Betrayal Read Free Page A

divorce, after all, he hadn’t done that. Just that he didn’t think they had fun any more.
    She hadn’t been able to sleep. She lay wide awake and listened to his fingers tapping on the keyboard in the office, sometimes hesitant, sometimes determined. How could he just sit down and work? She wondered what kind of article he was writing and realised that she had no idea. It had been a long time since they had talked about his work. As long as he sent out invoices and money came in so she could pay the bills, there hadn’t seemed to be any reason.
    Always so pressed for time.
    For a while she had thought about going in to him and asking, but then she changed her mind. He was the one who should come to her.
    Not until around three o’clock did she hear the bedroom door being carefully opened, and he slipped into his side of the double bed.
    Axel like a defensive wall between them.
    There were only a few minutes left until the meeting as she parked outside the day-care centre. Axel was still in a bad mood, even though she tried to divert his attention as best she could during the drive over. It would be terrible when she left. Axel’s sobbing face behind the window-pane.
    How could she cope with that today?
    She ran into Daniel’s father on the way in.
    ‘Hi, Eva, great to see you, I was going to call you two today. We’re having that dinner party on the 27th like we said. Can you still come?’
    ‘Yes, I think so.’
    He glanced quickly at his watch and kept talking as he backed towards his car.
    ‘We were thinking of inviting the couple that just moved in down the street as well; you know, the house where that old couple used to live. I don’t remember their names.’
    ‘I know who you mean. So someone has moved into the place now?’
    ‘Yes, and I think they have kids the same age as ours, so we thought we’d do something neighbourly right away. It’s good to have some place within crawling distance when you go out for dinner.’
    He laughed at his own joke and took another look at his watch.
    ‘Damn. I’ve got to be at a meeting on Kungsholmen in fifteen minutes. Why can’t they ever start half an hour later?’
    He gave a deep sigh.
    ‘Well, then. Say hi to the family.’
    He got into his car and she pulled open the door for Axel.
    It was always such a rush. Kids who’d just woken up and stressed-out parents who even before they made it to work were worrying about everything they wouldn’t have a chance to get done before they had to rush back and pick up their kids on time. Everyone always in a breathless race, with the clock as their worst enemy.
    Was it really supposed to be like this?
    They walked through the doors and Kerstin came out from the play-room to meet them.
    ‘Hi Axel. Hi Eva.’
    ‘Hi.’
    Axel didn’t reply but turned his back and stood there with his forehead pressed against the cabinet. She was grateful that it was Kerstin who greeted her today, because she was the one on the staff she knew best. Since Axel’s first day five years ago, Kerstin had worked as both day-care teacher and director, with an enthusiasm for her work that never flagged. Driven by devotion, as if she could change the world by constantly reminding the children in her care about the importance of empathy and what was right and wrong. Eva was full of admiration and had often been amazed at Kerstin’s energy, especially in view of how exhausted she often felt herself. But on the other hand, Kerstin’s own children were in their twenties, so maybe that was the difference.
    The clock was her worst enemy.
    She remembered her involvement as the head of the student council in high school; Greenpeace, Amnesty,the burning will to change things. And she remembered how it felt when she still had the conviction that what was wrong could be fixed, injustices could cease, and if she only put in enough time and energy then the world could be changed. Back then her outrage over the unjust imprisonment of a person on the