Chapter 22: Old Friends and New Lovers, Part I

July 1982, Chicago, Illinois

When Kara and I arrived at the apartment, I grabbed the mail and we headed upstairs. I needed to see Theo, but I could do that in the morning when I went out to run before Kara and I went to get Katt and Mikael at the airport. After dropping our bags inside and using the bathroom, we headed to Jewel so I could stock the kitchen for the time we’d be in Chicago. I also decided to stop at Venture and pick up a large cast-iron skillet so I could make pan pizzas. I’d experiment when I returned from my trip to Georgia. When we arrived back at the apartment, we put the groceries away, and I made lunch.

After lunch, I suggested that we go to the video store and rent a movie for the evening, and Kara agreed. We checked the available titles and agreed on Excalibur, a retelling of the Arthurian legend. We dropped the tape in the apartment and then went for a walk because we’d been in the car quite a bit, including driving back and forth to the store. We walked around Washington Park for about an hour before heading back to the apartment.

Kara started my laundry for me while I put my spare sheets on Elyse’s bed and then dusted the apartment. Kara helped by sweeping the hardwood floors, and I ran the vacuum cleaner over the area rugs. When I was satisfied, I turned on the stereo and we sat down to relax on the couch with a bottle of Dr Pepper for me and a bottle of Coke for Kara.

“What plans do we have for Katt and Mikael?” Kara asked.

“It’s a whirlwind trip, really; they arrive around 10:00am tomorrow and then leave at 8:00pm on Saturday. I wanted to take them to a Cubs game but go figure, the Cubs are in Cincinnati tomorrow and for the weekend, so that’s out. I want to take them out for pizza — we’ll do that on Friday. Otherwise, we’ll just play it by ear.”

“What did you and Katt do when you guys hung out, or don’t I want to know?” Kara asked, with an arched eyebrow.

“We skated and screwed! I suspect she doesn’t want to skate.”

“But she’ll want to screw?”

“Of course she will! But I just don’t see that happening. Katt and I ended things when I insisted that she consider Mikael as her best option. It’s worked out really well, and I’d hate to do anything at all to mess it up. Not to mention that it would be pretty tacky of me to do that with you here. She’ll probably want me to cuddle her, though, like we used to do. If that’s a problem, I won’t do it.”

“So long as that’s it, I’m OK with it. Mikael doesn’t mind?”

“Nope. He wouldn’t object to me having sex with her because he doesn’t think I’m a threat. I think it’s a bad idea for the same reason that I think it would be a bad idea to be with Bethany or Jennifer. Katt was really torn between her career and the fact that she loved me. I took second place and knew it. That’s why I insisted that she give Mikael a chance, because it was obvious that he was in love with her. He was also part of the skating culture, which I most decidedly wasn’t. And, as I said, because of you, Honey.”

“You do seem to be quite the matchmaker, Steve. Josh and Mary, Pete and Melanie, Stephanie and Ed, Katt and Mikael.”

“I’ve always been better at helping others with their relationships than my own. But that seems to have changed with you!”

“Everyone keeps saying stuff like that. But I’m not doing anything special, really. I just expect you to behave.”

“That is special. In the past, pretty much everyone expected me to fail. Just as you initially did, Kara. Remember, you told me you thought I would eventually cheat.”

She sighed, “I did. But so much has changed since then. My whole life is in an uproar. I just wish things would be calm and stable for a while.”

“Don’t you think things will calm down over the next year? The bad influence of Kent van der Meer is gone, your mom’s a lot more willing to let you be you and from what you both say, the new church isn’t quite so fundamentalist. You’ll also have a regular schedule again with work, you have Joyce as a friend and we’ll see each other as often as we can.”

“You are my rock, Steve. I’ve told you that before. Joyce helps, but she’s not you. And it’s not the sex, though I can’t complain about that at all! It’s how you’re there for me. You cut your trip short, which was a huge sacrifice. You were looking forward to that trip for two years! And you didn’t freak out when I told you I wanted to stay with mom. And you didn’t get mad the other times I changed our plans. I don’t know what I’d do without you!”

“We’re not going to find out, honey. When you’re ready, when you feel it’s OK to leave your mom, this will be our place. Yours and mine.”

She smiled, “My period is done. Would you please make love to me?”

