The Cuckoo Bird: Say The War Had Never Happened...

Chapter Seven

'There is absolutely no point in trying to hide things from me,' said Karl lounging on the window sill. 'You are without a doubt the worst liar I've ever met.'

Anna snorted, not looking over at him. His silhouette in her office window made it impossible for her to actually read the work on her desk. But she wouldn't tell him that. 'Only to you. You've been studying me for twenty years now.'

'Stop avoiding the question!' he said as Anna continued rifling through papers on her desk. 'How was the date?'

Smiling coyly to herself, Anna refused to look up at her friend. 'It was very nice.'

Karl scoffed loudly, springing up and standing on the other side of her desk. He pressed his hands to it, shaking it so that Anna's pen scribbled on the page.

'Karl!'

'That wouldn't have happened if you'd just given me details!' When she still didn't reply, he came to her side and sat on top of her paperwork.

'You're such a bloody child!' she chastised, swatting him with the flat of her hand.

'I know,' he grinned at her, lifting her face to look at him. 'Now, details please Doctor Lehman.'

Sighing, Anna suppressed an eye roll and considered how to respond.

How could she begin to explain Mathias?

Whatever she had expected from their date, her estimations were nowhere close to the reality. It hadn't been romantic; not how she would term romantic anyway. Every moment with him was thrilling, her heart wild and erratic the entire night. She went to bed still smelling him on her clothes, his lascivious words to her running around and around her mind.

If she was honest with herself, she barely remembered the specifics of their discussions. Of course, it made her heart sing to know he didn't care about her birth mother and that they shared common ground when it came to a terrible start in life.

Really though, it was the way he made her feel that she couldn't escape.

Since last night, she'd had a delicious burn raging through her veins. He'd ignited a passion in her that she'd never felt before. She'd thought of nothing but his touch all night, the way his lips had graced her skin, his tongue gliding against hers. If only she hadn't been so scared to let it go further. What an experience it would have been.

'Hey,' said Karl, snapping his fingers. 'Stop day dreaming and tell me.'

Blushing, Anna tried to conjure the right words. 'Well, it turns out he and I have the same problem when it comes to birth mothers.'

'How about that!' said Karl, shuffling closer to her. 'That's not common knowledge...'

'No, so it has to stay that way.'

Karl scoffed. 'Excuse me, I'm excellent at keeping secrets! I hide a pretty big one every day of my life, don't I?'

'Only because most people don't believe men like other men,' she teased.

He nudged her playfully. 'Where did he take you?'

'Café Ruhe.'

'For a first date?' exclaimed Karl.

'The man is practically made of money. Are you surprised?'

'Even so,' said Karl, slumping back onto his hands. 'That's impressive.'

'It was so nice,' sighed Anna wistfully. 'We were there for four hours.'

'So he likes chatter box Anna then?'