Olga couldn't wait to ask until she had sat down at the table in Aleksandra's flat: "Have you disappeared? I've been trying to call you for days. Your guest must be keeping you quite busy. Tell me about him!"
Aleksandra poured Olga and herself a cup of tea and sat down as well, "He is a very hardworking scientist. He researches old city maps and documents with the help of our interpreter."
Olga took a sip of the tea and then put two spoonfuls of sugar in it, "By the way, bets are already on in the office about when things will spark between you."
Aleksandra gave a short laugh, "What I am about to tell you must not leave these walls under any circumstances. Under no circumstances are you to talk about it to any of the comrades in the department." Olga's eyes narrowed and her expression, tense with curiosity, showed a desire for juicy details, "What was he like?"
Aleksandra now answered with a hearty laugh, "Our guest, the researcher, is in his avocation a Catholic priest from Austria. And even if I'm not clear about a lot of his thoughts, one thing is absolutely certain: he doesn't have the slightest interest in me as a woman. Whether this is because - as one always hears about these Catholic priests - he is basically more interested in men in long black dresses or whether he is really as connected to his profession as it seems, remains to be seen. In any case, any comrade who expects something to come up with him loses a bet."
Olga was left speechless. Aleksandra smiled triumphantly, "So, at last I have managed to surprise you for once!"
This sentence alone had given Olga enough time to recover from the initial surprise. Without catching her breath, she continued: "Firstly, the bets had nothing at all to do with your guest; the question was how far things had already got with you and Comrade Shakhlikov. Secondly, this guest cannot be so unimportant to you if your first suspicion is that he is being traded as your potential lover. And finally, you are the last person who should say anything about people who are not married or even in a relationship because of their devotion to their profession! Checkmate!"
Aleksandra fell silent, affected. She had gotten carried away with spilling a state secret to keep her spotless reputation in front of her friend and had gotten herself into more confusion than she would have liked.
"But back to the priest: how did he get into the Soviet Union? And what is he really researching under your supervision? You're not actually going to experience something exciting for once, are you?"
Aleksandra regained her composure: "Olga, you know I'm not allowed to give any more information about that."
Olga tilted her head to the left and smiled mischievously, "If you don't tell me, then I guess I'll have to ask at our embassy in Vienna. And that might raise more dust."
"Olga, you are impossible! Doctor Erath, that's his name, is here on behalf of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He deals with urban architecture; and therefore, it was only logical to assign him to me. I'll bring him the documents he wants and answer his questions, Comrade Shakhlikov translates."
After another sip of tea, Olga asked, playfully naïve: "So you spend your days with two men: a mysterious and impregnable-looking Austrian priest and the heartthrob of the interpreting department. If that's not an exciting love triangle. Too bad, but for your reassurance, I won't say anything in the department, of course. Even if I can't prevent the rumours about you and Leonid from being fuelled further: For he who is silent makes curious."
