Chapter 44: A Journey Begins

June, 1984, Helsingborg, Sweden

I spent a couple of days with the Anderbergs, most of which was spent with Rolf at his restaurant and disco. The chef, Axel, remembered me and let me spend the afternoons in the kitchen with him. I really enjoyed working with him, even though for the most part I was just cutting up ingredients, stirring pots, and doing other simple tasks. Both evenings were spent in the disco, dancing and drinking. I made sure to change dance partners regularly, because despite the young and clearly willing flesh, I simply didn't feel like partaking.

Even Magda's obvious flirting on the plane hadn't enticed me, despite her being almost perfectly my type — blonde, blue-eyed, with small, firm breasts and a winning smile. I had briefly thought about calling her and her brother, but in the end, I just didn't want to get involved with anyone else, not even just for fun. Something inside me had fundamentally changed, and I was still trying to figure it out.

On Friday I had lunch at the Sandbergs' with Lisbet and her parents. Pia had left for Amsterdam a few days before I arrived. Had I not changed my trip because of Joyce's graduation, I'd have been able to see her. It would have been just as a friend, though, because she was committed to Johan. I was unhappy at how the timing had worked out, but, when push came to shove, Joyce had to take precedence. I hoped someday to see Pia again, but it wouldn't be on this trip.

After lunch, Lisbet drove me back to Ängelholm so that I wouldn't have to take the bus or train. We had a nice chat, and despite her past flirtation, she was on her best behavior. Rolf was waiting for me so that we could make the return trip to Helsingborg to catch the train. I'd considered taking my bags with me, but as I'd taken the bus, that wasn't really practical.

At the station, I thanked Rolf once again for his hospitality and told him that I hoped to see him in Chicago someday, but if not, I would certainly do my best to see him the next time I came back to Sweden. I had no idea when that would be for sure, because once I graduated and started my own company, taking a month off was quite impractical. I boarded the train and found a window seat and waited for the train to leave the station.

I still remembered the scenery that passed by as the train chugged north. I'd taken this route many, many times over the course of the previous five years, and very little had changed. As we moved north through Skåne and into Halland, I wondered how I would feel on the next train trip, which would take me east from Västra Götaland to Stockholm. The trip that would take me to Karin, and the end of a seven-year-old dream.

I chased those thoughts away as the train pulled into the familiar confines of Göteborg's main train station — Centralstationen. I grabbed my two bags and stepped off the train into the waiting arms of Sofia Katsaros. She hugged me tightly and kissed me softly, then released me so that I could greet her father, who shook my hand. Mr. Katsaros took my largest bag and led Sofia and me, now holding hands, to his car. Sofia didn't let go of my hand the entire way to Hovås. We took my bags to Sofia's room, and she grabbed both my hands.

"Steve, your friend Tina called. She wants to have lunch with you tomorrow. I take it you aren't visiting her in Alingsås?"

"Correct. She and I talked last month and agreed that there wasn't much chance of us being together long term because of the circumstances."

"Weren't they similar to ours?" she asked.

"Yes, they were. But you took the bull by the horns and found a way forward," I smiled.

"Did I? I suppose that I have some chance, but you and Jennifer seem to be on a path that nobody can block."

"Except Jennifer."

She looked questioningly at me, and then asked, "What haven't you told me?"

"What just happened this past week. Jennifer and I were together because of my friend Melanie's wedding. A wedding where she was maid of honor and I was best man. Where my date was my friend Bethany and her date was her friend Josie ... her girlfriend Josie," I sighed.

"Girlfriend?" she asked with a confused look on her face.

"Sofia, you live in Sweden, you know what I'm talking about. Don't tell me you've gone prudish on me!" I chuckled.

"Sorry, no, it's just I thought you two, you know..."

"Yes, we did. And we do. But she's lesbian and wants to be with Josie. She wants to have a baby with me, but in the end, she and Josie are going to be a couple."

"There's a twist I didn't expect," Sofia said with a wan smile.

"Me either. So, as I said, you've found a way forward."

"Well, then!" she grinned. "So you and Bethany?"

"Believe it or not, there isn't anyone right now. I mean that. Once I changed things with Anala, I went back to my original plan. I'm not going to have a steady girlfriend for my Senior year."

"You hurt me when you made that arrangement with Anala, Steve."

"I know. It was a grave error on my part and it hurt all the girls I love quite badly. But everything that happened has led me to a new place."

"What new place is that?"

I smiled, "I'll give you an example. A very cute, available seventeen-year-old Swedish girl flirted with me for nearly eight hours on a flight from Chicago to Copenhagen. She gave me her phone number and suggested that I call her if I was bored. Not only did I not call her, but I had no desire to call her. I had plenty of opportunities when I was at Rolf's 57:an disco as well. I didn't care. That's the new place."

