Page 56 of Delivered to the Devil

Rebecca

Two days later, András calls to let me know I got the job. I’m over the moon, hardly able to believe it. I was convinced the other girl was a better fit and he’d choose her.

As I’m refilling the buffet on my first day, a thought pops into my head. What if he did intend to hire her? Maybe my performance at the interview wasn’t the reason I landed this job. I stop mid-motion as I fill steamy potatoes onto the empty tray. I remember Janos’s arrogant certainty when he assured me I’d get the job. Could it be that he’s the real reason I’m here?

Janos doesn’t operate within common laws and morals. He works for one of the most corrupt men in the country, and I’d be naïve to think he’s above coercing someone into hiring me.

My stomach drops, and I can hardly focus for the next hour. I thought this wasmyachievement—something I had done right.

But as I walk around on the boat, watching the water, the castle, the bridges, and the Citadella, the anger fades. Why does it matter how I got here? Luck comes in many forms, and it’s not like I wasn’t qualified. The interview went well. So why let this small detail bother me? I deserve something good. Ineedthis. Being here on the water makes me forget all the horrible thingsin my life, and I’d give anything for this reprieve. So why should I care how I got here?

The job is the best thing that could happen to me. It only takes me a few days to get comfortable here. My colleagues are nice, and even though I don’t partake much in their small talk, it’s easy to be around them. The tasks aren’t exactly stimulating, but they’re varied enough to keep my brain from stagnating, and it’s good to interact with the customers beyond the empty, repetitive phrases at the Tesco store.

The only disappointment is that I don’t see András often. The boat is one out of several tourist attractions he owns, and most of the time, he works from his office in the city. He only did the job interviews because the daily manager had fallen ill.

I stick to a polite greeting in passing the few times I see him, and he does the same. But one day, he joins me on the stern of the boat as I’m watching the trail of foaming water on my break. He leans over the rail beside me as if to see what has grabbed my attention.

When I turn to face him, his expression lights up in a radiant smile, and I realize I’m beaming. That’s the effect the water has on me. Heat seeps into my cheeks as I can’t quite gain control over my enthusiasm, and I quickly cast my gaze back to the frothy water.

“What is it that you find so fascinating about water?” András asks. I cast him a surprised look, and he explains with a shrug, “I could see it the first day when you came here—the way you gazed out over the water and smiled. Like you do now.”

I consider for a moment before answering. “It’s free and alive.”Everything I’m not.

He turns to the water as if searching for those things, and we both watch in silence for a few minutes.

“How did you end up in Budapest?” he asks.

“I needed to get away.” I sigh, and the weight of those last days before I left Denmark hangs heavily on my chest for a moment. Then I look up and see the castle, and a small smile returns to my lips. “It’s a funny story, actually. You see, I’ve had this postcard with an image of the castle since I was thirteen. A friend of mine sent it when she was on vacation here. I had never traveled, and that picture was like nothing I had ever seen in real life. To think she had visited this beautiful place made me want to go there too. So I spent fifteen years dreaming about it.”

“And now you’re here.”

I glance up to find András watching me with a strange curiosity that lights up his eyes, and for a moment, the darkness of my life fades, and all I see is the beauty surrounding us. “Yeah, I am.”

“So, did the city live up to your expectations?” Turning to me, he leans one arm on the rail and pushes his other hand into his pocket.

“A postcard is hard to live up to.” I shake my head and cast a longing glance over the city. “But at first, it did. I mean, the river and the view of the Buda-side were as beautiful as the card promised. But then I got to see the shady parts of the city…” I pause, a bit shocked that I’m opening up like this to a stranger. But something about András makes it easy.

“Like what?”

I draw in a heavy sigh and let my gaze return to the water for some time. “Poppy seed cake,” I finally say, biting my lip as I cast him a playful look. He makes me want to rediscover some of the humor that got lost in the darkness.

“Poppy seed cake?” He lets out a warm laugh. “So, it was our cakes that ruined it for you?” His expression is full of humor and warmth, and it lights a spark deep inside me, at a place that has long been dead.

“Yes, your cake,” I say, but my smile fades at the sight of the parliament that appears a little farther down the river. I point at the enormous building with the pristine white façade and large brass dome. “And that one.”

Something heavy settles over András’s features. “No, there’s not much good to say about that one.”

He clearly gets the reference to the political system, which is rotten through and through, but he doesn’t know I’m talking about something much more specific, much darker than he could imagine. He doesn’t know the building houses the exact cause of the trauma I’m facing every day and my living nightmare.

***

After that day, our chats at the stern become a frequent occurrence. If I’m not already on a break when he comes, András will find me and invite me to take a break with him. I enjoy talking to him, and for the first time in a long time, I’m looking forward to small talk and socializing. I get the feeling that András enjoys our small chats as much as I do because I never see him taking breaks with anyone else here.

The nice waitress who greeted me at the job interview even suggests that András has a thing for me. Giving me a small shoulder bump one day after András has just left, she says with a wink, “I think the boss man likes you.”

Maybe she’s right. From what I heard, he usually only drops by once a week—tops—and now he comes here to eat lunch with me several times a week. He never makes any advances, but I do notice the glimmer in his eyes whenever he tells me it’s good to see me or when I catch him watching me as I stare at the water.

Even though I’m flattered by the attention and do like András, I’m happy he keeps it friendly. I wouldn’t know how tohandle anything else, and I don’t want to lose the first friend I’ve had since I came here in the spring.

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