The Fire Witness

75

Joona is browning two thick ox fillets in a cast-iron skillet. He has tied up the meat and seasoned it with roughly ground black and green peppercorns. When the surfaces of the tournedos are glazed, he places them over sliced potatoes in a clay baking dish and salts them, then moves the dish into the oven. As the meat cooks, he makes a sauce of port, currants, veal stock, and truffles. Then he pours two glasses of a red Saint-Émilion.

The earthy aroma of the wine has spread through the kitchen when the doorbell rings.

Disa is there, wearing a red-and-white polka-dot raincoat. Her pupils are large and her face is damp from the rain.

“Joona, I’m going to test you and see if you are as good a detective as they say.”

“How can you test that?”

“By asking you if I look normal.”

“You’re more beautiful than ever.”

“That’s not it.” Disa smiles.

“You’ve cut your hair and you’re wearing that barrette from Paris for the first time in more than a year.”

“Anything else?”

Joona runs his eyes over her thin, blushing face, her shining hair, and her slim body.

“Those are new,” he says, and points to her high-heeled shoes.

“Marc Jacobs. A little too expensive for me.”

“They’re nice.”

“Anything else?”

“I’m not done yet,” he says, and takes her hands in his, turns them over, and inspects her fingernails.

He can’t help smiling as he says she’s wearing the same lipstick as the time they went to Södra Theater. He gently touches her earrings and meets her eyes and rests his gaze there a moment. Then he moves so that the light from the floor lamp falls on her face.

“It’s your eyes,” he says. “Your left pupil is not shrinking in the light.”

“Good detective,” she says. “I’ve had my eye examined.”

“Is there anything wrong?”

“The cornea has developed an astigmatism, but it’s not anything I have to worry about.”

Disa walks into the kitchen.

Joona says, “The food’s almost ready. The meat just needs to rest.”

“It smells wonderful,” Disa says.

“It’s been a long time since we saw each other last,” Joona says. “I’m very happy that you’ve come.”

They raise their glasses without saying a word. As always, when Joona looks at her, Disa feels as if she’s starting to shimmer. She forces herself to look away from his eyes, then tilts the wine in her glass, sniffs the aroma, and tastes it again.

“Perfect temperature,” she says.

Joona starts to arrange the meat and potatoes on a bed of arugula, basil, and thyme. He slowly pours the sauce over the plate as he thinks he should have talked with Disa long before now.

“How have you been?” he asks.

“Without you, you mean?” Disa says. “Pretty darn good.”

There’s silence at the table and she gently places her hand on his.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “But I’ve been so angry with you. Especially when I’m my bad self.”

“Who are you now?”

“My bad self.”

Joona takes a sip of wine.

“I’ve been thinking about the past lately,” he starts.

She smiles and raises an eyebrow. “Lately? You’re always thinking about the past.”

“I am?”

“Yes, you’re thinking about it but you never talk about it.”

“You’re right, I…”

He falls silent and his gray eyes seem to shrink. Disa feels a shiver go down her back.

“You asked me here for dinner because we needed to talk,” Disa says. “I had decided never to talk to you again. But now… Several months have gone by. And when you called-”

“Yes, because I-”

“You’re screwing around with me, Joona.”

“Disa, you can think of me however you want,” Joona says gravely. “But I want you to know that I care… I care about you. I think of you all the time.”

“I see,” she says as she starts to get up without looking at him.

“It’s something else. Something horrible, which-”

Joona watches her put on her polka-dot raincoat.

“Goodbye,” Disa whispers.

“Disa, I need you.” Joona is surprised to hear himself say these words. “You’re the one that I want.”

She’s staring at him now. Her shining black bangs reach her eyelashes.

“What did you say?” she asks after a few seconds.

“You’re the one that I want, Disa.” He gets up from the table.

“Don’t say that.”

“I need you. I’ve needed you all this time,” he says. “But I didn’t want to put you in harm’s way. I didn’t want anything horrible to happen to you if we-”

“What could happen to me that is so horrible?”

“You could disappear,” he says simply. He is holding her face between his hands.

“You are the one who disappears,” she whispers.

“I’m not easily frightened,” Joona says. “I’m talking about real events.”

Disa goes up on her toes and kisses him on the mouth and stays to feel his warm breath on her face. He searches for her mouth and kisses her again and again until she parts her lips.

As they kiss, Joona unbuttons her raincoat and lets it fall to the floor.

“Disa,” he whispers. He strokes her shoulders and slides his hands to her waist. He presses against her and breathes in her silky aroma. He kisses her collarbone and her throat and takes her gold necklace between his teeth. He kisses her chin and her soft, moist mouth.

He searches for her warm skin beneath her thin blouse. The small fasteners snap open. Her nipples are hard. She looks him in the eye then pulls him after her into the bedroom. Her blouse is open and her breasts are gleaming like polished porcelain.

They stop and kiss again. His hands stroke the small of her back, her ass, and then slip beneath the sheer cloth of her panties. Disa slowly draws away and feels warmth pulse in her body. She’s already wet. Her cheeks are bright red and her hands tremble as she unbuttons his pants.