Page 125 of The Sleepwalker
Agneta is still at the table when they come into the kitchen. She realises she hasn’t taken her beta blocker yet, and her heart rate immediately picks up.
Hugo’s clothes are crumpled, and his messy shoulder-length hair is tied back in a low ponytail.
She has given up in her attempts to hug him, but she smiles and says hello, holding his gaze for as long as she can before asking if he would like a coffee.
The teenager shrugs, says something she doesn’t catch and drops his earbuds into his shirt pocket.
‘Shall I make you a latte?’ Agneta asks.
‘He can make one himself if he wants one,’ Bernard replies.
‘What a warm welcome,’ Hugo mutters, slumping down onto a chair at the table.
He hasn’t shaved, Agneta notices, and he has bloodshot eyes and dirt beneath his nails.
‘We need to talk,’ Bernard says, taking a seat opposite him.
‘Yeah, you said on the phone.’
‘Could you tell us why you ran away from the lab?’
‘I didn’trun away, I just grabbed my stuff and left.’
Agneta sees Bernard nod slowly and run a hand over thetable.
‘I’m going to have to call Lars to apologise,’ he says, more to himself than anything.
‘What, why? It’s not like Ihaveto be there,’ Hugo replies, his eyes on his phone.
‘That’s why we need to apologise. It’s a matter of trust, of common courtesy.’
‘Fine, whatever,’ he sighs.
‘Could you put your phone down?’
‘God, chill out,’ Hugo says with an irritated smile.
He is still looking at his phone, scrolling between posts, clearly aware that they are both watching him, that Bernard is waiting.
‘Where did you sleep last night?’
‘Crashed at a friend’s place,’ he says, lowering his phone to the table.
‘Not at Olga’s?’
‘Nah.’ Hugo tugs gently on the ring in his lower lip.
‘Why not?’ asks Bernard.
‘She was working.’
‘Where?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘Is it a secret?’
‘God, can we stop talking about this now?’
