Conspiracies

4. I know now.

I woke up with a thought in my head. I had to talk to Brita. Jens arrived late last night, and we argued about not answering my multiple messages or calls; he locked himself in his room and ended the conversation. I was not angry with him but with myself for having allowed his behavior, for having let him do whatever he wanted, and for not punishing him in any way. I needed Lasse by my side, but he still didn't stop by. The good news is that it has shown signs of life. Last night he answered me with a simple message: "I'll be home tomorrow." And that's it. Nothing more. It was Friday. Which meant we could spend the weekend as a family after months of not doing it. 

I already had several plans in mind. We could go to the movies, take a walk in Botanisk Have, or go to Kastellet. I missed those days when the three of us had dinner and told each other how the day had gone. We talked about Jens' classes, Lasse's campaign rallies, and my articles. I lost myself in the forest of my memories while having breakfast. Jens had gone to school a while ago as well as Bergitte.

When I finished breakfast, I quickly went up to my room. I showered, dried my hair, and dressed as usual. I grabbed my things, and in the blink of an eye, I was in the car. I drove through Langebro calmly. I was in time to get to the newsroom. The traffic increased as time passed. I bypassed the traffic jam that was beginning to form and got to the newsroom. I got to my office and put my things aside. I turned on the computer, ready to go to work, when Jannik walked in. 

"Good Morning!" he said in a sing-song tone. He was holding two thermoses of coffee. 

"Take it, so you carry the day with more joy and energy."He offered me one of the thermoses, and I took it. I took a little sip. It was freshly made. 

"Thank you very much," I said smiling. 

He smiled back at me and sat down in one of the chairs. 

"Have you spoken with Brita? I called her several times, but she didn't pick it up. I'll try again in a bit."

"Okay, let me know when you hear something."

"Of course." And he vanished.

I drank some more of the coffee and set it aside. On my desk, I had a report on the news article I had to write. It was about the controversial decision that the mayor of Copenhagen had taken to cancel a demonstration in favor of the abortion law. I started working on it. After a couple of hours of writing the new article and without stopping, I decided to reward myself with a little more coffee. I put down the keyboard and picked up the thermos. I took a sip and savored it. I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes as I drank more coffee. 

The sound of my cell phone brought me out of my relaxing state. I read the name on the screen and was surprised. It was Lasse. 

"I'm sorry," he said in a puppyish voice.

 "Why?"

"For all." 

"And what is all?" I asked him sharply. 

"Not having shown up at home, not having responded to your calls or your messages ..."

"And why should I forgive you?"

"Because you love me," he answered in his sweetest tone. I smiled.

"When you come home, we'll talk." 

"So see you tonight."

"See you tonight." I repeated.

He hung up as soon as I finished the sentence. I put the phone back in my bag and continued writing. After an hour of nefarious attempts to continue, I did not write another five lines. I was distracted. My mind was busy thinking about Brita and her mysterious note. I wondered over a hundred thousand questions as to why he hadn't delivered the note to me directly. It didn't make sense to him. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to call her.