Chapter Text
“Why did you want to become a detective?” the young woman asked.
The streets of Prague were dark and quiet as Detective Jan Suk walked alongside her. They made an attractive pair, Jan in his slightly rumpled suit with his jacket unbuttoned, and the girl in a trench coat that was almost as long as the short skirt of her dress.
It wasn’t that Jan thought of her as “the young woman” or “the girl,” though she was certainly the woman in his life. Rather, he thought of her in totality, her soothing voice, her sweet perfume, the delicate features of her face, and of course, her long blonde hair. If anything, not knowing her name forced Jan to think of her this way, and he thought of her often.
Jan slowed as he made to answer her question. “I believe my friends at the bar told you the reason why, remember?"
The girl stopped dead in her tracks. “Wasn't it because you grew up liking cops on TV?”
Jan struck an action pose, his hands clasped and fingers extended in an impression of a gun. “Yeah, I liked playing cops and robbers ever since I was a kid. Of course, I always got to be the cop.” Swept up in the memory, he pointed his finger-gun at the villain of his imagination, the devious killer finally in his sights. “Bang,” he said with all the coolness he could muster.
“Ah ha ha ha!” the young woman laughed, her arms wrapped around herself in mirth.
Jan was surprised at first, as the girl was normally so reserved. His shock quickly melted away. He was comfortable around her, feeling free to tell her anything. Maybe she was getting more comfortable around him as well?
He loved seeing her so happy, but he was still a little embarrassed. He put his hands on his hips. “You don't have to laugh that much!”
“Oh come on, Suk,” she said.
Before Jan could say anything else, he found his attention pulled in another direction. A young couple was sitting on the stoop to a nearby building, the girl on the guy’s lap, and they were making out. They weren’t just kissing—they were really going at it. Jan felt his face redden at their display, and his sense of comfort was replaced with an awareness of how close the young woman was standing to him, and how incredibly beautiful she was. She was curiously glancing over at the couple as well. Jan self-consciously cleared his throat, turned, and left the couple to whatever privacy they had left.
The clicking of the young woman’s heels fell back into step with him. “So what were you entrusted with?” she asked.
“Huh?” Jan asked, getting his bearings back.
“Earlier, you were saying that Grimmer entrusted you with something important?”
“Oh. It’s…” Jan started, but he didn’t finish.
He still felt like he could tell the girl anything, but something, some unknown instinct, stopped him. It told him to keep this one piece of information to himself. It must have been his desire to protect the girl, he decided, that made him hold back.
Jan smiled and looked over at her as they walked. “Oh… I don’t want to get you too involved… not that it’s anything to worry about. I’m sure things will turn out fine.”
Jan looked forward and had taken another couple steps before he realized the girl was no longer walking beside him. He stopped and turned around. The girl stood close to him, tightly gripping the strap of her purse, her brow furrowed with concern. “Detective Suk… what have you done?”
“Huh?”
“This business with your late inspector and this Grimmer person… if it’s so serious you can’t even talk about it… It’s good you’re being cautious, but I’m worried about you getting involved in something so dangerous! I have a terrible feeling about this!”
Jan blinked, unsure of what to say, completely taken aback by the girl’s impassioned speech.
The young woman sounded like she was on the verge of crying. “Your mother… she loves you a lot. Do you know why she didn’t want you to be a cop? It’s because she was worried something awful might happen to you, and now you’re carrying this burden alone. I don’t want you to get hurt!”
Jan couldn’t control his blushing. He’d believed the girl was fond of him, or else she’d have no reason to continue to meet him at the bar, or to listen to his outpourings with such patience and kindness. He’d hoped for more than just friendship, of course he had, but he’d been afraid to think of that possibility as anything more than a daydream. But if her feelings for him were this strong, then she must…
“I… I care about you too,” the girl said.
Jan gaped as he stared into her eyes. They were such an alluring blue, and they were filled with worry. Worry for him.
Jan had experienced crushes before, serious crushes, but the feelings sweeping him up as he gazed at this mysterious, impossible girl were more intense than anything he’d felt before. Acting on impulse, without a thought, he reached out, took her by the shoulders, and leaned in for a kiss.
The girl quickly placed her hand on Jan’s chest, and Jan thought for a moment she would push him away.
Instead, she hesitated. She looked down slowly with a strange little smile, her eyes half-lidded. Jan relaxed his grip but didn’t let go. He would never force himself on her, but he feared, surely irrationally, that if he let her go now she’d slip away and he’d never see her again. He held his breath as the girl contemplated her response.
Finally, she looked up at him again, her eyes once again wide and bright, a slight rosy flush to her cheeks, her hand still on Jan’s chest but now gently resting there. “My name. I want you to know my name now, Jan.” She smiled up at him.
“Jan,” she had said. Not “Suk,” not “Detective.”
“It’s Anna. My name is Anna Liebert.”
“Anna,” Jan whispered. It suited her so perfectly. “What a beautiful name.”
Anna closed her eyes and tilted her chin up. Jan’s heart thundered as he leaned forward, and their lips met.
The kiss was better than Jan had dreamed of, from the softness of Anna’s lips, to the whisper of her breath, to the weight of her leaning further into him, engagement Jan was eager to match.
The seconds passed and melted together. It wasn’t a short kiss by any reasonable metric, but it wasn’t nearly long enough. All Jan wanted was to stay like that with Anna forever.
After Anna slowly pulled away, she looked up at Jan expectantly. Jan had nothing to offer her other than a dizzy grin. With nothing to say, he blurted, “So your name must mean that you’re German!”
Anna simply smiled back. “Goodnight, Jan.” She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder, turned, and walked away.
Jan watched Anna go. Anna. She filled his head. Anna. “Anna,” he whispered.
As if she’d heard him, though at that distance, there’s no way she could have, she glanced back and waved, giggling girlishly as she did.
Jan waved back. Whatever tomorrow held for Anna and him, he couldn’t wait.
NEXT: A Small Favor