Chapter Text
The train drove through the Slovenian countryside. Tall mountains with only their peeks covered in snow. At the foot of the mountains one lush green meadow followed the other and no house in sight. It was quite hot inside the train, the air condition didn’t seem to be able to cool down the temperature to a bearable degree, or to be even working.
Isak squeezed past people and bumped into other passengers, seats, luggages and doors as he made his way through the train to find a seat. He had trouble opening the door to the penultimate cabin, it didn’t seem to be opening, with one last pull he managed to get inside the cabin. Right next to the door he saw three seats which were void of people but unfortunately occupied by a suitcase, papers and a metal suitcase. The owner of these things didn’t seem to have noticed that he was taking up a lot of space, engrossed in his laptop. Oblivious to the fact that there were people standing in the aisle all giving up hope to find a seat. Isak decided to find another seat, he didn’t want to disturb the man. He looked towards the end of the cabin but saw that every other seat was taken and that people had to stand in the aisle of the last cabin as well.
Isak turned around and decided to bother the man after all. Plus he was quite tired from last night (or early morning) and really needed to sit down. With his small bag in his hand and a sigh, he didn’t want to deal with other people right now, he turned towards the passenger “Excuse me is this seat taken?”
The passenger looked up, he was blond, in his 40’s, engrossed in his laptop and had several papers placed on every seat next to him. His feet were on the seat across him. “No.”
“May I?” Isak bend down to take the suitcase and place it in the overhead compartment without waiting for an answer.
“Can you do it?”
“Yes.”
As Isak sat down he felt something poking in his backside. He immediately sat up again and reached behind him. He had sat on the man’s thermos. He gave the bottle to it’s owner and for the first time made eye contact with his fellow passenger. Isak received an apologetic smile back. He finally sat down in his seat but when he put his arm on the arm rest he came in contact with a newspaper. With a huff he put it on the seat next to him. The man across him eyed him up as he did so. Isak looked back and took out his water bottle, it was way too hot in the train.
“It didn’t snap.”
Isak had the bottle halfway to his mouth “Pardon me?”
The man stopped typing and looked at Isak again “The cap, it didn’t snap.”
Isak looked at his water bottle and then to the man.
“Where did you buy the water?”
“I bought it at the train station.”
The man turned back to his laptop screen “I wouldn’t drink it. It’s probably refilled.”
Isak looked inside the water bottle and took a sniff. He was annoyed at the man’s antics. “Don’t worry. I got a cast-iron stomach.”
“Don’t drink it.” The man put his laptop away and began to rifle through his bag. He took out a small flask and a cup with a lid, he held his hand out.“May I?”
Tentatively Isak gave the man his bottle.
“Thank you.” The man put his trinkets on the metallic case and screwed the cup open to pour in a small amount of water. “If it turns blue, you will be screwed.” With a pipette he put in the liquid from the small flask into the water. He handed Isak the bottle back “Well only if you drink it.”
Isak was slightly amused by the strange man. They both turned to the cup and saw that it had turned a light blue.
“I’ve got ginger tea.” The man smiled, visibly pleased that he was right.
“Ginger tea?”
“Yes, ginger tea.”
Isak smirked and took a large sip of his water. “Well I’m going to risk it.”
The man was amused “Well, then go for it.”
-
Isak was regretting his choice.
He puked into the toilet. Suddenly the train came to a stop and Isak jerked forward into the lifted toilet seat. He used the walls to right himself. Before exiting the small bathroom, to find out why they had stopped, Isak looked at himself in the mirror. He was pale and sweating even more than he did before. He should have definitely listened to the other passenger.
The train had stopped seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The doors were opened but the train conductor prevented people from getting off the train. A commotion a few doors up the train distracted the conductor and Isak seized the moment and slipped by him.
He crossed the train tracks towards the small street that ran next to the tracks. Unbeknownst to Isak the blond man watched him through the window.
Luckily a truck drove by and Isak stopped the driver. “Can you take me with you?”
The driver nodded and gesture to get on the back of the truck. Three other man were already seated on the truck bed. He was about to jump on the truck when he saw in the corner of his eye that his seat mate from early struggled over the tracks as well. He had his metal suitcase as well as two other bags with him the suitcase stood in the middle of the train tracks. He walked into Isak’s direction.
“Where do you need to go?” Isak called out.
“To Piran.”
“Well then get on.”
“Yes? But I have a lot of luggage.”
Isak laughed and helped the man with his luggage.
