I have never complained or even considered that my time with Freya is dull. Now, however, I am certain to have an interesting few weeks.
Freya was on her way to her second date with Archer this afternoon when she got a phone call. She didn’t recognize the number, so she declined to answer. The same number called back immediately, however, and so she picked it up, if only to know who it was. Whatever she was expecting on the other end, it wasn’t what she heard.
“Oh, thank God,” exclaimed the person on the other end. “Thank you, thank you, I’m free at last!”
“Excuse me?” Freya asked. She knew that she recognized the voice, but couldn’t quite place it.
“I’ve been enslaved to a fifteen-year-old for the past three weeks. Now finally I can give the little twerp what he deserves.”
Freya’s heart was starting to beat a bit faster, which surprised me. “Henry?” she asked.
“She remembers me! Way more than I deserve. I am so, so sorry that I haven’t called. Should I even bother giving you my story, or are you about to hang up? Totally fair if so, and I will start putting my heart back together and not bother you anymore.”
“My thumb’s over the button,” Freya said, smiling despite herself, “but tell me the story.”
“Well, I told you that I was chaperoning a group of boys, right? One of them was my kid brother, and he was all up in my business when I got back so late from my ‘walk.’ And I didn’t tell him anything, of course, but he went through my pockets the next day and found your phone number.”
“Sounds like a real tragedy,” Freya said.
“You must not have siblings. I tell you what, it’s survival of the fittest here, and CJ went on a power trip when he realized how much I wanted that number back. The little bastard has had me running his errands and buying him shit—I drew the line at doing his homework or getting him booze, though. But I finally found his hiding place today, and I’m telling you, Freya, he’s going down.”
She was laughing now. “Wow, that is quite the story. Should I believe it?”
“It is the God’s-honest truth, I promise you. But I get it if you don’t. I shouldn’t have been so careless with that number.”
“You should have charged up your phone.”
“My kingdom for a charger!” he moaned, and Freya laughed again.
“Okay, so answer me this,” Freya said, setting her phone down and putting it on speaker so she could start on her makeup. “Does your brother’s continued safety depend on whether or not I forgive you?”
“Well…I would never hurt him, and it would be wrong of me to hold that over you,” Henry said. “But it is true that I would be more inclined to mercy if I were in a good mood. And nothing would put me in a good mood faster than if you would agree to meet me for dinner tonight.”
“Ah, poor CJ,” Freya sighed, patting foundation onto her cheeks. “Unfortunately for him, I already have plans tonight.”
For the first time, Henry was silent, until Freya and I both heard a very quiet curse from him. “That is unfortunate, and not just for him.” He cleared his throat and asked in a more serious tone, “Would these plans be of the date variety?”
“I’m not sure that that’s any of your business,” Freya said.
“You’re right, you’re right.” Henry sighed. “Well, if it is, tell the lucky asshole that he’s won the lottery and that I hate him with the fire of a thousand burning suns.”
“I’ll pass that right along,” Freya chuckled. She eyed the phone, but though Henry was silent, it seemed he wasn’t inclined to hang up, and neither, tellingly, was she. “All jokes aside, though—was that just the best lie I’ve ever heard, or were you telling the truth?”
Both of us could hear Henry take a deep breath. “Freya, I would have called you the very next day if I could have. I know a good thing when I see it.”
Now, I don’t think it’s a secret that Henry is not my favorite of possible partners for Freya. I like him well enough, but I don’t think that their beginning was the right foundation on which to build a long-term relationship.
But Freya likes him very much, and she was not ready to shut him out of her life entirely. She stared at herself in the mirror for a long moment, telling herself that this was a bad idea.
Setting aside my inclination to agree, I said to her, “If you want to give him a chance, there is nothing wrong with that. You have made no promises to Archer, and you need make no promises to Henry. As long as they both understand where you stand…do as you wish.”
She picked up the phone again and got up to pace a bit. “Look, this date thing tonight was only the second time I met this guy. So I guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I told you you could text me every once in a while.”
I think again Henry moved the phone away from his ear, this time to have a very quiet celebration. “I would like that very much,” he said when he came back.
“But I’m still going to get to know Archer,” Freya warned him, “because you had your chance at exclusive access and you blew it.”
“Absolutely fair,” Henry said.
“And I want a video of your brother confessing what he did by the end of the week, and if I don’t get it or notice any inconsistencies then I’m losing your number.”
“You’ll have it by Wednesday,” he promised.
“You better not try to trick me, either,” Freya said. “I’m an editor, it’s my job to notice inconsistencies and mistakes.”
“Then I hope to be exonerated very soon.”
Freya sighed. “Fine. Now I have to take off my makeup again and call my date to reschedule, because I’m not going out with him when some other guy is in my head. That’s not fair to him.”
I approved of this very much. Henry didn’t seem to mind, either. “It’s reassuring to know that there are upstanding women out there. I’ll try to deserve you.” Then, as if to undermine what he just said, he asked, “Hey, so, if you were getting ready to go out—what are you wearing right now?”
Freya hung up on him, but not before he heard her laughing.
So now I have two possible partners for her. I will have to watch closely here, and not allow my personal feelings to stand in the way. In the end, it is Freya’s choice. Still, I will do my very best to guide her to the man who will bring her the most happiness. She deserves nothing less than the truest, sweetest love, a love to sustain her for all her days.