‘Nice,’ said Leo.
‘I’m going to have the Bernard, which comes from Bohemia,’ announced Jan after his careful perusal of the menu.
‘You know we’re going to want to have a taste of both,’ said Leo with one of his cheeky smiles.
Anna sighed and gave Michaela a consoling look. ‘Sorry, he’s right.’
‘We know you now. We wouldn’t expect anything else,’ teased Michaela, giving her a quick hug.
When the beer arrived, the four of them spent several minutes trying each other’s, discussing the merits, laughing and joking.
‘It’s so nice to have people that appreciate our culture,’ said Michaela.
‘I could happily live in Prague,’ said Leo. ‘It’s a great city.’
Anna stared at him. Of course, he’d lived in the States and in Italy as well as in London. He was used to travelling and moving around. It had never occurred to her that she could live in another country. For the first time she realised that she felt at home in the city. At home with the people. Despite only being at the brewery for a short time, she’d become fond of the slightly taciturn Jakub and the other workers there, who were all always very keen to help her and educate her. Michaela and Jan had been so welcoming, and, for a change, she felt she belonged. As for Leo…well, having him around was much more of a blessing than she’d ever have thought. At home she’d often been lonely, even in the middle of the pub surrounded by her cousins, Steve and their friends. She was always the outlier, the one that didn’t quite fit. Leo, she thought with sudden insight, never allowed her not to fit; he had the ability to scoop her up into the conversation and make sure that she was included. If she was quiet he would check in with a look, a nod and, in the old days, a quick touch of her hand or a gentle nudge, always aware of her. The recollection touched her and she had to fight the urge to lean over and squeeze his hand to say thank you for all the times that he’d done that for her.
‘The city is great but you must see some of the countryside while you are here,’ said Michaela. ‘And some of the other cities. It is the most beautiful country in the world.’
‘I think you might be biased,’ said Jan, toying with her hair.
‘I don’t think so. You have to come to thechata, don’t they, Jan?’
He nodded. ‘We’re going down in a few weeks. There won’t be many more times before the winter but there is work we want to do before the spring. Anna definitely should come. I think she could be very useful.’ He winked at her.
Leo pretended to look outraged. ‘I could be very useful, too.’
‘He could,’ said Anna with a straight face, before she added with a teasing smile, ‘as long as you don’t ask him to put a shelf up or drill a hole in a straight line.’
‘She’s right,’ said Leo with a doleful sniff. ‘But –’ his irrepressible smile reappeared ‘– I’m very good at supporting the workers with endless cups of tea and coffee and biscuits. And I’m excellent at sweeping, hoovering and team-building.’
‘To be fair,’ Anna said, ‘he is.’
‘In that case you can be on my team,’ said Michaela. ‘We’ll leave Anna and Jan to do the DIY things and we will be the support crew.’ She sat up straighter, clearly enthused by the idea. ‘Maybe we should cancel our guests and go to thechataafter all.’
‘But then Anna wouldn’t be able to come,’ Leo pointed out. ‘When does the boyfriend arrive?’
Anna’s jaw tightened. ‘He’s not coming now.’
‘Oh, no,’ said Michaela. ‘I’m sorry. Is there a problem?’
‘No,’ said Anna, trying to sound airy and unaffected, but in the face of the couple’s obvious affection for each other, tears pricked her eyes and she felt a little sorry for herself. ‘Something came up, so he’s had to cancel.’
She deliberately avoided Leo’s piercing gaze. She didn’t want or need any sympathy. It was fine. Everything was fine.
‘Well, I’m sorry for you that he’s not coming,’ said Michaela, ‘but it does mean you can come to dinner on Saturday and meet some people and help me make dumplings.’
‘Be careful, Anna,’ warned Jan, giving his girlfriend a squeeze. ‘It’ll be more than dumplings. She’ll make you work.’
‘I won’t…’ Michaela pouted a little before saying with a twinkle in her eyes ‘…maybe I will.’
‘I don’t mind.’ Anna liked being busy and useful and it would stop her worrying about the fact that she wasn’t as disappointed as she should be about Steve not coming. They’d been together a while. They were well over the honeymoon period. But it still was a little bit of a kick to her ego that he’d rather play rugby than come and see her. She needed to remind herself that what they had was solid. She never needed to worry that he might look elsewhere. He adored her … and okay, so perhaps he was a bit selfish sometimes but that didn’t mean he didn’t care about her.
Next to them a group of rowdy lads burst into song, reminding them that it was getting late and they all had work the next day, plus all the DIY purchases to carry home.
As they walked to the metro, Leo fell into step with Anna.
‘You okay?’ he asked.
