Going upstairs, Frida found Heléne just coming out of her bedroom. "Good morning," she said turning towards her.
"Good morning," Frida opened the door to her bedroom and entered followed by Heléne, who immediately made herself comfortable on the bed. Frida didn't want to say anything, she didn't want to be rude either, but didn't understand her actions. Heléne stared at her and got under the sheets, Frida began to look for her underwear in the drawers.
"Need help?" Heléne asked her, despite everything Frida could only use one hand.
"I'm fine," she replied.
"Hmm... okay," she began to pry the cuticle from her nails with her own fingers. "Hey, mom's coming to pick us up in a bit," she added.
"Are you leaving, too?" Frida stopped putting the clothes she would wear on the bed and looked at her.
"Yes, I actually live with mom but sometimes I come and spend weeks here, it's kind of like shared guardianship. Peter does live here," she explained.
"Does that mean Benny and I will be alone?" Frida asked somewhat nervous, she thought that at least Heléne and Peter would be in the house with them.
"Yes, but it is not the first time," Heléne sat up and looked at her. "You always enjoyed being alone, what's more, you prayed for it to come every day that we weren't here," she joked.
"Sure," Frida smiled nervously. "But this time it's different, I can't remember anything."
"Don't worry about it, Benny isn't going to rape you or anything," Heléne joked again. "If he starts getting naughty, tell him your have headache and voila." Frida turned red as a tomato, receiving those advice from her husband's daughter was not the most comfortable thing in the world either.
"It's weird you're saying that to me," she laughed.
"You said it once, I am literally giving you your own advice," Heléne replied.
"Really? I can't believe I was giving those advices," she shook her head and stepped into the closet. After a minute of silence, Frida came out of the closet again and looked at Heléne who was brushing her hair with one of her combs, "Am I a good stepmother?" She said in a more serious tone. She turned around and looked at her, she was somewhat confused and she didn't know what she expected her to answer.
"Sure yes, why?"
"I want you to answer me with the truth, not because I'm here, tell me if I was," Frida insisted.
"You have been very good, I swear to you. We've always gotten along well, ever since we met you," she confessed.
"Good mother?" She asked again.
"Hmm..." Heléne thought about it for a moment. "The best for your children, that is, you have had differences but the normal ones I assume," she told her so as not to go into too much detail.
"Okay," Frida replied in a low voice, not so convinced of the response she received. "Good wife?" She asked her last.
"The best wife. Sometimes you get really mad at Benny but I've always agreed with you," she explained.
"Do we fight a lot?"
"Depends, normal? But usually it's because of something he does wrong, because everything about him is wrong, so, you have every reason to argue."
"You mean they are frequent..."
"No, I mean they are totally justified," Heléne responded quickly. Frida bit her lip and took a deep breath, she didn't know what to expect and that caused her anxiety. Heléne smiled to show her that everything was fine, she didn't want to upset her either but she thought about it late. They had a conversation for a while longer until Benny arrived, then Frida would be tested the moment they left, she didn't know if she would resist being alone with Benny for a weekend.
"Benny, you should take Frida to Norway as soon as she recovers, maybe it will help if she is around the places where she was born and went on vacation in her childhood," Olive suggested, they were still on their way to the airport and she was sitting there at his side.
"Yeah, you're right," Benny nodded, still not taking his eyes off the highway. "I'll plan it and let you know," he confirmed.
"Be patient with her," she commented, pausing. "For her it is not easy, she doesn't want to be like this but it is the reality that she has had to live; We must be happy and thankful that she is alive, we would not have endured if it had run otherwise," Benny froze and got goosebumps, just thinking about it gave him chills.
"I would have died too, I can't even think about it," he swallowed and kept driving.
"Don't say that," she put her hand on his shoulder. "Anyway, you have the children and you have to go strong for them, even for Hans and Lotta, you'll see that you will be able to resume your lives soon," she assured him. Benny kept driving on the way to the airport, he wanted to be positive and think about all the things he could do to help his wife, he wanted her to feel protected and motivated to move forward, for that required that he be focused and willing.
Benny entered the house, he had seen Christina's car parked outside so he didn't hesitate to rush inside. When opening the door, she was sitting in the living room next to Frida who had her arms crossed, rather, clutching her arm in a cast. They didn't say a single word, but Frida looked at her from time to time, she was curious to see her and she couldn't help it, for her everything was new. "I'm back," Benny said catching their sights, Christina got up from the couch immediately; Frida did nothing but watch them.
"Hi, Benny," Christina replied leaning a bit closer and shaking his hand. Frida wanted to see how they acted face to face, maybe that would give her an idea of what the relationship was really like.
"How are you Christina?" He asked shaking her hand.
