Winter Swan

The phone rang in the middle of the night.

The woman swore in annoyance as she took a sip of her whiskey. Putting down her cigarette, she picked up the phone with her perfectly manicured hand.

"Hello?"

Messy blond hair, clad in black slip wet with sweat.

A naked man watched her as she answered the phone. Ingrid was with a young man in a hotel room when the phone rang. Breathlessly, she answered, "What? Seriously! You finally got rid of him! Perfect. Good job. I knew you could do it. It was worth the money. Good. So now, you need to cross the border to go to Mexico and then take the boat to the Caribbean island like we planned. I will take care of the costs, so don't worry. Make sure to destroy your cellphone as well. Rolf can never find out about this. Gosh!!! Finally! Finally, the day has come!"

Ingrid laughed hysterically at the news. She took another sip of her whiskey as if to celebrate.

The blond young man in bed with her asked, "What happened, Ingrid?"

"I just heard a great news. He is finally gone! That bastard… I finally won!"

"Wow, that IS great news. Should we toast?"

"Yes, haha. I would like that. I guess God was on my side after all and helped me get rid of that bastard. Get dressed right away. We are going to leave Norway and go to the Aegean Sea. I am so excited. We will travel the world in my yacht. I will file for divorce from old Rolf. With Kail gone, there is no one who can stop me now. I will get the biggest alimony and live the life of a rich divorcee. Get ready, Julian. We are leaving Oslo today, right now!"

Ingrid was so excited that she danced around the hotel room half-naked as she continued, "He finally did it! I can't believe that guy really did it. He said he practically destroyed Kail's car with him in it. It all happened in New York. This should've happened a long time ago. Haha!"

When Ingrid laughed happily, the golden-haired man laughed with her.

Then suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"…"

Ingrid stopped abruptly as she saw the door open.

To her shock, it was Rolf and he wasn't alone. Two policemen were standing with him.

"Rolf! What… what are you doing… here? What is happening?" Ingrid screamed in disbelief. One strap of her black slip slid down, revealing her breast. The naked man in the bed quickly went under the covers, but only after he was seen.

Rolf said to his wife slowly, "Unfortunately, it won't go as you hoped, Ingrid."

"W-what are you talking about? Rolf, I think there has been a mistake. That man on the bed… There is nothing going on between us, so…"

When Ingrid tried to explain awkwardly, the policemen grabbed her arms and put on the handcuffs.

"Ingrid Skaki Bruntland, we are taking you in for the attempted murder of your stepson."

"What? What do you think you are doing? Rolf, stop them! Do you have any proof? Do you?"

She screamed but Rolf didn't even blink. He watched as his wife was being arrested. Rolf was done with Ingrid. He said to her coldly, "You confessed to everything just a minute ago. You just said you tried to kill Kail in New York and make it look like a car accident. I always knew my whole life was a giant mistake, but to have you as my wife was the worst of all the mistakes. Trying to kill my only son…"

"Rolf! That's not true. Listen to me. Look at my face! Do you not see the scar your bastard son put on my face? Your son did it! You know he did, yet how could you do this to me…!"

Ingrid continued to scream, but Rolf seemed uninterested. He grabbed her hand and yanked the emerald ring from her finger.

"I will take this back now. It will be returned to the rightful owner."

"Rolf! Rolf! How could you do this to me!"

Rolf then gestured for the police to take her away.

"Rolf! Rolf! You can't do this to me! Wait, Rolf!"

Just like that, Ingrid was gone and never to be seen again.

At the time of Kail's accident, Silje was with Christian.

It was the last day of the Sherian Collection show. She was having tea with him at the Blue Cheese cafe when her cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

She thought it was from her agency to let her know of her schedule, but it wasn't.

"Pardon? What did you say?"

It was a stranger calling and the message was shocking. Silje's face became pale.

"No, I don't understand you… Yes, I see… Are you sure? Which hospital is he in now?"

By the time she hung up, she was in shock. Realizing something was wrong, Christian asked her quietly, "Is something the matter, Silje?"

"Oh… It's…"

Silje's voice was coarse and hesitant.

"I don't know how to explain it… To be honest, I want to just disappear. Running away from this… But the call came to me, and I can't just ignore it. I can't run away from it. I never have, and I never will, but… I'm so tired… When will I ever be free? When will this end? Will this ever end at all?"

She sighed and explained the call while Christian listened silently.

Serious hazel eyes and long fingers… Silje suddenly thought that it was ironic how she was with Christian when the call came. In truth, she was glad that Christian was there to witness it. If she was alone when she got the call, she might have ignored it and avoided going to the hospital. But because Christian was there and heard the conversation, she felt like she had no choice.

"Silje, are you sure you are ok? I will go with you if you want."

"No, it's okay. I can go by myself. I would be lying if I said I want to ignore this, but I will go."

Silje looked at Christian and her eyes were filled with mixed emotions. But she looked determined as she added, "I'm going. I have to go. I need to go see him and end this…"

Watching her with his gentle eyes, Christian replied, "You may not want me to go with you, but I really want to. What do you think? Will you let me?"

"Why would you want to come with me?"

When she asked calmly, he answered, "I just want to. I feel like I need to. When I look at you now, you remind me of when I first came to New York. It was a very long time ago, but there are so many similarities between us. When I first came here, I felt lost in this huge city. I worked like my life depended on it, just like you. Perhaps that is why I always want to help you. I see myself in you and I can't ignore it when it is clear that you need help."