on the gearstick because soon they’d have to observe the six inches apart rule to not look too cozy with each other.
Yev flinched and took his hand away when the door opened, and Mrs. Irena’s head popped out. She seemed tense, likely worried a stranger had entered the property without authorization, but Radek opened the door and waved at her.
“Hello! I’m back!”
She stared at him, stunned. “Oh, Radek… You’ve done it this time. Your mom won’t be happy, I can tell you that.”
“I know, I know, I’ve had an accident, actually. I know I should have called, but I was too out of it for a while. Do you know Yevhen?” He pointed to Yev but forgot he no longer had a right hand, so the sleeve just flopped his way.
The housekeeper didn’t seem to have noticed, because her surprise expressed sadness rather than shock. “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. Your mom is having her afternoon cake now. Do you want me to make you something to drink?” she asked, opening the door wide when Yev slid out of the car.
“Yev? You want something? I’ll have some tea please, Mrs. Irena.” Radek took the lead, determined to get this whole ordeal over with so that he could pick up some of his clothes. Because he was most definitely not staying here any longer than necessary. “Moooom?” he yelled into the vast corridor.
He wasn’t sure what Yev said to the housekeeper, because his head was pulsing, but Mrs Irena cleared her throat. “In the yellow room.”
“Where’s that?” Yev asked, removing his boots before he stepped onto the shiny floor in just his socks.
Radek snorted. “You don’t have to take your shoes off. Just follow me.”
“Radek?” Mom’s voice was faint but easy to recognize. “Stop making so much racket!”
Yev stared at the damp spots left by Radek’s shoes. “You’re kidding, right?” He looked over his shoulder, but Mrs. Irena was already gone. “Who do you think is gonna clean this?”
Radek stilled, unsure what the question was about. “The cleaner. It’s really easy thanks to the tiles.”
Yev’s brows moved up, and his forehead wrinkled. “Or you take those off so she doesn’t have to do it for no reason. It’s a big house to take care of.”
Radek rolled his eyes but scooted down to undo the boots. “You know you’ll be tying them again, right?”
Yev smirked, his unshaven cheeks dipping. “It’ll be an honor, Ember.”
Radek bit his lip, unable to shed memories of the little jerk-off session they’d had right before leaving home. He slipped the boots off and winked at Yev. “I just imagined you putting shoes on a fox.”
“Radek, come over here at once!” Mom yelled louder.
“I’m coming!” he engaged in their usual screaming match.
Yev sighed but didn’t otherwise comment, looking around the huge living room in silence.
Radek huffed and dashed across the open space, toward the little room with a view on the garden, where his mom liked to read.
“Can’t believe you came here like this after staying silent for a month!”
“I’ve had an accident, okay? The last thing I wanted was to endure your comments while I’m recovering. And we have a guest, by the way. My new friend, Yevhen,” he said once Yev stood next to him.
Silence.
But Radek didn’t care about her embarrassment. If she didn’t want to be judged for shouting, she shouldn’t have done it in the first place.
“What accident?” she asked just as he entered the circular space with Louis XIV-style furniture and a wall painting depicting a Greek landscape with ruins in the foreground.
Radek took a deep breath and glanced at Yev for encouragement, but there was no easy way to do this. “Tah-dah!” he said as he pulled up the sleeve to reveal the stump he didn’t want to see himself.
The cookie she was holding dropped to the tiny porcelain plate before she could have continued to scold him. She placed one hand on her throat, the other on the table, going visibly pale under her carefully bronzed and blushed face.
“Oh… oh no…”
Yev stepped forward. “Are you all right, Mrs. Nowak?”
She gritted her teeth, looking away. “Why is this man here?”
Radek dropped the pretense of a smile and let his shoulders droop. “He’s a new friend of mine. He’s been helping me out a lot, so I wanted you to meet him,” he said despite kind of knowing that Mom was well aware of Yev’s existence. “I had a fireworks accident in Madeira for New Years and… I guess I didn’t