Chapter 23: A Visit to the Bundesrat
Bruno's father was shocked when his son came to personally visit him. As a member of the Bundesrat, and the current head of the Land Army and Fortresses Committee, he had long since handed off control of the family's company to his eldest son, Franz. Franz was much older than Bruno. By the time Bruno was five, he was already nearing the age of university.
He had proven himself a capable businessman after retiring from the military. Where he served as an officer during a time of peace, only ever making the rank of captain before ending his military career in the shortest period possible.
It was because of this significant age gap between the two brothers who sat at the opposite ends of the age spectrum. That Bruno had very little contact with Franz, only ever seeing him at family gatherings for the majority of his life.
But Bruno had a good relationship with his father, and because of this he made an appointment to see the man in his office in the Bundesrat as he wanted to personally get the man's permission to begin the experimentation, and prototyping of the various designs he had come up with over the last week.
There was still a week to go before Bruno had to return from his leave to service. And because of this, he decided this was an excellent opportunity to take Heidi out on a date in the city.
As their house was more on the outskirts, closer to the nearest military base. He made sure they had everything they needed for the venture before piling Heidi into his personal automobile.
Automobiles were still a recent creation, which only the filthy rich could afford. Luckily, Bruno came from such a family. And his automobile in particular had a covered awning over it, which protected the driver and passenger from the sun.
Heidi appeared to be in an unusually good mood as she leaned against Bruno while he drove the vehicle to the interior of the city. It was rare for them to go out of the house together, especially since Bruno was an active duty officer in the military and had been deployed for the last eight months or so to China.
Because of this, she had a warm and loving smile on her face as she enjoyed the mild drive to the city. As for Bruno, he made it abundantly clear for the third time since asking Heidi out that he had business to attend to with his father before they could truly enjoy themselves.
"I just wanted to say one more time, I'm going to speak with my father about something. Which should not take more than half an hour. After that, we can go get something to eat and maybe go shopping a little."
Heidi giggled when she heard Bruno repeat this for the third time since this morning when he first announced his plans. She was quick to make fun of him for continuing to repeat the same thing.
"Dear, it's fine. It's been a while since you have seen your father. You're more than welcome to spend an hour or two with the man if need be. I'm sure what you have been up to these past few days is far more important than entertaining me.