One Perfect Summer

confidence. ‘I’m looking forward to checking him out.’
    I roll my eyes, but don’t bother to comment.
    ‘I’m going to get ready.’
    Luckily I waste no time, because Lukas arrives within fifteen minutes.
    ‘That was quick,’ I say as I open the door. I feel all weird and shy again.
    ‘I was already dressed,’ he replies, stepping over the threshold. He squeezes my waist and looks around the hall. The smell of pancakes is coming from the kitchen. He glances down at me and suddenly seems to remember something. ‘Hello,’ he says with a grin, cupping my face and kissing me gently on the lips. Some of my shyness dissipates. I smile up at him.
    ‘Come and meet my flatmates.’ I take his hand and lead him to the kitchen. Emily has clearly been watching the door with eager eyes and she smiles brightly when we appear. Jessie acts far less interested.
    ‘Jessie, Emily, this is Lukas.’
    Lukas steps forward and offers his hand to Jessie. ‘Jessie?’ He sounds confused.
    ‘Yep. And she’s Emily.’ Jessie points at the table.
    Lukas quickly recovers and shakes Emily’s hand too. He surveys the kitchen and I can’t help but see it through his eyes: it’s an absolute tip.
    ‘Sorry about the mess,’ I mumble.
    ‘Jessie’s been whipping up a storm,’ Emily explains. ‘Have a seat. Tuck in.’
    ‘Thank you.’ Lukas pulls up a chair and sits down.
    I place my hand on his shoulder. ‘Do you want a tea or coffee?’
    ‘Coffee. Please.’
    ‘We only have instant,’ Jessie interjects.
    ‘That’s fine.’ Lukas nods awkwardly.
    I glare at Jessie and hope Lukas doesn’t notice. ‘Be nice!’ I mouth. The little shit sniggers at me.
    ‘So . . . Alice says you’re studying Physics at Trinity?’ Emily asks.
    Reading, not studying, I can’t help but silently correct her.
    ‘That’s right,’ he replies.
    ‘Wow. That sounds interesting,’ Emily says.
    He smiles politely. ‘Are you at Anglia Ruskin?’
    ‘Yep. Sociology,’ she tells him before he can ask.
    ‘Emily is from Scotland,’ I say, passing Lukas his coffee and pulling up a chair.
    Jessie grumpily plonks a fresh plate of pancakes on the table and scrapes a chair across the wooden floor before sitting down on it.
    ‘Milk? Sugar?’ I ask Lukas.
    ‘White, no sugar,’ he replies, glancing at Jessie with a frown. Gone is his polite smile. And why should it stick around when Jessie is being so rude?
    I squeeze Lukas’s knee under the table. I’ll apologise to him later.
    ‘I’m sorry about Jessie,’ I say as we walk down the garden path and turn towards town. Breakfast did not improve with time and we left as soon as we could.
    ‘Mmm,’ he replies wryly. His tone does little to alleviate my unease. ‘What was his problem?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ I reply. ‘He’s probably still annoyed with me for staying out on Friday night.’
    ‘Is he your keeper?’
    ‘Of course not.’ I squeeze his hand and try to make amends. ‘He was only worried about me. Anyway, let’s forget about it. Shall we go for a walk along the Backs?’
    ‘If you like,’ he replies moodily. We walk in silence for a while. Finally he speaks. ‘When you said you were going to the movies with Jessie I thought you were referring to your female flatmate.’
    ‘Oh.’ Does that bother him? ‘Well, the name Jessie is . . . What’s the word? Both male and female.’
    ‘Androgynous,’ he replies.
    Bloody hell, he speaks better English than I do. I glance up at him. ‘I was going to say “unisex”.’
    He grins and steps in front of me, taking my hands and kissing me gently on the lips. I tilt my face up to his and then he lifts me in his arms so that my legs are wrapped around his waist. He stifles my giggles with his kisses. I’m aware of people walking by and I feel self-conscious as his lips move to my neck.
    ‘Shall we go back to mine?’ he murmurs in my ear.
    I nod quickly. ‘Mmm.’ My heart is all aflutter as he puts me down.

 
    ‘I can’t believe I’m not going to see you at Christmas,’ I say sadly, resting my cheek on Lukas’s bare chest. He presses his lips to the top of my head. We’re lying in his bed, staring out of the window. It’s late afternoon and it’s already dark outside, but the Christmas lights on Trinity Street cast the room in a warm glow. He leaves to go back to Germany early tomorrow morning.
    ‘It will be good for you to go home too,’ he says. ‘How is your father?’
    I had a shock a few days ago when