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He pulled away. ‘I’ve offended you.’
‘No! Not at all,’ she said, kissing his cheek. ‘I’m flattered and a little overwhelmed, if I’m honest, Viktor. I’ve never had a proper boyfriend, you see. The occasional young man has made advances, but nothing like this. I have no experience of the world in that way.’
‘I’m sorry – I’m rushing you. It’s just…from the moment I met you, I knew, do you see? I thought I’d never fall in love again. I had loved the same woman for twelve years, and when she died I truly believed her to be irreplaceable. But when you sauntered into my life at that party – all that changed. It sounds mad but I just can’t get you out of my mind.’
She smiled in the darkness. ‘Give me a little time, all right?’
He nodded. ‘Of course. Can I see you again – soon?’
‘Yes,’ she said with a laugh. ‘Perhaps on Monday? I have to buy a new suit for work – but I should be free in the afternoon.’
‘Let me buy the suit for you. I’ll pick you up and we’ll have lunch and then I’ll take you to a wonderful dress shop I know. And we can have supper afterwards. After all, it will be New Year’s Eve, so we can celebrate it together.’
‘Oh, I’ve just remembered…I was supposed to go to a party with Minki that night.’
Viktor looked at her, his eyes imploring her to change her mind.
‘But I’m sure she’ll forgive me,’ Leila added quickly. ‘She scarcely notices me once we’re at a party anyway. So, I’d love to have dinner with you on New Year’s Eve. But I’ll buy my own suit, if that’s all the same to you.’
At that moment the fog lifted, and the moon slipped out from behind a cloud, illuminating the pair.
‘Well…Goodnight Viktor,’ she said, gazing up into his hazel eyes. ‘See you on Monday.’
‘I’ll be here at one,’ he replied, kissing her hand.
She ran up the steps to the apartment building, and unlocked the door. Before opening it, she turned round. Viktor was still standing there, watching her, and smiling. He blew her a kiss. ‘Goodnight, my love.’
‘Goodnight, Viktor. Now go home. It’s cold – you’ll catch a chill.’
‘I love you,’ he called out, before walking away. It struck Leila then that perhaps, by a quirk of fate, she had met the man she would marry – the man who might one day father her children. It seemed absurd – it was too quick, too easy. And yet, as she walked up the communal stairs towards her parents’ front door, she couldn’t help but dream…
5
MUNICH
January 1924
Minki woke with the sun filtering through the thin curtains. She peered at the bedside clock. It was eight thirty. Her head was throbbing and her mouth felt sandpaper dry. She opened her eyes and pulled herself up against the pillows. To her surprise, buried beneath the duvet in the bed beside her was the distinct shape of a body. Minki had been to a New Year’s Eve party at the café up the road the night before, but she had no memory of coming home with anyone, let alone inviting them into her bed.
She shivered as her naked feet touched the cold lino. Pulling on a silk kimono that lay abandoned on the floor, she stood up unsteadily, her stomach grumbling, and crossed the room to the small bathroom. At the door she turned and studied the shape in the bed. Untidy brown hair poked out from the bedding, but the face was obscured. ‘The shape’ groaned slightly and rolled over. As the duvet fell away, his features were revealed. He was fine-boned and pale-skinned, with deep-set eyes. Suddenly she remembered him. He had been leaning up against the bar of the café when she had arrived at the party. Although a complete stranger, he had gently grabbed her hand as she passed by, and kissed it theatrically, declaring, ‘You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.’
Minki had intended to go to the party with Leila, but her friend had cried off at the last minute. Irritated, Minki had gone alone and got too drunk, too fast. Consequently, most of the evening was a blur, but as she studied the man in her bed random episodes slipped into her memory. She remembered him kissing her outside the café, had a vague recollection of walking with him back to her apartment. After that it was a blank.
Locking the bathroom door behind her, she studied her face in the mirror. Her thick blond hair was lank, her skin was grey, and her eyes, which were normally the colour of forget-me-nots – or so she had been told – were bloodshot. She brushed her teeth, splashed her face with water and ran a bath. Slipping beneath the surface, she allowed the hot water to cover her face. Swooshing up from the watery depths, she heard loud banging on the bathroom door.
‘Minki – what the hell…open the door. I need a pee.’
‘Sorry,’ she called back. ‘Hang on.’
She hauled herself out of the bath, wrapped herself in a large towel and unlocked the door. The naked man pushed past her and stood at her lavatory, peeing noisily. He was slight and slender – not her usual type at all – and walked with a slight limp, she noticed. Something about the way he was relieving himself turned her stomach, and she hurriedly left the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she slumped down at her cluttered dressing table, muttering to herself: ‘I really must stop picking up strange men.’ She prayed he had taken precautions. The idea of getting pregnant now, with no husband, and when she was just starting out on her career, would be a disaster.
When the man came out of the bathroom, he picked up his underwear and began to dress.
‘Do you have anything to eat?’ he asked.
‘No,’ she replied blankly. ‘I’m sorry.’
He sighed.
