24
Nancy arrived home that evening with her new outfit wrapped in brown paper inside a bag that Madame Dubois had given her from a fancy boutique.
‘Olivia!’ she called out. There was no reply. She noticed a note on the dining table. ‘Gone to Pierre’s. Might not be back until tomorrow, Love O xx’
Perfect. She had the apartment to herself. Nancy made herself a cheese sandwich. Then proceeded to don her new outfit, leaving the boots until last.
She emerged from her bedroom and headed for the kitchen. Her right foot went over at the ankle after just two steps. Arghh! How was anyone supposed to walk in heels this high while wearing a restrictive skirt? She waggled her foot around. No damage done. She wasn’t going to let it beat her though.
She carried on slowly for a few more steps. Then the same thing happened again. This time, she lost her balance and knocked over one of the dining chairs, bashing her knee against the table leg in the process. She let out a yelp of pain while the chair crashed into the sink, knocking a plate off the draining board, which then smashed on the floorboards. ‘You bastard!’ She shouted. Get a grip, Nancy. It’s just a question of balance. You can ride a bike, so you can master this.
She tried again, managing to get the whole way across the room without falling over this time, albeit not very elegantly. At least she was improving. She sat down in one of the armchairs and visualised herself sashaying across the carpet.
Let’s go for it.She got out of the chair and set off towards the kitchenette, swinging her hips from side to side. It wasn’t so hard after all if you believed you could do it. She arrived at the sink without any more mishaps. She carefully turned to walk back to the armchair again. Much better. She continued practising, even mastering the art of turning a corner without needing to lean on anything.
She was finishing a final circuit of the room when she heard a knock on the door. Shit! There was no way she could answer it dressed like this. There was another knock. It sounded more urgent this time. Perhaps if she kept quiet, whoever it was would think she was out and go away. She stood still, listening, hoping to hear footsteps going down the stairs.
Instead, she heard a key turn in the lock. She froze. Don’t panic! It might be Olivia returning early. But why would she knock?
Madame Morceau walked into the room, quickly followed by Hans.
The concierge looked horrified and turned away. ‘Excusez moi,’ she said as she disappeared back onto the landing. It was the fastest Nancy had ever seen her move.
Hans was frozen to the spot, looking at Nancy wide-eyed. Nancy didn’t know what to say.
‘New boots?’ Hans said.
‘Yes,’ Nancy replied nervously. Should she explain or try to bluff it off as trying out some new fashions? You’re a lousy liar, Nancy Smith, and Hans isn’t stupid. He’s probably worked it out already. ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ she asked.
Nancy changed into her normal clothes in her room, while Hans boiled the kettle. By the time she walked back into the living room, he was sitting at the dining table, slowly stirring his drink.
‘You’ll wear the pattern off,’ Nancy said as she sat down opposite him.
Hans looked puzzled. ‘The pattern is on the outside of the teacup.’
‘It’s one of those mad English sayings. I don’t really know where it comes from.’
Hans nodded and carried on stirring, focussing on the cup in front of him. Nancy didn’t know where to start. ‘Why did you get Madame Morceau to unlock the door?’ she asked.
‘I heard a crash, and then you swore loudly. I thought someone was attacking you.’
‘Oh,’ she said. ‘I suppose I should say thank you.’
He nodded and looked up at her. ‘I assume you’re helping Madame Dubois with her bespoke binding business.’
‘She’s asked me to become her apprentice.’
He looked concerned. ‘I don’t want you to go to prison.’
‘I won’t. Provided I don’t have sex with the clients, and I have no intention of doing that, it’s all above board.’
‘And you’re quite sure about that.’
‘Yes. Madame Dubois even has a policeman and several barristers on her books, apparently.’
Hans looked thoughtful.
‘I sense you disapprove,’ Nancy said.
‘It’s none of my business, but I worry about you, that’s all. I don’t want any harm to come to you.’
‘I’m only going to do it for a few weeks until I have enough money to pay Patty. I’ll have plenty of weapons at my disposal. And there’s a panic button if anything goes wrong. It rings in the shop, and there’s always someone in there.’
‘But it would take a minute or two for Philip to run up the stairs to help. And I doubt Carol would even notice.’
‘That’s why we don’t have special clients on Saturdays. And Philip’s quite nippy when he puts his mind to it.’
‘Nippy?’
‘Fast. He’s a quick runner.’
‘Hmmm.’ Hans didn’t look convinced. ‘What if one day he’s not nippy? Have you ever studied self-defence?’
‘No. I’d love to, but I haven’t had the opportunity yet.’
‘I think you should.’ He went back to stirring his coffee.
He was right. It would be useful. ‘Do you know where I can get lessons?’
‘Yes. I will teach you. I learnt in the army.’
Nancy didn’t know why that surprised her. A spell in the forces would explain the way Hans carried himself, his short haircut and probably that scar, too. ‘You haven’t mentioned that before.’
