The Day Before You Came

Chapter Thirty-Three

It was a Friday afternoon in March, Frida was in the kitchen preparing a chamomile tea with lemon seeds, that day she had a terrible headache. She was in the beginning of the last trimester of pregnancy and worried that something was wrong, she felt very agitated, dizzy and with a headache, maybe it would be a good idea to call the doctor, but first she would try a tea that Laura recommended.

She was wearing a gray maternity pans, her hair was tied up in a ponytail and wasn't wearing a single drop of makeup, that day she hadn't gone to work at all, in the morning she called Sygni and she said she would take over business without problem. She had spent most of the day in bed while Benny worked on the computer, including he had a meeting for Zoom. Now he was taking a shower and Frida wanted to hurry to make tea to go back to bed and continue resting.

She was wiggling the contents of her cup to cool slightly when she felt her baby kick against her uterus. She smiled slightly and rested her hand on the exact point of the movement. "Hey boy, is everything okay in there?" She spoke sweetly. Her small talk with her unborn child was interrupted by the bell. Frida frowned, she wasn't expecting anyone, regularly when they was going to receive a visit before receiving a call. She put the cup on the kitchen counter and walked slowly towards the door, before opening it she had to take a breath because she had another dizziness.

She carefully opened the door and a totally unknown woman appeared in front of her. She was elegantly dressed, was thin with brown hair. Frida leaned against the door a little and asked, "Good afternoon, can I help you with something?"

"Good afternoon," she replied, "sorry for the interruption, I was wondering if by any chance you knew if anyone still lives in the house next door."

"Looking for someone in particular?"

"Yes, perhaps you know him, the owner's name is Benny Andersson," replied the mysterious woman.

"Oh sure and no, Benny doesn't live there anymore, he lives here now" Frida said, maybe she was a friend of Benny, she hadn't seen her before in any of the parties that had gone with him to Björn's house.

"Oh," confusion appeared on the woman's face. "Is he here now? Could you call him?"

"Excuse me, but right now he's busy,"

"I can wait,"

"Oh right, do you want to come in?" Frida offered her wondering if it was a good idea or not, she was not feeling well to receive visitor, but in the end that was a Benny's visit not hers.

"Of course," she replied and made her way inside the house, glanced around the space and sat on the sofa.

Frida followed her, that woman seemed very confident for her liking. "Would you like a glass of water?"

"I'd prefer a coffee," she said, adjusting her skirt.

Frida raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me, but I haven't made coffee so I don't have at the moment, maybe a chamomile tea?"

The woman made a discreet grimace of disgust, "I don't feel like tea, I'm fine like this, thanks anyway,"

"Sure," Frida went to the kitchen to get her cup of tea, took a sip, it was at the right temperature, she turned around and headed into the living room, "I'll go tell Benny that you're here,"

"Or you could tell me where he is and I could go looking for him, he has always liked surprises," said the woman with an air of grandeur.

Now Frida was surprised, who was that woman and why so much insistence? "I don't think it's possible, he's taking a shower," Frida wished she had bitten her tongue, why did she have to explain? She could swear that the woman's eyes sparkled.