– I'm sorry I'm late. I really didn't mean to be. – I immediately saw the look in her eyes, as if asking: "Is he apologising?!"
– Okay… And you're sorry for yelling at you… I really thought you were late on purpose… Well, I was wrong. – The girl was embarrassed and seemed to be thinking about every word. – But I'll ask you not to be late again.
– You have my word," I said with a smile.
Viper smiled, too, and sat down at the table. I took a seat across from her.
– Let's get acquainted? – I asked casually, glancing at my companion. – I'll go first. Do you mind?
– No.
– My name is Cedric Morgan. I'm a fifth-year physics and maths student," I said. – Now it's your turn. I'm sorry to be so brief, but I'm afraid we don't have time to go over my CV.
Viper sat with her arms crossed over her chest. A few strands of her beautiful, long hair rested on her shoulders. I wondered again about her bright, dark eyes: they seemed to burn through me, though her gaze was neither contemptuous nor angry now.
– Even better. My name is Viper Vladinovich. I'm a third-year student of the same faculty," my ward said softly.
– You have an unusual name," I said.
– My father heard it somewhere and thought it would be nice to have a daughter with such a name. My mother resisted for a long time, though, and wanted to call me… Anyway, never mind. – Viper paused, as if afraid she'd said too much about herself.
– It's a beautiful name. I can't stand mine," I admitted. Of course, I was lying: I'd recently thought the name Viper was ridiculous, but strangely enough, it suited the girl sitting across from me, my stranger from the Nusle Bridge.
Viper raised her eyebrows in surprise.
– Cedric. Like the hero of a chivalric novel. Where are you from? – I changed the subject, trying to find out as much about my companion as possible.
– From Brno," she answered.
– As far as I know, Brno has many good universities. Why were you attracted to Prague?
– You are right, Brno has many universities, but it is Prague, the capital. If I hadn't applied here, thanks to the grant, I would never have been able to pay for my studies and would have stayed in Brno. But luckily everything went well. Where are you from?
– I was born in England, but ten years ago my family moved to Prague. When the question came up about which university I should go to, my parents insisted on Oxford, but I chose the University of Prague," I said, mentally adding to myself, "It's just that I've graduated from Oxford six times.