Athena

Chapter 1

The street lights had almost turned off for the night as I walked home. I had stayed for longer than I thought at the party. It was unusual for me even to go out for anything else than a museum or the theater at night. But this time there was nothing on, and I hadn't been able to keep her, and our time together, out of my mind. So I went. And stayed. And met Mona. She was funny and time passed quicker than I thought.

I put the key in the door to my flat and stepped inside. My ex didn't occupy my mind any longer, and at least I would sleep well this morning.

I had almost forgotten about that evening some days after. Life went on. Work took up most of my time and I spent the evenings listening to a concert from Bach streaming on one of the channels. That's when I heard a knock on the door. That was unusual, no one ever knocked on my door in the evenings. Or at any other time, for that matter. I got up, peered out the peephole and to my surprise I recognized the person standing outside. It was Mona, from the party.

I pulled the door open and she grinned.

"So I found the right flat!"

I didn't know what to answer, and before I had time to come up with something, she said,

"It wouldn't be possible to stay here for the night? My usual sleeping quarter is full. "

I stared at her for a moment. We hadn't exchanged much about our own lives that evening at the party, but somehow she must have found out where I lived. Not that I knew where she stayed. I gestured for her to come in.

"Okay, I guess that's fine."

"Cheers!"

She grinned as she pushed herself through.

"It's Gina, right?", she asked.

I nodded, and she placed a tattered backpack and a guitar with stickers on it on the floor. Something told me those were her only belongings.

"Wow, nice place you've got."

I guess it was. The work paid me well, and I'd been able to get a loan from the bank to secure a place in the center of town. She took a step inside, admiring the interior. I stood at a loss for a moment, but I must have had some instinct on how to treat guests, so I asked,

"Are you hungry?"

"I sure am!"

I gestured for her to come inside and prepared her a sandwich and a glass of juice, and she gulped it down without a word.

"Solid of you to let me stay, she said once the last of the juice was drunk. You know, I have a knack for knowing which place will give me luck for the night."

"Don't you have your own place?, I asked."

"Nope."

She didn't offer an explanation, and I let it go for now.

"I'll show you the sofa, I said instead, not knowing how to move the conversation forward."

Thinking about it, it had been Mona who had driven the conversation that evening at the party. I seldom excelled at any human interaction, but Mona didn't seem to care.

"Cool!"

She stood up and eagerly followed me to the living room. Maybe I would have been excited, too, if I never knew where I would sleep that night. It's a surprise, I guess.

"Wow, it's even a long sofa!, she exclaimed as she saw it. You know, sometimes it's a short one, and I need to fit myself in, legs bent and all of that. But tonight I'll sleep like a king."

She'd taken the backpack and the guitar from the hallway as we'd passed it, and she put them down by the wall. She looked out over the living room as if it was hers. Which, I guess, it was to a certain degree, at least for tonight.

"So, what you want to do tonight?, she asked as she sprawled herself out over the furniture."

"Do tonight?"

"Sure, we can't sit quietly for hours, can we?"

I somehow suspected she wasn't into Bach or any other classical composers and, for lack of something else to offer, I said,

"We can play cards?"

"Yeah, that sounds rad!"

It had been long since I had anyone to play with, but I used to do it a lot as a child, with my father. I took out the deck from the drawer.

"I'll make us some tea, as well, I said."

She didn't answer, but as I turned in the doorway, I saw her watching the living room in awe.

That evening would change everything, even though I didn't know it yet. It would be the beginning of the rest of my life, in ways I had not foreseen.