Everything about him said ‘bear’, and yet…
He has no idea how he comes across.
I exhaled slowly. “Interesting,” I murmured.
For a moment, I considered going back. It would be an easy thing to do. I could come up with a simple excuse. Another question. A suggestion or two, for how he could spend his time in the city. Maybe I’d even ask him out for a drink.
Kieran would say yes, I was almost certain of it.
But then what?
I let my gaze rest on him for one last second, and then I turned away, this time without hesitation, and disappeared into the flow of the station.
Some encounters were meant to unfold slowly.
If they happened at all.
Chapter Six
Kieran
I gotout of the taxi on Winterfeldtstraße, then scanned my surroundings. The street level was a mix of cafés, restaurants, and chemists. Railings stood everywhere I looked, with bikes chained to them. An Indian restaurant sat on the corner, its tables empty.
I pulled out my phone and opened the WhatsApp thread, looking for Karl’s address. He’d called it the Treehouse, which puzzled me. Then a message appeared.
Karl: Where are you?
I clicked on Call. “Standing in front of a restaurant calledAmrit.”
“I’ll be right down.” He disconnected.
A couple of minutes later, I heard his voice. “Kieran, here!”
Karl stood on the corner facing me, in front of a building that was mostly glass.
I hurried over to him, and a heartbeat later he enveloped me in a fierce hug.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he murmured. Then he took a step back. “Let me look at you.” His eyes twinkled. “Where did all this hair come from? And you got bigger.”
I laughed. “I haven’t seen you since college. I was twenty-two the last time we met. A man can change a lot in two decades.” He’d changed too. He’d put on a few pounds. His hairline had receded, and all the colour had turned to steel and silver. Those green eyes were still the same, however, although they’d gained more wrinkles around them.
He picked up my suitcase and led me to a door. “I live at the top of this building.”
We stepped out of the lift into an unassuming small plain white box of a lobby: the glass-enclosed spiral staircase to the right was far more impressive. Karl unlocked an undecorated set of double doors, and I entered a large, not-quite-rectangular room full of the most amazingly mismatched hodgepodge of furniture, chairs, tables, and lamps of all eras.
Karl’s apartment turned out to be a penthouse with the most amazing views.
“This is wonderful,” I murmured.
“Let me show you to your room.”
A staircase led up towards the sloping roof under which sat two bedrooms with curiously shaped triangular windows and yet more sloping ceilings.
Karl showed me into one of the rooms. “This is yours for as long as you need it.”
My stomach chose that moment to grumble, and Karl frowned. “When did you eat last?”
“Last night. I had a very early start this morning, and I didn’t eat on the plane.”