Helena Halme - The Red King of Helsinki - Lies, Spies and Gymnastics

‘I’m afraid I must go.’ Both the men stood up and the Colonel took Pia’s hand. ‘Goodbye, you’ve been very helpful.’

‘You must go now.’ The woman took hold of Pia’s arm. She handed her the down jacket.

And then Pia was standing in the cold, dark street outside. It occurred to her that she hadn’t asked any questions, or had any answers to what was going on with Anni or what kind of trouble her father was in. Or how the Admiral knew Anni’s family. And there was no mention of how talking to the Admiral would help her win the Tournament. Pia shivered and started walking towards the Esplanade Park, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Pia jumped and turned around.

‘Heikki!’ her voice sounded too high, it was such a shock seeing him. Besides he still had his hand on Pia’s shoulder. He looked very serious.

‘What were you doing up there?’ he said.

Pia looked back at the unassuming building, then back at Heikki. He was wearing the same tight jeans and leather jacket he always wore. He still had his school bag hanging off his shoulder. He’d obviously not been at home. Had he been following Pia all the way from school? His eyes were grave, but his mouth, this close to, looked full. His lips were moist as if he’d just licked them. His jaw, the bit of his face that she always thought about last thing at night, had faint stubble on it. Then he pulled her closer to him and bent his head towards hers.

Pia would never tire of kissing Heikki. It was as if he wanted to suck all air out of her and when he let go, she felt breathless. Then he did it again. The second time it was longer, and Pia felt less like fainting, more as if she was sinking into a warm, soft lake at the end of a hot summer’s day. When he let go this time Pia had her eyes closed. When she opened them she saw him smiling at her.

‘Have you got any money?’

‘Yes,’ Pia said. For a change she did have some. Her mother had been unusually generous yesterday and had given her a whole twenty marks note.

‘Give it to me,’ Heikki said when Pia pulled the note out of her pocket. He looked at her and smiled again and said, ‘I’ll pay you back.’ He took hold of Pia’s arm and led her through the park to the newly opened ice cream bar and café called Happy Days. Everybody at school had been talking about it, especially Sasha, who had, of course, been there on the day it opened. Next time she bragged about it, Pia could just casually say, ‘Oh yeah, it’s a cool place, isn’t it?’

‘Oh, you’ve been have you?’ Sasha would say incredulously.

Everybody knew how little money Pia and Maija had. The last thing they’d be spending her mother’s earnings on was overpriced coffee and ice cream. ‘Yeah, Heikki took me there.’ Pia would say and walk away. Pia smiled at the look Sasha would have on her face.

Sitting opposite Heikki, sharing a banana split, Pia felt prickly all over. Was this their first date? Pia didn’t dare ask. She watched him eat most of the ice cream, but it didn’t matter, she wasn’t at all hungry. Instead, she looked around. The place was a bit like a Russian tearoom she’d seen in films, from before the Revolution, with glass walls that arched halfway up the ceiling. There were large palms all over the vast room, and round tables, with French-looking decorative chairs. It was very full of noisy people. Pia felt as if she was abroad somewhere and not in the middle of cold, dull Helsinki at all. Then she remembered her mother.

‘I’ve got to go.’

‘Oh,’ Heikki said. He’d just taken another mouthful of ice cream. Pia waited for him to suck at the cold stuff in his mouth and giggled. He swallowed noisily and said, ‘Don’t go yet, I need to talk to you.’

Now he was serious again. He put the spoon down, leaving an untouched ball of chocolate ice cream on the plate in between them. He looked at it longingly, and lifted his eyes to Pia.

‘You never told me what you were doing up at the Council?’

‘The Council?’

Heikki looked long and hard at her, and shrugged his square shoulders. He glanced at a table of loud boys and girls, people they didn’t know. Pia had been in love with Heikki for as long as she could remember, or at least since the beginning of last year. Pia couldn’t believe she was finally here on a date with him. She wasn’t going to spoil it with talk of the Admiral.

‘I don’t know what Council you’re talking about – I’ve just been to the dentist up there.’

Iain looked up at the chilly air hanging above the tops of the bare trees of the South Esplanade. He stamped his feet against the pavement. His black boots were slippery on the icy Helsinki streets. He was glad that Maija had insisted he should buy a new, warmer overcoat. It was made of grey felt-like material, and Maija had added a dark, burgundy-coloured scarf and warmly lined gloves to his purchases when they were shopping at Stockmann’s. ‘These will keep you from getting frostbitten,’ she’d said and squeezed his arm. Maija couldn’t understand why he was so reluctant to acquire the items of clothing, but Iain resented having to spend his own money on winter clothes. MI6 would have to reimburse him. Not that he’d had time to talk to the Colonel about his clothing worries; there were operational issues to worry about. His time ashore was always an issue, as he was officially naval personnel. To be seen at the Council would give a clear indication of the Colonel’s ‘other duties’. Though Iain supposed everyone, at least on their side, knew what he was really up to.

Maija had taken Iain shopping after they’d met for lunch. Her concern for his welfare had stung after what he’d just done, but Iain reminded himself that he was working for his country and must, as the Colonel had said, put his personal feelings aside.

The bank where Maija worked had been bigger than Iain expected. Rows of cashiers sat on either side of a grand hall. In the middle were large pillars against which grew tall green houseplants. Maija hadn’t seen him at first. Iain had to ask a woman at the first desk, which turned out to be Foreign Exchange. The spectacled woman had nodded to the far end of the hall, where Iain spotted Maija’s dark head bent over some paperwork.

‘Oh, lunch?’ she’d said, looking at her wrist watch.

Iain had sensed the eyes of the cashiers on him as he talked to Maija. ‘I thought we’d try The Old Baker’s on Mannerheim Street. I hear it’s very good.’ Iain had hoped taking Maija to an English-style pub would divert her attention from the impromptu nature of his suggestion.

The place had turned out to be nothing like an English pub, apart from it being fairly dark, even in the middle of the day. The dimness suited his task, though.

The conversation with Maija had been the difficult part. Taking a five hundred mark note from her handbag had been easy. He’d done it while she was in the lavatory. That had been what convinced her in the end. She’d found the money was missing when they were sitting in a café drinking coffee after the shopping. On his way back to the office that afternoon he’d felt strangely deflated. Was it this easy to control people’s lives?

Iain watched Pia cross the Esplanade Park with a lanky boy who was wearing a short leather jacket and jeans. They entered the coffee place and Iain sighed. He looked at his watch. It was three minutes to six and he knew this wasn’t going to be a short wait. The wind was getting up, the Arctic chill tightening around his body. He considered his options: the drunken act, brisk walks around the block or surveillance inside the café. Though the last one was the most comfortable option, it was too risky. Pia was a smart and observant girl. She’d notice him straightaway, however dewy-eyed she was about that boy.