17
The day of the party soon came around. Olivia was fretting about her cheese and pineapple sticks. ‘They won’t stay upright. It looks such a mess.’
‘We should’ve got a grapefruit to stick them into,’ Nancy said.
‘It’s too late now. Everyone will start arriving soon.’ Olivia added the dish to the array of food and drink on the table. ’We need to move that sofa. There’s no room for anyone to dance.’
‘Relax! Hans will be here any minute. I’m sure he’ll help.’
‘Pierre is conspicuous by his absence. He promised he’d arrive early, too.’
Nancy was about to suggest that Olivia calmed her nerves with a glass of wine when there was a knock at the door.
‘Looks like one of them is here.’ Nancy said, opening the apartment door. ‘Hi, Hans.’
‘I bring music,’ he said, holding a Dansette record player with what looked like a bag of records hanging off his arm. ‘Where do you want it?’
‘She could tell you,’ Olivia winked at him. It never ceased to amaze Nancy how the presence of an attractive man instantly transformed Olivia into an outrageous flirt.
Hans looked bemused. Nancy hoped he didn’t ask her to explain at their next lesson.
‘In the corner over there will be fine,’ she said. ‘There’s a power socket next to the table.’
‘And when you’ve done that, move the sofa back against the wall.’ Olivia said. ‘I need to check we have toilet roll.’
‘Anything else, madame?’ Hans asked.
Olivia missed the subtext as she headed into the bathroom
Nancy smiled at Hans. ‘I’m sorry. She gets very bossy when she’s stressed.’
‘So I see,’ he said. ‘Your toga suits you.’
‘You’re not looking too bad yourself,’ she grinned. ‘Though I’m not sure pale pink is your colour.’
‘Unfortunately, only pink sheets came with the flat.’
‘We’ve got a spare white one if you want to get changed?’ Bad idea, Nancy, but you’ve offered now!
Hans didn’t seem worried by the suggestion. ‘If you think it would be better.’
‘It would. That pink is doing nothing for your skin tone. Come with me.’
Hans followed Nancy into Olivia’s room. She rifled through the ottoman at the end of the bed. ‘Here we are,’ she said, shaking out a large, flat white sheet.
Hans took off his belt. The pink sheet fell to the floor, leaving him standing in nothing but tight-fitting swim shorts. It was a lot to take in.
He looked embarrassed and started picking up his sheet. ‘I’m sorry. That wasn’t meant to happen.’
She kept her gaze above his waist level. His abs were impressive, but something else had caught her eye.
‘What’s that scar?’ Nancy resisted the temptation to touch the four-inch-long red mark near his right shoulder.
‘It was an accident. It will fade eventually,’ he said.
It looked fairly recent. ‘I bet that hurt.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s ok now.’
He looked vulnerable standing there. She felt the urge to hug him and a lot more besides.
‘Nancy! What the hell are you doing?’ The sound of her father’s outraged shout ruined the moment. For a second, she thought she’d imagined him, but no, he was actually standing there in Olivia’s doorway.
Nancy was horrified. ‘Dad?! What are you doing here?’
‘Why are you half naked?’ her father asked, storming into the room. ‘And why isn’t this man wearing any clothes? What is this? An orgy?’
‘We’re about to have a toga party,’ Nancy said.
‘Calm down, George,’ Nancy’s mother said, following her husband into the bedroom. ‘Think of your blood pressure.’
She turned to Nancy. ‘Hello, darling. You weren’t expecting us, then?’
’No, it’s a complete surprise. Why have you come all this way?’ Nancy was trying desperately to think of a way to get rid of them quickly. After seeing more of Hans than either of them intended, her resolve to remain friends had faded. Her parents arriving now couldn’t be worse timing.
‘We’ve missed you so much,’ her mother continued. ‘I wrote to say I’d persuaded your father that a spring break in Paris would be lovely and an ideal excuse to make sure you were alright. I’ve booked a table for the three of us at the bistro on the corner.’
A meal out with them. Nancy couldn’t think of anything worse at this precise moment. ‘I never got your letter,’she said.
Nancy’s mother looked at her pleadingly. ‘I’m sorry if we’ve spoilt your plans, but I’m sure your friends will still be having a lovely party after we’ve eaten.’
Nancy didn’t know what to say. She turned to Hans, who by now had wrapped himself up in the white sheet.
‘Your friend can come too.’ Nancy’s mother said, holding her hand out to Hans.
‘Thank you, Mrs Smith,’ he smiled, shaking it.
