‘The man with the shopping.’ She made gestures as if that might overcome the language barrier.
He shook his head. ‘No room. He go.’ The man indicated walking with his fingers.
The door closed, and then … nothing. She stared down at the blue mini mountain and then back at her apartment door. Presumably these were Leo’s purchases. After waiting a little while, she ventured down the stairs to find a rolled-up mattress along with bags of bedding, towels, a bedside lamp, a mirror, a couple of pillows and two flat-pack boxes. A reluctant smile touched her lips. She could imagine it all too well: Leo getting carried away with his shopping and there being no space left in the taxi for him.
The door to the ground-floor flat opened and a petite, very elegant woman stepped out wearing a glossy fur coat and neat little heels. Anna tried not to stare at her immaculate, soft grey hair, which was piled into a stylish chignon, anchored with a diamante pin.
Her mouth pinched in disapproval at the sight of all the bags dumped in front of the door.
‘Sorry,’ said Anna and moved to grasp one of the bags.
‘These are yours?’ asked the woman in low, radio-voice quality, flawless English, poking at them with a highly polished walking stick.
‘No. Not really. They’re … well, I think they belong to my flatmate, but I don’t know where he is.’
‘They need to be moved,’ said the woman, fluttering the bejewelled fingers of one hand with an imperious wave as if that might remove them from her sight.
While Anna agreed with her, it seemed pretty unfair that she was going to have to take responsibility for Leo’s bloody stuff. But then, wasn’t that so typical of him? He’d probably arranged the delivery and then been diverted by something brighter or shinier elsewhere, because that was what Leo did.
To Anna’s surprise, the woman’s face softened. ‘Let’s ask Jan if he’ll help.’ With surprising agility, despite the stick, the woman trotted up the next flight of stairs to the middle floor and rapped on the door. There was a brief conversation in Czech and then a man about Anna’s age, with a mop of dark curly hair, a closely cropped beard and sharp brown eyes appeared at the top of the stairs.
‘This is Jan, he’s going to help,’ said the woman with a beatific smile as if she’d solved all the problems of the universe.
‘Thank you,’ said Anna, more than a little disconcerted by the turn of events.
Jan came down the stairs. ‘Hi, you must be the new neighbour.’ He held out a hand. ‘Jan.’
‘Anna.’
‘And –’ Jan nodded and mouthed three times, as if he were counting ‘– this is my girlfriend, Michaela.’ And sure enough, a pretty elfin, blonde woman materialised at the top of the stairs behind him. ‘Gorgeous but nosy,’ he whispered, his eyes twinkling with quick, bright humour.
‘Hello, new neighbour,’ said the woman in perfect English, but with a slight American accent. She might have been pint-sized, with a petite, delicate frame, but she exuded energy from her flyaway hair to her sparkling brown eyes. ‘Welcome to the neighbourhood.’
‘Thank you,’ said Anna shifting her weight, conscious that she was nearly a foot taller and twice as broad as the tiny fairy in front of her.
‘Are you settling in?’ Michaela asked. ‘Do you need anything?’
‘She wants to practise her English,’ said Jan, shaking his head, a mournful smile on his long-suffering face. ‘Don’t be fooled.’ Despite his words, it was obvious he doted on the woman next to him.
‘I like meeting new people,’ said Michaela indignantly, elbowing him in the ribs before adding, ‘but improving my English is always good.’
Anna nodded, wishing she could be as bright and breezy as the happy, confident Michaela. It struck her that Leo would have known exactly what to say. He was always good in social situations, with that same easy charm. She tried to think what he might say in this situation but remained tongue-tied.
‘Shall we?’ Michaela picked up one of the bags.
‘Thank you. They’re not mine,’ Anna said hurriedly.
‘Oh, who then?’
‘The other guy that’s going to be living in the flat as well.’
‘Don’t you know him?’ asked Michaela.
Anna opened her mouth and then closed it, pinching her lips tight before her innate honesty could give her away. She shook her head.
‘I told you, Michaela,’ the older woman interrupted. ‘The apartment has been rented by the trade attaché department for people coming here on placements.’
‘You did, Ludmila. I forgot. Ludmila always knows everything,’ whispered Michaela. ‘She owns the flat.’
