Emilia didn’t want to admit that she could count her friends on one finger. She wondered how many friends Amber had. Lots, she imagined. The woman was confident and easy to talk to. In the short time they’d shared coffee, Emilia felt oddly at ease, something that never happened when she was out in public.
“That is true,” she agreed with Amber. She assumed there wasn’t any number where one would consider they had too many friends, as if fifty friends were perfectly reasonable but fifty-one would be considered utter madness.
She imagined Amber was good to have as a friend. Easy-going, quick with jokes, intelligent, and well-read—all the things that people surely wanted in a friend. All the things she would want.
She couldn’t imagine the look on Hugo’s face if he came to visit one day and Amber was visiting. He’d probably assume he was in the wrong house and turn around to leave again. Then Emilia would introduce her friend Amber to her other friend Hugo. Amber wouldn’t have a clue why that was so funny, but Hugo would be stunned into silence.
“Is something funny?”
Amber was looking at her with a questioning smile, and she realised that she had been softly laughing to herself at the mental image she had dreamed up.
“No, just something I was thinking about,” Emilia said. “What do you think of Sweden so far? Have you been before?”
“It’s beautiful. I came to Malmö for a quick weekend trip a while ago, but never out of the city,” Amber explained. “I enjoyed the train journey up here. You have some lovely countryside.”
Emilia felt proud that her home county had pleased Amber. The south of Sweden wasn’t to everyone’s liking. It was very flat and agricultural, which meant that in the wintertime it could look very barren and bleak.
But Amber had enjoyed the views, which meant she was also a fan of the landscape where Emilia took frequent walks. The more Emilia thought about it, the more she knew she could be great friends with Amber. The chat was by far the most positive social interaction she had been involved in for years.
“There’s a lake near my home, it’s great for walking around,” Emilia said.
“That sounds lovely,” Amber replied. “Most of my walking is done in the city. We have a lot of green spaces in London but nothing like around here.”
“I love to walk. In fact, I don’t own a car, so I have to walk almost everywhere. Unless I cycle, which I don’t do in the winter.”
“I can’t remember the last time I rode a bike.” Amber turned to look at the bakery cabinet. “Would it be okay if I got a sandwich? I’m starting to get a bit hungry.”
“Absolut, no problem,” Emilia said.
Amber stood up. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, I’m fine, but thank you.”
Amber walked over to the cabinet and started speaking with the waitress again. Emilia watched her eagerly. She was surprised to realise that she was enjoying her meeting with Amber.
Usually, she’d be eager to go home and return to her normal schedule, but instead she found herself worried about time running out. She didn’t know when Amber’s flight home was or when she would have to leave to get to the airport.
She felt like she was on the cusp of making a friend, but all that was about to be ruined by Amber going home. Not to mention that Hugo wasn’t here to see how well she’d been doing. But Hugo was ever the pessimist, he’d probably claim that Amber was only there for business, not fully understanding the connection they’d made.
Another idea started to form in her mind.
Could I? she wondered. No, no. It would be wrong…
Or would it?
Despite her initial panic, her last idea had worked out well. Arranging to meet Amber had been a surprising success. Maybe her new idea would be as effective.
Amber returned with a handful of coins in the palm of her hand, looking at them with confusion.
“I’ll admit, I’m not great with numbers, so paying fifty-something for a sandwich is a weird experience. On the other hand, I did feel very rich when I got my money changed up at the airport.”
“I imagine I would feel like I was paying far too little for things in Britain,” Emilia said. “Paying five of something rather than fifty.”
“Currency is strange,” Amber said.
Emilia had had enough of small talk. She wanted to get straight to the point of her new scheme. The need to convert Amber from business acquaintance to friend was strong, and the desire for Hugo to see her manage it was equally convincing.
But Amber would likely need a little encouragement to spend more time with her in Sweden.
Her palms started to sweat as she put her new plan into action.
“I’ll be honest with you,” Emilia said. “I don’t do business with people I don’t know well. My grandmother’s books are very precious to me. I grew up with them, and I know the love that was poured into them.”
“Of course, I can absolutely understand that,” Amber quickly agreed.
“I’m not going to get to know you properly in this short meeting, but I can see that we could maybe work together in the future, if we connected. So, I’d like to offer you the chance to visit with me for a few days. You could stay a while, we could get to know each other and take some walks around the lake, maybe visit the local Christmas markets.”
“Oh, well, I…” Amber trailed off.
Emilia quickly took another bite of her cake. She knew it was wrong to try to convince Amber to stay under the guise that she would talk about business with her. She had no intention of ever talking about business—with anyone. But if she could get Amber to spend time with her, she’d probably become a friend and then forget all about the business side of things anyway. She just needed more time with Amber to make that connection.
“I have a guesthouse,” Emilia added. “Or you can stay in a hotel, but there aren’t many nice hotels near where I live.”
“That’s very kind of you to offer,” Amber said. “I’m not sure if I can get the time off work.”
“But surely it is for work?” Emilia said, feeling immediately guilty at the lie slipping from her lips so easily.
“That’s true. I’d have to speak to my boss, though. I’m not sure what she’d say…”
“How about next week? You can stay for a few days before Christmas? I can’t imagine much gets done in an office before Christmas anyway.”
Amber looked unsure, so Emilia knew she had to drive the point home.
“I couldn’t possibly hand over my grandmother’s beloved stories to someone who didn’t understand them. I’d need to know that you knew the meaning behind them all and felt the same way about them as I do. And there are a lot of books.” Emilia nearly felt sick at herself for the lies that were so easily coming to her.
She reminded herself that it was all for a good cause. Once they had spent time together then they would be friends. Amber would surely appreciate another friend above that of a stupid business agreement. She’d probably forget all about the contract once they were friends. And Amber herself had just said that you can never have too many friends.
Amber still looked pensive. Emilia knew she had to go in for the kill. She picked up her bag and started to pull on her gloves.
“I’m sorry, I really need to get going. I am meeting someone,” she lied. “The offer is open to you, you have my address to tell me if you can come. If you are serious about getting to know me… and the books, of course.”
“I am serious, very serious,” Amber said. “I’m sure I can swing it with my boss.”
Emilia paused in putting her second glove on.
“Wonderful,” she said. “What dates are you thinking?”