Do I Dream Again

Kyra stood in her bedroom, nervously pacing back and forth across her floor. “Kyra, you gotta calm down,” Sadie laughed at her. “I don’t get what you’re so worried about. It’s Hank, not some mystery man off the street.”

“I know,” Kyra sighed. “But, it’s Hank. What happens when he realizes that I’m just this boring person, just an ordinary mother of a little girl?” she asked.

“That’s just it, Kyra. You’re not an ordinary person. Hank likes you for you. And, he loves Sophia. You need to stop worrying about not being good enough for him. If he didn’t like you, he wouldn’t be going to Sophia’s ballet recital tonight. I mean, how many guys can you honestly say would go to a little girl’s dance recital?” Sadie asked her.

“And, that’s exactly why I feel that I’m not worthy of him,” Kyra muttered.

“He likes you,” Sadie said. “We both know that. And, you like him. So, stop worrying so much, and have fun tonight, okay?” she asked as the doorbell rang. “Now, take a deep breath while I go answer the door,” she said as she walked out into the living room, opening the door. “Well, don’t you look awfully handsome?” Sadie asked Henrik with a smile on her face. “And, just so you know, Kyra’s so nervous right now. You need to calm her nerves,” she added quietly.

“I’ll do what I can,” Henrik assured her as Kyra walked out of the bedroom, wearing a simple red shirt with a black skirt. “You look beautiful, Kyra,” he told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“You two have fun!” Sadie called after them.

An hour later, they were sitting in their seats, waiting on Sophia’s number. Henrik had linked his hand with Kyra’s, and she squeezed his hand a little bit when Sophia came out on stage. Sophia looked out into the audience and finally found her mother, smiling brightly at her and Henrik. Kyra returned the smile, watching proudly as her daughter danced across the stage.

Fifteen minutes later, both Henrik and Kyra were standing, clapping along with the rest of the audience as the show came to a close. Sophia instantly came off the stage, running towards Kyra and wrapping her arms around her waist. “How was I, Mommy?” she asked her, her large green eyes staring up at her.

“You were wonderful, sweetheart,” she replied. “Amazing.”

“Really?” Sophia asked, looking over at Henrik.

“I’ve never seen a better dancer,” he told her.

“Thanks!” Sophia exclaimed. “I gotta go get my stuff, Mommy,” she told her, and Kyra nodded, as Sophia dragged her towards the backstage.

“We’ll be right back,” Kyra called out to Henrik, who nodded in reply as he laughed at Kyra being dragged by her daughter.

Ten minutes later, Kyra and Sophia came back out after Sophia had changed. “You ready, Hank?” Sophia asked excitedly. She had never had any of the people that her mother had dated actually want anything to do with her, not that there had been too many people. Besides Lance, there had only been two other guys that Kyra had ever introduced to Sophia, and none of them really cared for Sophia. Henrik was the first guy to ever realize that Sophia was the most important part of Kyra’s life, and if they wanted anything to do with Kyra, they needed to know that Sophia was going to be part of the package.

“Let’s go,” Henrik told her as Sophia grabbed his hand and they walked out towards the parking lot. Kyra walked behind them in awe of the scene before her. Sophia still wasn’t comfortable around men that she hadn’t known for a long time. And, yet, she seemed to be just fine with Henrik. It was almost as if they had some sort of bond between the two of them.

Henrik turned his head around, looking for Kyra. He saw her walking behind him and Sophia, and he held out his hand for her, which she gladly took, as the three of them made their way to his car.

An hour later, Kyra shook her head as they exited the pizza parlor. She still couldn’t believe Henrik had taken them here. She knew it was because he had found out that Sophia’s favorite food was pizza, but still, there weren’t too many men over fifteen that would be okay with having their first date at a pizza joint. Then again, Henrik Zetterberg was not the average man.

As he parked the car outside of Kyra’s apartment, he got out, walking Kyra and Sophia to the door. Sophia said goodnight to him and went inside to get ready for bed, but not before giving him a hug goodbye. Kyra smiled at her daughter as she watched her go back to her bedroom. “Thank you for tonight,” Kyra said, looking up at Henrik.

“I hope you had a good time,” Henrik told her. “I know it wasn’t exactly a conventional first date. And, if you want, for our next date, I can take you some place fancy and expensive,” he added with a smile.

