete-a-tete. Three people were at the radio, talking about the Berlin situation which was flaring up once more with the new Wall which the East Germans had just put up. Another group was around the slender middle-aged host, conversing about the living conditions and the overcrowded condition of the country. The third group was the smallest, a young girl and man, sitting and watching what was going on around them. They were holding small brandy glasses in their hands.

The party wasn't much different from other parties which are given during the year by the average German family. About ten people had been invited and were now in the process of sipping Weinbrand, rum and wine. It was the home of Karl Roher, a factory worker who had, after many years of effort, managed to reach the position of foreman. He had invited several couples from work and a couple from down the hall. Unlike many hosts, he had managed to consume a little too much of his favorite rum, and unlike many stepfathers, he was finding it hard to keep his eyes off his young stepdaughter, Krista Gustav.

Krista was sitting with her date, awkwardly aware of her stepfather's glances. She was a small girl with a full, voluptuous figure for her age. Her brownish blonde hair was long, flowing down several inches below her shoulders. The white cotton dress which made no attempt to accent her figure could not, at the same time, hide its attractive sensualism. The young man next to Krista was a clerk who worked with her at the office. He neither excited nor bored her. He was a convenience, nothing more or less: merely a companion for the party. It was the first time they had been together and it was obvious by the man's attitude that he was more than pleased by the event. For weeks he had attempted to entice Krista into letting him take her out. The conversation had lagged between them momentarily and they sat listening to the murmur of the conversations and music.

Krista had noticed the sidelong glances that Karl Roher had been giving her throughout the evening.

She wasn't too young to be able to read the very un-fatherly interest in his drunken dark eyes. It had been made painfully clear in the past months that he thought of her more as an unrelated woman living in the same apartment than as a stepdaughter. And his interest in women was strong enough so that she could easily imagine what dark thoughts were raging in his simple mind. His obvious awareness of her womanly figure had been a terrible strain on her mind and emotions. Every time he looked in her direction, Krista thought she would scream. If only her mother were still living, there wouldn't be any of this tension and interplay of glances. But she had been dead for five months; ever since then the relationship between Krista and her stepfather had become more and more awkward. She couldn't rid herself of the terrible feeling that some night--and not too far in the future--he would drink too much and the desires which were burning in his eyes would become animated with actions. How long she could continue to live under these conditions was impossible to tell. But there were very few options; if any. Apartments were difficult to get in Germany. Impossible for her.

"Pay some attention to me," Dieter Dobner exclaimed, grabbing hold of Krista's wrist. "You're supposed to be with me this evening."

Krista looked at the young man sitting next to her on the sofa. He was nice, though a little too forward for her taste. More Gisela Rettenbach's type. Dieter and Gisela had once been lovers some time ago, and because of that Krista hadn't felt too bad about allowing Dieter to be her date for this evening. It wasn't cutting into another girl's man.

For it had apparently been quite a love affair.

According to Gisela, at least.

"He's big and an artist in bed!" Gisela had told her.

Krista didn't think of him as physically attractive; but then she refused to think about physical relations between herself and a man. That was something for the future; right now she had enough problems without complicating them by getting romantically involved. Somehow she had to get out of her stepfather's home and find a place of her own before anything ugly happened.

"I'm sorry, Dieter, I was thinking."

"Well, think about me!" He leaned close and placed an affectionate kiss on her cheek.

Krista saw out of the corner of her eye the irritated look which her stepfather, Karl, gave Dieter. He was jealous. Why couldn't he think of her as a daughter, instead of just an unrelated young woman living in the same house with him? Karl was a stupid man! She hated him. If it weren't for Karl she would still be going to school and getting an education. But the moment her mother had died he had told her to get a job like any other girl, because he didn't have enough money to support her through school. "You're no different than the other girls," he had said. "You can work, just like any other adult!" But that wasn't the full reason he had pulled her out of high school. He resented the possibility that the daughter of the woman he had married might become more educated than himself. He had never really liked the idea of having a stepdaughter. The other evening he had come into her bedroom while she was changing, and the way his eyes stared at her body had sent shivers down her nerves. It had scared Krista because she could read the thoughts which were running through his mind. If he'd been a little drunk he might have tried to do something with her.

