Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
W ithin a few days of returning from the chata , the imminent date for the presentation took up all of Anna and Leo’s thoughts, which was probably as well, she reflected. The easiness between them had gone and there was a carefulness to their interactions that hadn’t been there before. Leo had lost some of his jokey liveliness and grown much quieter.
Whenever he was in the apartment, her heart bounced in her chest at knowing he was there. In the bathroom she could smell his shampoo, teasing her with the cedarwood scent that was so much a part of him. In the kitchen when he was making coffee, she’d covertly study him, the tiny hairs on the back of his neck, the pinpricks of bristles shadowing his face and the naked feet beneath his jeans, which shouldn’t have been sexy but were. When he was in his bedroom, like now when she was trying to concentrate while working on her laptop in her room, she could hear him moving about, always making her aware he was only the other side of the wall.
Anna shook her head and focused back on the computer screen, desperately trying to push images of Leo out of her head. Even though it was only half six in the morning, she browsed through another tranche of beer adverts from all over the world looking for inspiration. Pinterest, Instagram and Google had become her best friends during the last few days.
Time was running out and she was trying to work every second she could. And she was absolutely paranoid that she might lose the presentation. Normally she autosaved everything to her One Drive but the WiFi in the apartment had a habit of dropping out and yesterday she’d lost a chunk of work.
The presentation was in less than two weeks and she still had to come up with a name, branding and marketing strategy for her beer. She wanted to appeal to women without excluding a male target audience, but without a name, all of that was irrelevant.
She gave it an hour before she dressed and got ready for work. Jakub was still keen to push a traditional style of packaging and for her to choose a generic name, and at this point she was almost ready to give in, except her beer was perfect. At the official final taste test, she’d been thrilled with its lovely light golden colour and effervescent flavour, which was exactly what she’d been hoping to achieve. Her mouth twisted. Maybe she should call it Leo. What would he make of that? He’d probably love it; after all he was the one that had suggested she called her beer after herself.
With that thought foremost in her mind, she hurried off to work and, an hour later, bounced into the brewery, excited as always by the familiar slightly musty smell of the hops, which were piled in sacks in the half-lit store room. She carried the now institutional two cups of coffee and had had her usual exchange with the cheerful man in the bakery who urged her to try new pastries today.
Jakub looked up as she entered his office and passed the coffee across the desk towards him.
‘No pastries?’ His eyes twinkled behind the lenses of his glasses.
‘You’ll get fat,’ said Anna, giving his spare frame a laughing glance before she produced a paper bag from her rucksack.
He ignored her words and took the scissors from his pen pot and cut neat precise cross on the top side of the bag and lifted out his pastry.
‘I thought they looked nice for a change,’ said Anna.
‘ Kohoutí h?ebeny ,’ said Jakub, nibbling at the icing-sugar-dusted puff pastry, a drip of plum jam oozing onto his chin, which he swiped away. ‘Rooster combs, like the birds have on their heads.’
‘Ah, yes, I see that,’ said Anna, studying the curved pastry.
‘Come, sit, drink your coffee and then we will go down to the mash room. I have brought some bottles for you to look at and then we need to brief the designer. Have you decided on a name?’
Anna blushed a little. ‘ Not yet. There is…’ She hesitated. The more she’d thought about it on the way here, the more she thought it might work. Jakub would probably hate it. ‘There is one idea…’ No, she liked it, she needed to sell it. It would work. She lifted her chin and met Jakub’s gaze with calm confidence.
‘I think it should be called Love Beer. Láska Pivo .’
‘Love Beer.’
Jakub tilted his head this way and that way, as if he were tasting the words, letting them slide across his brain from one side to the other. The seconds ticked by and her palms turned a little clammy. Now she’d spoken the name out loud, she’d given life to it, and now she was absolutely convinced it was the most perfect fit.
Still he didn’t say anything and she shifted her bottom in the wooden chair, aware of her seat bones resting on the hard surface.
Then he looked at her, his face scrunched like a wrinkled walnut.
‘You don’t like it,’ said Anna, although hadn’t she expected as much?
He stroked his chin for a further minute. Anna, perched on the very edge of her seat, wanted him to get on with it. As the seconds ticked by her conviction grew, and ideas for branding, which had been so elusive, all popped into her head. She’d go for minimal branding on the front of the bottle, a big red heart-shaped label with the word ‘love’ in block capitals, white out of the red. It would have great shelf appeal. The whole concept clicked into place, clear in her mind.
Jakub propped his chin on his hands, elbows on the table, as if preparing to make a great pronouncement. Anna clenched her thighs.
‘No, I don’t like it.’ He shook his head. ‘Not at all. It is not ?ilhov Brewery.’ With a sigh, he put down his coffee, picked up a pen and twisted it in his fingers.
Her back teeth locked together in disappointment.
‘It is not something old Jakub would sell … but –’ his eyes lit up with a gleeful expression ‘– sometimes it is good to confound people. This is your beer and you are the next generation. There is tradition but there is also room for innovation. You have embraced the tradition but at the same time you have a vision and I think this will wake people up.’
