Frida took a cloth and opened the oven door, the turkey was ready. She turned off the stove and looked at the clock, it was 4 minutes to 5 in the afternoon, although it had already gotten dark. It was December 13, 1984, she was waiting for Benny to get home from work, he usually did it by 5:00 p.m. Their lives changed quite a lot after they decided to split up as a group in 1982, exactly two years ago, a decision they made later of a terrible marital crisis that almost cost them a divorce.
Dwelling on her thoughts and trying to get the turkey out of the oven, she didn't notice that she grabbed the pan with an unprotected finger and burned herself; she jumped from the impact and cursed, "damn!" She felt her finger relax and then the sting came.
Frida took a deep breath and put her finger in her mouth trying to relieve the desperate feeling of burning herself, she went to the refrigerator, took an ice cube, a kitchen towel and covered the cube, then fixed it on her finger, it didn't help much but at least it helped ease the pain. "Focus Frida," she whispered to herself and went back to what she was doing.
She took two plates and brought them to the table, which was already set. She brought potatoes, lingonberry jam and a bottle of white wine that she bought the day before and wanted to try. "I'm home," she heard her husband say from the other end.
"I'm in the kitchen," she responded, removing the ice cube that was still on her finger.
Benny walked in and went to her immediately, holding her waist from behind and planting a kiss on her cheek. "How are you?"
"Fine..." she replied affectionately rubbing his hand that was still on her waist. "Dinner is ready, go wash your hands," she ordered.
Benny nodded and moved away from her a little, to do as she asked. Frida watched him walk away from her and smiled, she was lucky that he still came home every day to be and have dinner with her. The days were varied, they usually ate dinner at home, yes... she enjoyed cooking, doing things for both of them, but once in a while during the week, one, two or three days, depending, they went to restaurants for dinner or to friends' houses, but what they enjoyed most was being alone and having conversations with each other.
Five minutes later, Frida was already sitting at the table waiting for her husband to return, she looked at the finger, a blister had already formed on it so quickly and it still hurt. "Smells delicious," Benny said walking over to the table and sitting next to her, this time placing a kiss on her lips so as not to lose the habit.
"Could you cut the turkey for me?" She asked and showed her finger. "I burned myself taking it out and I already have a blister," she explained.
Benny frowned and took her hand in his, "ouch. What did you use for it?"
"Nothing yet, just ice to soothe the burning," she replied.
"Hmmm..." he thought. "I'll go find the ointment to put on you and then I'll cut the turkey."
"It's not necessary, cut up the turkey and we have dinner now, then you put the ointment on it, I can seriously take the pain," she suggested.
"Sure?" He insisted.
"Sure," she nodded, then Benny placed a kiss on her finger again.
Benny began to cut the turkey, Frida took advantage and opened the white wine serving in the two glasses, then sat down again and they both began to eat. "How was work?" She asked interested.
"It was good, you should see how much we've already made Chess in concert a success across Europe, we want to get the musical as ready as possible for an early premiere," he smiled.
Frida chuckled, she knew that he was excited. "I'm happy for you, I know how hard you've worked for this. All of you, Björn and Tim," she said.
"You've given us a bit of luck, I must confess," he replied, hinting that she had been with them on some television shows promoting it.
After dinner, they were both washing the dishes, Benny didn't mind doing it at all, he had even insisted on doing it by himself just because she had already prepared dinner and her finger was in pain, but she wanted to help him, apart from she liked to do everything herself and make sure everything was neat and tidy, she believed she could do better. He looked at her and swayed to her side, making his hip bump against hers, flirtatiously; she looked at him and smiled. "I'm going to end here," he finally said, leaning into and kissing her.
"Okay, you win. I'll go put the ointment on my finger," she responded, kissing him back, wiping her hand dry with a rag and patting his buttock before pulling away from him, Benny groaning.
"I'll make you pay for that," he called out as he watched her walk away from the kitchen.
"I'll make you pay for that," he called out as he watched her walk away from her.
