got home, and Melvin had only seen them when they came out to ask if there were any more Popsicles in the freezer.
There was a draft from the open window. Louise was a bit puzzled. “Are you guys smoking in here?” She walked over to close it.
Markus was sitting on the bed and shook his head indignantly, offended that she would even ask.
Jonas was practically touching his nose to the screen as if on another planet and he clearly was not paying attention.
“Yeaaah!” he suddenly shouted, jumping up. “Ten thousand hits! Ten thousand people have listened to my new song!”
He pounded Louise on the shoulder and high-fived his friend on the bed.
Markus got up, and Louise joined them in looking at the YouTube page where Jonas had uploaded some of his own music.
“But they don’t even know you, so how do they find you?” she asked, shaking her head.
“Jonas has a crazy-high rating,” Markus said approvingly.
“It’s because the link to the song gets passed around,” Jonas explained. “People who like it share it, and that’s how it spreads.”
“Holy crap, it keeps going up,” Markus pointed out and sat down in front of the screen. “There’s two more now.”
“Are you guys coming?” Melvin called from the kitchen.
“I put the song on Facebook, too, and yesterday I had over two hundred comments and they were from people from all over the world,” Jonas explained once they were all seated around the table.
Louise smiled, pleased that Jonas was so absorbed in something that clearly made him happy. There had been a period when he’d been having problems with the other boys at school, who teased him because he’d lost both of his parents. Louise had found it difficult to deal with the cruelty of the kids’ teasing, and Jonas had tried to spare her by keeping it to himself until he ended up in the emergency room with a split eyebrow after a fight in the schoolyard.
“Maybe you could play something at my wedding,” Camilla said with a smile.
Louise appreciated Camilla’s generosity, even if her friend was mostly being polite. She looked forward to being the proud mama when Jonas performed a song or two on the big day.
“D O YOU THINK they’re smoking?” Louise asked after dinner when the boys had once again closed the door behind them. She looked at Camilla.
“Are you nuts? They’re way too young,” her friend dismissed. “They’re barely teenagers.”
Louise laughed. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Isn’t that usually when they start doing things like that?”
“I don’t think ‘usually’ plays much of a part when you’re that age,” Melvin chipped in, sneaking another half rissole onto his plate. “The whole smoking and drinking thing seems like it just starts when you’re ready. I was twelve when I lit up my first cigarette.”
“Well, that makes you an excellent role model then,” Louise said, hoping that her neighbor hadn’t been entertaining Jonas with too many stories of his youth.
“H OW’S THE REMODELING coming along?” Louise asked once they had cleared the table and were having coffee. Before Melvin went back downstairs, he had left a handful of Quality Street chocolates on the table and extended an invitation from Grete Milling to Louise and Jonas to come along to Dragør that Sunday.
Camilla shrugged and grabbed a piece of chocolate.
“Frederik wasn’t exactly happy to hear that I’d fired the workers. He’d prefer everything to run smoothly of course, but I’m simply not going to put up with people blowing off a deal,” she huffed. “Just because they think they’ve got you cornered and you need the job finished no matter how they behave.”
“Have you found someone else to take over?”
Camilla shook her head.
“The ones we talked to have an eight-week waiting list—minimum.”
“So I guess you’ll have to rehire the other ones so they can finish,” Louise said with a small smile.
“Are you crazy? No way! I
There was a draft from the open window. Louise was a bit puzzled. “Are you guys smoking in here?” She walked over to close it.
Markus was sitting on the bed and shook his head indignantly, offended that she would even ask.
Jonas was practically touching his nose to the screen as if on another planet and he clearly was not paying attention.
“Yeaaah!” he suddenly shouted, jumping up. “Ten thousand hits! Ten thousand people have listened to my new song!”
He pounded Louise on the shoulder and high-fived his friend on the bed.
Markus got up, and Louise joined them in looking at the YouTube page where Jonas had uploaded some of his own music.
“But they don’t even know you, so how do they find you?” she asked, shaking her head.
“Jonas has a crazy-high rating,” Markus said approvingly.
“It’s because the link to the song gets passed around,” Jonas explained. “People who like it share it, and that’s how it spreads.”
“Holy crap, it keeps going up,” Markus pointed out and sat down in front of the screen. “There’s two more now.”
“Are you guys coming?” Melvin called from the kitchen.
“I put the song on Facebook, too, and yesterday I had over two hundred comments and they were from people from all over the world,” Jonas explained once they were all seated around the table.
Louise smiled, pleased that Jonas was so absorbed in something that clearly made him happy. There had been a period when he’d been having problems with the other boys at school, who teased him because he’d lost both of his parents. Louise had found it difficult to deal with the cruelty of the kids’ teasing, and Jonas had tried to spare her by keeping it to himself until he ended up in the emergency room with a split eyebrow after a fight in the schoolyard.
“Maybe you could play something at my wedding,” Camilla said with a smile.
Louise appreciated Camilla’s generosity, even if her friend was mostly being polite. She looked forward to being the proud mama when Jonas performed a song or two on the big day.
“D O YOU THINK they’re smoking?” Louise asked after dinner when the boys had once again closed the door behind them. She looked at Camilla.
“Are you nuts? They’re way too young,” her friend dismissed. “They’re barely teenagers.”
Louise laughed. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Isn’t that usually when they start doing things like that?”
“I don’t think ‘usually’ plays much of a part when you’re that age,” Melvin chipped in, sneaking another half rissole onto his plate. “The whole smoking and drinking thing seems like it just starts when you’re ready. I was twelve when I lit up my first cigarette.”
“Well, that makes you an excellent role model then,” Louise said, hoping that her neighbor hadn’t been entertaining Jonas with too many stories of his youth.
“H OW’S THE REMODELING coming along?” Louise asked once they had cleared the table and were having coffee. Before Melvin went back downstairs, he had left a handful of Quality Street chocolates on the table and extended an invitation from Grete Milling to Louise and Jonas to come along to Dragør that Sunday.
Camilla shrugged and grabbed a piece of chocolate.
“Frederik wasn’t exactly happy to hear that I’d fired the workers. He’d prefer everything to run smoothly of course, but I’m simply not going to put up with people blowing off a deal,” she huffed. “Just because they think they’ve got you cornered and you need the job finished no matter how they behave.”
“Have you found someone else to take over?”
Camilla shook her head.
“The ones we talked to have an eight-week waiting list—minimum.”
“So I guess you’ll have to rehire the other ones so they can finish,” Louise said with a small smile.
“Are you crazy? No way! I
Similar Books
