9. Oskar
CHAPTER NINE
OSKAR
When I leave the hotel gym at noon, I have run six kilometers, lifted weights, and done enough crunches to make my abs sore. In the elevator back to my floor, I check my phone. Nothing.
Kai went home yesterday with a kiss and a promise to message me later. But he didn’t text last night and has not been in touch this morning. I don’t know what to make of his silence, so after I clean up, I will eat lunch and text him. Surely he has not decided to ignore me after only a few days.
While I am drying off after a shower, I remind myself we are nothing to each other officially. We have not dated, and this is not a marriage.
Twenty minutes later, dressed in navy blue shorts and a gray T-shirt, I leave the hotel.
I shove my phone into my pocket only to check it twice during the walk to Times Square.
Near Seventh Avenue, the smell of hot dogs overwhelms me.
Hot dogs are popular back home, and today I can use some comfort food.
I approach a kiosk where a shapely blonde woman is waiting.
Her face brightens. “Hi, handsome. What’ll it be?”
She is more attractive than I thought from across the street, and I do a quick double take. It has been a while since I was with a woman. Then Kai crosses my mind, and she becomes only another person selling hot dogs.
A few minutes later, armed with two “specials,” I sit on a nearby bench. Only one other person is there, a teenage guy slumped at the far end, texting with someone.
I open both hot dogs and arrange them beside me. It takes three tries before they look right. When they do, I snap a photo and attach it to a text message.
OSKAR: Hello beautiful man. I bought lunch and got one for you in case you are nearby.
After hitting send, I dig into a dog. It’s good, but midway through, he still has not responded. I check the message again to make sure it sent. It did. My stomach twists, but I force myself to eat.
He doesn’t answer until I am taking the last bite.
KAI: God, I haven’t had one of those in ages. They look so good.
I wipe my hands on a napkin and start typing.
OSKAR: Delicious. I will buy you one if you come to meet me.
My phone rings, a video call from Kai.
“I can’t believe you’re eating hot dogs,” he says as soon as we connect. “How can you do that and keep your amazing body?”
He’s grinning at me. His hair is styled nicely, and his button-up shirt makes me wonder if I have interrupted him in the middle of something important.
“I don’t eat them every day, but they remind me of home. We Swedes like hot dogs, or as we call them, korv med brod.”
His lips twitch. “Say that again?”
“Korv med brod?”
“I’m sorry, once more.”
“Korv med brod. Sausage with bread.”
A blush colors his cheeks, and before I can react, he asks, “What’s your favorite hot dog in Sweden?”
“On flatbread with mashed potatoes, shrimp salad, cucumber salad, and anything else you want.”
He laughs, which makes me ridiculously happy.
“That definitely sounds unusual,” he says. “You won’t find that here.”
I hold up my second hot dog. “This one has spicy mustard and ketchup, always my backup choice.”
Instead of answering, he looks into the camera. “I’m having lunch with a friend, but if I weren’t, I’d come and find you.”
“Want to meet later?” I ask. “We could get dinner or simply hang out. Do you play video games?”
“Yes, but I can’t do it today. I’m eating with my friend Nico, and after that we’re meeting another friend to work out. Later, we’re all going to a concert.”
My stomach tightens.
“We’ve had it planned for a couple of months,” he says, “or I’d tell them to go without me. We don’t see each other much during the summer.”
I try to nod away my disappointment. “I understand. Friends are important.”
He hesitates, then scratches his cheek. “Oskar, I’m… I have fun with you. Want to get together tomorrow? We could go for a cruise around Manhattan or play tennis. Or I could show you a different part of the city, and we could stop for—”
“Okay,” I say because I do not want him going for a mental spin. “I will be free all day tomorrow.”
He smiles, but then seems to catch himself and pretends he did not.
“Me too,” he says. “Can I text you around ten in the morning?”
“Of course. You will not forget?”
He shakes his head. “How could I forget when I’m already looking forward to it?”
We disconnect, and I stare at the screen where his face was a few seconds earlier. Now I am starving, so I put down my phone and devour the other hot dog in record time. Kai still wants to see me, which matters more than it should.