"I'm waiting for the children to come down, they have been delayed," she explained, noticing that Heléne was just coming down the stairs with the bundle in her hands.
"Peter is coming down now," she said, going to her mother.
"We could go out and wait for him in the car and so you can tell me how your week was," her mother suggested taking her hand.
"Bye Frida," Heléne let go of her mother's hand and went to Frida to give her a hug, Frida reciprocated and also said goodbye to her.
"Nice to see you, Christina," Frida said and Benny looked at her almost immediately.
"Still, I hope you recover soon," she replied. She and Heléne left and Benny followed them, Frida turned around and went to the stairs, she wanted to go up to the bedroom to continue her reading day, honestly she couldn't think of anything else to do in that place. As she went up, Peter was going down. "Bye Frida," he said.
"Bye, go well," she replied smiling at him and kept climbing.
Five minutes later, Benny entered the bedroom to find Frida asleep on the armchair with her book on her belly. He approached and held her in his arms, taking her immediately to the bed, she tried to wake up but didn't, she settled a little more on the pillow and continued sleeping. Benny took it upon himself to cover her with a blanket so that she would be warm and as always, to put a pillow under her arm so that she would not hurt herself in her unconsciousness.
He stopped for a moment to admire her face, having her even if she had memory loss was much better than not having her at all and for that reason he was grateful; without Frida he could not live. He pulled the red lock from her face so that she could be more comfortable, he couldn't deny that he was dying to kiss her but he should be aware, first because she was sleeping and second because she had already rejected his lips before, he wanted to respect her. Benny chose to kiss her forehead, later he got out of bed, closed the curtains and left the bedroom, it was best to let her rest while he took care of other things downstairs.
Two hours passed, Benny was organizing the vinyls that were in the basement, it was a task that he had pending for a long time and since now he had free time, he decided that it was the moment. The phone rang and he immediately dropped everything and went upstairs to be able to answer it, it had rang several times until he could take it somewhat suffocated from having to climb the stairs, "hello?"
"Benny, it's Olive," he heard her voice from the other end.
"Hello," he breathed. "Are you at home?"
"Yes, I just arrived," she said. "Were you busy?" deduced it from his breathing.
"Something like that, I was organizing things in the basement," explained. "How was the flight?"
"Calmed. It saddens me to have to come back but it was the right thing to do. By the way, Arthur sends his regards," she said as her husband had already beckoned to her.
"Say hello from me, I hope to have you two here soon," he replied.
"I hope so... is Frida okay?" she asked concerned.
"She's sleeping but she's fine, you don't have to worry, I'll see to it that she feels comfortable," he promised her. The door rang and Benny looked up, "I have to go now, I think there's someone at the door but we'll talk later, okay?"
"Yes, it is fine. Say hello to my niece for me when she wakes up," she said and hung up the phone.
Benny went to the door and opened it, his friend and co-worker Görel was there with a basket and a smile, accompanied by Anders, her future husband. "Hello! welcome, come ahead," he invited them in, opening the door wide.
"How are you?" Görel asked coming over to kiss him.
"Well, better to see you guys," he said closing the door behind him once Anders entered as well. Görel handed him the basket and Benny carried it into the kitchen, they followed. "What is it? You shouldn't have bothered." He put it on the counter and removed the cloth it had on top, there was a bottle of Moët and the rest were snacks.
"I know Frida can't drink but the champagne is for you and the rest is for both of you," Görel said.
"Thank you, I will open the champagne right now to share it," he took it in his hand and removed the security paper from it.
"By the way, where is she?" Görel looked around her.
"She's sleeping, she's got time," he replied, pulling out the champagne flutes.
"Has she improved?" Anders asked.
Benny hesitated a bit to answer, he really didn't know how to do it, he wanted to say yes but wasn't quite sure if that was the correct answer. "More or less, the physical injuries do but she doesn't remember anything," he explained.
"I don't want to imagine what it feels like to have the love of your life not remembering you," Görel commented sadly.
"It's awful," Benny muttered and subsequently removed the cap from the champagne to pour into all three flutes. "But I know I have to be patient with her, now I want her to recover physically and for her not to feel pain, so that she can start working on her memory."
"You do well, she will remember little by little but everything has its time," Görel took the glass and sat on the stool next to Anders and Benny sat on the other side. His eyes fell on the woman who was entering the kitchen, his beautiful wife.
"Hello," Frida said shyly also catching the attention of Anders and Görel who immediately turned to see her.
"Frida," Görel said getting up from the chair and went to hug her. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," she replied and then looked at the gentleman next to her, who she still didn't know.
"This is Anders Hanser my fiancé," Görel told her introducing him.
"Hej!" Frida shook his hand, she didn't know anything about him.