“This date was perfect,” Kyra told him. “Seriously, I don’t think there’s another man on this planet that would actually be considerate of my daughter. Thank you,” she told him sincerely. “I had an amazing time,” she said, standing on her tip toes and kissing him lightly. “And, just so you know, I’m not a girl that likes those fancy restaurants. Pizza places are just fine for me,” she added.

“Well, we’ll see where we go for the next date,” he told her as he heard Sophia call for Kyra.

“I can’t wait,” Kyra smiled, kissing him once more. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go,” she said when she heard Sophia call her again. “Call me?” she asked.

“Of course,” he assured her.

***

Kyra sat on the couch next to Kristina, who hadn’t stopped smiling since Kyra and Henrik had come to her and Val’s apartment hand-in-hand. “Will you stop looking at me like that?” Kyra asked her with a laugh.

“I’m sorry,” Kristina apologized, while Val shook his head at his fiancée. “I’m just so happy for the two of you. I mean, look at how happy you are! Now, if only had listened to me sooner.”

“Shut up!” Kyra cried, lightly hitting Kristina in the arm. “And, you asked us here to talk about your wedding. So, why aren’t we talking about your wedding right now?” she asked her.

“Because Sadie’s not here,” Kristina informed her. “And, I need Sadie here before we begin,” she said as the doorbell rang. “And, that’s probably her right now,” she added, standing up to answer the door. She was surprised, however, when she saw Jonathan standing on the other side.

“Is Sadie here?” Jonathan asked her. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of her, and I can’t seem to find her. And, she hasn’t been answering my calls or anything.”

Kyra stormed over to him furiously. “Do you really expect her to want to talk to you after the shit you pulled?” she yelled at him. “You fucking slept with her when you already have a girlfriend. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Listen, this is between me and Sadie. It doesn’t involve you,” Jonathan told her.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” she screamed, charging at him. She had her hand cocked back, ready to punch him square in the face when she felt someone wrap their arms around her waist, picking her up and holding her back from hitting him. “What the hell?” she yelled.

“Going after Jon isn’t going to solve anything,” she heard Henrik whisper in her ear. She slowly put her arm down, but began kicking her legs back and forth, catching Jonathan right between his legs.

Jonathan immediately began cursing in Swedish. “Kyra!” he cried, putting his hand on his groin, as Henrik pulled her back further so her feet wouldn’t make contact with Jonathan again.

“You should be thanking Hank right now for holding me back,” she yelled at him. “Because if he wasn’t, you’d never be having kids in your lifetime.”

“I don’t think I’m going to have kids now thanks to you,” Jonathan told her, still in obvious pain. Kristina tried to hold back her laughter, but wasn’t doing too well, and she eventually just burst out laughing at Jonathan’s discomfort.

“Like I said, if Hank wasn’t holding me back right now, you would be dead,” she told him, trying to get out of Henrik’s grasp, only to have him tighten his grip around her.

“All I wanted was to talk to Sadie,” Jonathan said.

“Well, maybe you should get the hint that she doesn’t want to talk to you!” Kyra exclaimed. “You are a fucking asshole! And, you don’t deserve to talk to her, much less sleep with her. You should be ashamed of yourself! I bet you haven’t even told your damn girlfriend that you cheated on her, have you?” she questioned, and she could tell by his expression that he hadn’t told his girlfriend. “You are the biggest mother fucking bastard in the world!” she screamed, causing everyone to look at her with the language she was using. She turned her attention to the door when she saw Sadie standing there, and slowly, everyone began looking to see what had caught her attention.

“Sadie, I need to talk to you,” Jonathan said, making his way over to her.

“Did you not just hear what I said?” Kyra yelled, breaking free of Henrik’s hold on her and running in front of Jonathan. “Stay the fuck away from her, okay?”

Jonathan looked up at Sadie, silently asking for her permission to talk to her. “Please, just leave,” she told him.

Jonathan dropped his head as he did as she requested and made his way out the door. “I am going to kill that mother fucking—” Kyra began.

“Kyra, it’s fine,” Sadie assured her. “But, thank you for standing up for me,” she added, giving her best friend a hug.

“It’s not fine, though,” Kyra said. “He shouldn’t get away with what he did to you!”

“Kyra, please, just let it drop,” Sadie begged. She looked up at Kristina. “So, what did you need to talk to us about?” she asked, not wanting to talk about Jonathan anymore.

Kristina got the hint and nodded her head, as she began to talk about her wedding details.