Chapter 12
As it was Sunday, Theo had decided to close the café and take a day off.
‘What are you going to do today?’ he asked as he shoved a typical Danish breakfast of some of his rye and oat bread, boiled eggs, some slices of cheese, along with butter and jam into his mouth, thoroughly enjoying it.
Milly had stuck to toast though she had used Theo’s rye and oat bread, and it had been delicious.
‘I plan to spend the day batch-filming content for my Instagram and maybe editing some of the videos I took for the café so I can post them next week.’
More followers had contacted her with their success stories, giving her permission to share them, and she’d been in contact with the local business who’d asked her questions, sharing some other tips she’d researched.
She was happy to hear they were putting some of them into action already.
She couldn’t wait to find out the results.
She was also loving the feeling it gave working with businesses as well as individuals.
But it was definitely time to turn her attention back to her own content creation.
Theo’s brow creased. ‘Batch-filming?’
‘It’s where you spend a day filming your content and different types of footage to use as B roll, or background stuff. It makes it more manageable when you’re running an account around other commitments, like a full-time job.’
‘Interesting.’
‘What about you?’ she asked, popping the last piece of toast into her mouth. ‘What are you going to do today?’
‘I’m planning some recipes for next week, deciding which pastries, which sandwiches and which flavour combinations I’d like to try.’
‘So not really a day off then,’ she teased.
He grinned back at her. ‘It doesn’t feel like work when it’s something you love. Well, not all the time anyway.’
Was that true? Her content creation never felt like work but was that because she didn’t do it full-time, or because she loved it so much?
She thought while chewing, deciding it was because she loved it so much.
She’d already written it on her list after speaking with Ada, but now she took out her notebook (which she was carrying around with her everywhere in case inspiration struck) and made an additional note.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Theo, glancing at it.
‘Nothing. Doesn’t matter.’
‘Are you writing Theo is a genius again?’ he asked teasingly.
‘Of course.’
She smiled at him and once more, that invisible thread seemed to be drifting in the air, binding something between them.
He frowned as she put it back away, narrowing his eyes in teasing suspicion, but he didn’t press her for any more information, and she was grateful to him for respecting her privacy.
He suddenly cleared his throat. ‘I was thinking we might do something together this afternoon?’
‘Yeah? Like what?’ Excitement flew up her spine, making her sit up straighter and pay attention.
‘I was thinking maybe a boat ride on the canals. Copenhagen is wonderful when seen from the water and we can tick off some of the tourist sights while we do it.’
‘That sounds like fun.’
‘Meet you back here at, say, one o’clock then?’
She nodded, trying her best not to grin like the Cheshire cat.
One of the first things she’d written on her list (bearing in mind she had to focus on feelings and experiences) was spending time with Theo.
It made her feel happy, and at home, even when he was being a bit prickly and defensive.
Now she’d come to accept her feelings for him without guilt over Tom, she looked forward to spending time with Theo whether that was here or at the café.
The notion that she was only there for the summer still tempered her feelings, but she was at least able to enjoy Theo’s company without guilt.
The morning passed quickly and by the time she met him in the kitchen, his feet up on the chair in front of him, crossed at the ankles, a pen behind his ear, she was more than ready to move.
She’d recorded a bunch of videos, some out on the dock, but most in her room.
She still needed to edit them, but she at least had her content sorted for the next few weeks.
She’d also checked the café socials and the video of him kneading was still doing really well.
She’d also uploaded a new video of the outside of the café and the street it was on, showing exactly where it was and that is was worth the couple of minutes’ extra walk.
As she’d been working, she hadn’t been able to resist watching the video of him teaching her to knead dough in its entirety, but she wasn’t going to post any more of it.
It had felt almost too intimate to share.
Theo looked up from the numerous recipe books littering the small kitchen table and smiled. ‘You ready?’
She nodded.
‘Good.’ He stood and grabbed an old-fashioned picnic basket. ‘I made lunch.’
The idea of a picnic on the canals was more than a little exciting and he laughed at her wide grin.