Frida went up to the bedroom, entered the bathroom and opened the cabinet to find what she needed for her finger. She washed her hands and then her face, running out of makeup completely, then she brushed her teeth like every night before bed. She then went to the closet, took off her clothes, put them on the basket to wash later and looked for clean pajamas, she had a green silk robe that she wanted to wear, so she put it on top of the bed. She took off her bra and sat on the bed.
She took the ointment and put it on her finger, blending it well so that there were no traces left, it contained antibiotics and painkillers which would help her.
Benny entered the bedroom and approached her, "is everything alright now darling?" he asked his wife.
"I hope so," she replied. He took advantage of the fact that she was naked on the bed and sat next to her, then taking her by the belly and throwing her onto the bed. "Hey!" she giggled. "What's happening?"
Benny breathed on her neck and kissed her shoulder, "I love you, you know that?" he told her.
"I think I know, yes" she replied. He took the plunge and began to kiss her breasts, "but you can always remind me," she added, taking his hair between her fingers.
"Would you like to?" He got between her legs and brought his left hand to her buttock, returning his lips to hers.
Frida wrapped her legs around him and added her tongue to the act. Benny began to rock his crotch, causing her to moan almost helplessly. She could feel his erection through his pants, brushing against her panties. "Take it off and come to me," she pleaded.
"What are you saying?" He teased her, keeping up his sexy motion and kissing her neck.
"Don't make me beg Benny," Frida warned him, taking his face in her hands and forcing him to look at her.
"Okay," Benny chuckled mischievously. "You win."
Frida gasped and Benny took off his pants, also his shirt, and lay down on the bed, getting between the sheets. Frida then took control and climbed on top of him, admiring him for a few seconds before returning to his mouth. "You're my man," she made clear to him for the thousandth time in her life, she loved feeling that she was in control of him, it aroused her, even if it was in a good way.
"I sure am," Benny laughed, breaking the kiss and complaining about how horny he was. He was getting pleasure on each corner of his body from having her so fierce on top of him. "I don't know how long I can take having you on top of me," he confessed.
Frida smiled and bit her lip then taking off her panties to be completely naked and at his mercy. Benny ruthlessly smacked her behind causing her to flinch and moan. "Benny," she called out his name.
"Say my name babe," he was inside her by then.
They both devoured each other that night, it was no exception, that was their relationship always and now that they had the house just for them, since a their kids were grownup and moved to live their own lives, Frida could moan even more and louder without fear or recess, that gave them more freedom.
When finished, she lay on her stomach and covered herself with the sheet next to him, Benny lay on his side looking at her and stroked her short hair. "My favorite redhead," he said.
"Is there another one?" she joked.
Benny responded by placing a kiss on her bare back and leaned over her, bringing his hand to her bottom and patting gently. "Good night love," he said.
"Good night," she replied, reaching out for her hand to turn off the lamp beside her, he too turned around and turned the other lamp off, leaving the room in darkness. Frida took advantage of it and leaned on his chest and he hugged her, ready to sleep next to each other, taking care of her and loving her like the first day.
The next day, Frida stretched out her arm and yawned, the bed was empty, she looked at the ceiling, there was not a ray of sunlight penetrating the bedroom, it had snowed since the beginning of the month and they couldn't see the sun. She closed her eyes again assimilating that she had to wake up, she assumed that Benny was working and she missed the time, it wasn't like she had much to do that day, just a few things.
Frida sat on the bed, next to her were her husband's car keys, which meant that: 1) he left them in the wrong place, and that was going to annoy her immediately; and, 2) that he was home, which brought a half smile to her lips.
She got up and went to the bathroom, she looked at herself in the mirror, what a disaster her hair was, she had to wash it urgently. It wasn't the color red, she had it that way for many years back in the 70s, it was the cut that made it more difficult to manage, also, after turning purple and pink, her hair was more damaged. She took the brush from the cabinet and brushed the hair gently, trying to style it.
Once she brushed her teeth, on the floor was the green robe she had chosen the night before and which she did not wear, she only laughed at the recent memory, sometimes she did not even know why she bothered choosing clothes for the night, anyway she would end up undressed. She put it on to go down.
