Because She Loved Him

Disintegration Part II

The scent of coffee pervaded the room. Agnetha turned to go over to Bjorn she went to take his hand but he pulled his away and went to look out of the window. " I don't understand what is happening here" she said sadly. "All I want to know is how we got to this point from where we were this morning, I don't care about ABBA at the moment. I just care about us four" Bjorn rounded on her "That's your problem Agnetha! You don't care about ABBA!!" he snarled. "I didn't mean that, I meant I'm more concerned about Benny, Frida, you and me at the moment" Agnetha stood up for herself. " We are ABBA  Agnetha, there is no difference" he turned away from her again. She tried again " Of course there is a difference Bjorn. Benny and Frida were my best friends long before ABBA and I married you long before ABBA came into being. Our relationship and Benny and Frida are much more important to me than ABBA ever will be I can't deny it but it doesn't mean I don't care about ABBA" she paused for breath. " I love ABBA and I've put my heart and soul into it but I'm in it because I love you and I want to work with you and be with you. I want to be with Benny and Frida as well. I thought you listened to me last night" the tears were threatening to overwhelm her again. She sat down exhausted. " Will you stop crying" snapped Bjorn. It's all you do at the moment"
Benny and Frida were feeling most uncomfortable but knew they were part of this. Frida sat with Agnetha and held her hand and said "Bjorn, I actually understand what Anna is saying. ABBA is important but not at the expense of our relationships. I care very much about ABBA and I also want us to be successful but we need to look after ourselves first. If we fall to pieces ABBA will die too" Bjorn rolled his eyes but said nothing. Benny went over to Bjorn at the window and watched him for a moment then he turned and perched his backside on the windowsill so he could see Bjorn but was facing the girls. "Bjorn, come on. The girls are right, yes we four are ABBA but we are also us. The same people from Vallentuna who did Festfolket. The same people who sat outside Anna's room holding you together when she had Linda and Christian. Those things transcend the band, our relationship transcends the band. We are them. We need to sort us out first and then deal with whatever Stig has done later on today." Bjorn knew he was in the wrong on many levels but he was a very stubborn man. He sighed and said "Ok. Let's talk" He settled on a chair with a cup of coffee, he sat next to Anna but still did not touch her. Benny said " I understand that you want to push ABBA to the top, so do we all in different ways. I feel like we are just repeating the same conversation that we had last night. Is it Bjorn's way or no way??" He asked seriously. "Because that's how it feels at the moment, we are all equal contributors to this band and I'd have thought until today's disaster that we all had equal say??" Bjorn was getting angry now. " Why is all of this coming down on me?? I'm the one that keeps ABBA going!! Without me, there wouldn't be an ABBA and then where would you all be?? " Ahh!! Now we are getting to the root of the issue, we all contribute different things " said Benny "You can't be serious Benny, we write the bloody songs!" "Yes, we do" agreed Benny "but neither of us can bloody sing and the girls voices are the ABBA sound, without them we are nothing but jobbing songwriters!! More to the point if Anna wasn't so bloody scared of you criticising her, she might be able to write like she used too!" Bjorn scoffed and said " so now I'm the bad guy and replaceable???" Benny threw his hands up in frustration. " For fucks sake Bjorn NO!! That is NOT what I'm saying. Mate. NONE of us are replaceable! Without any one of us there is no ABBA." The room was silent while everyone digested what had been said. Frida interjected quietly " which means Bjorn that for better or for worse our relationships on a personal level MUST come before ABBA. It also means that we know you love the spotlight and the fame most which is why you tend to be the spokesman of the group in the same way that I love being on stage, whereas Anna loves recording more and Benny loves writing music more than you do" she sighed and then said " it means we all do things that are not our strength or that we aren't so good at to make the band work" Benny nodded in agreement and added " It also should mean that you don't go off on your own and decide that we do a world tour. It should have been discussed properly. Not just dumped on us as a fait accompli!!" He stopped to gather his thoughts. " Frida and I had plans for later this year, that we now may or may not have to alter, you need to simmer down. Just because you are the spokesman most times, it does not mean you are the leader" "Alright!! You've made your point" said Bjorn crossly. "I'm sorry!!"
Benny clapped him on the back so hard that Bjorn glared at him. "Right!!" said Benny. "Let's sort out this mess. Bjorn go and kiss your poor long suffering wife. You can make up properly later without us in the room, Frida, can you sort some food my love? This is going to be a long one. Anna, do you think your parents would be free to collect the kids for a while? I hate to ask but we need to have some sort of plan of campaign. Stig has gone too far this time and we need Gorel in on this to tell us what he has obligated us to do" Frida smiled and said " Bossy Benny does great things for me" Agnetha rolled her eyes and laughed "ANY Benny does great things for you" she retorted. "Benny, that's a good idea, I'll call them right now. Perhaps the children can stay overnight, they haven't stayed there for a long time but they keep stuff there in case this happens" Agnetha went off to use the phone. Frida busied herself clearing the table then asked what everyone wanted to eat. Benny immediately said "Indian please. You know what I like" "Bjorn?" she waited. "Bjorn!" she yelled. He jumped. "What??" he scowled. "Food? What do you want to eat?" she repeated patiently. " Oh, I'll have whatever everyone else is having" Benny used the internal phone to contact Gorel, he explained to her the situation and asked her to bring the paperwork down once the kids were sorted. Agnetha came back in and said "Mum and Dad were actually delighted. They are coming now." "Food Anna? Indian is the choice so far" Frida told her. "Yes, sounds good"