Chapter 5
Ingrid opened the door to her flat and felt relieved to be home. She was exhausted and wasn’t even sure what day or time it was. Oliver was coming over in a bit to bring Sir Lewis. First, she needed a hot bath. Her phone started ringing. She answered without looking.
“Hello, Ingrid speaking.”
“Forgotten me already?”
“No, I just answered without looking who was calling.” She was sitting on the bed, taking off her socks. “I’m just going to put you on speaker, hang on a sec…Sorry, I’m trying to get out of these clothes.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Oh, Erik, stop with the nonsense. I’m exhausted and don’t even know which day it is.”
“Monday.”
“Thank you,” she responded as she walked across the room to stare blankly at her closet. “What’s up?”
“Apparently, friends let each other know when they have arrived safely at home.”
“Have you arrived safely at home?”
“Yes, thank you,” he said. “Why are you getting undressed?”
She wasn’t in the mood for his unusual cheerfulness. She sat back down on the bed and grabbed the phone.
“I want a hot bath, Erik!”
“Someone is grumpy.”
“You would be too if you just flew for fifteen hours in the middle seat of economy class and hadn’t slept! Now I’m sitting here with half my clothes off, too tired to undress, and talking to you when what I really want to be doing is having a hot bath.”
“I’m sorry. What can I do to fix it?” His tone changed to be more serious, and Ingrid felt less annoyed with him.
“Come over, run my bath, undress me, and put me in it.” She chuckled tiredly.
“I’m sorry I can’t do that today, but maybe tomorrow.”
Ingrid didn’t know if she should take this seriously.
“Very funny. Ok, I’m going to do this now because Oli will be here soon with my dog.”
“Ingrid.”
“Erik.”
Ingrid was grateful for a hot bath and some fresh clothes.
Oliver messaged to say he would be there in five minutes and was bringing milk.
She put on the kettle and went out on the balcony for a cigarette to think about Erik’s call.
Now that she was more awake, she wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.
“Sister!” Oliver’s voice boomed across her flat.
“Out here!” She called back.
“You could have waited for me,” he said as he lit a cigarette.
“I’ve boiled the kettle, pretty please make tea.”
He kissed her on the cheek, stubbed out his cigarette, and went to make tea.
“Ok, tell me everything! First, I want to know about Erik.” He looked at her knowingly. “You slept with him, didn’t you?”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Oh, come on, I know you. I can tell when you’re fucking someone.”
“Well, you’re wrong this time. We didn’t sleep together,” she said truthfully.
“Oh, but you did do something else?”
Ingrid explained the events of the past few weeks.
Her twin gobbled them up as she knew he would.
Oliver was younger than her by about a minute.
Their parents said this was why Ingrid always had to be first. In looks, they were as close to a spitting image as could be.
Oliver was slightly taller, blonder, and more muscular but still slender-framed.
Apart from their looks and a shared interest in F1, they were completely different.
Oliver was a non-committal, extroverted software engineer.
He had created some fancy code early in his career, which he sold for millions of pounds, allowing him to never have to work again.
“So where does it stand now, Sister?”
“As I said, it’s purely situational. If we weren’t in that space or situation, then there would probably be nothing.”
“And that phone call this morning?”
“I don’t think he meant anything by it. He’s prone to joking around. You saw what he did with those photos.”
“Yes, and I also saw how he looked at you in those photos.”
“How?”
“As if he wanted you as badly as you want him.”
Ingrid threw a cushion at Oliver.
“Nonsense, I don’t want him.”
“Oh yes, you do. All that bullshit of making him wait, only to not be able to keep your hands off him. You want him.”
“But there’s Antoine…”
“Has it impacted your work with him so far?”
Ingrid thought about this for a moment.
“No.”
“Well, there you go.”
“It isn’t that simple, Oli,” she replied. “What happens if Antoine is in a position to win and I’m busy shagging Erik?”
“If you’re open about it, then I don’t think it should be an issue. I’m sure there’s a lot of incest going on in that paddock!”
“So true!” And Ingrid started telling Oliver everything that she had managed to observe so far.
Oliver eventually left Ingrid to nap. He had brought her more than just milk – a whole bag of groceries, including her favourite snacks. She put on the TV and dozed off with Sir Lewis curled up on the couch.
???
Erik buzzed the doorbell. He was sure that he had the right flat. He tried it again. Perhaps calling first would have been a better plan, but she would have made excuses. He called her phone.
“Hello?”
“You sound half-asleep.”
“That’s because I was asleep.”
“Oh, that explains why you aren’t answering your doorbell. Do you mind letting me in? It’s quite cold outside, and I look like an idiot standing out here for fifteen minutes.”
“You’re here?”
Now, Ingrid sounded awake.
“Yes. Could you hurry?”
He could see her looking out the window, and then the door buzzed.
“What the fuck, Erik?” She pulled him inside.
Her flat wasn’t what he expected. It was large and spacious. The Scandinavian style he should have expected. It was immaculate, with walls lined with books.
“I know I said tomorrow, but you were so grumpy earlier, so I decided today would be better.” He carried on looking around, then turned around to look at her. She started laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“I don’t know. The conversation this morning. The fact that you’re here. All of it.”
“You like laughing at me.”
She came towards him and put her hands on his chest. He closed his over hers.
“No, it isn’t at you. It’s the situation.”
Erik felt relieved that he had done the right thing. He hadn’t been sure when he left Monaco. He did need to be at the UK factory this week, but only on Wednesday.
“Ok, good. I don’t have anywhere to stay, by the way. Also, you look incredible”
He kissed her.
“Oh, Erik, this isn’t supposed to be happening.”