‘Really?’ Anna blinked at him. ‘Really?’ She stared at him. ‘We have a name?’
‘You have a name. Well done. It is not my taste but I think it is absolutely right. Now we’d better get to work, there is not much time. Shall we call the designer and ask him to come here so you can brief him? Do we need a sexy shaped bottle?’
Anna’s eyes widened.
‘See I’m not so stuffy after all.’
She laughed and patted the arm of his wool jacket. ‘No, you’re not. Not at all.’
If she’d bounced into the brewery that morning, when she left she was positively leaping, enthusiasm buzzing through her system like electrical charges.
* * *
‘You have a visitor,’ said Jakub.
‘Me?’ Anna glanced up from the lab desk, her eyes darting to the clock on the wall. It was five fifteen already. Where had the day gone?
‘Your Leo.’
A little skitter ran through her veins at the phrase. Jakub had heard all about her flatmate who worked for the rival brewery but she’d never given any indication that he was anything more than that.
‘He’s here.’ Her eyes widened in surprise.
‘Yes.’
‘Oh.’ For some reason she felt flustered. Leo. Here. They had barely spent any time together since they’d returned from the chata . Deliberately, on her part. It was getting harder and harder to be around him. Those early-morning kisses had reignited all her feelings for him.
Maybe he’d forgotten his flat keys. In fact, that had to be it. She frowned. Back in the day he’d always been locking himself out of their flat.
‘Would you mind telling him I’ll be down in a minute?’ She caught her lip between her teeth. ‘I need to finish this.’ It was going to take her at least ten minutes if not fifteen and she really couldn’t leave it, even though her heart danced at the thought of seeing Leo. Bad heart.
Jakub lifted a brow and smiled. ‘Don’t worry, take your time. I will entertain him. He works with Karel. I might be able to educate him, while he’s here.’
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, when she went down into the bar area, where visitors finished the official brewery tour with a beer tasting, she found Jakub and Leo deep in conversation over half-drunk glasses of beer.
‘Hey, Love.’ Leo beamed at her and raised his heavy glass. ‘Nice beer.’
Anna looked alarmed for a minute.
Jakub shook his head with an understanding smile. ‘It’s not yours. It’s ?ilhov beer. I though the boy should try a quality beer.’ Despite his words there was a teasing twinkle in his eyes.
‘You should come to dinner, Jakub. Shouldn’t he, Anna? We’ve invited our neighbours, Michaela and Jan and Ludmila.’
‘We have?’ Anna stared at him, a little bemused. They’d only very briefly talked about cooking dinner when they crossed paths in the kitchen that morning, suggesting it would be a nice way of saying thank you to the couple downstairs for the weekend in South Moravia. At the time the conversation had been a bit of relief because she’d been having a hard time not being distracted by his bare-chested torso. Her libido had been on high alert ever since they’d come back from the chata.
‘Well, we talked about it and then I saw Jan this morning and Ludmila, so I invited them. Saturday. You didn’t have any plans, did you?’
He knew damn well she didn’t have any plans. Her social life revolved around him, Michaela and Jan.
‘Right,’ said Anna, and was even more surprised when Jakub, having ruminated on the invitation for all of a minute, said very slowly, ‘I would like that very much. Thank you, young man.’
‘Excellent,’ said Leo, clearly pleased with himself. ‘Right. Are you done?’
‘Done?’
‘Yes, finished for the day.’
Anna, dying to ask what he was doing here, lifted an eyebrow. What was he doing here?
‘Yes. Go home,’ said Jakub. ‘There is no more you can do today.’
‘Excellent, we can start planning the menu.’
Within a few minutes, she was standing on the other side of the big, wooden brewery doors, shivering slightly in the dark.
‘What are you doing here, Leo?’
‘I was passing and I thought I’d see if you fancied going for a drink and maybe something to eat.’
‘You were passing?’ Anna didn’t believe a word of it.
‘Okay. Hear me about. You always talk about how nice Jakub is and that he’s a bit lonely. He doesn’t have any family. And Karel’s the same…’ He let the sentence hang but Anna knew.
‘You’ve invited Karel as well, haven’t you?’
Leo beamed at her. ‘Great idea, yes?’
She let out a peal of laughter at the innocent expression on his face. ‘I’m not sure about that – but it’s sweet.’
‘Sweet!’ Leo wrinkled his nose in disgust.
‘Yes. Very sweet.’
‘I was going to offer to buy you a drink and maybe dinner…’ His attempt at sounding disgruntled made her laugh.
‘Dinner sounds good. I’m starving. I didn’t stop for lunch today.’
‘Excellent. There’s a really nice restaurant between the Charles Bridge and the Castle that I’ve been recommended.’
‘Of course you have.’ She fell into step beside him. unable to stop a little spring of happiness bubbling up inside her. Everything felt better when Leo was around. Perhaps she could school herself for that to be enough.
