Chapter 27
Sky
It was just a kiss. A single kiss and a dance that lasted half the night. A gaze over his shoulder to the sky, where the stars shone. And at that moment, I believed I could actually reach them.
Lost in thought, I blow gently across the surface of the green tea in my cup and gaze out at the emerging day. Behind the dunes, the sun rises—bright orange, pink, and violet.
It's a new day. A new beginning.
Perhaps even for me?
"Hej," Kjell says.
He stands behind me, keeping his distance, and that's a good thing. After all, I don't know what all that happened yesterday means.
"Hej," I reply, taking a sip of my tea.
The wooden floor creaks, and it seems Kjell is heading to the kitchen. In the glass reflection in front of me, I glimpse what's happening behind me. I watch as he fills the coffee machine with water, running his fingers through his light brown hair. He glances over at me, pauses, and then looks away.
"How do you feel?" he asks, opening the drawer with the coffee capsules.
I let my gaze wander over the beach. I watch seagulls sail through the morning sky, inhaling the serenity of this place. "Different," I reply because that's what I feel the most.
Yesterday, I opened up to Kjell and told him everything about me. I was vulnerable, showing him every one of my emotions and my innermost self.
But he didn't turn away from me. Quite the opposite happened. It was as if he had waited for this moment all along. For the moment when I stop hiding from him.
Suddenly, he stands beside me with a steaming cup of coffee, his gaze fixed on the emerging day. "What are you thinking about?"
Our arms are so close that we almost touch each other. "About who we are," I reply, gripping my tea cup with both hands. The warmth of the porcelain seeps through the sleeves of my sweater, which I've pulled down to my knuckles.
"Both of us?" he asks with a vibrating tone.
"Us humans," I say, watching him out of the corner of my eye. "And why we do what we do."
He lets me see only his profile—his tousled hair, strong jawline, and five o'clock shadow. "I've been wondering the same thing today," he replies thoughtfully.
There's something in his words that makes me lean against his side. "And what have you found out?"
He smiles briefly. "What if we are what others have made us?"
Thoughtfully, I rest my temple on his shoulder and watch as the sun stretches its rays toward the sky. "Your parents?" I ask empathetically.
"Mm-hmm," he replies, tilting his head to rest his ear against my temple. "And yours."
"My parents always wanted the best for me," I respond quickly, but then I pause. Something about that sentence is strange, but what?
Kjell wraps his arm around me, his warmth enveloping me. "Mine claimed the same thing."
Yes, there's some truth to that. They probably thought they were doing the right thing. Yet they ruined Kjell with it.
Confused thoughts flutter through my mind. "What if..." No, it's too crazy. It can't be.
"...if your drug addiction wasn't solely your fault?" he finishes my sentence and plants a kiss on my forehead.
No, as much as I would like to think that, it's not true. Right now, it's about something completely different—about who I am. And what it means that my openness yesterday brought Kjell and me so close together.
Suddenly, an idea forms amid all the chaotic thoughts inside me.
Carefully, I lift my head from his shoulder. "What if I've been approaching this the wrong way?" I ask.
Seeing his confusion, I can't help but grin. He looks adorable when he doesn't know what's happening. "Um..."
"Yes, that's exactly the problem, possibly," I say with excitement. I place the tea cup on the side table and start pacing in front of the glass window. I'm onto something, I can feel it. "Since my return, I've been trying to earn respect at Touch av lyx using my father's methods."
But I am not my father. I am not a tough businesswoman, and maybe I don't have to be.
Kjell takes a sip of his coffee. "Okay. Interesting."
I come to a sudden stop. "I have to go back to Stockholm."
Yes, I need to show up at the headquarters, approach the employees, and talk to Kahlo. Explain everything, apologize, and ask him to tell me what he needs from me to work well. No condescension. No bossy behavior. No power games.
"That's the only way I have a chance." In the midst of my emotional turmoil, I walk over to Kjell and plant a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you." I smile at him. "How quickly can you pack?"
"But what if the press..." He stops mid-sentence, his face turning pale.
His concern for me is really sweet, and of course, he's right.
The media frenzy is and remains a problem. My father won't approve when he wakes up and finds press reports about me. "If they catch me, it's all over. Just one journalist who knows my story is already too many."
"Oh God..." Kjell exclaims, clearly horrified by the thought.
Still, I have no choice. "If I want to regain my father's trust, I have to go back." Maybe I'll cut my hair? I won't go outside, only move freely in the villa and at Touch av lyx . "I'll hide so well that they won't catch me. Will you help me with that?"
By now, he's as pale as the snow at the front of the sea.
"Are you okay?" I ask, scrutinizing him closely.
"Of course." His lips twitch as if trying to turn upward but not quite succeeding.