wonderful view. The cats started to miaow as soon as she put the key in the lock. When she opened the door the pair of them were fighting to look through the gap.
‘Oh, sweethearts, did you wonder where I was?’
She shepherded the cats back inside with her foot, pulled the door shut behind her and sank to the hall floor. The two animals jumped up into her arms and started rubbing their noses against her chin.
‘So we’re doing kissing now, are we?’ Annika laughed.
She played with them for a couple of minutes, then got up and went into the tiny kitchen. The cats’ bowls stood on a bit of spare cork mat by the cooker. The milk had gone off and smelled terrible. And the food and water bowls were empty.
‘Okay, you’ll soon have some more …’
She poured the sour milk away and rinsed the dish under the tap, then found some more milk in the fridge. The little cats were winding round her legs and miaowing like mad.
‘Okay, okay, calm down!’
They were so eager they almost upset the dish before she had time to put it down. While the cats were busy with that she filled the water dish and looked around for cat food. She found three tins of Whiskas in one of the cupboards. She suddenly felt on the verge of tears again. Her own cat back home in Hälleforsnäs was called Whiskas. He was staying with Annika’s grandmother in Lyckebo for the summer.
‘I’m getting way too sentimental,’ she said out loud.
She opened one of the tins, wrinkling her nose at the smell, and emptied the gloop into the third bowl. She looked in the bedroom to check their litter-tray, but that would have to wait until tomorrow.
‘Well, bye for now, little ones,’ she said.
The cats ignored her.
She left the apartment quickly and went back down to Kungsholmstorg. It was almost daylight. All the birds had started up. She felt groggy and her walking was erratic; she was having trouble judging distances.
I can’t go on like this, she thought.
* * *
Her apartment was oppressively hot. It was at the top of a building in a courtyard from the 1880s, and had no bathroom and no hot water. But it did have three rooms and a large kitchen. Annika couldn’t believe her luck when she got hold of it.
‘No one wants to live in such primitive conditions these days,’ the woman in the estate agents had said when Annika filled in her form, saying that she was prepared to live without a lift, hot water, a bathroom, and even electricity if need be.
Annika had held her ground.
‘All right. No one wants this one,’ the woman had said, giving her a printout. Hantverkargatan 32, the fourth floor out in the courtyard.
Annika took it without even going to see it. She had thanked her lucky stars every day since then, but she knew her happiness could end up being short-lived. She had agreed to being evicted with just one week’s notice if the owner got the money he needed to renovate the building.
She dropped her bag on the floor and went into the bedroom. She had left the window open while she was at work, but it had blown shut. With a sigh she pushed it open once more and headed towards the living room to try to get a bit of a through-draught.
‘Where’ve you been?’
She was so shocked that she screamed and jumped clean off the floor.
The voice was low, and came from the shadows over by her bed.
‘Bloody hell, you can’t be that much of a scaredy-cat?’
It was Sven, her fiancé.
‘When did you get here?’ she said, her heart still pounding in her chest.
‘Yesterday evening. I was going to take you to the cinema. Where’ve you been?’
‘At work,’ she said, going into the living room.
He got out of bed and followed her.
‘No you haven’t,’ he said. ‘I called an hour ago, and they said you’d already left.’
‘I had to feed Anne’s cats,’ she said, opening the living-room window.
‘That’s a fucking useless excuse,’ he said.
Seventeen years, six months and twenty-one days
There’s a dimension
‘Oh, sweethearts, did you wonder where I was?’
She shepherded the cats back inside with her foot, pulled the door shut behind her and sank to the hall floor. The two animals jumped up into her arms and started rubbing their noses against her chin.
‘So we’re doing kissing now, are we?’ Annika laughed.
She played with them for a couple of minutes, then got up and went into the tiny kitchen. The cats’ bowls stood on a bit of spare cork mat by the cooker. The milk had gone off and smelled terrible. And the food and water bowls were empty.
‘Okay, you’ll soon have some more …’
She poured the sour milk away and rinsed the dish under the tap, then found some more milk in the fridge. The little cats were winding round her legs and miaowing like mad.
‘Okay, okay, calm down!’
They were so eager they almost upset the dish before she had time to put it down. While the cats were busy with that she filled the water dish and looked around for cat food. She found three tins of Whiskas in one of the cupboards. She suddenly felt on the verge of tears again. Her own cat back home in Hälleforsnäs was called Whiskas. He was staying with Annika’s grandmother in Lyckebo for the summer.
‘I’m getting way too sentimental,’ she said out loud.
She opened one of the tins, wrinkling her nose at the smell, and emptied the gloop into the third bowl. She looked in the bedroom to check their litter-tray, but that would have to wait until tomorrow.
‘Well, bye for now, little ones,’ she said.
The cats ignored her.
She left the apartment quickly and went back down to Kungsholmstorg. It was almost daylight. All the birds had started up. She felt groggy and her walking was erratic; she was having trouble judging distances.
I can’t go on like this, she thought.
* * *
Her apartment was oppressively hot. It was at the top of a building in a courtyard from the 1880s, and had no bathroom and no hot water. But it did have three rooms and a large kitchen. Annika couldn’t believe her luck when she got hold of it.
‘No one wants to live in such primitive conditions these days,’ the woman in the estate agents had said when Annika filled in her form, saying that she was prepared to live without a lift, hot water, a bathroom, and even electricity if need be.
Annika had held her ground.
‘All right. No one wants this one,’ the woman had said, giving her a printout. Hantverkargatan 32, the fourth floor out in the courtyard.
Annika took it without even going to see it. She had thanked her lucky stars every day since then, but she knew her happiness could end up being short-lived. She had agreed to being evicted with just one week’s notice if the owner got the money he needed to renovate the building.
She dropped her bag on the floor and went into the bedroom. She had left the window open while she was at work, but it had blown shut. With a sigh she pushed it open once more and headed towards the living room to try to get a bit of a through-draught.
‘Where’ve you been?’
She was so shocked that she screamed and jumped clean off the floor.
The voice was low, and came from the shadows over by her bed.
‘Bloody hell, you can’t be that much of a scaredy-cat?’
It was Sven, her fiancé.
‘When did you get here?’ she said, her heart still pounding in her chest.
‘Yesterday evening. I was going to take you to the cinema. Where’ve you been?’
‘At work,’ she said, going into the living room.
He got out of bed and followed her.
‘No you haven’t,’ he said. ‘I called an hour ago, and they said you’d already left.’
‘I had to feed Anne’s cats,’ she said, opening the living-room window.
‘That’s a fucking useless excuse,’ he said.
Seventeen years, six months and twenty-one days
There’s a dimension
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