Page 51 of Be Less Panda

‘Ok,’ she said, bending down and twisting. They ended up face-to-face.

‘I meant the other way,’ he said, backing away.

‘Yes, I can see that now,’ she said. This was getting more awkward by the minute.

‘We’ll do it again.’ He grabbed her around the shoulders. This time, Nancy twisted in the opposite direction and thumped him on his rib cage.

‘Argghhh!’ he called out. ‘Perhaps not so hard when we’re practising.’ He rubbed his ribs. ‘Are you sure you haven’t done this before?’

‘My big brother taught me how to box one summer.’

‘That’s unusual.’

‘He was fed up of me annoying him. I think it was an excuse to get revenge.’

‘And did he get revenge?’

‘Of course not. I was far too competitive to allow him to win.’

Hans laughed. ‘I can imagine that. I think that’s enough for now.’

‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘I don’t think I could cope with any more close-quarter grappling tonight.’

The following morning, Nancy put a plate of warmed croissants in front of Olivia. ‘Ooh, luxury. Feeling flush?’

‘I thought we deserved a treat for a change.’

‘Thank you.’ Olivia’s smile turned into a frown. ‘Why is there a bruise on your arm?’

‘Where?’

‘There!’ Olivia pointed to the outside of Nancy’s arm just above the wrist. ‘It’s deep purple. It looks awful.’

Nancy looked in the mirror. It did look bad. ‘I bet I caught it on a bookshelf corner or something.’

‘It looks more like a thumbprint to me. And there’s a matching one on your other arm. Is everything ok?’

It must have happened when during Hans’ self-defence lesson last night. ‘Yes, everything’s fine.’

‘Are you sure? Philip hasn’t tried anything on, has he?’

’No. Of course not. Why would you say that?’

‘It looks like someone strong grabbed both your arms.’

She wasn’t going to let it go. Nancy would have to be honest. ‘It was Hans, actually.’

‘Hans!’

‘He was teaching me self-defence.’

Olivia looked sceptical.

‘It’s true. He thinks with Madame Dubois’s interesting customers around, I ought to be able to look after myself.’ Which was almost the truth.

‘I thought you said they were all well-dressed gentlemen.’

‘They are, but one could still turn nasty at some point.’

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