Page 43 of Pillow Talk
Sen sat up straighter too. Was she going to tell them about their fling?
‘I had the biggest crush on Sen. I started to take notice of him when I was around 15. Of course, I didn’t act on it but then…’
‘Oh no,’ Anni interrupted.
Shona looked at her friend. ‘You remembered.’
‘How could I forget?’ Anni replied.
‘But then what, Shona?’ Sam asked.
‘Anni convinced me to make a wish at the Wishing Tree to get him to like me back. But the whole summer went and Sen was just Sen; he didn’t take much notice of me. And I was a teenage girl, with a huge crush and a best friend who convinced me to seize the day. Didn’t you use those exact words?’ She looked at Anni for an answer.
‘I did. I said, “Seize the day, Shona. You have to tell Sen.” We plotted and finally decided that she would tell him at the beach bonfire that was taking place the night before he went back to school. Sho, why were we such dorks?’
Shona shrugged.
‘So did you tell him?’
Sen did not expect that question from Sven.
Shona shook her head.
‘Nope. I didn’t get a chance to,’ she avoided eye contact with Sen but then suddenly looked him straight in the eye.
‘We had good memories together, things we can laugh about. And things we moved away from, like my embarrassing teenage crush on you,’ Shona said.
Sen was too dumbfounded to respond or react.
Shona had a crush on him, and she never got to tell him? He remembered the night of the bonfire. Andrea. And the last time he saw Shona until years later.
‘Let’s get drinks and drink a toast to the good times and friendship,’ Shona said cheerfully.
The others agreed and broke up into different conversations. Sen didn’t move. He didn’t blink. Anni was watching him. He looked at her. She smiled and then shook her head.
‘You okay?’ Kaavi whispered in his ear.
He ran his hand through his hair and turned to her.
‘What the fuck just happened?’ His voice was low.
‘Cuz, I think you already know the answer,’ Kaavi replied.
Sen stood up, excused himself and went to the bar. Sam followed.
‘I can’t believe Shona is dating Dr Kristiansen. He’s world-renowned for his work,’ Sam said.
Sen ordered two beers and handed one to his friend.
‘However…’ Sam started and then stopped.
‘What?’ Sen asked, taking a gulp of his beer. The bar was suffocating.
‘He’s openly gay,’ Sam said.
‘You sure?’ Sen asked and tried not to show the joy on his face.
Sam leaned in.