If only apartments weren't so impossible to get, and so expensive! she thought bitterly. With her mere 260 DM a month, she couldn't begin to pay the price of even a room, if she could even get one. That was the trouble with Germany now. All the East Germans were running West and crowding things so that nobody had any place to stay. It wasn't possible to put new apartments up fast enough to fill the demand. Young married couples lived with their parents and had no privacy. What chance did a single girl have without the 1000 DM deposit required to get a halfway decent new apartment? Even then the first choice went to married couples with children. Someone like herself didn't even have a chance.

"Krista," Dieter said. "I've been talking to you for several minutes. What's wrong with you tonight?"

"I'm sorry. Maybe another brandy would help. I guess I'm just not in the party mood tonight."

In the next hours Krista managed to get more sociable with Dieter, enough so that he didn't have to force her out of a deep thinking mood. The party seemed to dwindle near Krista, the conversation blurring and the drinks of weinbrand fading one into another. At last she found herself alone with Karl and Dieter.

"I guess I had better leave, too," Dieter said, standing and reaching for her. "Come downstairs with me?" he whispered.

There was no excitement at the idea of being alone with Dieter, but this offered a perfect chance to be away from her stepfather for a few more minutes. Krista couldn't help feeling that a scene was going to follow when Karl was alone with her, and she didn't know if she was up to it. Not that she was really afraid that he might actually get away with doing anything, but there was little doubt that he might try.

"Let's go," Krista told Dieter.

They stepped out of the apartment and went down the dark hallway. A few moments later they were downstairs, standing in the entranceway. Dieter tried to pull Krista into his arms, but she politely resisted. "Please--"

The expression of mixed emotions which worked Dieter's even features caused her to give in. The kiss was slow and lingering. She felt his tongue attempting to work past her teeth, and in a sudden moment of impulse she parted her lips and his kiss enter her mouth. It felt dizzily pleasant and caused a tremble to shudder through her.

They parted and she looked up into his eyes. Very few men had kissed her that way before, and she didn't actually know whether to be angry or delighted. The thought of her stepfather up in the apartment waiting for her caused Krista to say:

"Could you--could we go to a restaurant?"

"What?" Dieter's voice was thick with startled amazement. She could read in his eyes that he would much rather take her someplace more private. And that was the last place she wanted to go. She simply wasn't ready for that kind of relationship. Not with a man like Dieter Dobner. And that kind of intimacy she planned on saving for a man she loved. The first time had to be something beautiful and perfect. There was too much ugliness in living to make the most beautiful act become dirty, cheap and ugly.

"Please. I don't want to go up there right now!" Krista flashed her eyes up the stairs.

If Dieter read her real meaning, he was quiet. "Good. How about the Weinstubes Zur Traube? It's just a few blocks away, isn't it?"

"Yes, but--do you think we should have anything more to drink?" Krista asked, a little concerned about her already liquor affected brain.

"A Karaffe of port wine ... it won't hurt."

Krista shrugged. It was better, the way she felt, to be with Dieter in a Weinstube than alone with her stepfather. She didn't think she could take another passionate stare from him this evening. Maybe by the time she got back he would be asleep. The longer she was out with Dieter the better chance she had of escaping any embarrassing clashes with the man.

"I'll go up and tell Karl." Krista turned and rushed up the steps and down the hall. Opening the door of the apartment, she called in: "I'm going to the Weinstubes with Dieter."

Karl looked up from the glass of rum he had been drinking by himself. His thin face grew tighter. For a moment it looked as if he were about to argue with her, then he nodded. "Don't be too late. You have to clean up the place tomorrow!"

Krista joined Dieter a few seconds later and they walked out onto the street. The air was chilly and Krista mentally scolded herself for not having worn a coat. The dress she had put on for the evening wasn't made for outdoor wear. A shiver shook her and Dieter placed an arm around her shoulders.

"You should have brought something," he told her in a gentle voice.

