And before he could stop himself, Max leaned towards her. He said, ‘This.’ And then he pressed his lips on hers.

At first, her mouth was pursed up in shock. Then it softened and for two blissful seconds, their lips stayed together in a promise.

‘Hey, you two!’ Leo was speaking from somewhere outside of Max’s bubble.

Max broke away from Elsa. He looked at them both. His best, most beloved friends.

And then, because he couldn’t – he wouldn’t – say goodbye, Max jumped up from the bench, grabbed his bicycle and cycled away. His lips stung and his heart ached, but his mind contained only one happy thought as he pedalled as fast as he could: I will marry Elsa one day.

By the time he got home, he had almost convinced himself that it wasn’t really happening. That Elsa’s parents were wrong about it not being safe. They would realize it soon. And then of course they would stay in Vienna and Leo, Max and Elsa would laugh together at how silly they’d been.

Dangerous! What a thought. Of course it wasn’t—

‘Where have you been?’

The deep voice broke into Max’s thoughts as the front door closed behind him.

Max looked up to see his father at the top of the stairs. He must have been working in his office and seen Max coming down the street from the window. He was nearly always in his office lately, when he wasn’t out at meetings with important people from work. Either way, Max didn’t see much of him nowadays and he knew better than to waste those precious moments making him wait for a reply.

‘I’ve been in the park with my friends, Father,’ Max said.

His father took his glasses off and removed a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the lenses as he came down the stairs. Putting his glasses back on, he stood in front of Max, eyeing him warily. ‘Which friends?’ he asked.

‘Leo and Elsa,’ Max replied. ‘My best friends.’

His father nodded slowly. Then he turned to walk away. As he did, he spoke casually. ‘You are not to see them again,’ he said.

Max followed his father down the hall and into the kitchen. Had he heard correctly? His mother was in there, preparing dinner.

‘Not to see my friends again?’ he asked.

His father stopped walking. Max stopped too. So did his heart. His mother stopped what she was doing and looked at her husband.

Without turning, his father spoke again. This time his words were clipped and hard. ‘You make me repeat myself, Max? You really want to test my patience?’

‘I… no. No, Father. I just – I thought I must have misunderstood.’