The loathing he felt overflowed.
‘One more word and swear I’ll make sure you . . .’
He broke off and regretted the words the instant he said them. He shouldn’t be rash, shouldn’t reveal to people who had no business knowing, that he was the one who had the power now. Then it might be used against him.
He hung up, stood still for a moment to catch his breath. He didn’t manage to collect himself enough to go back to the wardrobe until he had pulled on the light-blue cardigan again and laid down on the bed for a while. It took him a very long time to obliterate the thoughts of that unwelcome conversation.
He got to the meeting place in good time, a half hour earlier than they had agreed. He wanted to have a complete overview, be prepared, see Henrik coming and be the one to choose how and when he would make the first move to contact him. He wondered whether Henrik would come alone or bring the whore with him; it probably didn’t make any difference, but he would prefer to meet him alone. Their boat wouldn’t be going until a quarter past ten. With his own ears he had heard them mention the departure time during the conversation in the pizzeria.
It was a simple matter to vanish in the crowd of people in the bowels of the terminal. He sat down on a bench next to a bunch of middle-aged, hungover Finns in jogging suits, where he could see the main entrance. And then at five to nine Henrik appeared, alone. Just inside the doors he stopped, put down a well-packed bag on the floor, and looked around. Jonas bided his time, wanting to let him wait for a while. Watched him look at his watch over and over, turning and twisting in all directions and closely studying all the men passing by.
Jonas closed his eyes and took a deep breath in the dark, resting a moment in the calm that filled him. Knowing for the first time what awaited him. That the future would be his reward for all his struggles up to this day. That the fear could not reach him any more. The feeling was as unfamiliar as it was welcome, so utterly liberating, an all-encompassing grace.
Then he got up and started walking towards his enemy.
He stopped a metre from him but said nothing, let him keep wondering. At last it was the other man who broke the silence.
‘Are you Anders?’
He nodded but chose to remain silent. The enjoyment of the other man’s obvious discomfort was too much to resist.
‘What was it you wanted? I’m in a bit of a rush.’
This time he sounded annoyed.
‘Thank you for taking the time to meet.’
Jonas didn’t intend to let himself be hurried. Instead he smiled a little. Maybe his expression would be interpreted as arrogant, but that wasn’t really his intention. He looked down at the multicoloured synthetic carpet in embarrassment; he had to play his role well. He had to acquire an ally, at least that’s what the other man had to believe. He mustn’t arouse his antipathy, which would render him unusable. The man named Henrik who was unfaithful had set the rules of the game; he must never know that he had become a helpless pawn in the task Jonas had been assigned.
Jonas raised his eyes and looked at the man who was Eva’s.
‘I don’t quite know how to begin, but I suppose I might as well tell you the plain truth. I’m in love with your wife, and she’s in love with me.’
The other man’s eyes went blank. Utterly blank. Whatever the man named Henrik had expected, it certainly wasn’t the words he had just heard. His mouth fell open, giving his blank stare added support, completing the picture of a man who had totally lost all control of his life. For a long time he stood without uttering a word, and nothing in the world could match the sense of control Jonas felt. Yes – one thing. But he would possess Eva only when he had earned it.
‘I understand that this must come as a shock, and I’m terribly sorry to have to do this to you, but somehow I’m sure it’s better for you to know what the situation is. I myself have been betrayed once and I know how much it hurts, so I promised myself never to put anyone else through the same thing. I know what betrayal can do to a person.’
The man who was named Henrik and who was unfaithful had closed his mouth now, but the realisation of what this news meant had clearly brought him out of balance. He looked around as if in an attempt to find something appropriate to say.
Jonas fixed his gaze on the man’s lips. The lips that had kissed hers, that knew her taste.
He was hiding his clenched fist in his jacket pocket.
‘Shouldn’t Eva be the one to tell me this?’
‘Yes, I know. I tried to talk her into it, but she doesn’t dare. She’s so afraid of how you’ll react. I mean, neither of us wishes you any harm, we really don’t, but we can’t help the way we feel. We love each other. And of course we have Axel to think of as well.’
The other man’s eyes went black when Jonas spoke his son’s name.
‘For his sake we’ve tried to break things off several times, but . . . we just can’t live without each other.’
That hit home, he could see that. To be able to make choices was one thing, to be rejected quite another.
‘Was it Eva who asked you to tell me all this?’
‘No, absolutely not.’
There was silence for a moment.
‘But I’m doing this for Eva’s sake, because I love her. She’s the most fantastic woman I’ve ever met. Perfect in every way. Well, you know what I mean.’
He gave him a confidential smile: just between us studs.
He saw the other man swallow. Now there was clear aversion in his eyes.
‘How long have you been seeing each other?’
Jonas pretended to think back.
‘It must be about a year now.’
‘A year! So you’re saying that you and Eva have had a relationship for a year?’
Jonas let the silence speak and saw the impact strike home. Her honour was restored. Now the pig knew that he had cheated on a woman who was loved by another man, someone who deserved her more. Henrik was superfluous in her life. Already rejected.
So. Now you can go. The sooner the better.
‘I know. It feels terrible to be duped like this. I wish we’d told you this sooner, so that you could have decided what you wanted to do. It would have been better for all of us if Eva and I had dared to be honest from the start, but we just couldn’t do it. This may be poor consolation, but if you only knew how much trouble it is to go behind someone’s back. I really want to ask your forgiveness.’
The doors behind them slid open and the blonde woman came in pulling a suitcase on wheels. When she saw them she stopped short and turned indecisively in another direction. When Jonas looked at her, the other man looked too. The man named Henrik who had just learned that nothing was as it seemed picked up his bag.
Jonas couldn’t resist asking.
‘Is that someone you know?’
‘No, but I have to go now.’
He made a move to continue into the terminal, clearly afraid of revealing that the woman was his travelling companion.
Jonas stopped him.
‘One more thing, Henrik, for both your sake and mine. Please don’t say anything to Eva about this. She told me that you’d be away until Wednesday, and I plan to spend those days trying to convince her to tell you herself when you come back. What more can I do? I hope that in spite of all this you have a pleasant trip. I’ll be seeing you.’
With these words he turned and left Henrik to his fate.
He already knew what his own fate would be, and the longing grew stronger with every step as it approached.
In order to endure the waiting, he was going to drive over right now and take a look at her.
