Fish Soup

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Klatovská 51, an unremarkable building, in an unremarkable street. Pavel looked behind him to make sure he wasn’t being followed; the coast looked clear. A woman in the top window was throwing her duvet out to air while watching the street below with suspicion. Pavel was trying to act normally, but he was probably already standing out like a sore thumb. He knew he couldn’t hang around deciding if to go through with it; he had to either ring the bell or walk on and not look back. He’d come this far, he couldn't back out now, could he? He looked around, apart from duvet woman there was no one else visible in the street. He took a deep breath, his hands felt clammy and his clothes felt too small on his body. He looked at the list of names on the doorbell and then looked at the slip of paper in his hand. He knew this was the moment of truth, he remembered the old expression, you can make fish soup out of a fish but you can't make a fish out of fish soup. Once he rang that doorbell he’d be one of them, forever and a day tarred with that brush. It was only once didn’t cut it as a defence. A car cruised down the street, Pavel looked down hoping his face was hidden from the passengers.

The paper said Burešová, he could see the name on the doorbell. He breathed out and rang the bell and waited. A voice crackled on the intercom. He was well aware this might be a trap, that he might have fallen for the oldest trick in the book. But if he was going to do this, it was a risk he would have to take. Pavel said his name and pushed open the buzzing door. He climbed the stairs slowly; out of the way of prying eyes he could take his time, allow his feet to reflect his uncertainty. He could feel sweat on the backs of his knees, he rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans, he wondered how he looked.
Ms Burešová opened the door and smiled.
‘Come in, I won't bite,’ she said. Pavel was aware of how scared he must have looked.
He crossed the threshold.
‘So let's deal with the money first,’ the scantily clad woman said with a wink, ‘and then we can get you out of those clothes.’