Fredericsson reaches out for his pen on the dashboard, but the address has already been said and his boss has hung up. He writes down the address and puts the notepad in his pocket. His thoughts return to his daughter and he leans his head against the headrest and closes his eyes. His breathing becomes deep and regular.
He jumps when the phone rings.
"Yes."
His voice is slow and unfocused. It"s quiet on the line.
"Where are you?! Are you sleeping?"
Fredericsson breathes heavily and looks out over the valley as he rubs his eyes.
"Hmm, no."
"They"ve called. They"re waiting for you. Are you on your way there?"
Fredericsson starts the car and pulls out his notepad.
"Is it 2190?"
He puts the car in gear and turns slowly onto the road.
"No, it"s 3190. Are you on your way?"
"Yes."
He thinks briefly on Petra and her twos and smiles.
"How far away are you?"
He looks at the clock in the dashboard almost three thirty.
"Pretty far."
He hangs up the phone and speeds up as he runs his hand through his hair, well aware that he"ll hit rush hour. He gets caught in traffic several times and notices that he"s not the only one looking exhausted - almost everyone around him does, and they are all clearly impatient. One person drums his fingers against the dashboard, another one is biting his nails and a third person in talking so loud on the phone that he can hear the whole argument about who was supposed to have picked up the kids. He sits down lower in his seat trying to keep his eyes on the road ahead of him. Slowly the smell of coffee sneaks in through the air condition system and he instinctively rubs his nose. Then he starts to look around and soon sees the coffee shop up ahead.
"That"s not fair!"
It almost sounds like he"s in pain. The line moves forward a little and the shop comes closer. Another couple of yards and he"s right next to it.
"It"s right there. That"s not fair."
He scratches his neck and feels a sting, but he keeps his eyes on the entrance. He sees a young man exiting with a cup of coffee in one hand while he"s texting with the other. He stops on the pavement and Fredericsson can tell from his body language that he"s pressing send. Fredericsson smiles and shrugs, then he rolls down the window.
"Hey you!"
The young man looks around, but has clearly gotten a text back and looks back down on his phone.
"Hey you!"
Fredericsson"s voice is loud and clear, but the young man doesn"t react. A teenage girl walks over to his car.
"Who are you shouting for?"
Fredericsson jumps when her voice suddenly fills the car. She is standing calmly next to the car and has bent down a little so she can see him. He shakes his head slightly.
"Right, I just thought since you keep shouting."
"Stop. Stop."
Fredericsson smiles.
"I was just surprised. I was shouting at the young man over there. I want to buy his coffee."
She raises her eyebrows.
"You want to do what?"
"I"ve been on duty for a long time. A very long time actually, and coffee is almost the only thing on my mind."
She laughs a little.
"Know what that"s like. I work nights sometimes. What are you drinking?"
"Anything with caffeine in it."
Fredericsson feels liberated as he laughs.
"Anything with caffeine in it."
He repeats. The driver behind him honks his horn and Fredericsson notices that the car in front of him has moved a couple of yards. The teenage girl looks at the car behind him.
"That"s not good."
Her voice is still full of smiles.
"You can buy mine, but it"ll cost you."
Her laughter fills the car and he feels a stab of longing for his daughter.
"You remind me of my daughter when she was your age. How much will it cost me?"
The girl lets out a small grunt.
"Try me."
He accepts her challenge, shakes his head and pulls out a bill, but she shakes her head. Then he pulls out another one, but she shakes her head again.
"Don"t push your luck."
"Try doubling that. It"s still warm and fresh and you said you didn"t care as long as it had caffeine in it... Or did you change your mind?"
He laughs and pulls out one more and hands them to her.
"Take it or leave it."
This time he"s challenging her. The driver behind him honks his horn again. Fredericsson feels how anger rushes through him when he looks in the rearview mirror. The teenage girl reaches out for the money, but Fredericsson pulls them back a little and then he smiles.
"Give me the coffee."
She laughs.
"I had to try."
She"s still laughing as she hands him the coffee. He feels the heat from the cup and a feeling of expectation fills him. But she holds on until he lets go of the money. She nods and laughs and disappears behind the car. He carefully puts the cup to his lips and sips at the coffee.
"Ohh."
He takes another careful sip.
"I wonder what this is."
He lets the sweet taste fill his mouth and looks at the cup before carefully placing it in the cup holder.
"Not bad. Not bad at all."
He closes the window so the air condition can do its job. The driver behind him keeps honking his horn.
"Get down from that horn, will you?!"
Fredericsson slowly lets his car roll forward 15 feet before he has to stop again because the line is still there. While Fredericsson drinks his coffee, he uses the rest of the time in the line watching the man in the car behind him. As time pa.s.ses, he gets more and more convinced that he"ll actually have to call an ambulance since the man is getting more and more red in the face.
Chapter 21.
Not until sometime later does Nathan choose an exit. He feels a little stiff after spending most of the day on a cafe chair and several hours in the car. The scenery changes as he drives on, the road gets more and more winding and the mountains appear in the distance. The water in the lake reflects the tree tops and he can hear a goat in the distance. The gravel crunches under the tires and he stops in front of the little shop where he and Denize have always loved to shop. They loved the whole experience of coming there. The small bell in its twisted holder over the door. They used to say that the bell had probably been there since the industrial revolution and that it was made by a blacksmith with a huge beard.
"But Nathan, it"s been a long time. Are you staying in the cabin for a couple of days?"
"No, I"m afraid not. I just want to check up on it and drive back tomorrow. I need you to deliver some groceries to the house tomorrow morning. Is that OK? I"m not leaving until around ten."
"Yes, of course, Nathan. No problem."
"I"ll just take some dinner now and you can bring up the rest tomorrow."
"That"s fine."
Nathan takes a cart and walks slowly round the shop. He puts some cans of food in the cart, some nails, some garden gloves and finally a plastic tube. He takes some time with the plastic tube. Finally he picks up some duct tape and throws it in the cart before going back to the old oak counter.
"I think that"s all I need."
"OK, I"ll just put it on your bill and you can pay next time. Then you can leave straight away. The sun is about to go down and if you want to have a look at the house, it"s better in daylight. I can see that you"ve found some big nails. You have a hammer, right?"
Nathan seems surprised.
"Yes, of course."
He laughs. The owner"s wife comes over and smiles as she says hi to him.
"We really miss seeing you. I guess you don"t use the cabin so much now, after Denize?"
She continues without waiting for him to answer.
"Oh, we really miss her. She was such a sweet person."
Nathan looks at her.
"Me too."
Nathan looks at her a little while longer, and then he looks at the owner whose plump face makes him look like a well fed gentleman. Nathan is sure that his wife has reached his heart through his stomach.
"No, I would like to pay for everything now."
"That"s really not necessary, Nathan."
"Yes, let"s just do it anyway, and if I have any old bills I"ll pay those as well."
Nathan doesn"t look at the owner and puts the plastic tube and the duct tape to the side.
"I"ll take these with me now."
OK, Nathan. But you really don"t have to pay now."
"Yes, let"s just do it."
Nathan takes out his credit card and the owner shakes his head.
"It"s really not necessary, Nathan."
"OK. Credit card it is."
Nathan gets his card back when he notices a knife lying in the counter.
"Can I borrow that for a second?"