"Hi Frida, I'm glad to see you," he said also getting up and shaking her hand.
"By the way, what day is the wedding? I totally forgot about it," Benny said.
"In two weeks, May 19 and I look forward to seeing you both there," Görel warned them. Frida's eyes widened and she looked at Benny a little scared, that meant she had to be in public and she wasn't sure if she could do it.
"Benny will be there representing us both," she replied. Görel was silent for a moment and looked at her.
"That is not what I want," she said. "The idea is that you both are, even if you don't remember, you have helped me with many details. It is a special day for us." Frida didn't know what to say, apparently her presence was really important.
"Sorry," she looked away from her and swallowed. "I don't know, I don't feel ready to go to the outside world, I have an arm in a cast and I don't recognize anyone," she explained.
"You're right," Görel apologized. "I feel bad because I didn't think about what you were feeling, I understand that you don't want to go but I can't conceive it without you," she took her hand. "But your health is more important than anything."
"Thank you for understanding but you don't have to feel bad about it," she replied. "Benny will be there so you won't feel like you miss me," she added.
"I will always feel that I miss you," she made clear.
"Maybe by then you won't have your arm in a cast anymore," Benny remarked optimistically. Frida ignored him, it was not that she was very interested in finding a solution and at times his voice sounded annoying. Analyzing her attitude, Benny couldn't help feeling somewhat intimidated but decided to ignore it, nor could he create things in his head that perhaps were far from the reality.
"Görel, I need to ask you a question, could you join me for a moment?" Frida asked, she nodded and followed her; she led them to the library by closing the door. Frida sighed and opened the windows to let it in some air, sometimes she felt that she was suffocating there.
"I am all ears and in what I can help you..."
Frida began to walk from one side to the other, she was somewhat nervous. She took off the grip on the cast as she needed to change her arm position for a moment. "I don't know how to put it," she began, Görel could see the unease on her face.
"Let it out and I'll try to figure it out," she suggested.
"Hmm..." she stopped, "Benny and I will be alone tonight, I don't know what to expect because since I arrived here were always the children and Olive, I'm a bit anxious and I don't know how to control myself," she pressed her lip. Görel stared at her, could feel the despair in her words but didn't understand exactly why.
"He will take care of you," she told her frankly, perhaps it was not the answer to her concern but she felt the need to tell her, or rather, to remind her.
"I don't think I'll be able to be alone with him, it's a lot of pressure for me. I don't know how to act, I don't know what to say, I don't know where to look whenever he's around," she was speaking a little faster this time, she needed to let it all out. "I don't know why I feel this way and I wish it was different, he makes me very nervous, you don't know how much," she continued.
Görel looked at her and smiled, stepped closer and took her hand. "Does he make you nervous?" They both stared at each other, Frida tried to say something but she was speechless, "Let's do something, you taught me this by the way," Görel moved a little away from her and walked to the other side of the desk. Frida looked at her confused because she didn't know what it was about. "This exercise will help you to make your ideas clear and I can understand you."
"What is it about?"
"You're going to think of Benny and you're going to tell me every word that comes to your mind, no matter what it is, say it..." She explained, Frida frowned and looked down. "We start at 1, 2 and 3..." Frida began to think about Benny and her heart began to race, she closed her eyes and automatically began to speak.
"Nerves," was the first word that came to her mind. "Husband, scorn, beer," she continued.
"Beer?" Görel asked confused.
"He's had a lot of beers since I got home, for some reason I associate him with beer," she explained. Görel couldn't help but laugh and encouraged her to continue. "Deep, sweet, caring," she paused before saying something, "love."
Frida opened her eyes and there was her friend listening attentively without saying anything because she did not want her to have interruptions. "Love! Interesting, don't you think? "
"I don't know," Frida after seeing everything a little clearer, she got confused and now everything was gray again, it was desperate. "I don't know what else, I can't even think," she moved to the window again as she felt like she was gasping for air. Görel walked over to her and put her hands on her shoulders.
"We are clear from what you said, you don't have to force yourself too much. I think your subconscious knows that you love him, maybe that's why the nerves and anxiety," explained.
"I want to feel the love again," she said desperately.
"You will, it's almost impossible that you won't. You have to give yourself time and know that he will be waiting for you when you are ready. Don't be afraid to chat with him or have this moment alone, maybe it will help you get to know him better," Görel said.
"What if it doesn't work?"
"It's going to work out," she put her hand on her chin and lifted her head. "I do not conceive that his love ends, if you knew how much I know you loved each other, then you would understand me, it is too much love."
"Too much?"
"More than you can imagine," Görel smiled trying to give her a little more confidence, she knew that she would need it and from what she saw, Frida wouldn't need long to fall in love again with her husband.