Winter Swan

When Silje went into her house, breathless from Kail's kiss, Olga was sitting on the sofa looking gloomy like the winter weather. Silje always felt sick whenever she saw Olga like this, but for some reason, Silje didn't feel as bad as before.

"Do you know what happened to me when I was brought to my grandfather for the first time? He whipped me."

Remembering Kail's story, Silje took a short breath and calmly said to Olga, "I'm home. Sorry I'm late. I was at the city library studying."

Olga didn't say a word and glared at her, but Silje repeated, "I stayed too late studying. I'm going to go to bed now, Mom."

Her adoptive mother's look showed skepticism, but Silje quietly left the living room. When she got into her bedroom, she smiled.

It was a memorable day. The happiness she felt with Kail still remained with her like the bright star in the dark night sky.

Silje murmured, "Date… Maybe that is why I don't feel so cold anymore."

She realized that her adoptive parents' coldness toward her didn't bother her anymore. She now felt immune to their indifference. All she planned to do from now on was keep her distance from them.

Silje wasn't lonely anymore.

The days that followed were the most peaceful days of Silje's life.

Kail visited her often and they spent quiet but wonderful times together. It felt natural to be with each other.

And things moved very fast.

They didn't make a point of spending time together at school, but when they did meet in the hallways by accident, they just stared at each other. In the end, they would end up grinning before walking away as if they didn't know each other. It was exactly the way they wanted it. Unfortunately, history taught them that things didn't go well when they got together at school, so they silently agreed that it was best to respect their personal spaces at school.

Like a calm river, their relationship continued. No extravagance or noise. Just quiet time to get to know one another.

Kail said with his beautiful voice, "Get in. I will take you home."

Click.

The car doors unlocked.

It was dark and the streetlights looked graceful.

After a quick glance at him, Silje got into his car. Every evening, Kail came to pick up Silje from work and drove her home. When Niels saw this happen for the first time, he made a big deal out of it.

"Are you really going out with that guy, Silje? Answer me! He has the jackal's eyes. He looks very dangerous. Are you really dating him?"

"Have you seen a jackal who looks that gorgeous? Let's get this right. No girl in the world would ever refuse a guy that handsome."

"I can't believe this is happening. How is it that someone as nice as me isn't popular anymore? Girls actually like guys like that nowadays? All dangerous and bad? Women have bad taste."

"Niels. Even girls in your days liked bad boys. Our taste hasn't changed at all. Good guys are boring."

Niels and Tran argued with each other as usual.

At first, Kail came into the cafe to wait for her. He used to sit in his usual seat by the window and stared at her the whole time. Silje found it distracting, so when she asked him to give her some space at her work, Kail respected her wishes and rarely came into the cafe anymore.

Even then, Niels and Tran studied Kail's car which was usually parked outside. Niels said to Silje, "If you must date him, Silje, I wish you luck. I know you are a smart and sensible young girl, so I'm sure you didn't make such a big decision thoughtlessly. I guess he isn't that bad. You are obviously way above his league, but I guess he will do, right?"

After a while, Niels decided to give Kail a chance, making Silje laugh.

Tran replied, "Come on! Let's be honest. He is a prince! A total hottie!"

Niels ignored Tran and continued, "He has been showing up every day, so I guess it can't be helped. You two should date here. It's warm and the coffee is free for you. This would be the best spot for you two."

"Gosh, don't even! They have better places to go. Who wants to go on dates and visit the same place every time? Don't you think Silje would want to go to the movies or skiing at least?"

Just like Tran said, Kail and Silje did go to different places. Sometimes they went to parks or sometimes they just drove around. They went to a basketball game once, and Kail also suggested recently that they should go skiing.

In fact, Kail wanted to go this weekend.

***

He always kept his promises.

Friday afternoon.

Silje came home from work and was resting when her shiny silver cellphone rang.

There was no need for her to check who it was. Silje looked at it quietly before answering it.

"Hello?"

Obviously, it was him.

In his lovely low voice, Kail said to her simply, "Come out. I'm waiting for you outside."

Was he really taking her skiing?

She hadn't planned on refusing him. Silje already knew that the moment she accepted him, their relationship was going to be a whirlwind. He was so unpredictable and always kept her on her toes. No matter what, she was ready to go wherever he took her.

Silje got into Kail's car quietly and without a word, he started it. As he drove, Silje said to him, "I am happy to go skiing with you, but just for your information, I don't even have a ski suit."

She decided to be direct and Kail was amused.

"That's not a problem. By the way, you can ski, right? If not, tell me now. I will only be happy to teach you the basics, but I have a fair warning: you will end up rolling in the snow for a while till you get the hang of it."

At his usual sarcastic joke, Silje replied, "No comment."

Of course Silje knew how to ski. She lived in Norway after all, and when she was younger, her adoptive parents took their children to ski many times. They even had a timeshare in one of the ski resorts nearby.

When she first skied, she was terrible, but eventually, she became an adequate skier. Silje never became good, however, as she didn't get to ski often. With school and work, she never had the time.

For some reason, this felt different to Silje. Was it because she was going with Kail? They were only going skiing, but she felt tense and excited at the same time. Silje looked at him quietly.

They arrived faster than expected. Kail parked his car at a ski resort in Ekeberg, which was a neighborhood in the city of Oslo.