Page 122 of Sven

Natalie

Natalie picked up the back and cautiously padded down the hallway until she came to the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror, looking just about as rough as she felt, put the bag down, and steadied her hands on the sink while blowing out a breath.

This was not how today was supposed to go. This was not how her life was supposed to go. Somehow, along the way, things had gotten so messed up.

And for what? Because some hateful people couldn’t stand that she read a book to her class of five-year-olds about having two dads. That rage ball she had been maneuvering around was threatening to overtake her.

She noticed as she was trying to put the toothpaste on her toothbrush that her hands were shaking. She closed her eyes and fisted her hands to get them to stop.

There was a small knock at the door.

“Yes?”

“Natalie. Can I come in?”

She didn’t really want Sven to see her like this, but panic was starting to take over. She didn’t know what to do.

“Natalie?” he asked again.

“Come in.”

Sven opened the door and met her eyes in the mirror. She closed her eyes and set down her toothbrush. Her hands were still shaking too much to put on toothpaste anyway.

The door shut, and before she could think about it, Sven had crossed the room and wrapped her in his arms. She wanted to melt into him, but she was such a mess. Her body shook with tension as he held her.

He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

She just closed her eyes again and tried to lean into him, but he held her at arm’s length, and she could feel the weight of his worried gaze.

“Talk to me, Natalie.”

She opened her eyes, and his gaze just about broke her heart.

“I’m just....” She couldn’t get it out. Giving it a voice would make it too powerful.

Sven slid his hands from her arms up to her neck. His eyes got big. “Baby, your pulse is racing. What’s the matter?”

A tear streamed down her face as Sven’s gaze was quickly turning from love to panic. “Please, baby, what’s going on?”

“I’m just so . . . so mad.”

“Yeah, me too. We are going to fix this.”

“No, Sven... I’m so mad. I’m so mad that I got fired. I’m so mad that all of this is messing everything up. I have this deep anger inside of me... I don’t... I don’t know what to do.”

“Come with me,” he said before pulling her out of the bathroom.

“Where are you taking me?”

He held her hand tight and pulled her down the stairs.

“Sven. Where are we going?”

“Do you trust me?”

She shrugged and allowed herself to be pulled through Conner’s dark house. Sven turned the corner and opened another door.

She pulled his hand from his grasp and stopped. “Where are we going?”

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