Agnetha strolled up to the school playground, patiently waiting with all the other mums for her daughter to leave the school building. Last night had been a rough one, she sang at night clubs in the evenings but didn't get back till late. Luckily for her, Anna's mother had been living with them since Agnetha got pregnant via sperm bank 5 years ago, so was able to take care of little Linda.
"Are you new here too? I can't believe that my Calle has started reception all ready!" The mother smiled wistfully.
"I know what you mean. Do you have any others?" The blonde asked, taking off her sunglasses before hastily placing them back over her eyes. The sun's way too bright; stupid hangover!
"Yes, I have a 8 month old at home, but I'm sure she'll be this age in a minute!" The woman sighed. "Görel Hanser." She held out her hand expectantly.
"Agnetha Fältskog." She shook it formally.
"Long night?" Görel's eyes twinkled mischievously.
"You could say that, yeah." Aggie didn't really feel like elaborating just yet.
"Oh, I remember those days!" She laughed loudly.
"You don't look that much older than me!" Anna stared.
"I'm 28."
"And I'm 27." Agnetha pointed out.
"Really?! You look much younger." She had to suppress rolling her eyes at that. she was a grown woman, she had a child for crying out loud!
"Do you know a 'Miss Lyngstad'? I got an email yesterday about Linda's need for extra support in reading and writing, but I wanted to discuss what the best options would be." Agnetha asked. She sometimes felt like she failed her daughter, but Birgit did her best.
"Of course I do! I used to work here, so she's like a sister to me." Görel smiled.
Huh? From the way Linda spoke about how caring she was I would've assumed she was a sweet middle-aged lady.
"Really? Wouldn't she be too old for that?" Anna's eyes furrowed in confusion, watching in bewilderment when Görel raised her eyebrows.
"Frida? Middle-aged? She looks younger than me, woman! I mean yeah... she's a few years older, but it doesn't make a difference. Plus, she's got all the fathers and even some of the mothers drooling over her." The woman next to her winked.
"Oh?" Aggie blinked in mild surprise.
"Yep, our Frida's a total bombshell. She doesn't know it, mind, so as the more confident friend I'm trying to get her out there more, I want to be the maid of honour at her wedding." Görel giggled.
She's probably not that hot, don't give yourself hope! And I bet you this woman will be mid-40s and married to a charming man or something.
"Can you see your child?" Agnetha turned to her new friend, who was stood on tiptoe.
"CALLE, CALLE OVER HERE!" She shouted, beaconing a small boy over.
"This is my son, Calle." Görel put her arms around his chest. "Darling, is there a Linda in your class?"
"Yes, she's over there with Auntie Frida." He pointed.
"You can't call her that at school." Görel gently scolded.
"I call Frida 'Miss Lyngstad' thank you very much! That Linda is so shy and Frida keeps having to stop the lesson to catch her up too." He rolled his eyes, making his mother glare at him. "Calle!" She muttered under her breath, but Agnetha just smiled, though inside her soul was breaking into tiny fragments.
She'd failed her little girl. Agnetha knew that there was always a risk of her being affected by the fact that she wasn't around as much as she'd want to be, but to hear it out loud... from a child, no less... Thankfully she had Birgit to rely on, but the blonde's mother preferred songbooks to notebooks, shall we say.
"Mummy, you're here!" A sweet voice interrupted her thoughts, feeling something (or rather someone) jump into her arms.
"Baby, I thought I'd surprise you!" The woman began filling her little daughter's cheeks with kisses, who started giggling like a maniac.
