Voyage 2002

"I'm in," Benny said promptly. January 2002 / Björn

A little languidly, he sat on the couch with the newspaper. It was a Saturday morning and he was still walking around in his jogging suit. When his phone indicated that a text message was coming in, he looked up. He had a message from Frida. "Hi BU, I actually wanted to imitate a starfish today and lay in bed all day, but something came up. I'd like to talk to Benny and you. Preferably today. Lunch? X, F."

He chuckled for a moment. Then he rubbed his beard with his thumb and forefinger. He was going to have lunch with Anna... After a moment's thought, he texted back, "I have an appointment. Is it important? If so, I'll see if I can reschedule it. X, B."

"Personally, I think it's urgent, but that's not necessarily the case. If it can be done today, it would be nice. If it's not possible, we'll agree on something else. Benny has time, but no pressure!!!" Hmmm. He could give a call to his youngest daughter, then he would hear about it. In his phone he looked for her number.

"Hi, Dad," he heard Anna's voice as she answered.

"Hi, honey, how are you?"

"I'm good. I'll go see Sofie in a minute."

He raised his eyebrows. "Now? That's quite some time on the subway, isn't it?"

"Yes, how so?"

"Um, our lunch?" he asked.

"Our what? Oh, fuck!"

Sigh. If he hadn't called her, he would have been waiting for the cat's paw! Kids, you got so much in return....

"I'm glad you miss me too," he said, chuckling.

"Sorry! I forgot. Don't you have time tonight?"

"Yes," he replied. "That's actually more convenient."

"Then why hadn't we agreed on that anyway?"

"Because I've only known for five minutes that that's the case."

"Hmm. Okay. Then can you pick me up at Sofie's? It really saves so much hassle."

"That's fine. Fivish?"

"Yes, please."

"Is Mom okay?"

"Yes."

He insisted some more, but she was short on words. When you were almost 16, it probably went without saying that your mother was doing well or at least you didn't care too much about it. To find out the real answer and tell her that he would claim their youngest daughter that night, he decided to make a call to Lena himself. The conversation with her didn't last too long either. A few polite phrases and 'okays' were exchanged and that was it. Well, whatever. He did his best to keep it all decent and show some interest, but apparently that wish was not mutual. He shrugged. He texted Frida back and she gave him the time and place where they would meet up. For a moment he considered continuing to write lyrics for ABBA. He had an idea in his head and a demo in his CD player, but because of the busy rehearsals the previous week, he had little inspiration. And something was gnawing. He walked to his study and sat down in the comfortable swivel chair. Like a little kid, he dismounted and spun around. Then he took a quick look at both photo walls. He sighed and thought about Frida's text message once more. What was so important that she wanted to take care of it immediately? Did she want to drop out? No, he couldn't imagine that! According to Benny, she had cried when he had told her the idea. Surely nothing bad was going on with one of her loved ones? That would be catastrophic! How was she supposed to pull that off? Abruptly, he pulled out his phone. Without further thought, he typed a text message to Benny: "There's nothing going on with Frida's family, is there? Her question is suddenly stressing me out."