‘Are you German?’ Nancy’s father growled.
‘Yes, he is.’ Nancy snapped. ‘It’s very cosmopolitan here.’
Nancy’s father stormed out of the room.
‘It’s a kind offer, but I think it would be best if I didn’t join you,’ Hans said.
Nancy reluctantly agreed to leave the party to join her parents for their evening meal and swapped her toga for a more conventional dress. The atmosphere at their table was tense.
Nancy’s father was glaring at the menu. ‘I don’t want anything with garlic in it.’
The waiter was unimpressed. ‘I think you will find that it adds interest and flavour to the dishes, monsieur.’
‘I don’t care. I don’t want it. Awful stuff. And don’t you get ordering it either, Daphne. I don’t want to breathe in your garlic fumes all night.’
Nancy glanced at the waiter, hoping her expression looked suitably apologetic. ‘Stick to the steak, Dad. With pommes frites.’
‘What on earth are those?’ he snapped.
‘Chips,’ she said.
Her father huffed.
The waiter took that as confirmation of his order. ’And you, madame?’ he said, turning to Nancy’s mother.
‘Beouf bourguignon s’il vous plait,’ she said.
Nancy was relieved that at least one of her parents was trying to avoid a diplomatic incident. The waiter nodded approvingly. ‘Avec de l”ail?’
‘Avec beaucoup de l’ail,’ Nancy’s mother said.
The waiter smiled. Nancy suppressed a grin at her mother’s request for lots of garlic. She was glad she wouldn’t be anywhere near her parents’ hotel later.
When the waiter left, her mother reached across the table and took her husband’s hand. ‘You had something you wanted to say to Nancy, didn’t you, darling.’
Nancy’s father scowled back at his wife. She raised her eyebrows.
‘Yes, I suppose I did,’ he said. ‘I may have been a bit harsh when I banned you from coming here. Not that it made any difference.’
Nancy sat silently, waiting to see what was coming next.
‘And?’ her mother prompted him.
‘And I understand why you left. I want to offer you a chance to become a management trainee.’
He didn’t look like that’s what he wanted at all.
‘And what’s prompted that?’ Nancy asked. ‘Has Eddie gone to the States?’
Her father shifted uncomfortably in his chair. ‘He’ll be going in a few weeks.’
Nancy wasn’t impressed. ‘I see. Your son has confirmed he has no interest in taking over the family business, so in the absence of any other male offspring, you’re grudgingly offering me the opportunity instead?’
‘I’m doing no such thing. I’m offering you a trainee job.’
‘No, George,’ her mother said. ‘You are absolutely offering Nancy the opportunity to become your successor.’
Nancy walked back up the stairs to the apartment. The whole building sounded quiet, but it was only just after 10 pm. Surely the party hadn’t ended already. She let herself into the flat. Olivia was washing up at the sink, but there was no sign of anyone else.
‘Did we have a good party?’ Nancy asked, grabbing a tea towel and starting to dry the glasses.
‘Yes, we did, but we missed you. Hans left shortly after you did. He said he’d pick up his record player tomorrow. Everyone else gave up about half an hour ago when the wine ran out. They were talking about going on to a club, but I said I’d wait for you here. How was your meal?’
‘I’m sure it would have tasted a lot better if I didn’t have to put up with Dad looking at me disapprovingly throughout both courses. I’ve got terrible indigestion now.’
‘What awful timing.’
‘There is never a good time for my beloved father to turn up anywhere. I should have told them to go, but I couldn’t do that to Mum.’
‘Were they just here to check up on you?’ Olivia asked.
‘No. Dad made me an interesting offer.’
Olivia stopped washing up. ‘Well?’
‘He’s offering me the chance to train to be his successor.’
‘Wow! That’s a turn-up for the books. What did you say?’
‘What do you think I said? It’s only because Eddie’s not interested.’
‘You turned him down?’
‘Of course I did. You know what he’s like. I can either spend the winter battling wind, rain and turbulent seas, or I can sit in the office next to his, on tenterhooks, waiting for him to berate me for whatever error I’ve allegedly made that day.’
Olivia nodded. ‘Given that choice, even I would pick the turbulent seas. Are you seeing your folks again?’
‘They’ve gone back to their hotel. Mum asked me to come on a boat trip with them tomorrow, but I said I had to work.’
‘On a Sunday?’
‘They didn’t question it. They’re flying back home in the afternoon. I’ll feel much more relaxed once they’ve left French airspace.’