In the kitchen, Benny was with the radio on listening to a classic, Bésame Mucho by Consuelo Velázquez. Frida smiled and raised an eyebrow as she watched him from the kitchen entrance and enjoy his world. He whistled as he cut up Dutch cheese to add to the breakfast tray. "Bésame, bésame mucho..." he sang while smiling and turned around dancing, which surprised Frida, since he wasn't much of a dancer.
Her presence was noticed at that moment, Benny blushed quite a bit as if he had been caught doing a mischief. She came closer and he held her waist, "bésame, bésame mucho... que tengo miedo perderte, perderte después." Frida sang that last verse dedicated exclusively to him. "Good morning."
"Good morning," he replied and gave her a kiss.
"I see you woke up in a good mood," she bit her lip, "and I came to claim something from you," she laughed embarrassed.
"I'm glad not anymore," Benny replied, holding up both hands.
"Wait, I do have to tell you," Frida didn't know how to hold back the urge to claim him something. "Your car keys don't belong in our bedroom and you know it, they stay down here on the shelf," she complained. Benny rolled his eyes and let go of her waist, resuming his initial work of preparing breakfast.
Frida held back her laughter, she knew she had annoyed him but the rules were the rules "sorry..." she left the kitchen to return the keys to their place and then to the kitchen again, now there was some Beethoven instrumental, at first she didn't enjoy it as much as Benny, but they had definitely influenced each other's musical tastes.
She changed the track again and started playing "Bésame mucho" again and moved closer to him. "You owe me this dance, Mr. Andersson," she held him up, reaching for his hands.
"Now yes?" He tried to play hard to get.
"Now yes," she kissed the corner of his lips and he relented. He put his hand on her lower back and they began to dance, filling the kitchen with joy. Benny wasn't a good dancer, but he let himself be carried away by the rhythm, and besides, it wasn't that difficult to dance a bolero.
Frida moved her hips sensually while they were both dancing to the rhythm of the song, she put her face between his neck and shoulder, smelling his essence that drove her crazy and kissed him. "I don't recommend you do that," he warned her.
"Or what?" She challenged him.
"Anni-Frid!" he exclaimed. "I can put you on four laying on the floor right now and we'll miss the breakfast I so painstakingly prepared," he explained.
"Oops!" Frida pressed her lips and moved away from him, since the music had ended. "How rough... but I don't know what sounds better if I can be honest," she confessed.
"Let's eat breakfast first," he smacked her butt which showed by the shortness of her robe.
Frida sat at the kitchen table and crossed her legs, waiting for him to carry everything he had prepared. "You woke up happy today," she commented.
"Let's just say I had a good night, last night," he replied putting the orange juice on the table and pouring it into her glass.
"You're welcome if can take the credit," she laughed. "I thought you were going to work today," she added, getting some jam on her finger to lick.
"I told you that after the 14th I wouldn't work anymore," he reminded her.
"Yes but I thought it was the 14 inclusive," she emphasized.
Benny stopped and looked at her, "does it bother you that I'm here today?"
Frida rolled her eyes, "it's not that... it's that if I had known, I'd plan something for us today," she explained.
"Okay, we'll still have a busy weekend, that we're both at home today, enjoying each other and cuddling up isn't a bad idea," he proposed winking at her and sitting down at the table.
"Actually not," she bit her lip. "But, I have an appointment with my gynecologist, that is the problem..."
"Now that's a problem," he muttered. "Is everything alright?" He got worried.
"Yeah, it's just a routine checkup, you know... and I might have to change the pills," she replied.
"Uh! I can take you if you want, that may be our plan," he offered. The truth is that he almost never did it but from time to time he went to the gynecologist with her, more to accompany her than for anything else, today he could do it to spend time together and not have to separate just when his Christmas vacation began.
"I think that's a good plan," Frida agreed, in fact, she liked the idea of him going with her.
They spent the rest of breakfast flirting as always, as much or more than in their first years of love, because now there was not so much pressure, so much depression. Now they knew each other better, they were intimate and that was noticeable considerably in the deal and in the relationship.