Second Chances

1. A New Woman

Saturday, 20th January 1979

After a morning spent in Kungens Kurva looking for new furniture for her new apartment in Östermalm, Agnetha was on her way back to Stockholm. She had ordered new bedroom furniture, which would be delivered on Monday. In the meantime, Agnetha had got some kitchen supplies and new glasses for Benny and Frida since they were complaining about their cups always breaking and they needed to get new ones. She felt that it would be a nice gift for their friends, so instead of driving directly home, she would go to their house in Södra Kungsvägen.

Lidingö haunted Agnetha ever since her separation from Björn in the previous month on Christmas Day, and for that reason, she didn't keep the house in Jupitervägen where she had first moved to. Agnetha would return to Lidingö only to drop off the kids at Björn's house, which was previously their house, and to visit Benny and Frida. The separation was still very recent and Agnetha knew she would have to stop avoiding the places that once made her happy and safe. Having an apartment in another area helped her to give herself some space, time to process all the events and to digest her new life and routines. Björn and Agnetha agreed that one week the kids would stay with him and in the other, they would stay with her. Every Friday the kids would switch houses and that's what they have done for the past three weeks. It was Björn's week this time so Agnetha had spare time to set up her new apartment with everything that the kids would need to feel at home.

After a 30 minutes drive, Agnetha would arrive at her friends' house. She parked her car right in front of the main door and she noticed there was another car she didn't recognise. "Maybe someone came over to meet them", she thought and took off her seat belt. It didn't stop her from going to her car's boot to get the new set of glasses for her friends. Soon she was on their doorstep and ringing the bell. Agnetha didn't wait very long until Frida opened the door for her.

"Oh, hello Agnetha! What are you doing by these areas?", asked Frida surprised to see her bandmate without any previous warning.

"Hi, Frida! Well, I bought something for you and I thought I should drop it off before going home!", answered Agnetha.

"That's so sweet! Come in, please", Frida invited Agnetha to come inside and she didn't take long to accept it and close the door behind her as it was a cold day in Stockholm.

"You keep talking about getting new cups because your old ones are breaking and since we've been quite busy with the new album promotion planning and travelling to the U.S., you haven't had time to get them so I bought them for you. At the end of the day I'm the one with a new house to decorate!", said Agnetha all cheerful for giving a gift to her friend.

"Oh my God, you didn't have to! That's so sweet of you! Thank you so much!", Frida thanked Agnetha for her kind gesture and she accepted the box with a set of 24 new glasses. "Let me bring it to the kitchen, come with me."

The two friends came to the kitchen, which was close to the living room. Inside the kitchen, there was a door for the dining room, and in the dining room, there was an arch that would allow people to go to the living room. Frida put the box on the counter and opened it to check the new glasses.

"I love them! Thank you so much, Agnetha. You really didn't have to!"

"C'mon, that's the least I could do for you, considering all the support you've given me in the past few months. How are you?", asked Agnetha.

"I'm well, thanks. We took the weekend to stay home to rest, before all the travelling that we are going to have..."

"Yeah, I know. Where's Benny?"