‘We’re having traditional roasted duck, with braised red cabbage and potato dumplings.’
‘Smells amazing,’ said Anna. ‘I love red cabbage.’
‘So does Jan,’ said Michaela as her boyfriend appeared behind her and laid his hands on her shoulders. With four of them in the kitchen it felt very crowded.
‘I do.’ He squeezed her shoulders and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
She ignored him and said with a huff, ‘But we have to use his mother’s recipe because he says it is better than my mother’s.’
Jan nodded with a teasing smile on his face.
‘And don’t get me started about the potato-salad recipe.’ She threw her hands up in the air, dislodging his. ‘Every family has their own special, potato-salad recipe – it is always different and at every family party we find ourselves with three or four different potato salads because everyone insists on bringing theirs because it is the best. It’s crazy.’
Jan pulled back her into his arms and kissed the side of her face. ‘It’s family,’ he said. ‘Who needs another drink?’
Leo volunteered to help him serve more drinks, leaving Anna and Michaela to put the dumpling into a pan of boiling water.
‘Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes,’ advised Michaela as they left the kitchen.
When they were all seated, rather snugly, round a table for six which had been extended with an additional, round bistro table at one end, Leo found himself squeezed in next to Zdenka. It was quite a crush but everyone seemed in high spirits. Clearly there were some deep-rooted friendships here, judging by the good-natured teasing and banter going on and the obvious affection between them all. He fought the threatening pang of envy and wondered if perhaps his strategy over the last couple of years hadn’t been the right one. He’d amassed plenty of casual acquaintances and social friends who kept loneliness at bay, and he had his family, but there was no one who was his alone, and that was how he intended to keep things. Love had not been kind to him and he wasn’t about to give it another chance.
He turned back to Zdenka as she poured him a glass of wine and focused on flirting with her as Michaela and Jan brought out several laden plates which they placed on the already crowded table.
‘Please help yourself, Leo,’ said Michaela. ‘This is a typical Czech meal.’
Leo didn’t know that much about Czech food and asked what was typical. Over the next ten minutes he was bombarded with suggestions of what he should try.
‘You should try Baramboky – that is a good restaurant,’ said Tereza on his left.
‘Or Cestr.’
‘If you like desserts, try Eska,’ came another suggestion.
‘And their burnt potatoes in ash.’
‘There are so many great places to eat, and not just in Prague,’ said Petra. ‘You should try visiting South Moravia or the Bohemian countryside.’
‘And Slovakia,’ said Lubica. Everyone laughed.
‘Explain to me. You were Czechoslovakia. When you split in two, was there bad feeling between the two?’ Leo was intrigued by this.
Again everyone laughed. ‘No, we’re sisters,’ explained Lubica.
‘Best friends,’ said Jan.
With everyone smiling and tucking into their food, Leo decided the question had been answered, so he asked another that had been plaguing him. ‘I’ve seen a few Vietnamese places, which seems odd because we’re a pretty long way from Vietnam and I’ve not seen much evidence of other ethnic cultures.’
Petra smiled. ‘It comes from the communist times. Vietnam was also a communist country, so we had good relations with the state. A lot of Vietnamese people came here as guest workers and when communism fell, they stayed. There is actually a huge Vietnamese market in Prague. It’s called SAPA or Little Hanoi and if you like Vietnamese food, it’s definitely worth a visit.’
‘I had no idea. You learn something new every day. Which is why it’s great to be here for a while, to learn more about the country. I’ve lived in the States, Italy and the UK.’
‘That’s very lucky. Imagine our grandparents, they weren’t able to travel during the communist regime. That’s why ourchatasare so popular. It was a place to escape to in the country. We’re all excited to visit Michaela and Jan’s country house when it’s ready. Knowing Michaela and Jan, it will be amazing.’
‘They’ve definitely got an eye,’ said Leo, glancing around the room. The layout was very different from the flat upstairs and although it didn’t have as much character, Michaela and Jan had made the most of it. A cosy, wood burner sat in a corner of the room against a sage-green wall. Black floating shelves contained ornaments, vases and lamps and the wall was decorated with black-framed pictures. The remaining walls were cream, and one of them had been left unornamented so as to set off a large palm plant. The big L-shaped sofa covered in terracotta linen was dotted with cushions and throws in various shades of dark green and umber. It gave the room a warm, earthy feel which made it easy to relax. It was stylish without being pretentious, comfortable without being cluttered.
He could see Anna looking around. Did it remind her, like him, that their apartment, even with the addition of her soon-to-be-refurbished furniture, was rather sparse? But it was starting to feel like home, especially this last week and today. He’d got used to her being around, got used to cooking for two, got used to chatting over his day with her, arguing about what music they should play, her bossing him about the bits he’d missed when sanding the chairs. He’d got used to her quick smile when he teased her, the pensive look on her face when she was lost in thought and the sight of her legs and the scent of her hair when she was fresh out of the shower in her cotton robe – the one that he could see her nipples through, although he hadn’t pointed that out to her.
‘Leo?’ Zdenka’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
