Letters

Chapter 7

I woke up and looked around. Everyone was already up. Frida immediately came up to me.

"Hey, Benny wants me home, so we need to go as soon as possible." Frida said softly as she sat down next to me, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"Is he angry?..." I asked her as I sat up straight.

"Yes." She said and got up. I wondered why he was angry, it's not as if she has a curfew or something... I think.

I got up and looked for my coat. But Karl brought it to me. After putting on my shoes Frida gave me my handbag and we left quickly.

She took me to my apartment first before going to hers, even though I insisted that I could walk from hers to my mine.

She pulled over to the side of the road and got out of the car. I was confused why. I traced her with my eyes as she walked around the car, she smiled and opened the door for me.

"Thank you, " I smiled back, "Bye."

"Bye." Frida hugged me, her perfume still had a very strong scent, if not even stronger than yesterday.

Afterwards I watched her drive away and headed to my apartment. With each day it seemed as if I had to climb more and more steps to my apartment.

As I got closer to my apartment, I started looking for my keys.
A sudden "Hi." startled me.

I looked up from my purse. "Mona?" I felt my face make a weird grimace.

She got up, she was holding a piece of newspaper folded up. Before I could comprehend what was going on she hit me on the back of my head with it.

"Don't you know any better?" She crossed her arms angrily, then she looked behind me and so did I. A man was standing behind us, who looked awfully confused, I was too. But quickly he carried on.

I suggested we talked about that inside, she nodded. We both went inside, I made the mistake of going in first, which got me another hit on the head, this time it was a weaker hit, but I still didn't like it.

"What are you so mad about?"

"Frida." Mona said awfully sternly. I furrowed my brows in confusion, what has she done? Aside from giving me depression.

"First of all, Mona, OUCH! Second of all, what the fuck does Frida have to do with this?"

"Do you remember how she hurt you? And now you're repeating everything again. You used to go to places with her, and now you are again, I remember distinctly how she would always open the car door for you, and now she is doing that again!"

"How do you know that?" I looked at her very confused. How could she know? She wasn't outside when I got here.

"I saw through the... Window..." she answered rather slowly.

"For God's sake! I'm an adult! So what if she opens the car door for me! And why are you spying on me?!" I felt myself become very mad, I didn't want to become hysterical, but it felt like I might.

"She's literally a pedophile, back when you were first talking she wanted to fuck you!" Mona said, completely ignoring my question about the spying.

"What makes you think that?"

"The door opening? Gifts? Taking you to that stupid café!"

Those words stabbed me in my heart, I hadn't heard more painful words than that... That café was special... It is special.

"She opened the car door for me because that door was always jammed and hard to open."

Mona sighed. I knew she was only looking out for me, but hitting me on the head and completely ignoring that Frida to me is a special person was taking it a bit too far.

"Fine. Think what you think, but you'll just get your heart broken again. And when that happens, I won't comfort you."

"Fine. As if I'm even planning to be with her, I like her in a platonic way, I'm friends with her," I put my hands on my chest, "Friends." I repeated.

Mona sighed again and was about to leave, but when she opened the door, Frida, of course showed up at the perfect moment.

"Look," she turned her head to me, "Here comes your-"

"I really have to hurry. Agnetha here's your gloves, you forgot them in my car." Frida cut her off. Handing me the gloves.

"Thanks." I said and she left, Mona followed her.

I really don't know what happened after, wether Mona was civil or she hit her over the head
with that newspaper.

I walked to my bedroom and fell down on the bed, quickly falling asleep.

But suddenly a telephone call woke me up. I had no idea how long I had been sleeping, but it looked like sun was setting already. I went to answer the call.

I picked the phone up, "Hello?" I asked, but no one answered. I heard quiet breathing on the phone and then a distant voice saying something, after that whoever was calling hung up. I was confused, but I assume someone just got the wrong number. I went back to bed.

The next morning I got up and immediately got a coffee. As I stood and watched the teapot boil there was a knock on the door.

I went to answer it.

"Good morning!" Björn said. We hugged and kissed for a bit and then he stepped in. Beside the door was a big vase of roses.

"Did you get me flowers?" I smiled as my excitement grew. I loved getting flowers.

"No they were there when I got here." He answered and my face quickly changed to a confused expression. I picked the vase up and set it down on the kitchen table. There was a card in the flowers.

I started reading it.

The day that the last rose withers will be the day I'll stop loving you.

I looked at the back of the card and there was no name. I was even more confused, who would say that? It seems like a mean way to tell someone they won't love you anymore.

But I ignored it and was happy for my beautiful flowers.

As days went by I forgot about the card and only remember when I saw the flowers on my table. After about a week and a half they started to wither.

This evening after work, I sat down in front of them and just started at the flowers. Someone doesn't love me anymore? Was my question.

I looked closer, among the deep red withered petals of the roses was something bright red. I got up and pulled it out.

"What?" I looked at it. A fake rose. It took me a moment to realize it, but the day that that person will stop loving me will be –

Never.

It's fake.

It's a fake rose.

There was a card tied to it, the card was huge, and had a lot of writing on it, so I slowly started reading.

When these roses shall wither, I'll stop loving you, but among them is a rose that shall never wither and shall forever hold my love for you, in those petals they hold the deep love I have for you, and it'll hold that love, in the stem it holds the urge, the urge to go ahead, tell you the truth, the prickles hold you back from touching a rose often, but the prickles hold me back from touching you and confessing, the leaves, the leaves hold our memories, in each of those lines there's a memory of us, and it'll forever hold those memories.

So let the other roses wither as they die with our bad memories, and let this rose live, let this rose live the to see the day when we first lay our lips upon each other, when we first lay our eyes on each other with a different look, a look filled with love, let this rose live and hold our love till we shall part, even if it's now or later. Keep this rose, and my love for you will never die, throw this rose out and my love will stay still anyway. To love is to suffer and to love you is to suffer greatly.

I love you.