He started calling her phone. “It’s ringing. Hopefully nobody has stolen it.” It was very common in their land for a lost phone to be switched off or not reachable in under five minutes. “But this is Germany. People have ethics here. It’s still ringing, that means whoever has taken it is probably looking for us. I will try calling again,” Tony re-dialled her number, hoping for someone to answer the phone.

Just 15 minutes earlier, they had gone down to the basement to get their biycles out, Roshani announced that it was in fact raining. The short cycle ride was out of the question. “We will get wet by the time we reach the end of our road. Do you really want to go?” Tony agreed.

He was in no mood to get wet. He loved classical music but this was winter. While it was only a short cycle ride to the local church, the city rains could ruin any plan in the tier 2 German city they lived in. They decided to go on their Sunday date instead. The one gas station that is open on a ‘Sonntag.’ They both loved that place. It served one of the best cheesecakes in the 3-mile radius. Plus it was convenient and nearby as well. Tony ran up to the house and brought an umbrella that had room for both of them. They both started to walk toward the gas station.

Roshani had fallen in love with the new clutch that Tony had bought her. It was black, small, and could just fit a phone, keys, and cards. She had decided today was the day. But they had not taken the rain into account. While struggling to find a place for the small-but-not-really clutch, Roshani decided to put it inside her jacket, in a way that it’d stay tucked. She thought the Esprit winter jacket was narrower around the waist, which it was, for the record. She put it inside, zipped up the jacket and both of them started walking.

Just after they had crossed 200 metres, she realised that her clutch wasn’t where it was supposed to be. It probably fell down. Tony ran back and traced their route to their door. It was nowhere to be found. For the next few minutes, good lord, the thoughts that came into both of their heads were abysmal.

They both ran back and forth from their apartment door to where they found out the clutch was missing a few times, but they were unlucky today, they thought. Tony suggested they need to go to the bank first thing on Monday and get their cards cancelled and get a new one. She had lost all of her keys. House keys, keys to her bicycle, her officer locker and even her gym swipe band. All of them had to be replaced. The phone, too! Losing something in a foreign land is bad enough, but losing a phone, keys, and wallet in a foreign land is the worst.

Tony started calling Roshani’s phone over and over. At the third attempt, he heard someone answer the phone and couldn’t contain his excitement. He thought either this person was going to ask for ransom for returning the phone or he was a gentleman who would give it back safely.

“H…hello, hi. We lost this phone and clutch,” even before Tony could finish the sentence, the voice on the other side said, “Yes, hello. I found it on the ground near Sudetenstrasse. Where are you now?” He was convinced that the Roshani’s clutch was not taken as ransom. It was indeed a gentleman who had picked it up from the street. He asked the man to come to the nearby parking lot, and really couldn’t thank him enough.

When he saw the tall man holding Roshani’s clutch, both of them were speechless. All the worries they had imagined for the last 15 minutes vanished. “I found it lying on the street and had picked it up. I would have probably tried to reach you from the cards or numbers inside by the evening. Only after you called twice, did I pick up the phone. Please check if you have everything.” Nothing registered in their head. All they could see was a tall god-sent man, wearing a long salt and pepper mantel, holding Roshani’s clutch. It had the three things you need to survive. Phone, keys, and wallet.

“God bless you. Thank you. I am Tony, from India.” “I am Babu from the Gambia. God bless you, too. Double check if you have everything,” he said. They were relieved to find it. They started appreciating how nice people are, generally. “We’ve really earned our cheesecake today,” exclaimed Tony upon reaching the gas station. Both of them realised the importance of celebrating small wins.