Anni-Frid woke up the next day with a terrible headache. What did I do last night? Who was I with? She said to herself. And then she remembered: the bar, Benny, "Call me".
Why had she done this? Was she stupid?
Yet she couldn't explain that constant feeling of butterflies when she thought of Benny, it was a feeling never felt before.
She tried to go back to sleep again, it was Sunday morning and she didn't have to work, but the thought of Benny didn't make her sleep so she decided to get up, she went into the bathroom, put her hands on the sink and what she saw was horrible, her hair was messed up, she had dark black circles under her eyes.
Anni-Frid tried to fix herself, did her skin care routine and a relaxing bath. She devoted herself to herself for a day...
Everything was perfect, but a thought tormented her: will he call? won't he call?
She was somehow waiting for Benny's call, but she didn't take it: she was just drunk. Not in love. At most she was hungry, that's why she had butterflies in her stomach. but Anni-Frid wasn't in love. She could not. She had seen him once or twice at some informal event, and that night at the bar, nothing more. That was insane.
From the other side, Benny hadn't slept at all.
He had been thinking about that handkerchief and Anni-Frid's words all night. He still hadn't had the courage to open it. What if her number wasn't there and Anni-Frid was kidding him?
Come on Andersson, she can't be in love with you, she has better things to do, and you have better things to do too, he said to himself.
But he did not believe his own words, he knew he would fall into temptation, he would open the handkerchief, dial and call Anni-Frid.
Benny tried to distract himself in all ways, working, playing the piano, cooking lunch, but his thoughts remained there, to the handkerchief, to Anni-Frid and the extreme desire to call her.
At one point, he couldn't stand it anymore, he went up the stairs that led to his room, rummaged in his jacket pocket and saw the handkerchief there.
He opened it and saw her neat and elegant handwriting.
"Thank you for being with me tonight, it was amazing. Call me. Yours, Anni-Frid".
Benny felt butterflies in his stomach. He rushed downstairs, walked into the living room, where there was the telephone, dialed her number and called.
Anni-Frid was making herself an avocado toast for a snack, suddenly the phone rang, Anni-Frid jumped, dropped the toast and ran the phone and composed herself before answering.
"Anni-Frid here, who am I talking to?"
"Hi Anni-Frid, I'm Benny, I saw the number on the handkerchief and thought I'd call you "
"Nice of you," Anni-Frid said shyly. Strange. Very strange. She was never shy. It was she who intimidated people.
"Would you like to come to lunch with me? I would like to have company, and you seem very good for this task." he laughed
Anni-Frid felt a shiver go down her spine, was it a date?
"I don't know if I can, I've already prepared lunch at my house, sorry... but if you want you can come to my place for lunch, there is enough pasta for both of us" she said sarcastically.
"Well, we can meet at the shopping centre, take a walk and then eat, is it ok?"
"Of course it is, see you there in half an hour, bye!" Anni-Frid said somehow excited.
She was glad that Benny was going to eat with her, and went out of her way to make the most delicious lunch she ever cooked.
After cooking lunch, she went to her room and looked for something to wear. Her closet was full of dresses, suits, blouses and trousers, all elegant and, of course, branded.
She sat in front of her beauty, she was particularly beautiful and her eyes sparkled, she put on a green eyeshadow, which matched her beautiful eyes, put some powder to remove the oiliness off herskin (she hated this defect), then a reddish lipstick, not very pigmented, almost a coloured lip balm.
Then she did her hair, she was so beautiful. She tied it in a half ponytail and the end was a little curled. Classic and elegant. Magnificent.
Benny was ready too. He was handsome, as always. He got in his car and drove to the shopping center.
There he waited for Anni-Frid, after about 15 minutes he saw a woman, in a dark green suit, it was her, she was stunning.
"Hello handsome"
"Hi beautiful girl" Benny said they kiss her hand elegantly and never breaking eye contact with her.
"Let's go?"
"Yeah"
Benny took her arm and they walked around the shopping center.
It was about noon and Anni-Frid was starting to feel hungry, she didn't want to interrupt the pleasant conversation she was having with Benny, but the need was too strong.
"Hey Benny, how about going to lunch, you know, I'm a little hungry"
"Sure, did you come on foot?"
"Yes, it is very close to my house"
"then I'll take you to my car, shall we?"
"Let's go" Anni-Frid said looking straight into is eyes, dreaming.
When they got to her house they set the table and sat down to eat, talked about this and that, but the connection between them was palpable.
"Well, we finished lunch, was it to your liking?"
"Of course it was, what do we do now?"
"What about watching a film?"
"Sure!" Benny said excited. That was what he wanted. Being with her, alone, in a romantic situation. That was all he needed.
They sat on the sofa in the large living room, put on a movie, they didn't know what genre it was, they found it wandering among the TV channels.
They were seated one on the right and the other on the left, neither of them was concentrating on the film, slowly Anni-Frid got sleepy and rested her red-haired head on Benny's shoulder. He looked at her and put his arm around her waist, Anni-Frid opened his eyes and stared at Benny, straight.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds, completely lost in each other's eyes. Benny was getting closer and closer to her, Frid closed hes eyes and... BOOM. Pure magic.
