He Bought My Nights in the Dark, and I Hated Him by Day novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: Four Windows

Henrik's POV

On the twentieth of January I lit every lamp in the cabin at six and sat down to wait for her.

I had made soup, which I did not know how to make.

She came down the stair at seven with her hair wet from the rain and her cheeks red.

She looked at the pot, and then at me.

"You cooked," Astrid said.

"I opened three cans."

"I can tell."

She sat at the table in her coat and ate two bowls.

I watched her do it and could not eat my own.

"The lawyer sent me the third payment," she said, with her spoon in the air. "Twenty-two thousand, on the twenty-eighth."

"I know. I told her to send it."

"You told her after I ended the contract."

"Yes," I said.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you here for money," I said.

"Henrik."

"I don't want to pay you for anything that happens in this room. I told her to stop the rest."

She put the spoon down.

"The third one is already in my account," she said. "I'm keeping it."

"I'm not asking you to give it back."

"Then what are you asking?"

I looked at my hands.

"I'm asking you to know that I'm not buying anything tonight," I said.

She stood up.

She came around the table and took my face in both hands, the way she had on the second night.

She turned it up to hers.

"I keep what I earned," she said. "And I'm here for nothing. Both are true, and you can live with both."

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