"Which explains Tina," Sofia said. "But what does that mean for me?"

"That you, Sofia Katsaros, have me until I leave for Stockholm, to do whatever you wish with me!"

"You wish!" she giggled. "Do you want to call Tina and confirm lunch tomorrow?"

"Yes. Did you talk with Torbjörn and Katt?"

"Yes. There's a party on Sunday afternoon in the park across from Torbjörn's apartment, just like the one last year. We tried to invite everyone, but some people have moved away. Your important friends will be there, though. You and I are going out with Katt and Mikael on Monday night. Otherwise, there aren't any real plans. Petra isn't around — she's on a trip to Rhodes for the travel agency she works for, and Thomas and Anna-Carin left for a vacation in Majorca. Frederick is spending the Summer with his friend in Uppsala."

"It's funny — all my Swedish friends are scattering far and wide, but my American friends are all coming together in Chicago."

"And I'm joining them, doing both, I guess."

"True. What about Suzana Jonsson?" I asked.

"She's coming to the party with Gustaf. They're pretty serious. She's looking forward to seeing you again. I can't say the same for her parents. Her dad still hates you."

"Let him. I have no time to worry about him. And I just don't give a damn. Suzana and I were together because we wanted to be together. That's the end of it."

"Otherwise, about half your classmates are around, according to Torbjörn. I think it's the important ones — Helge, Elizabeth, and Suzanne, for sure. Is there anyone else you want to see while you're here?"

"Just you, Sofia."

"And Karin. What are you going to tell her?"

"The truth. Nothing but the truth. She's been dating, nothing serious yet, sort of biding her time. I think we've finally reached the end of the line. There's no reason for her to wait until next Summer to decide. It's just not going to happen. I don't even know if I'll be sleeping in her room or the guest room. In a way, it would be fitting for me to end things where they started, so to speak, by sleeping alone in Birgit's old room."

"I never, ever thought I'd be the last of your Swedish girls. I always thought it would be Karin who would be the one. Tina was just a fling, and you both recognized that. Pia couldn't do what I did — come to the US. So here we are. I just wish I knew where 'here' was," she said.

I pulled her into my arms, "You're coming to Chicago. Living in my house. I'd say that gives you a fair chance."

"I don't want a fair chance! It's not about fighting fair! It's about being the last one standing like you always said your friend Joyce was trying to be. I hope you don't expect a Greek girl to fight fair!"

I chuckled, "Half-Greek!"

"The other half is Swedish. Do you think it wise to cross a Swedish woman?" she said, hands on her hips.

"Uh, no. That's a bad idea, from what I've seen!" I grinned. "So, what are you telling me?"

"Just that I intend to do my best to win the battle for your heart."

"Sofia, it's more complicated than that. You heard what I said about Jennifer. That's not the only complication. The question you have to answer, but not today, is whether or not you can accept me for who and what I am, and what I'm going to do with my life."

"Of course I can't answer today. I need to really know you. I did when you lived here, but neither you nor I are the same person we were in 1980. All of my former silliness aside, if you asked me to marry you today, I'd say 'maybe', not 'yes'. Why do you think I decided to go to school in Chicago?"

I nodded, "Because we're adults now, not kids, and you are different and I am different. You want to get to know me as an adult, not a sixteen-year-old kid."

"Yes. I was fourteen then, and I was madly in love with you, but I couldn't have you the way I wanted."

"Was?" I asked gently.

"Was. It's different now. That love, and what I feel for you now, are different. I'm no longer a child, Steve. And neither are you. In Chicago, we'll find out if we're meant to be together or not. I know that your life is complicated, but I also know that something fundamental has changed. You were the biggest pussy hound I know. But not anymore. If that can change, anything can change."

"Pussy hound?" I chuckled.

"Got another word for a guy who puts his penis into every willing vagina?" she asked with a smirk.

"Including yours. And you enjoyed it, if I recall correctly," I replied with a grin.

She stepped past me and shut and locked the door to her room. She turned and smiled at me.

"I don't recall," she said slyly. "Perhaps you could refresh my memory?"

I took her in my arms and we kissed softly. I undressed her, and she undressed me, and we got into her bed and made love, passionately and slowly, remembering each other's bodies and how to please them. When we finished, sweaty and satisfied, I pulled her to me to cuddle.

"Steve," she said shyly. "When I get to Chicago, I want to do something I've never done. Something I know you know how to do and have done before. Are you willing to teach me?"

I wasn't sure what she meant, though when she pulled my hand to her butt cheek, I knew. And that was something I'd be more than happy to help her with.

"If you want to, Sofia. Just ask. I'd love to! But why wait for Chicago?" I said.

She giggled, "You are SO easy! I meant teach me to drive, silly!"

