It was Saturday, my day for another trip to the flea market in Metz, France. At the time, I was living in Kaiserslautern, Germany, about 30 minutes from the French border. Metz was two and a half hours away. I usually drove to Metz by myself almost every weekend to shop. Sparingly, I allowed a few select friends to come with me. 

Ria, a coworker, had arrived at my organization about six months ago. We hit it off and became friends right away. She had a bubbly personality, a cheerful dispositio...