They walked in silence, and the soft moonlight which showed through the crystal night seemed to lend a romantic air to the world. She could almost imagine herself with a lover, walking down the street, going no place of importance, merely being together. It was a nice dream and it ended when they arrived at the Weinstube Zur Traube. It was a rather small Weinstube, with an intimate atmosphere which was the pride of the district. The small tables for two were almost all taken and they were led through the room to a dark corner.

"What will you have?" the waiter inquired.

"A small Karaffe of port wine," Dieter ordered. The man left.

In the far corner of the room someone played a zither, softly weaving a melody which Krista couldn't recognize. She had been here often--as often as her pocketbook could afford. It wasn't one of the most expensive places, but they still charged enough for food and drink to make it impossible as a daily or even weekly attraction. She was glad that Dieter had suggested it.

"Want a cigarette?"

She nodded. Dieter lighted one and placed it between her full red lips.

"You have beautiful lips."

"Thank you." She smiled shyly. Compliments had always embarrassed her.

They were silent for awhile, then Dieter broke it. "I wish it was because of me you wanted to come here."

"What does that mean?" She tensed.

"Oh, I have the feeling that you are--a little unhappy with your home relationship."

"What makes you think that?"

"Your stepfather has noticed you're an attractive woman. I wouldn't want to be in his position." he laughed. "I bet it's not easy for a man to be around a woman like you."

Krista felt annoyed by the conversation, but decided not to say anything about it. The silence seemed to kill that topic. The small pitcher of wine, which Dieter had ordered, came and they began sipping the rich red port. It felt good in her stomach, and the effects slowly worked up through her body.

"It was a nice party Mr. Roher gave," Dieter commented conversationally.

"It was dull. You're just being nice."

"No--honestly, I enjoyed myself. I think the others did, too." He was thoughtful for a moment and then added: "I guess maybe it was because of you that I enjoyed myself."

"Hmmm. Thank you." She kept her eyes leveled at the small glass in her hands.

"I thought you'd never let me take you out. For weeks I've been saying to myself, 'What's wrong with you, Dieter?' I was beginning to think I'd lost my touch."

"You can't expect all the girls to fall at your feet."

"I don't. But a little bit. It's been a long time since I've been out with such a nice girl. Most of them are like Gisela."

"Do you think it's nice to talk about her?" Krista demanded tensely.

"I'm sorry. Just that she was the first that came to mind. I guess, because we both know her." He hesitated, then quickly added: "She's a nice girl."

It sounded lame, like an after-thought added on to cover up after his less complimentary comment about her.

They were silent for a moment, listening to the zither music. Krista was thinking about Gisela. The older girl had told her, one afternoon, that if she ever wanted to get out on her own, she could come live with her. Gisela had a place of her own, and it was the big mystery of the office as to how she had even managed to get an apartment. Some said that she had a man keeping her. A few of them thought she strung along several lovers. One person suggested that she was a prostitute in the evenings. Krista didn't think one way or the other about it. What Gisela did was her own business; how she managed to have an apartment and expensive clothes was her own secret and Krista wasn't one to take much stock in what others said. Still, she couldn't help wondering about the girl. Ever since the offer that Gisela had made, Krista had thought seriously about it, because it was the only offer--and the only possible way she could see to get away from her stepfather. But until things got seriously worse, Krista had decided it was far better to let them stay as they were than move in with a girl who had a questionable reputation.

"Gisela sure has a lot of beautiful clothes," Krista commented, hoping she might learn something about the girl.

"She should have."

"How's that?"

"Not for nice little girls to be told about. Just say that she has contacts--and knows the right people."

"Black market?" Krista offered, taking another sip of her drink.

"Heavens, no!" Dieter hesitated and then added:

"You were right, we shouldn't talk about other people."

"I'm sorry."

The conversation drifted then to office talk and then suddenly shifted to the personal.

Dieter had leaned closer to her and placed a hand on her arm. "You have the most beautiful dark blue eyes I've ever seen in a woman--they seem to have hidden passions and hidden desires, I'd give much to have the chance to give them full expression."

Krista felt a nervous reaction to his words, because she realized where they were leading. "Dieter, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me. We hardly know each other."