58. Sort of Prodigies
The next morning, we found Martin in the kitchen in an advanced degree of dissolution. The table was covered in used tissues. Martin’s nose and eyes were red, and he sniffled loudly when he saw us.
“What’s up, Marts?” I asked casually and wondered if we were ever going to live in peace for longer than a few moments. I looked at Pearl. Desire tugged at my nether regions at the sight of her untamed hair and her bare legs under her nightshirt.
“I’m sorry, Nick. I’m soooooso sorry,” Martin said, his sniffling turning into full-blown sobs.
“What is it?” Pearl asked and started out making coffee. Images of our love making flashed before my inner eye.
“I called Rachel.”
“What?” I asked.
“I had to. When I saw you and Pearl on the train together, I realized I’ve been in love with Rachel all along.”
“You chose an interesting moment to admit it,” I said and almost laughed.
“You’re not mad?” Martin asked and his sobbing stopped.
“Maybe I am going to be. Then, what right do I have to be mad?”
“Every right! I put us all in danger.”
“Marts, I put us all in danger.”
“Who is Rachel?” Pearl asked.
“Marts’ longtime love interest.”
“Not another prodigy, I hope,” Pearl said.
“Sort of,” Martin sniffled.
Now Pearl laughed.
“What?” Martin said with indignation.
“I’m looking forward to meeting all your ‘sort of prodigies’.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I told Pearl that Jeremy could run some scenarios about what is going to happen once the proof is out. I said he’s kind of a prodigy.”
“Let’s not tell Rachel and Jeremy we call them ‘sort of prodigies’,” Martin said gathering his wits.
“How is she?” I asked.
“Rachel? Oh, she was pleased to hear from me. She was worried sick. She and everyone else.”
“Where is she?”
“Home. Where else would she be?”
“I thought she was going to Europe, to Shakespeare-Town for an internship.”
“She is. In two months. Only she’s not going to Stratford-upon-Avon, she’s been offered summer school spot at the Viennese Music Academy,” Martin said with pride.
“Vienna? Nice. Best music school in Europe for violin,” I said while thinking through what this meant for us.
“You’re not mad?”
“No. Not at all, Marts. Did you ask her about Jeremy?”
“She said he’s doing fine. He’s walking in your footsteps. He’s been accepted into Princeton to do a remote bachelor’s in actuarial sciences and statistics.”
“Did you tell her where we are?”
“Don’t insult me! Of course not.”
“Do you think they can trace the call back to this flat?” Pearl asked.
I thought about it. Martin’s call changed everything. No remote cottage, no peace and quiet for working out the proof. No Pearl?
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“I’m sorry, Nick,” Martin said.
“Don’t be. Won’t change a thing.”
“I’m so stupid.”
“Don’t beat yourself up, Martin,” Pearl said.
I had made up my mind. The thought of my going off on my own seemed ridiculous.
“Pearl, do you have a friend here in Edinburgh you trust?”
“I do. Why?”
“We can’t stay here, and we cannot go to the cottage.”
“Why?” Pearl asked.
“Because with my call to Rachel, Butler will be able to make the connection between you and Nick and that, in turn, means no place associated with you or your family is safe,” Martin said, breaking into a new series of sobs.
“Pearl, can you contact this friend?
“Yes, but why?”
“Ask her to look up that message board and post an ad in the classifieds of a newspaper informing you in code whether or not you have been accepted?”
“I could. But wouldn’t it be better if I dropped it altogether for the time being?”
“No. I wouldn’t want that, Pearl. I can’t be responsible for your delaying your education, plus we must hole up somewhere until the summer. It will be good for you to have something to do there.”
“You assume I’m running away with you?”
“Aren’t you?”
Pearl sipped on her coffee. Her smile almost knocked me over.
“Of course, I’m coming with you. Who would want to miss being on the run from an evil secret government agency with two prodigies?”
I walked over to her and whispered into her ear. “I love you, Pearl.”
“Where will we go, Nick?” Martin asked.
“Zagreb.”
“Zagreb?”
“Zagreb!”
“Why?”
“Because everyone will react the same way as you just did, Martin,” Pearl said.
“I get it.” Martin’s face lit up. “We have no reason to go to Zagreb and that’s why we go there.”
“It is a big city …” I said.
“… some see it as a vibrant international capital and others as a city built on solid Slavic heritage. Young and old love Zagreb for being diverse, green and close to nature, in short a city full of opportunities.” I could see Martin was reading aloud from his Europe tour guide in his mind.
“It is close to Vienna,” I said.
“You mean, I can see Rachel?”
“You can see Rachel, and I can talk to Jeremy.”
“How do you know Jeremy will be in Vienna?” Pearl asked.
“Trust me,” I said with a smile in Martin’s direction. “Jeremy goes where Rachel goes.”
“Won’t he be disappointed when he finds out Martin and Rachel are together?” Pearl asked.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we reach it,” I said.
Copyright by Ines Strohschein, Berlin 2023