‘I didn’t know you were going to need it until now.’
‘That’s very kind. When shall we start?’
‘When are you seeing your next client?’
‘Tomorrow afternoon.’
‘Then we better start now.’
Hans moved one of the armchairs back against the wall to give them some space.
‘Let’s start with someone looking like they’re going to grab your arms,’ he said. ‘To stop them doing that, you put your hands up in front of you like this.’ He held his hands up in front of his face. ‘They might respond by gripping your wrists. You do that to me now.’
Nancy held Hans’ wrists firmly.
‘You have a strong grip,’ he said.
She raised her eyebrows. ‘I’ve been told that before.’
He avoided her gaze. ‘I get out this way,’ he said, lifting one arm up and one arm down, then twisting around. ‘Finish with an elbow to the groin. Obviously, we won’t do that today. Your turn.’
Nancy repeated the moves that Hans had demonstrated.
‘Very good,’ he said as she escaped from his clutches.
‘That was far too easy,’ she said. ‘I don’t think you held me very tightly. Do it again but harder this time.’
‘I don’t want to hurt you,’ he said.
‘I know, but it won’t help me if you go easy on me.’
‘If you’re sure,’ he said, grabbing her wrists again.
‘Still too loose,’ she said.
He tightened his grip. It hurt this time, but she wasn’t going to show it. She carried out the move again. It was harder to escape, but it still worked.
‘Ta da!’ she said as broke free.
‘You’re a quick learner,’ he smiled. ’Now we will look at what to do if someone grabs you from behind. For this one, you need to finish with a punch to the side of my ribs. Use the side of your fist.’ He made a fist with his hand and rubbed the side nearest to his little finger to show what he meant.
‘Why the side?’ she asked.
‘Because it’s easier to get right than a proper punch.’
Nancy nodded.
‘Turn around. I’ll talk you through what to do.’
Nancy did as she was told. She felt Hans’ arms tighten around her shoulders and upper chest, pulling her against his body. She could feel his breath on her neck. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea because it felt good, very good. And if she wasn’t very much mistaken, Hans was enjoying it too. Hans eased away slightly. She resisted the temptation to lean back into him. Stop imagining him kissing your neck, Nancy!
‘You need to bend down a little, twist away from me, then punch. Got that?’
‘Ok,’ she said, bending down and twisting. They ended up face-to-face.
‘I meant the other way,’ he said, backing away.
‘Yes, I can see that now,’ she said. This was getting more awkward by the minute.
‘We’ll do it again.’ He grabbed her around the shoulders. This time, Nancy twisted in the opposite direction and thumped him on his rib cage.
‘Argghhh!’ he called out. ‘Perhaps not so hard when we’re practising.’ He rubbed his ribs. ‘Are you sure you haven’t done this before?’
‘My big brother taught me how to box one summer.’
‘That’s unusual.’
‘He was fed up of me annoying him. I think it was an excuse to get revenge.’
‘And did he get revenge?’
‘Of course not. I was far too competitive to allow him to win.’
Hans laughed. ‘I can imagine that. I think that’s enough for now.’
‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘I don’t think I could cope with any more close-quarter grappling tonight.’
The following morning, Nancy put a plate of warmed croissants in front of Olivia. ‘Ooh, luxury. Feeling flush?’
‘I thought we deserved a treat for a change.’
‘Thank you.’ Olivia’s smile turned into a frown. ‘Why is there a bruise on your arm?’
‘Where?’
‘There!’ Olivia pointed to the outside of Nancy’s arm just above the wrist. ‘It’s deep purple. It looks awful.’
Nancy looked in the mirror. It did look bad. ‘I bet I caught it on a bookshelf corner or something.’
‘It looks more like a thumbprint to me. And there’s a matching one on your other arm. Is everything ok?’
It must have happened when during Hans’ self-defence lesson last night. ‘Yes, everything’s fine.’
‘Are you sure? Philip hasn’t tried anything on, has he?’
’No. Of course not. Why would you say that?’
‘It looks like someone strong grabbed both your arms.’
She wasn’t going to let it go. Nancy would have to be honest. ‘It was Hans, actually.’
‘Hans!’
‘He was teaching me self-defence.’
Olivia looked sceptical.
‘It’s true. He thinks with Madame Dubois’s interesting customers around, I ought to be able to look after myself.’ Which was almost the truth.
‘I thought you said they were all well-dressed gentlemen.’
‘They are, but one could still turn nasty at some point.’
‘So that gives Hans an excuse to hurt you? I would never have guessed he was a man like that.’
‘He isn’t. He didn’t do it deliberately. I told him to grip me harder because it was too easy to escape when he was doing it gently.’
Nancy rubbed her arm, remembering last night’s lesson.
Olivia still didn’t look convinced. ‘Why are you blushing? I see I’ll need to keep an eye on Hans.’