I laughed hard, "You got me! Yes, I'll teach you to drive. Though that other thing would be fun, too!"

She grinned, "So you say. I don't think so."

"You never know until you try!" I teased.

"I'll try driving first, I think!"

"First?"

"You are bad!" she giggled.

"Yes, I am!"

There was a soft knock at the door.

"Sofia, dinner in twenty minutes," her mother said.

"OK," Sofia said.

She got up and put on her robe. I got mine from my bag and we went to the bathroom to shower before coming back to her room to dress.

"Are you bringing the poster and the hockey stick?" I asked, seeing them on the wall.

"Of course I am! It wouldn't be my room without your old hockey stick! Do you still skate?"

"I haven't skated much back in the States. I need to start again."

"We'll remedy that for certain. I have my class schedule. I just need to get my books and then I'm all set to start school on August 22nd. Do you start the same day?"

"Yes. Did you look at the map and see how far it is from my house to school?"

"Yes. They sent me a lot of materials. I think the easiest thing to do is take the elevated train. The only problem might be that it's more than two kilometers to the train."

"I can drop you at the train on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I work on Tuesday and Thursday, so I leave pretty early and get home fairly late. Everyone in the house has a car, though, so I'm sure we can work that out, especially if you learn to drive. Worst case, there is a bus that runs along 47th Street, so you'd only have to walk a couple of blocks to catch it."

"I arranged things so that I have four classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and another class that meets on Tuesday. So Thursday isn't important unless I have to go to the library or something like that."

"There's a huge library at the University of Chicago and they have reciprocal rights with the other schools. I use it instead of IIT's library because it's way better."

"Dinner!" we heard Sofia's mom call out.

We went to the table, and I greeted Mrs. Katsaros. I felt a bit awkward because I hadn't greeted her when we came in and had gone to Sofia's room, where we ended up making love. Anne-Marie Katsaros had always been uncomfortable with me being with her daughter, though her father had a very different opinion, at one point even encouraging me to take Sofia to bed. I shouldn't have worried.

"It's good to see you again, Steve," Anne-Marie said. "And I'm glad that you can take in Sofia when she comes to Chicago. I feel much better knowing that she'll be with you. I understand you have a nice house. I assume it's in a safe neighborhood."

"Thanks. And yes, it's in a very safe part of town. Loyola is quite safe as well. I don't think you have anything to worry about. I'll take care of her."

"I hope you'll do more than that!" Costas said with a grin. "But I know that my wishes come as no surprise to you."

"Not at all," I said. "You made that quite clear some time ago. You'd like nothing more than for me to put a ring on your daughter's left hand. And before Sofia protests, you wanting that doesn't bother me at all. I could do far worse for in-laws than you and Anne-Marie."

"Thanks," Costas said with a smile. "You've had the honeymoon, so can we expect a wedding to follow?"

"Dad!" Sofia protested. "Please let me handle that! I'm Greek, and I know how to conclude a deal!"

Costas chuckled, "You are so much like your grandfather. Cool and calculating, biding your time. Promise me one thing, and one thing only."

"You'll have to tell me what it is first," Sofia said.

"That you will marry in a proper church. An Orthodox church. And that you will baptize your children Orthodox."

"I can make that promise for me, but not for Steve," Sofia said. "But I wonder why, when we don't go to church as a family and you only go occasionally?"

"I made an agreement with your mother when we married that I would never force her to go to church. You know I go for Pascha and sometimes other Holy Days. Your grandfather went every Sunday and every Holy Day. He was unhappy with my agreement with your mom. But, because he provided the money for you to go to school in America, the least you can do is honor his memory that way. I'm not asking you to go to church, just to marry in the church and baptize your children."

"Sofia," I said. "Believe it or not, I think you should agree."

"But you don't go to church! Heck, you don't believe any more than I do."

"It's true I don't go to church. As for the second part, well, I have no idea what I believe or what you believe. On the other hand, I've found many things to like in the Orthodox services I've been to, and in the books I've read. So make the promise if it's what you feel is right. Should we end up together, I'll help you keep your promise."

Sofia smiled, "I guess you have your promise of Orthodox grandkids!"

Costas nodded and said nothing further. I knew that he was making it clear to me that he wanted me to marry his daughter. It wasn't outside the realm of possibility, but with Bethany, Penny, Kara, and Tatyana back home, I wouldn't put odds on who my wife was going to be any more than Jackie would. That was a question for another day.

After dinner, Sofia and I walked around Hovås, and I let the memories of the year I'd spent in Sweden as an exchange student flood my mind. I remembered the first time I was with Sofia, her becoming my friend, but no longer a lover, and then the frantic act of lovemaking just before I had gone home. It was that act that had changed the course of our relationship.