Silja Paulus
concept. Natalia was passionate, but had a temper. If he stopped being her property, she’d definitely throw the heaviest, most expensive Egyptian vase at him. But maybe there wouldn’t be the need to look for others if they had a steamy relationship. Maybe. 9.22pm. Kristofer could swear his feet had worn away the pavement that he’d been pacing up and down so long. Stella and stability. Someone to grow old with. Smart, witty, healthy, ambitious, pushing him to the limits. He was in search for motivation when it was there all the time, materialised in her. Stella must be lonely with Miu. His girls needed him at home. Kristofer hurried to his room, grabbed his things. Outside, he woke the Mustang. Even if nothing was finished in Rakvere, he had to go. He’d skip all the Sunday’s conference summaries and opt out of Natalia’s game. It was midnight when the lights of Kristofer’s hometown greeted him. The apartment was pitch black. Only Miu’s yellow eyes glowed in the dark. ‘Hi, I’m back,’ he whispered and lifted the cat inside. He took off his shoes, arranging them neatly, the way Stella preferred. The bedroom wasn’t stuffy anymore, but there was a faint lemony smell. Coldrex, he recognised, the medicine that always knocked Stella out. He climbed in next to her candescent body. She didn’t move. Usually Kristofer was jealous that she could sleep through everything peacefully, whereas he stared at the ceiling for hours before dozing. This time his eyelids drooped. Perhaps he was coming down with something himself. Natalia checked herself once again in the mirror of the hotel room. She was already five minutes late for her meeting, but couldn’t care less. Kristofer could wait for a while. She had waited years to get her hands on him again. The cute science geek was harder to catch than she had ever anticipated. If she could have had it her way, they would have met more often, regularly. Each year, about two weeks before his birthday, Natalia started bombing Kristofer with friendly messages asking about his life, but he never invited her to the party. Did that girlfriend of his ban every woman he’d ever known? She was alone as some coincidence had arranged that her 196