Page 22 of A Copenhagen Snowmance
“Trine! If you dob me in, I will never write another word for you.”
“OK, OK,da!” Katrine says with a laugh. “Your secret is safe with me, but good luck. I’m looking at the other media outlets on my laptop and they’re running with it, too. Copenhagen Tourism wants to know who you are.”
“Nononono,” Anna chants under her breath. This cannot be happening. If it goes too far Maiken will know she’s here, too. That’s if Carl doesn’t turn to her in bed to show her. Anna has no idea if they live together now, but they looked like a couple last night.
Anna feels a knot tighten in her stomach. Seeing them had made her panic. The knot in her stomach now isn’t due to missing him. It’s the hurt of the betrayal giving her another kicking. Even after eighteen months, it pains her,what they did. And that she hadn’t spotted it makes hertoes curl in humiliation. It all adds a sheen of sweat toher forehead.
“But coming back to your tenant,” Katrine insists. “Dish it.”
“Nope. Accident, remember,” Anna insists, trying to sound stern.
“That’s the most passionate accident I’ve seen in a long time. It reminds me of that photo of the sailor and nurse kissing in Times Square on VJ Day? You know the one. An iconic moment in time.”
“Stop. It.”
Katrine laughs. “OK, I’ll stop, but now you’ve snuck into the country without letting me know, here’s the deal: the departmentJulefrokostis coming up and I want you to be there.”
“I’m not leaving the house again, unless it’s to go to the airport,” Anna states, in spite of having missed Christmas lunches last year. Danes love their month of boozy lunches, whether with work, clubs, or friends– any excuse, frankly.
Katrine makes aPffffsound and says, “Good luck with that. We’re booked for the twenty-first at Sankt Annæ, at one o’clock. If you make it back to London then let me know, but if you’re still here, then I’ll see you there.” Katrine can be very bossy sometimes.
Anna mutters an OK, but crosses her fingers she’ll be long gone, away from that photo and any media search.
“Vi ses! Hej, hej,” Katrine says signing off, and hangs up without waiting for Anna’s response. Within seconds a calendar reminder pops up on her screen for the lunch.
Anna drops her hand and phone onto the bed and stares at the ceiling. This is so far removed from her original plan, and she has very little idea of how to get things back on track.
* * *
Heading for the kitchen and a strengthening cup of coffee, Anna’s sure Jamie will be as appalled as she is. Admittedly, his face isn’t as clear in the photo as hers given the photographer’s angle, but still. He’s a professional person in the city; he certainly won’t want to have a schmaltzy picture like that doing the rounds.
And itisschmaltzy. There’s an inky sky and fairy lights, a huge, illuminated star hanging over what looks like two oblivious lovers clinched with snow around their feet. It couldn’t have been set up better and the photographer has framed it so perfectly, they must be a professional. What a snoop! Sneaking around the streets, taking shots of innocent individuals. Anna feels a little rage brewing inside her. Later, she’ll see if she can find the photo credit, hunt them down and blast off a sternly-worded email about privacy and the invasion thereof.
Jamie is at the dining table already engrossed in his work. He’s on a call, but it sounds like it’s winding up. Reaching the coffee machine, she raises the jug to him in offer of a refill, to which he gives her a slow nod. He looks well-slept and alert, not like her, strung out from beating herself up about her actions. Well, maybe his hair looks a bit dishevelled, but that’s about the sum of it.
“Go’ morgen,” he says, ending the call and pulling AirPods from his ears.
“Hmm,” she humpfs. She’s not sure it is.
Jamie tilts his head for her to expound.
She may as well hit him with it. Placing the coffee jug on one of his journals to protect the table, she points to his open laptop. “May I?”
He spins it towards her with a “Sure.”
“This happened,” she says after hitting the keys and bringing up the site. “Like I said last night, I am very sorry, Jamie.” And she turns the screen back to him.
She waits.
Jamie moves his face nearer the screen.
And then back out again.
And then back to check again.
“Wow.”
“I know, right? Nightmare. I’ve already had someone I know ring me about it. So, my cover is blown.”