I stood up, took her Coke bottle and put it on the counter with mine, then took her hand and led her to my, no OUR, bedroom and we made love slowly and passionately. After Kara cried out in passion for the third time and I drove deep to cum in her, we cuddled under the comforter.

The phone rang, and I reached over to the night stand to answer it. Katt was calling to confirm their flight times. I asked if there was anything she wanted to do while she was in Chicago. She said they were just coming to hang out with me, so we didn’t need to plan anything special. I let her know that we’d see her at O’Hare at 10:00am.

“I’m amazed at how you can so easily switch between Swedish and English. I’m guessing that was Katt.”

“Yes. She was confirming they’ll be in at 10:00am tomorrow. She didn’t have anything special she wanted to do, so I think other than going out for pizza, we’ll just hang out. If it’s nice tomorrow, we could go to the Lincoln Park Zoo. That would be a great place to walk around and hang out before we go to Connie’s for pizza.”

“That sounds good. Do you need time alone with Katt?”

“Not really, unless you don’t want to see her curled up in my lap like a cat, which is how she got her nickname.”

“I thought that was her name!” Kara said.

“Her name is Katrina, but it’s spelled with one T. Her nickname is Katt, spelled with two T’s. That’s the word for cat in Swedish. If it was just shortening her name, it would only have one T. I made the same mistake and didn’t figure it out until her birthday party, when I saw her nickname written out. Her nickname when she was little was ‘pussycat’ and when she got older, it changed to cat. She had this big Angora when she lived in Sweden that she really loved. She couldn’t bring him along when they moved here. When she cuddles, she curls up almost like that cat.”

“Oh, so it’s like a double-meaning. That’s cool. No, I’m OK with her sitting in your lap. Is she like Melanie at all?”

“No,” I chuckled. “Katt will give me a quick peck, but nothing more. And I’m sure she won’t tease with you around. In fact, she hasn’t even really teased over the phone during our occasional calls. She may finally be over me, so to speak.”

“Good!” Kara replied happily. “What shall we do before dinner?”

“I’m sure we can come up with something,” I said, kissing her deeply.

We made love again, then shared a shower, and I made dinner. After we ate, we did the dishes and relaxed for a bit. Around 7:00pm I popped some popcorn, and we put in Excalibur.

“That would be painful!” Kara giggled as Uther Pendragon took Igrayne while wearing full armor.

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “I’m not quite seeing plate armor as something I’d want to wear while having sex!”

We both enjoyed the movie, and I laughed when Kara squealed and hid her face into my chest at the scene where a crow plucked the eye out of a dead knight. When the movie finished, I hit rewind on the VCR and Kara and I went to brush our teeth and use the bathroom before bed. Before getting into bed, I took the rewound tape out of the VCR and put it back in its case. I set it on the kitchen counter so I could remember to return it in the morning, then went to join Kara in bed. We made love and fell asleep spooned together.

On Thursday morning, I went to run while Kara fixed breakfast. I stopped by Theo’s house and picked up my envelope from him and made sure there were no outstanding computer issues. He assured me that everything was OK. I completed my run and then joined Kara for breakfast. We showered together after we ate, then dressed. At 9:00am we walked to the video store and returned the tape, then walked back to the car and headed for O’Hare to meet Katt and Mikael.

Their flight was basically on time, and when they came out of the Jetway, Katt walked quickly over to me, dropped her bag at my feet, then hugged me tight and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. Mikael shook my hand, and I introduced everyone. Katt gave Kara a quick hug, and they immediately started talking about me. I shook my head and switched to Swedish to talk to Mikael as we walked to the car.

“How are things going?” I asked.

“Pretty good,” Mikael replied. “We’re finishing in the top five in all our competitions and we’ve won a couple of smaller ones. It’s pretty tough at this point, and getting tougher. It would be worse in Europe, though, competing with French and Russian teams. Plus, the judging is rigged, just like at the Olympics.”

“Rigged? Seriously?”

“Rigged. Seriously. It is here too, but not as bad as in Europe. Katt’s super cute and everyone likes her, so it doesn’t really hurt us. It’s worse for the singles and pairs than it is for ice dancers.”

“That sucks. How’s Laura?”

