“Let’s have a drink here before we move. I don’t want to travel again just yet.”
There was a bar set in one corner of a square shopping area. Pavel led her to it. It was blue and brown inside, like a real pub, but it still felt fake. Pavel ordered them a drink, white wine for Eva, and a fizzy mineral water for himself.
“What could be better than seeing you again?” said Pavel.
“It’s good to see you too,” said Eva, taking just the tiniest sip from her wineglass. She had to drive and didn’t want her feelings to take control. They were definitely mixed already.
“So, what brings you all this way? You never told me in your message,” said Eva. She looked at him, and felt she was being absorbed into his eyes. He was still good looking, in spite of his wrinkles and lines. She told herself his looks only appealed because they were so familiar. They were family. Those looks were in the blood. Eva controlled her gaze, but Pavel’s eyes were so big and wide and unrelenting. He looked very happy on the surface. But she saw strain there too. Maybe life wasn’t going too well. Or maybe he was just tired from travelling.
“It’s been too long...”
Eva smiled. “Of course’s it’s been too long. It was fifteen years ago, Pavel.”
“I see you haven’t forgotten then....”
Eva shifted in her seat. “Um. No. You’re my cousin. We were friends too.”
“Yes, we were, weren’t we...?” There was something in his eyes like joy, but there was also sadness. “What is it Pavel?” said Eva.
“A man must accept who he is. He must have roots. You are one of my roots, Eva. One I wanted to see again.”
“You didn’t come all this way just to look at my face. I’m glad to see you, of course, but what is it? Is it, business?”
“I see you’re less of a romantic than before. Yes, Eva, business and pleasure. You are one of the pleasures. As for business, that can wait a short time.”
“You were working at the university in Prague, right?”
“I have taken a sabbatical. Maybe I will take something in the UK if it suits.”
“A sabbatical? I thought you loved that job?”
“What, Eva? Are you concerned for me?” said Pavel with a chuckle. Eva blushed.
“Well, should I be? Is something wrong?”
“No. All is well now that I have arrived.”
Eva saw the tense flickering in his eyelids a moment before his face changed. It became still, and the lines faded from his brow. Pavel looked across Eva’s shoulder. His mouth became a thin line. Eva twisted in her seat to follow Pavel’s gaze. Two uniformed police officers in flak jackets holding Heckler and Koch submachine guns walked slowly by the bar along the white concourse outside. The police muttered to each other as they walked.
Pavel detached his eyes from the police and found Eva again. His face returned to a smile.
“You know, you should tell me if something is wrong, Pavel,” said Eva.
“But then I would by lying to please you... because everything is fine. Don’t you worry. Let’s just enjoy this drink then we shall go somewhere a little less austere.”
“UK airports are on a high alert after Gatwick. They’re pretty uncomfortable places to be right now.”
“Yes, it is a little tense here. But airports cannot be avoided. Not if one is too see old friends...”
Pavel lifted his mineral water and clinked it against Eva’s wineglass.
Questions began to surface in her mind. They weren’t fully formed yet. They were just feelings. Eva rebuked herself. Surely it was wrong to think badly of someone she had once been so close with. Regardless of that foolish kiss. Eva put her negative feelings aside, and gave Pavel a smile to bring peace. His big bright eyes were a mystery. He was hiding something, but that didn’t mean he was a villain. Did it?