The canal-side property was just what she wanted and Anna felt uncommonly relieved to have now moved in. Some weeks ago, she had heard that her offer had been accepted, and packing up her belongings and furniture, what she wanted to take with her, had begun with the devoted help of a nephew, Hans. She could move on from what had been the marital home and start anew; her retirement from working in the local council was not to be deferred because of what had happened.
"There you go, Anna, that's the last of them cleared away," Hans told her in his deep voice as he came back into her living room which was dominated by her baby-grand, the instrument a vital part in helping her through a messy divorce. She had even mentored Hans to play it and duets had become a part of their routine whenever he came around and to study music with her. "I thought that you were downsizing?"
She smiled, even if he was teasing and to lighten her mood. The removals company was expected within a day or two to take away all the packing cases and papers that she had used to wrap some of her most treasured pieces of china, a collection of large Delft-blue plates that had been a part of her inheritance from a long-deceased mother.
Leaving the old place had been bad enough, but now she had to settle in and adjust to new surroundings, even if this part of town was familiar. She used to cycle along the street on her way to and from work. Then, she had vowed to try a buy a place along this tree-lined street when the opportunity arose.
Anna met his considerate look her way.
Unlike before, and when her mentoring of him had fashioned a particularly close bond, she now felt nervy from the attention that he offered, a state of mind not helped by how long it had taken her to recover from COVID-19 and that many weeks of hospitalization had brought upon her. But she had gotten through and had come to rely upon him more and more whenever Hans called round. His music lessons were only one of the reasons for him doing so.
"I'll take my chances on being with you," he would say and she often wondered what else lay behind that simple, and often teasing, remark.
He had spoken in a suggestive and flirtatious way and, given the moods that she so often seemed to be trapped in, it was a welcome distraction, innocent in its ways and from which she expected nothing more than what had gone before, his company and cheerfulness as they played music together.
Anna tugged on his sleeve.
"Hang the mirror up for me, would you, please? I want it in the hall so that you get a greater feeling of space. While you do that, I'll make a cup of tea and we can decide what else needs to be done before you go. You have your work..."
"Yes, but I opted for a night shift so that I can see things are right for you here. I'll only get quizzed by my mother on how it all went."
Hans gave a phlegmatic shrug of his shoulders as he said it.
He gazed at Anna's silken grey-blonde hair that was flouncy and falling to each side of a graceful and slender face. He remembered her once bubbly and chatty personality, her ways with him when they played the piano together, seated on a narrow piano stool and laughing if one or the other made a mistake. Yeah, he'd always had a crush on her. And now in a new home, and with some work to do that he could help her with, he hoped to see that woman again, to help her blossom and to break out of her closed-in world.
"I'll hold the mirror, Anna, and you press the picture hook's nail into the wall so that you can mark the spot. I'll then do the rest."
Hans felt her brush his shoulder as he held the mirror up against the wall, breathing in the light scent that always delighted him and never seemed to change.
"Just a bit higher...please?" she asked giving him a quick smile. Anna too sensed his closeness and strength. The mirror was held firmly and she did what was needed before stepping away. "Yes, that should do."
Hans thought that he met a knowing look and smile as Anna stepped away and left him to it, but not before she held out a hammer from the tray of tools that he had brought into the house. He had seen the muscles in her thin arms tense as she worked the picture hook into the wall, her bangled bracelets jangling as she moved to do so. He had also taken in the fit of her blouse against her breasts, her slender hips, bony even, as her blouse rose with every move that Ann made until she was happy with where the mirror would be hung.
"I'll go and make the coffee. I may even have a piece of walnut cake in the tin...for us to share." She had spoken lightly, even nervily after being so close to him. "Call me if you need some more help, won't you?"
"Yeah, sure..."
Hans knew that the task he had been set was only too easy, but what he could not have bargained for was the sound of her cry of dismay and despair as he heard a thump and then the rush of water. The mirror was hung haphazardly on its hook before he rushed to be with her.
A geyser of water was seen rising from the base of the mixer tap unit and Anna simply stood there holding the curved spout. Her face was contorted in shock and she seemed oblivious to her soaked blouse as it clung to her body.
"Step aside!" he commanded and brushed past her.
He too felt the water splattering onto his head and shoulders as he ducked under the sink top and turned off the isolating taps on the water feeds. Unhesitatingly, he then fixed the fastening at the base of the spout, Anna having let go of it as if she were lost in a dream.
"Everything was going so well and then this," she said wiping water from her face and watching as Hans deftly repaired the unit before it was tested.
"And everything's fine again. I've tightened the joint but you'll have to keep an eye on it, change the whole fitting for a better one..."
She marvelled at how unflustered he had been in dealing with the problem. "You decide...you choose what's best so there's no repeat of me getting soaked."
Anna had stood some steps away from him and watched as the water geyser stopped and Hans had instantly set to work. Now, she stepped over to him, never breaking eye contact, she held out her hands to him.
"Even now you look wonderful," he said and gazed at how her sodden blouse shaped her heavy breasts. The soft cotton fabric had become like a second skin following the eruption of water. Nothing that she did, pulling it away from her body, lessened the beguiling and, to his eyes, erotic sight.