* * *
Despite it being a chilly October night, Charles Bridge was still alive, buzzing with tourists posing and taking pictures. No surprise, really, because in the dark, with the Castle lit up in the background and the glow of the riverside restaurants reflecting on the water, it was the most picturesque scene. Totally romantic, in fact, and Anna swallowed a pang of envy at the couples sauntering along arm in arm, enjoying the almost festive atmosphere. There was always something special about being on the bridge, no matter what time of day, whether early in the morning when she’d had it to herself aside from the odd runner jogging past and people coming back from the bakery with bags of bread, or at midday when the wide road thronged with tourists, artists and buskers. As she thought about it, her arm brushed Leo’s, their hands touching for a brief second. Then, to her surprise, he linked his fingers with hers and gave them a squeeze.
She sneaked a look at his face in profile but he didn’t look at her and kept walking as if holding hands was completely natural. Even though her pulse skittered along like a pony at a fast trot, she didn’t say anything, just relished the warmth of his hand around hers and the little spark of hope that danced in her breast.
Halfway along the bridge he stopped. ‘Selfie? With the castle in the background.’
‘Why not?’ she said, trying to sound nonchalant.
When he slung his arm around her, pulling her into shot, the moment was pure deja-vu… They’d posed this way a thousand times in dozens of places. The urge to nestle in and kiss his neck like she’d done so many times before overwhelmed her and tears pricked her eyes. She was as love with him as ever. Only now she knew that she’d made a terrible mistake. Leo was reliable and dependable. He’d shown it in so many ways while they’d been in Prague. Gradually she’d become aware of his true character. Back then she’d been too immature and stupid to see the real prize beneath Leo’s charming, sunny veneer.
Painful regret kicked through her. She could have had it all and she threw it away.
‘Smile, Anna,’ urged Leo, holding up his phone.
She dredged up her best cheesy grin, ignoring the hollowed-out sensation in her chest. Leo had made it clear there was no going back and she had to live with it. Could she manage, though, with these crumbs of friendship? The casual touches that came so easily to him? And what would happen when he did find another woman? How would she bear it?
* * *
‘I’m loving the Czech wines,’ said Anna, taking a big sip of the Pinot Noir Novosady from ?ejkovice that the waitress had recommended to go with her duck breast with carrot, orange and lavender. It complemented the flavours perfectly, as well as going well with Leo’s dish of deer steak with kale, black mushrooms and seaberry, which of course she’d insisted on trying. The venison melted in the mouth, so tender she’d almost moaned out loud, and she’d had to stop herself because she didn’t want to make sex noises in front of Leo.
The restaurant with its open kitchen was small but embodied the clean, simple sophisticated style that she’d come to expect in the more expensive restaurants. The service was impeccable, with the knowledgeable owner taking her time to help them with their choices.
‘This is a lovely one,’ said Leo. ‘Maybe when I open my craft beer venue I’ll serve Czech wines as well.’
‘Great idea. Where will you open this mythical venue?’
‘No idea yet. I need to win the equipment first. What about you? What will you do if you win the equipment?’
‘That’s easy. Well … if I can persuade my uncle, it will be. I want to set up a small line at the Talbot brewery. As long as it doesn’t cost him anything, I think I can get to him agree. Although he’s still of the view that women don’t get involved in brewing. And he’s not interested in trying anything new … a bit like Jakub. Although at least Jakub prides himself on the quality of the beer. Uncle Henry churns out the same old.’ She sighed. ‘Don’t get me started.’
‘You could stay here.’
‘Here?’
‘Yeah. In Prague.’ He looked a little sheepish for a moment. ‘I’ve fallen in love with the place. I could imagine living here.’
Anna tilted her head. It wasn’t something she’d considered … until now.
‘I know what you mean. I feel at home here. More than I ever thought I would.’ Now the idea had been mooted, it lodged in her head like a small, determined tick. Maybe Jakub would keep her on. Maybe she and Leo could carry on sharing the apartment.
And maybe small pink pigs would go flying across the sky. She was daydreaming. Not like her at all. Leo’s influence. He always had made her think bigger.
When they’d finished their meal and said goodbye to the friendly staff, they wound their way through the quiet streets and historic buildings, their breath misting in the crisp night air.
‘Want to go up to the Castle?’ asked Leo. ‘Bet there’s a great view.’
She nodded her assent, and they wandered through the cobbled streets up the slope towards the buildings dramatically outlined against the sky by strategically placed lighting, the castle looking as if it had been conjured from a fairytale. For once there wasn’t a soul up there. Their feet echoed in the quiet lanes and they chatted in low tones, as if they had agreed not to disturb the sleeping streets. When they came to the viewpoint, they had it to themselves. The city spread out beneath them, glittering with soft lights, casting a magical glow over the river that curved round the buildings.
Together they leaned on the parapet of the wall, in the comfortable silence of good friends. Anna felt her heart tilt with gratitude. She reached out and took Leo’s hand.
‘Thank you for being my friend,’ she said.
Leo paused for a moment before he squeezed her hand and then leaned in to kiss her cheek. ‘Being friends with you is easy. I…’ She saw him swallow in the half shadow of the buildings and there was the briefest of pauses before he added, ‘Thanks for being my friend, too.’
What he had been going to say? Friends was as good as it got and she had to accept that much. She’d opened herself up, that night in the chata , and he’d turned her down. He’d drawn the line and she had to stay on the right side of it.