She pulled away and shook her head.
“Hello.” He leaned down to pat Sir Lewis. “Who’s this?”
“Bad guard dog! His name is Sir Lewis.”
“Hamilton?”
“Yes, and he’s supposed to protect me from intruders like you instead of rolling over like that!”
Erik looked up at her and thought how beautiful she looked, half-awake, with tousled hair and no makeup. Not like the plastic he had been with before.
“Ok, I’m awake now. Are you hungry?” She walked to the kitchen in her socks. “I can only think of making cheese toasties right now.”
“That sounds good.”
“You don’t have to stick to some ridiculous diet?”
“I’m usually fine, even with my height. I run a lot.”
“Ok, cheese toasties it is.”
Erik watched her in the kitchen. It felt so homey here in her flat. He felt older, more settled.
“Here you go, winner.”
They sat down at the kitchen counter next to each other.
“Tell me about your family,” she said.
“Surely you know all the stories?”
“I know some of the facts, like your mom was in racing or karting, and that’s how you got into it.
Your father walked out on your mom, you, and your two sisters?
” He nodded. “Stepfather was some big shipping magnate who loved motorsport, and that’s how he met your mother, and you got your start in F3. ”
“Well done, you do know F1.”
“Listen, darling, I was watching F1 when you were born.”
He laughed, “You aren’t that much older than me.”
“No, I’m not.” She smiled. “I want to know about your family life. Do you like your sisters? What’s your relationship like with your mother? That sort of thing,” she said, then took another cheesy bite of her toastie. He reached across to catch the cheese, and they both laughed.
“Ok, sisters. Astrid, three years older than me and always lecturing, a bit like you.”
“I don’t lecture you!”
“She also thinks I should be single for a while. She’s very sensible, practical, and I like her a lot.
She’s always protecting me because I think we were both old enough to remember when my father left.
Sigrid was only a baby when he fucked off.
” By this point, Ingrid was stroking his arm.
It didn’t feel like it was out of pity, but just out of affection.
“Sigrid is the fun one in the family and always playing pranks on us. Both of my sisters are incredibly smart, and Sigrid is just finishing off a degree in some complicated microbiology thing.”
“And what about your mother?”
“I’m her baby boy.” He grinned. “We have a very close relationship. You’ll see her when we go to Europe. She always messages me before a race. She just gets it.”
“Stepfather?”
“Jacques is great. He makes my mother happy, and that’s what counts for me.” He looked at Ingrid in the soft light of her flat after he said that. He knew which question was coming next. “Don’t ruin this evening by asking about my father.”
“Ok, I won’t.”
Instead, she leaned over and kissed him. He had wanted that since he walked through the door. He had been patient, but he wasn’t going to be patient any longer.
“Ingrid, I think we’ve done enough talking,” he said while kissing her.
Lifting her onto the kitchen counter, his hand ran up the back of her spine and back down to find the waist of her tracksuit pants. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled herself closer into him.
“Are you saying yes?”
“Yes, enough talking. My bedroom is that way.”
He carried her down the passage, and she pointed left while kissing him and running her fingers through his hair.
Erik and Ingrid had waited for this moment for so long.
The small touches here and there. The stolen kisses.
It almost happened once. Now they were together.
Erik placed Ingrid on the bed. He was so nervous.
She was, too. Ingrid tried not to laugh at the situation.
This was supposed to be romantic, passionate.
Erik finally had her, and he was too scared to touch her.
“Erik.” She laughed.
“I know,” he said. “Fuck.”
“Maybe we put too much pressure on this moment?”
“Maybe. Do you still want to, though?”
“Yes, so much,” she said, pulling his hand between her thighs.
“Ok, that makes me feel better,” he said, pulling her hand to his hard dick.
“So why aren’t we doing anything about it?” She laughed again.
“I’m too scared.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“Stop thinking I’m joking about everything. This is real. I’m scared that if I touch you right now, I’ll explode.”
“Isn’t that the point?”
“Not like that. I mean my whole body.”
He got up and walked away from the bed. Ingrid came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. She started kissing his neck.
“I’m sorry for laughing. I didn’t mean to. I know what you mean about you’ll explode. I feel like we’ve been holding in so much energy.” She kissed his cheek. “Come, let’s go brush our teeth, and we’ll go to sleep.”
They brushed their teeth together, laughing and playing around. Ingrid was wearing Erik’s T-shirt, and he was just in his briefs. The tension from a few moments ago had lifted – physically and emotionally.
“You know I’m still going to kiss you whenever I want?” Erik said as they got into bed.
“We’ll discuss the plan going forward tomorrow. For tonight, you can kiss me whenever you want.” He did.
Erik loved being able to kiss her and touch her bare skin.
Ingrid could feel him getting hard again.
She wasn’t going to force the issue. Erik took her T-shirt off.
She took his briefs off. Erik felt her bare breasts against his skin for the first time.
Ingrid could finally feel their skin against each other, not afraid of anything.
He slid his fingers between her thighs, and she grabbed him.
He kissed her gently, then whispered in her ear, “I’m not scared anymore. ”
“I’m not laughing anymore,” Ingrid replied.
Erik reached over to get a condom from his wallet. When he entered her, the awkwardness from earlier was replaced by two people who couldn’t get enough of each other. Explode was the word Erik used, but Ingrid felt like they had imploded.
“Remember that first day we shook hands,” he asked her at one point.
“Yes, in Melbourne.”
“That’s when I knew you were going to be trouble for me.”
She kissed him in response. She was in trouble too.
They eventually fell asleep. Two tired lovers. Everything they had agreed to, wrecked.