In the spotlight

14

Sofia Christensen

The heavy snowfall almost completely covered me the moment I stepped outside of the building. I threw the straps of my huge sidebag further up my shoulder and pulled the hood of my black oversized hoodie on my head over my headphones.

Despite the freezing cold weather, I was taking my time while walking to my parents' car, unlocking the vehicle with the keys I dug out from the left pocket of my sweatpants. The parking lot was only occupied by my borrowed car and a few others all around the place, illuminated by the street lights reflecting back from the frozen snow covering them.

This eerie silence would have spiked my nerves under normal circumstances, but right now it did the complete opposite. I enjoyed the quiet, getting away from the hustle and bustle of Paris or any other big capital in the world. I inhaled the cold air sharply as I felt it cooling me down as well after coming out of the hot sauna and leaving the gym's air filled with sweat and struggle behind.

My career didn't know any holidays; I couldn't just leave my weekly schedule or my diet behind me in Paris, no matter where in the world I found myself for whatever reasons. But at least I had the freedom to follow them in a way I wanted; therefore, I didn't miss a chance of coming back to this gym whenever I could.

Far away from Oslo or any bigger city in the country, this smaller village had everything I could ever need. This place particularly had an owner who is a great friend of our family; he and my dad used to attend high school together before he left for university in Moscow. We usually come here together with him, but today he had an important online meeting with his subordinates.

I approached the deep black Mercedes GLS in front of me, which I borrowed for my trip to this city. My parents absolutely loved SUVs, and they loved German cars even more. Maybe this is why I myself owned a BMW M8 back at home in Paris and couldn't wait until I could hop into it again for my road trip around the Iberian Peninsula before Christmas.

To be fair, the road trip and the fact that I loved Spain and Portugal weren't the main reasons for my excitement. As these thoughts started flowing into my head once again, I sighed heavily. I pulled the sleeve of my hoodie further up until I covered the palm of my hand with it. I swiped the snow off of the trunk before pressing the Mercedes logo, watching as the door slowly opened up in front of me.

I grabbed the bottom of my bag hanging on my shoulder and tried to push it into the car as fast as my sore muscles allowed me to do so. After pushing down the door, I walked to the driver's seat, basically jumping into the car and slamming the door next to me as I was feeling more and more cold with each passing minute.

I gently inserted the key into its place, turning it with my right hand and pushing the starting button right next to it. A surge of satisfaction rushed through my veins as the engine came to life. The headlights were illuminating the railing in front of me, and heat was warming up the room around me.

I leaned back comfortably, pulling my phone out of my pocket and unlocking the screen. I didn't care about any of the notifications popping up anywhere; I navigated directly to Adriana's name, pressing the green call button instantly.

I heard the familiar sound in my headphones, anxiously waiting for her to pick it up finally before I could go anywhere else.

"Jesus Sofia, fucking finally." I heard my dearest friend's voice speaking up in my headphones. She turned on her camera instantly, and I watched as her face filled up my screen. She propped up the phone against something and moved away from the device, revealing her hotel room. She sat down on her bed, crossing her legs, taking off her hoodie from the two French braids she had at the moment.