“Good job today, Team Sol & Storm,” Lars says to us when it’s time to leave. “Interesting stroganoff.”
“It had a Brazilian touch,” Erik replies, holding my hand and smiling.
“See you guys at the next event? It will probably be in the third or fourth week of November.”
“Of course.” I give him a bright smile. “Count us in. And tak for i aften,” I say the phrase Erik taught me earlier today to thank Lars for the evening.
“Det var dejligt. Tak for mad.”
“Velbekomme,” Erik replies for both of us.
I understood that Lars thanked us for the food, and then Erik whispers in my ear that Lars first said it was lovely.
We say goodbye to my boss and everyone else and start walking home. Even when the others are long out of sight, Erik keeps holding my hand.
I can barely focus on my steps. My whole being, the entirety of my sensory processing, is concentrated on the hand he is holding. He drops it at some point, and I hide my fingers in the pockets of my coat. We talk joyfully about our cozy afternoon, making comments we’ve held back in the presence of others, and the closer we get to home, the more nervous I feel.
Something has changed today.
I’m taking off my shoes at the door next to Erik when Larissa calls me on the phone. I ignore it. I want to be in the moment with him, see what will happen... But she calls again and Erik is suddenly engaged on his phone, and I answer the call. I talk with my friend in my room.
And the moment passes.
We are no longer Team Sol & Storm. We are Sol and Erik again, living in their own routines. A room away.
A world away.
Sixteen
“Of course your boss likes you,” Larissa says during our video call on Thursday.
I’m eating a Cup of Noodles for dinner, in my bed, supporting my iPad on a pile of pillows in front of me. Erik is at the gym, so I allowed myself a break from the project.
“Why wouldn’t he, right?” I try to reason along with her. Lars is always talking about Erik when he talks about me, so I need to hear someone say that my boss cares about me too.
“He’s just enthusiastic about the two of you together, and honestly, who can blame him?” Larissa continues, serene and nerdy with her round glasses, fandom tattoos, and the uniform T-shirt of the school where she teaches English as a Second Language. “You’re the beautiful and promising new designer, and he’s the gorgeous former employee and ambitious entrepreneur everyone loves. The two of you are a power couple. Like Sophie Turner and Nick Jonas.”
“Wrong brother. And Sophie and Joe are no longer together.”
“Really? Oh.” She makes an expression of pity. “Then Kim Kardashian and Kanye West,” she tries again with reckless certainty.
“Divorced,” I say with my mouth half full of noodles. “And he changed his name.”
Larissa makes a face, clearly scrambling. “Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady?”
“Broke up in 2022. You should read more celebrity news.”
“And you should read less of it.”
“It’s just that—” I put the empty noodle cup aside and bring the iPad closer to my face “—Erik takes the spotlight, and I kind of...disappear behind his shiny presence.”
How long will you keep hiding behind me, Sol? His words in the restaurant kitchen echo in my head. He’s probably right. I’ve been relying too much on him...
“And you’re afraid you won’t impress your boss without Erik?”
“Well, yes.” I look down, twitching my mouth.
“You just have to show more of yourself, Sol.”
Hmm. That again.
“But being me—me without him—means I’m not what Lars prefers.”
“Listen, Sol.” She brings her face closer to the screen, the tip of her candy pointing at me. “Get your shit together, okay? You’re awesome, and yet you keep being insecure. Drop that, girl, please. Like, immediately. Or I’ll fly there and give you an earful.”
“I wouldn’t mind you flying here... It sucks to be so far away sometimes.”
“I know...” She frowns at her split ends, then picks them apart. A moment of silence follows, until she says, “Now tell me, how is it going with the project? You and Erik?”
I’m not listening, distracted by a notification on my phone. I open the chat named “Fun Season—Group Lars” and see that George has shared a picture with us.
“Sol? Am I talking to a wall?”
“Sorry, I’ve just received a message in the Fun Season group. Look.”
I turn my phone screen toward the iPad, and she squints to make sense of the image.
“Two people at the top of a...”