The Lost and Hidden Years

Chapter Twenty

Björn began to drive and Agnetha had a face. Her arms were crossed and she felt angry. She couldn't believe the day she had gone through with her daughter, without knowing this would be the intention all along.

"Cheer up. It's only dinner." If it's only dinner why so much effort into getting ready?

"I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten. Linda was with you all day."

"Wonderful, is Linda your personal assistant now?"

"Don't be like that."

"Really? You're not reasonable. I can't understand why you're doing this."

"I want to have dinner and talk. Since I got out of the hospital we still haven't talked about anything that's on our minds, what had really happened with us, with you."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Of course there is plenty to discuss."

"No, there isn't. I don't want to talk. You know why? Because you never listen to me anyway. You never listen to anything I say."

"Of course I do."

"No. You don't listen to anyone! Björn, it's dangerous for you to even drive. You're recovering from a coma not a leg injury. You're not even through with rehabilitation and you're driving. What if something happened?"

"Agnetha, take it slow. I'm fine, trust me. My head has had its problems, but it's functioning."

Björn put his car in park at the valet after a half an hour of bickering here and there with the woman beside him along the way. He walked Agnetha inside the restaurant and they were lead into a space that was completely reserved for the two of them. The tables were all gone, except for one. The room was large but inside they stood small.

Agnetha's eyes floated from one area to the next, finding string of lights hung from one side to the other, again and again. The room was only lit by these lights and by the miniature candles lined parallel on the floor. They had lead a little walkway to the center of the room and then rounded a circle in the middle of the floor. The space had filled with soft music, a romantic selection from the sound of it.

Agnetha swallowed, fearing what she was walking in to, but it was dark and she had no courage to run away from this beautiful room. Her heart pounded to be alone with him, but he gave her no choice.

"Do you like it?" He asked. They were seated across from one another, her eyes freely moving across the open room while his only looked at her.

The waiter laid the handkerchief on her lap then his. On the table in front of them were two empty plates and their silverware, glasses filled with water and an empty glass for the wine that was just opened. The waiter poured the wine for Agnetha and was ready to do the same for Björn but he shook his head.

"What are you doing this for?"

"You and I need to be alone to discuss everything. There's so much I still don't know and I only care to hear it from you. You run away from me and we can't talk, and that's beside the fact that Lena's kept us apart. But now... it's just us. Two people in a room."

"All this for a chat we could have had at home? I want to go home," he smiled.

"But this is more enjoyable. It's just dinner. The sooner you speak, the sooner we leave," he lied. She knew it was opposite, too. It always is with them. One conversation falls into the next.

"Right, just dinner with this music... the set up, the empty room, one table for two... but just dinner?" He nodded. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "What do you want to know?"