Tears shimmered in her eyes, as she lifted her face. ‘In Prague?’
‘Yes.’ He kissed her. ‘Our own little place in Prague. What do you say?’
‘Leo Knight.’ The tears spilled over and she gave him a wonky smile that made him feel ever so slightly tearful himself. ‘I’d love to live with you in a little place in Prague. In fact I’d go anywhere as long I’m with you.’
Epilogue
‘This is quite something,’ said Leo as they stood in the tiny foyer, having walked up the cobbled street to a pair of imposing double doors and through a smaller door set within them. From high in the wall a red light blinked at them and next to Leo was a set of airlock security doors. After their names had been checked they were invited through, one at a time. On the opposite side a young woman in a black suit and low court shoes met them.
‘Mr Knight and Miss Love, nice to meet you. I’m Adela, the private secretary to the ambassador. Welcome to the British Embassy. We’re very happy to be hosting this event.’
‘Thank you,’ said Leo with one of his charming smiles, giving Anna’s hand a quick squeeze.
‘Yes, thank you,’ she echoed, nerves rattling through her as the woman gestured to the staircase, which was festooned with evergreens and fairy lights. She and Leo had already decided to stay in Prague for Christmas and tonight they were meeting Jan and Michaela for their first visit to the Christmas Market in the Old Town Square, even though there was still a month until Christmas and two weeks until the week of the beer festival.
Leo squeezed her hand again when she hesitated on the first step, as if her courage had stalled.
‘We’ve got this,’ he whispered into her ear. ‘Remember Love-Knight.’ The suggestive tone of his voice made her want to giggle and chased the nerves away. She’d got this. Oval-shaped Anna was in the building.
The walls of the staircase were lined with museum-style paintings in heavy, ornate frames, portraits of severe-looking old men. Anna gave each one a cursory glance as they walked past, while Leo, nudging her, pulled faces imitating their stern expressions. By the time they reached their floor, she was struggling to keep her own face straight.
Jakub and Karel, standing side by side in solidarity, were waiting in a large lounge area dominated by a huge Christmas tree. Anna smiled at the pair, still amazed that they’d overcome their previous difficulties so quickly.
‘Morning, Karel; morning, Jakub. Is the beer here?’ asked Leo.
‘Of course the beer is here,’ said Jakub, a little testily. ‘It arrived yesterday, so that it was able to settle overnight and be kept at the optimum temperature.’
Anna gave him a reassuring smile.
‘The panel are already here,’ said Karel. ‘It’s quite a collective.’
‘Members of the Czech Beer and Malt Association,’ interjected Jakub. ‘As well as the ambassador, the trade attaché and the head ofSdílená Kultura.’
‘All very influential,’ added Karel.
Anna gulped, any confidence she’d had in her presentation quickly evaporating. Why had she thought she could do this? Her slides might be strong but talking in public wasn’t her thing at all. Someone had taken up macrame with her intestines, and everything was suddenly very knotted, including her larynx. Would she even be able to speak?
Leo took her hand and squeezed it.
‘You’ve got this, Anna Love. We’ve got this,’ said Leo in a forceful whisper. It was so at odds with his normal happy-go lucky-attitude, it startled her and gave her a much-needed injection of backbone.
At nine o’clock, as announced by the peal of a nearby church bell, a set of double doors opened and the four of them were invited in. The room was double the size of the previous one, with a fine view out over the city. At the front, next to a grand piano, was a table set up with a microphone and two chairs, next to which were the cool boxes containing the beer.
Ranged in front of the table was an audience, predominantly of men, although Anna noted a few women. Leo and Anna were invited to take seats in the front row.
‘Ladies and gentleman, I’d like to welcome you all to the British Embassy this morning. Thank you for coming to the inaugural judging of the results of our first industry Cultural Exchange Programme. We have two beers brewed by our contestants Miss Love and Mr Knight and they will each be doing a presentation to help us decide which beer has commercial merit and will be awarded our grand prize. I’d like to hand over to the Head of the Cultural Office for Europe, Jaroslav Lebeda.’
‘Can we all say a big thank you to His Excellency, the Ambassador, for hosting this prestigious event.’ Jaroslav waffled on for a good five minutes, interspersed with polite rounds of applause, during which Anna’s leg began to jump up and down.Please get on with it, she thought. Every word he spoke seemed to ratchet the tension in her neck and shoulders more tightly.
At last he invited ‘Miss Anna Love’ to the stage. She rose and gave Leo a nervous glance. He nodded and she went up to the table and opened up her laptop.
‘Good morning, everyone.’ Her voice quavered a little but she forced herself to sweep her gaze across the audience, making brief eye contact with some of them. ‘I have been lucky enough to work with Jakub Šilhov, at the Šilhov brewery, which, as you know has a tradition of brewing beer which stretches back several hundred years.’ Smiles and nods came from the audience
‘My colleague Mr Knight has been making beer with the Crystal brewery, in a more contemporary style, and I’d like to invite him to join me.’
A murmur of curiosity and surprise rippled through the audience as Leo made his way to stand beside her.
‘When we first arrived in Prague, it was obvious that we were going to very different breweries. The old and the new. What we’ve learned is that there is no wrong or right way to make beer. It is down to individual taste and it’s wrong to say one is better than another. They’re different.’ Leo finished and handed over to Anna.