“Good. She said to say ‘hello’. She’s still seeing the same guy. He travels a lot with her. He’s only 22, but he inherited a decent amount of money from his grandfather so he can travel with her most of the time when he’s not busy with the charity he runs.”

“Wow! That must be good for her.”

“She’s pretty happy. Your girlfriend is gorgeous, by the way!”

“Yes, she is!” I agreed. “Your girlfriend is pretty damn cute, too! How are you two doing?”

“Very good, actually. I asked her to marry me.”

“No way! And she told you to drop dead, right?”

“No!” he laughed. “She said ‘yes’! When we turn eighteen, we’re getting married.”

“Holy shit! Really? Katt Sundström is getting married? And at eighteen? I don’t believe it!”

“Ask her yourself. And look at her hand. And look at mine.”

I had seen the ring on her hand, but it was a plain gold band, and for some reason, I’d missed the significance. I recalled that the Swedish tradition was opposite of the American one. The diamond came at the wedding, and a third band with motherhood. And Mikael had his, which was the Swedish tradition as well — getting the ring at engagement instead of at the wedding.

“Katt,” I said in English, “Do you have something to tell me that you left out of our last phone call?”

She smiled and held out her left hand, “Surprise?” she said sheepishly.

“I’m shocked! You and all your lectures about not getting married until you were older! And all your reprimands to me about it. What happened?”

“Mikael makes me happy. We’re always together. He’s picked-up some crazy American ideas and when he asked I said ‘yes’ without even realizing what I was saying! But I want to do it. Of course, no kids until we finish skating!”

“Of course! When’s the wedding?”

“Next Summer,” Mikael said. “We’re getting married in Västra Frölunda. Will you be my best man?”

A perfect, perfect excuse to travel to Sweden next Summer, not that I needed one!

“I guess I have to, don’t I?” I asked with a smile.

“Yes!” Katt exclaimed. “You got us together and my parents are grateful that you could, quote, ‘talk sense into me’. They will pay for your trip, Steve. Laura’s going to be my bridesmaid!”

“Only one?” Kara asked.

“Yes,” Katt replied, “that’s traditional. You’re welcome to come with Steve if you want, though I guess he’ll have to pay for your ticket.”

“That sounds like fun!” Kara said. “Steve? Can you do that? I could probably pay for at least part of it from the money I’ll make at work.”

“We’ll work it out,” I chuckled. “What’s the date, Katt?”

“June 25th. We’ll give you more details once we firm up the plans — we have to practice beforehand and there will be a LOT of parties to go to!”

“This will be so much fun!” Kara exclaimed. “I can’t wait!”

We got into the car with the girls in the back and Mikael in the front passenger seat. He and I continued speaking Swedish while the girls chattered on in the back.

“If Katt asks you for a last fling before she’s married, I’m OK with it,” Mikael said with a grin.

“That would probably be a bad idea for a host of reasons, the most important being my girlfriend.”

“Katt said that you two weren’t exclusive?”

“That’s true, but there are limits. I’ll cuddle Katt, but that’s pretty much as far as it could go.”

“You’ve got more willpower than I do to pass up having Katt again. I know I couldn’t!”

“It was fun and I’m glad you’re enjoying it!” I said.

“I heard all of that,” Katt said in Swedish. “You won’t? What if I ask her?” she said.

I assumed she hadn’t used Kara’s name on purpose.

“Go ahead, but she’ll say ‘no’. And so will I, Katt. We ended things on purpose and it’s worked out really well for both of us. Let’s not mess things up for a night of passion.”

She nodded, “I knew you’d say that!”

She switched back to English and apologized to Kara for speaking Swedish, but said she was just commenting on something Mikael had said.

We arrived at the apartment and Katt and Mikael were impressed and commented on the Scandinavian style that I’d selected. I had them put their things in Elyse’s room and we spent the afternoon hanging out and listening to music. I cooked dinner, opting for shrimp stir-fry, and after dinner, we walked to get ice cream. I joked with Kara that we should have brought some UDF ice cream with us. On the way home, we stopped in the video store and rented Star Wars, which I had wanted to see again, and which none of the rest had seen.

I popped some popcorn and set out some chips and we watched the movie. Katt asked to cuddle and Kara nodded her permission, so I ended up watching the entire movie with Katt curled in my lap with her head resting on my shoulder. She signed contentedly several times, and Mikael just rolled his eyes.