Page 33 of Be Less Panda

‘Pierre is conspicuous by his absence. He promised he’d arrive early, too.’

Nancy was about to suggest that Olivia calmed her nerves with a glass of wine when there was a knock at the door.

‘Looks like one of them is here.’ Nancy said, opening the apartment door. ‘Hi, Hans.’

‘I bring music,’ he said, holding a Dansette record player with what looked like a bag of records hanging off his arm. ‘Where do you want it?’

‘She could tell you,’ Olivia winked at him. It never ceased to amaze Nancy how the presence of an attractive man instantly transformed Olivia into an outrageous flirt.

Hans looked bemused. Nancy hoped he didn’t ask her to explain at their next lesson.

‘In the corner over there will be fine,’ she said. ‘There’s a power socket next to the table.’

‘And when you’ve done that, move the sofa back against the wall.’ Olivia said. ‘I need to check we have toilet roll.’

‘Anything else, madame?’ Hans asked.

Olivia missed the subtext as she headed into the bathroom

Nancy smiled at Hans. ‘I’m sorry. She gets very bossy when she’s stressed.’

‘So I see,’ he said. ‘Your toga suits you.’

‘You’re not looking too bad yourself,’ she grinned. ‘Though I’m not sure pale pink is your colour.’

‘Unfortunately, only pink sheets came with the flat.’

‘We’ve got a spare white one if you want to get changed?’Bad idea, Nancy, but you’ve offered now!

Hans didn’t seem worried by the suggestion. ‘If you think it would be better.’

‘It would. That pink is doing nothing for your skin tone. Come with me.’

Hans followed Nancy into Olivia’s room. She rifled through the ottoman at the end of the bed. ‘Here we are,’ she said, shaking out a large, flat white sheet.

Hans took off his belt. The pink sheet fell to the floor, leaving him standing in nothing but tight-fitting swim shorts. It was a lot to take in.

He looked embarrassed and started picking up his sheet. ‘I’m sorry. That wasn’t meant to happen.’

She kept her gaze above his waist level. His abs were impressive, but something else had caught her eye.

‘What’s that scar?’ Nancy resisted the temptation to touch the four-inch-long red mark near his right shoulder.

‘It was an accident. It will fade eventually,’ he said.

It looked fairly recent. ‘I bet that hurt.’

He shrugged. ‘It’s ok now.’

He looked vulnerable standing there. She felt the urge to hug him and a lot more besides.

‘Nancy! What the hell are you doing?’ The sound of her father’s outraged shout ruined the moment. For a second, she thought she’d imagined him, but no, he was actually standing there in Olivia’s doorway.

Nancy was horrified. ‘Dad?! What are you doing here?’

‘Why are you half naked?’ her father asked, storming into the room. ‘And why isn’t this man wearing any clothes? What is this? An orgy?’

‘We’re about to have a toga party,’ Nancy said.

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