WILL DUCKED BEHIND the half-closed door to Julie’s bedroom. She handed him a pair of scissors from her desk, which he turned point downward and gripped like a knife. Her Viennese city apartment was small and bereft of hiding places. Their only hope was for Julie to distract the intruder momentarily so that he would have the element of surprise for an attack.
“Ask who’s there,” he whispered to her.
“Hello? Who is there?” Julie yelled out in German, still standing inside her bedroom behind the threshold.
Silence.
Her legs begin to quiver. Maybe they had been mistaken and it was not her front door that they had heard, but the tenant arriving home in the apartment above. If an intruder had entered, he would have had to break down the door. Unless, the intruder had picked the lock. Or, what if he had killed the building superintendent and taken her key. She could hear footsteps in the hall. She felt her courage wane, and her feet began to backpedal. She looked at Will, who put his index finger to his lips, and raised his hand holding the scissors in a striking position next to his temple.
A woman screamed.
Julie’s roommate, Isabella, stood in the doorway, her hand pressed against her chest. She exhaled with pursed lips and pulled a pair of white ear buds from her ears.
“Oh my God, you scared the hell out of me, Julie! I didn’t think anyone was home. I was walking by your room, on the way to mine, and out of the corner of my eye I saw someone standing in the doorway,” Isabella stammered in English flavored with an Italian accent.
“You scared me too! I thought someone had broken into the apartment. Did you not hear me call out?” Julie asked.
Isabella pointed to her iPod, peaking out of her front right jeans pocket. Will silently lowered the scissors from the ready position and set them down on the carpet. He shook his head to signal to Julie not to reveal his presence, but she was not looking at him.
“I thought you and Peter weren’t returning from Greece until tomorrow night?”
“Peter’s boss called him and said that he needed him to come in because the head chef had taken ill, so we had to fly back early,” Isabella explained. “Speaking of being home early, shouldn’t you be at the lab?”
“Yes, but an old friend called me unexpectedly. He is in Vienna on business, so I agreed to meet with him.”
“Have I met him before? Is it that hot guy from Milano?”
Julie blushed, embarrassed and glanced back at Will. “Well, no, but . . .” She extended her hand toward the half-closed bedroom door. “Isabella, meet . . . Bob. Bob, meet my roommate, Isabella.”
Will stepped out from behind the door and raised his hand in an awkward half-wave. “Hello, I’m Bob . . . not from Milano. Sorry to disappoint.”
“Um . . . very nice to meet you, Bob,” Isabella stammered.
An awkward silence filled the bedroom as they all stood looking at one another.
“We had better get going, Bob, if we want to make our appointment,” Julie said, grabbing Will’s sleeve and tugging.
“I agree. Look at the time. It was nice to meet you, Isabella.”
Isabella shook Will’s hand. “Very nice to meet you too. Maybe we’ll see each other again.”
Julie quickly gathered her computer, her wallet, sunglasses, and the remainder of the printouts from the lab and stuffed them into the backpack; she gave Will a gentle push toward the door. He walked past Isabella and smiled at her.
Isabella raised her eyebrows at Julie and silently mouthed, “What is going on?”
Julie shrugged and gave her friend a devilish grin.
“Will you be back before dinner? Maybe the three of us can go out tonight, for dinner and dancing?” Isabella called after her.
“I wouldn’t count on it tonight. Let’s plan on dinner tomorrow night instead. Okay?”
“Great, then Peter can join us,” Isabella added. “Where are you headed off to now?”
“Just going to grab a coffee,” Julie replied. She then took a step backward and whispered into Isabella’s ear.
“If anyone comes by the flat looking for me, tell them you haven’t seen me or talked to me recently okay?”
“Ummm, okay?”
“And don’t say anything about Bob.”
“Julie, what’s going on?”
“Nothing. Bob and I just need some alone time.”
Isabella eyed Will suspiciously and then grabbed Julie by the shoulders. “Are you sure you’re okay? You know I’m here for you if you need me. You can tell me anything.”
“I know. Really, everything is fine. But we need to go.”
“Okay, then. Ciao,” Isabella said as she gave her friend a hug.
“Ciao.”