Chapter 25
Petter was awake when I got back to the hotel room and had just got out of the shower.
"Want something to eat?" I indicated the bag of food I'd put on the table in the corner.
"Yeah." He opened the bag and found a sandwich. "What have you been doing?"
"Monica found a house she likes. She's going to see it tomorrow."
He nodded. "I should go too."
"I can watch the boys if you want."
"You'd do that?"
"Sure. I think I have fans there. I bought them radio-controlled cars."
Petter groaned. "Don't let them take the piss."
"Don't worry, I won't. They were kind of birthday presents anyway."
"Oh fuck." He groaned again. "We forgot Per's birthday."
"I know, he told me. He's a smart kid. He didn't want you to worry about it."
"I'll get him something extra special as soon as we get settled. And for Oscar, too. It's his birthday in a couple of weeks."
"I think a day at Disney World will do it." I gave his shoulder a squeeze. "How are you feeling?"
"About a hundred times better than when we left Oslo."
"Good."
"Did you find anywhere you fancy living?"
"I didn't really look. I will tomorrow. I want to check out the opportunities for a restaurant, too."
"How much is this house Monica likes?" he asked suddenly. "Do you know?"
"A hundred and fifty thousand. It has a pool."
He frowned a little, then smiled. "Then they should have it."
"She says there'll be enough money left for you to set up a business."
"Yeah, we have about a quarter of a million in US dollars. There was a lot more back home, but it was in cash. I had to leave it for the gang."
"We'll be okay."
"Yeah, unless we end up getting kicked out in a few months' time." His brow wrinkled more. "I didn't really think about that when I suggested coming here."
"I already looked into it. Monica will be fine as a nurse. If we own businesses and employ locals, we'll be fine, too. They're more concerned if you turn up penniless and try to live off welfare."
"Okay." He pushed the half-eaten sandwich aside and went to the minibar instead. He seemed tense and I wondered if he was worried about our situation. I was confident things would work out, but he'd never had to do this—never even been out of his own country. "I'm going out for a while." He put on his boots and checked he had his wallet.
"You want company?"
He shook his head. "I'll see you later."
Petter was gone for the rest of the afternoon, and only returned when things had closed for the day. I killed some time using a computer in the hotel lounge to search for restaurant opportunities and found a failing pizzeria for sale as a going concern. It appeared to be in a nice part of the city and included accommodation in the form of a large apartment above it. It seemed ideal and I'd already had a conversation with the agent, who admitted that the owners were bankrupt due to the high rates for the property, and their lack of business knowledge. I planned to visit it the next day.
"Sounds good," was all Petter said when I told him about it. He didn't seem very interested.
"Did you find anything?" I asked him.
"A few ideas." He shrugged and sat down on the bed. "I'll be glad to get out of here."
"The hotel?"
"Yeah. It's throwing money down the toilet."
"It's just a few days. We can rent somewhere if we have to, until we get set up with something more permanent."
"I guess." He picked up the remote control and switched on the TV.
We didn't talk much through the evening. Petter didn't want to go out again, so Monica took the boys out to eat and I collected food from a nearby restaurant to have in the room. When we went to bed, he stripped down to his underwear and lay on his side facing me but didn't make any attempt to touch me. I moved closer to him and slid my arm around him. He didn't respond at first, but then he pressed against me and kissed my neck.
"I'm sorry I'm lousy company."
"You're not. I get it. You've been through a lot." I nuzzled his ear and stroked his back. It felt good holding him. For once I didn't immediately get hard but just enjoyed the closeness. Eventually, we drifted into sleep.
When I woke it was daylight and Petter was gone from the bed. I glanced at the watch I still wore and realised it was after nine. I sat up and rubbed a hand over my face, still tired. Jetlag had caught up with me. I assumed Petter was in the bathroom as the door was closed, but no sound came from within. I waited a few minutes, then tapped on the door and opened it, but the room was empty. He had gone out without even waking me to let me know.
I made use of the bathroom and got dressed, then made some coffee. There was leftover food from the previous day, and I ate some of it. I was about to head to Monica's room when she arrived at my door with Per and Oscar, each with their new cars clutched in their arms.
"Where's Dad?" Per asked, looking around the room.
"He went out," I said. "He said he would look at business opportunities today. Monica, are you going to see the house now?"
"Yes, I'll probably be a couple of hours. Is that okay?"
"No problem."
When she had left, we played with the cars for a while, then watched some TV. Per found a programme called Transformers and I quickly learned that Bumblebee was a robot from outer space that could turn into a car like the one Oscar had chosen in the toy shop.
Monica returned just before lunch with a bag of food and a huge smile on her face. "The house is amazing," she said. "I need to talk to Petter before I put down a deposit. Have you heard from him?"
"Not yet." I realised we should all think about getting new phones. I had no way of contacting Petter and had no idea where he was.
Monica took Per and Oscar back to their room. I waited another hour, then wrote a note and left it on the bed for Petter, before I went to look at the restaurant. It needed some work, but it would be ideal for me to start with. The apartment above was large, had two bedrooms, and would suit my purposes perfectly. I didn't hesitate and offered the asking price to the agent. By the end of the day, I had signed some papers and paid a deposit. It would take a few weeks to sort everything out, but the agent advised I would be welcome to move into the apartment as soon as I liked, as the previous owner had already left. A manager was running the restaurant pending a new owner taking over, and the agent confirmed he would introduce me to the manager and staff at the end of the week.
When I got back to the hotel, Petter was in the room with his bag packed.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"I found an apartment and a garage. The apartment is ready now."
"That was fast."
"I didn't want to waste any more time staying here. How did you go with the restaurant?"
"I bought it. I can move into the apartment straight away."
"That's good. I'll come over and check it out when you get there."
"Have you seen Monica?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "She's buying the house. I told her to go ahead and put the deposit down. She's renting a cheap apartment for a couple of months until the house is ready."
"That's good. It sounded perfect with the pool and everything. Where's the garage you found?"
"Other side of town."
It almost seemed like we were strangers as Petter told me a little about a bike garage, small but with a good customer base. He was vague and didn't meet my eyes, and I got the feeling he wasn't being completely honest. He seemed keen to get away from me and when he put on his boots and picked up his bag, I began to worry. I stopped him at the door.
"You're not going to kiss me or anything?"
"Of course. I'm just tired. The last few days have been shit, and the jetlag and everything." He dropped the bag again and wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him and his arms tightened more. "I love you," he whispered.
"I love you, too. Come and see me tomorrow, okay? I'll be here until eleven tomorrow. Maybe you could come and see the apartment with me."
"All right."
"I'll get a phone, too. If we're all living in different places, we need to be able to keep in touch."
"Yeah." Petter hugged me tighter still and pressed his face into my neck. "See you soon." Then he pulled away and was gone, the door closing firmly behind him.