‘Come on. Let’s go. We’re off to Islands Brygge.’
Islands Brygge was where the boat rental company was located, and the small electric boat they’d hired felt more like a kid’s toy than something actually seaworthy, or in this case, canal-worthy.
It was sturdy but so quiet Milly couldn’t believe it would actually make it through the waves without being swept away by the current.
‘Have you done this before?’ she asked Theo who was captaining the boat.
She had thought someone might do that for them and couldn’t believe people were allowed to just rent them without any qualifications and go sailing into the sunset.
How could people be trusted? Surely someone would get a little over the top and cause an accident?
But again, maybe that was another difference between England and Denmark.
As she looked around, all the other boats were full of people laughing and having fun, but there was also a level of quiet and respect, which reassured her.
‘Yes, I’ve done this before,’ he answered, smiling. ‘Don’t worry, we won’t crash.’
The word ‘crash’ threatened to derail her, but she kept her smile tightly in place and pushed the creeping chill of unwanted memories away.
She trusted Theo. He made her feel safe in a different way Tom had – something born from her own self-assurance and respect for him, as well as that invisible connection that threaded between them – not from settling for the safest option.
Feeling calmer, she now wanted to ask who he’d done it with, but as it was none of her business, she kept her mouth shut.
Instead, she sat back in the small blue boat, big enough to seat eight people, and let him sail them out into the Copenhagen harbour.
He glanced over his shoulder at her. ‘We’ll go north, around the canals and up to the opera house. You can unpack the picnic if you like.’
She opened the basket and unloaded small plastic boxes packed with food. There were bread and olives, small cubes of cheese and some open sandwiches.
‘When did you make all this?’
‘I made some of it this morning, but I confess I bought some things too.’
She gasped dramatically and he laughed.
‘I was working!’
‘This looks amazing,’ she acknowledged as she pinched a small cube of cheese, unpacking plates and cutlery.
‘There are beers in there too, but only a couple.’
‘Good idea.’
She handed him a sandwich as they sailed out of the harbour down through a smaller canal. The boat moved at a sedate, calming pace and Milly’s nerves began to fade. Soon they were gently turning left and heading under a bridge.
‘This is Frederiksholms Canal.’
‘I didn’t know canals had one-way systems,’ she confessed tucking into an open sandwich of pate with beetroot on top.
As usual, it was delicious and though she knew Danes tended to eat their food with a knife and fork, she couldn’t bring herself to be so dainty and picked it up to take another delicious bite.
‘How did you think they worked?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I just imagined them being a bit of a free-for-all, not subject to rules like cars. But I have to admit, it’s not something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about.’
‘I suppose there’s no reason why you should.
It’s something we’re brought up with here.
But they have to have rules, or it would be chaos, people would be stopping everywhere and get stuck in the shallower waters.
Christianshavn is one of the most picturesque parts of Copenhagen and if people could, they’d stop all day taking photos, meaning no one would get through. ’
‘Are we going there too?’ she asked, her hopes rising. If it really was that picturesque, even more so than Nyhavn, she wanted to see it.
‘Eventually, but we’re in no rush. Can you bring me a sandwich, please?’
She did, sitting next to him at the front of the boat.
The water was so calm, the sailing so smooth that nothing was moving on the picnic table and her momentary fears of a few minutes before ebbed away even more.
The summer breeze brushed her bare skin.
It was a perfect temperature today, the sun shining and the sky empty of clouds.
Just one giant expanse of bright blue. The Frederiksholms Canal was beautiful.
The buildings on one side ranged from Renaissance, neoclassical and that eighteenth-century typically Danish style that people associated with the city.
It was also full of boats, including large houseboats.
She wondered what it would be like to live on one, but came to the conclusion that the canal house had all the same benefits but much more room.
Alongside them, kayakers paddled but Milly much preferred this low-effort option.
When Christiansborg, the Danish Parliament, came into view, Milly stood to see every inch of it. It was majestic and stunning, sitting proudly in the sun, light bouncing off its many windows. They glided past and eventually returned to the main waterway and down another one-way system.