Free Thirteen, Fourteen... Little Boy Unseen by Willow Rose Page B

It was small, located on a small secluded street, pulled away from the main street. But, best of all, there was no one else in there. I didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing us and telling Sune. It was, after all, a small town, and people started talking very fast. Not that we were doing anything wrong. We were just two friends eating a lunch. After all, Sune was hanging out with his friend as well. I needed someone who understood me just as much as he did.
    “So, what’s good here?” I asked, when the waiter had handed me the menu.
    “I’ve only been here once, two days ago, but I had the risotto and it was excellent,” David said.
    “I think I’ll try that, then,” I said.
    David ordered the chicken Parmesan. We both had a beer.
    “So, how long are you in town for?” I asked.
    David leaned over and smiled. I felt a pinch in my heart. He was so handsome. His eyes felt like they could see right through me.
    “I haven’t decided yet,” he said.
    “Aren’t you going back to work?”
    “I’m looking into it. I just don’t really know what I want, you know what I mean? My priorities have changed. I’m not striving for money and fame anymore. I don’t crave being that big journalist anymore. I just want to enjoy my life. I still want to work; I still have to put food on the table, but I’m not as career-minded as I used to be. I’m not sure it’s worth it anymore.”
    “I do know what you mean,” I said, and drank from my beer. “I had to leave my job at Jyllandsposten a few years ago for the very same reason. I had to get away from my ex-husband, and I knew my daughter was more important than my career. It was tough saying goodbye to my old life, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I love it here.”
    “I have the biggest respect for that; I really do,” David said.
    I smiled and drank more from my beer. I looked at his hands and realized even they were handsome. He was just…such a man. I guess that was what I really enjoyed about being with him. He was older than me. He was a real grown-up.
    He was everything Sune wasn’t.
    “The risotto for the lady,” the waiter said, as he brought us the food. A hot plate landed in front of me and made me even hungrier than before.
    “And the chicken for the gentleman.” The waiter looked at us with a smile and clasped hands. “Now, enjoy.”
    I dug in as soon as the waiter turned around. David laughed. “You weren’t kidding when you told me you were starving, were you?”
    “No.” I spoke with my mouth full, and held a hand up in front of my lips. “I can’t remember when I was last this hungry. Lately, my appetite has been kind of nonexistent.”
    I looked at David, while realizing that I had been feeling better too. I had slept really well for the first time in a long while. And now I was eating too? It was like a cloud had been lifted from my face. Like I was waking up.
    “I’m feeling it too,” David said. “Spending time with you makes me feel better. It’s like all the bad thoughts disappear when you’re around.”
    Could it be? Could it be that David simply made me feel better? That we were somehow good for one another? I couldn’t believe it. Maybe I shouldn’t feel so guilty about spending time with him. I could choose to look at it as therapy.
    “So, how is the case going?” he asked.
    “The genderless bodies?” I asked.
    I had told David everything about the case the night before.
    “Yeah. Any news?”
    “Not really. I can’t seem to get anywhere with it. I’ve been thinking about the clothes and the mutilations a lot. I mean, there is definitely a statement of some sort. But what is he trying to tell us?”
    “You do know that the pastor was known to be very outspoken against the rights of gays getting married in the church, right?”
    “No. I didn’t.”
    “Well, she was. She talked about it in many interviews and in her sermons. She was the only one who refused to marry gays in her church when they said