challenging as she met his gaze. ‘What do you want me to say to that?’
‘I’m just telling it like it is. Someone needs to save Christian from himself.’
‘If I’m to believe what you say, it sounds as though it would be a better idea to dump him straight away.’
‘Well, if you get fed up, you’ll have to dump him . Because he’ll never leave you. Do you understand? Deep down, he’s incredibly loyal. He might mess everything up, he might act in a way that makes you think he’s leaving you, but . . . He’ll hang onto you like a bloody lifebuoy.’
He fell silent. Seja didn’t speak either. She felt surprisingly embarrassed. A bell rang behind the bar. Last orders.
‘Hang in there. He really needs you.’
Seja groaned and covered her face with her hands. ‘Enough, Jonas. You really are embarrassing me!’
Jonas grinned as he suddenly realised how soppy he’d been sounding. He took Seja’s hand and shook it vigorously.
‘Does it embarrass you to be told that you’re an exciting and very beautiful woman, Seja? I thought you knew that! Hello! Earth to Seja! The old sod’s been very lucky, and he knows it.’
‘As I said, you’re embarrassing me.’
‘Really? Brilliant.’
Seja contemplated Christian’s friend in profile as he got out his wallet. Yes. It was probably best if the evening came to an end at this point. She was invited to her neighbours for dinner the following day, and she had no wish to turn up with a hangover. Besides, she needed some time to go over what had been said this evening. Had she heard genuine insight or simply drunken ramblings?
She stood up.
It was illogical, but she was suddenly desperate to see Christian. Only a few hours earlier she had been upset and disappointed. She considered going round to his apartment. Actually, she didn’t have a choice. The last bus to Stenared had already gone.
She saw Hanna leaving the bar with her ex, just as her mobile beeped. She had a good idea what the message was about.
12
Tell had been driving with the window wound down and his elbow resting on the door, a position that encapsulated freedom precisely because it was such a cliché. He wasn’t the kind of person whose day was dictated by the weather. If anything, he was inspired to achieve as much as possible on warm, sticky summer days, when you shouldn’t really be indoors working. Conversely, days that were heavy with rain sometimes felt positively liberating: a slight feeling of depression meant you were normal after all. Nevertheless, when the first warm days of the year cooled off towards dusk, even Tell was filled with a quiet sense of solemnity. He felt as if the world around him were softening, its scents and smells fading. Heat lingered in the fabric of buildings. As he got out of the car on Mariagatan, the cold night air came rolling in and bumped against the hot walls around him; perhaps it was this contrast that perked him up.
He was struck by how quiet this part of the city was compared with where he lived. He could just about make out the noise of a party from an open window further down the street, and the sound of the odd car or siren broke the relative quiet. But then all was silent once more.
The entrance to Axel’s block wasn’t locked. Tell did his best not to thunder up the lino-covered stairs to the first floor; he raised his hand to knock on the door and thought of Seja, as had happened so often lately when his mind should have been on the job. Sometimes the feel of her skin was like a memory on his hands. A fleeting reminder that she existed. Usually this made him feel warm and happy; occasionally he felt guilty, as he did now, but then he was annoyed at the very idea of feeling guilty.
The man’s face was pale beneath his stubble and he plucked constantly at his shirt.
He was in shock.
‘I can’t get my head round this,’ Axel Donner repeated.
‘First of all, I’d like to thank you for agreeing to see me at this late hour,’ said
‘I’m just telling it like it is. Someone needs to save Christian from himself.’
‘If I’m to believe what you say, it sounds as though it would be a better idea to dump him straight away.’
‘Well, if you get fed up, you’ll have to dump him . Because he’ll never leave you. Do you understand? Deep down, he’s incredibly loyal. He might mess everything up, he might act in a way that makes you think he’s leaving you, but . . . He’ll hang onto you like a bloody lifebuoy.’
He fell silent. Seja didn’t speak either. She felt surprisingly embarrassed. A bell rang behind the bar. Last orders.
‘Hang in there. He really needs you.’
Seja groaned and covered her face with her hands. ‘Enough, Jonas. You really are embarrassing me!’
Jonas grinned as he suddenly realised how soppy he’d been sounding. He took Seja’s hand and shook it vigorously.
‘Does it embarrass you to be told that you’re an exciting and very beautiful woman, Seja? I thought you knew that! Hello! Earth to Seja! The old sod’s been very lucky, and he knows it.’
‘As I said, you’re embarrassing me.’
‘Really? Brilliant.’
Seja contemplated Christian’s friend in profile as he got out his wallet. Yes. It was probably best if the evening came to an end at this point. She was invited to her neighbours for dinner the following day, and she had no wish to turn up with a hangover. Besides, she needed some time to go over what had been said this evening. Had she heard genuine insight or simply drunken ramblings?
She stood up.
It was illogical, but she was suddenly desperate to see Christian. Only a few hours earlier she had been upset and disappointed. She considered going round to his apartment. Actually, she didn’t have a choice. The last bus to Stenared had already gone.
She saw Hanna leaving the bar with her ex, just as her mobile beeped. She had a good idea what the message was about.
12
Tell had been driving with the window wound down and his elbow resting on the door, a position that encapsulated freedom precisely because it was such a cliché. He wasn’t the kind of person whose day was dictated by the weather. If anything, he was inspired to achieve as much as possible on warm, sticky summer days, when you shouldn’t really be indoors working. Conversely, days that were heavy with rain sometimes felt positively liberating: a slight feeling of depression meant you were normal after all. Nevertheless, when the first warm days of the year cooled off towards dusk, even Tell was filled with a quiet sense of solemnity. He felt as if the world around him were softening, its scents and smells fading. Heat lingered in the fabric of buildings. As he got out of the car on Mariagatan, the cold night air came rolling in and bumped against the hot walls around him; perhaps it was this contrast that perked him up.
He was struck by how quiet this part of the city was compared with where he lived. He could just about make out the noise of a party from an open window further down the street, and the sound of the odd car or siren broke the relative quiet. But then all was silent once more.
The entrance to Axel’s block wasn’t locked. Tell did his best not to thunder up the lino-covered stairs to the first floor; he raised his hand to knock on the door and thought of Seja, as had happened so often lately when his mind should have been on the job. Sometimes the feel of her skin was like a memory on his hands. A fleeting reminder that she existed. Usually this made him feel warm and happy; occasionally he felt guilty, as he did now, but then he was annoyed at the very idea of feeling guilty.
The man’s face was pale beneath his stubble and he plucked constantly at his shirt.
He was in shock.
‘I can’t get my head round this,’ Axel Donner repeated.
‘First of all, I’d like to thank you for agreeing to see me at this late hour,’ said
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