-
The Slovenians talked with each other as the truck bumped over the gravel road. They offered them water, the man took the bottle but without taking a sip passed it over to Isak. He put the bottle to his mouth but at the last second decided to not drink it. He gave it back to the Slovenian men who laughed.
The man next to him laughed as well “I see you learn quickly.”
Isak looked away to hide his smile but turned back and said “That was Vodka.”
The man merely nodded knowingly.
Isak was still feeling poorly, the bumpy ride made it even worse. He tried to put his body in a comfortable position by slouching down and pressed his bag tighter to his stomach. He closed his eyes and lay his head back.
He was immediately interrupted “What’s in your bag.”
Isak opened his eyes again “What?”
“You hold on to it as if there were millions inside.”
Isak sighed. His fellow traveller was far too curios for his own good.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so noisy.”
Isak sat up and scooted closer to the man, he whispered into his ear “The bag is only halfway full of money. The rest is underwear and socks.”
The man laughed unsure.
“Don’t worry I’m not a bank robber, I play poker. Professionally.”
“Ah.. I didn’t know it was a real profession.”
“Well you can earn money with it.” Isak patted his bag. “But it’s not my money. It’s for my client.”
“Ah.” The man nodded unimpressed.
“Yes.”
“Wow.” The man said with a flat voice.
Isak was not put off by his lack of enthusiasm. He was used to other people not really being impressed by his job. He, on the other hand, had become curious. Who was this man?
Isak held out his hand “I’m Isak.”
The man looked at the offered hand and shook it “Even Bech Næsheim.”
Isak used the hand grip to pull the man a little bit closer, to talk directly into Even’s ear “And what’s in your suitcases?”
-
“With our refining plant I can grantee 1,000 hectolitre throughput per day, or even 1,100 without the addition of formaldehyde or chlorine.” Even walked between water basins and talked to the operators of the water supplier. “Clean, drinkable tap water.”
One of the men in suits turned to him “Dr. Bech Næsheim, you know of the urgency. Every day this facility cost us 50,000 Euro.”
“Yes I know.” Even answered curtly. This man was even more annoying in person than he had been during their phone calls.
“Good. Then there remains only one question. When can you deliver?”
“Well-”
The man interrupted him “If I buy from the Italians the water would be running again in 5 days.”
It was Even’s turn to interrupt him “But they are twice as expensive as ours and use -”
“Sodium chloride. I know.”
Even nodded “Three months.”
The man motioned to his colleagues to keep walking.
Even had to hurry after him “We can try to deliver in 2.5 months but the plant needs to be inspected first-”
“We will consider your offer. Thank you for coming Dr. Bech Næsheim. Your remarks are very interesting.” He held his hand out. The meeting was over.
Even shook his hand “Thank you. Goodbye.”
Once they had left Even sighed, he had really messed up this meeting. He went over to his luggage and tried to lift it in a way that still made him look like a functioning adult.
-
Even had checked into the hotel and decided to take a walk, to let off some steam and not to wallow in self-pity. His phone rang the moment he left the hotel.
“Hello Even!”
“Hello.” Even said flatly. He didn't feel like talking to his boss, he would find out soon enough that Even had messed up.
“This doesn’t sound right.”
“Harald! I messed up.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“I know they are not going to sign the contract. I should have just promised them that they will get the refining plant next week, then they would have signed. The Italians probably don’t do it differently.”
“Listen the Italians may do so but you work for a renowned institute. One expects of you that you lay down the facts. You enjoy a good reputation. You don’t want to mess it up.”
“Maybe, but the job is lost.” Even said defeatedly. He ran his hand through his hair messing it up further.
Harald tried to comfort Even “No, don’t worry. They will probably call on Monday.”
-
Even took a seat at the dimly lit hotel bar and looked through the menu, he couldn’t decide what to order. The barkeeper served the other man a few stools down a drink.
Even looked over and couldn’t believe what he saw. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same.” Isak replied without looking up.
“I’m staying the night.
Isak put his key to his hotel room on the bar. “See we have something in common after all.”
“Is this coincidence?” Even asked, not quite believing it “You knew I would be staying here. So no coincidence.”
Isak looked over at Even and with confidence said “Would you like that?”
Even laughed to himself and shook his head. He had to look away from Isak “Stop it.”
“I always stay here.”
“Really?”
Isak leaned over the stool between them, put his arm on the back rest, and nearly whispered “You can ask reception, if it would make you feel better about it.”
Even had leaned in as well and noticed how close to each other they were. They looked into each others eyes. Even noted how attractive Isak was.
“Would you like a drink?” Isak asked.
Even snapped out of his observation “Yes a Vodka-Martini, please.”
Reluctantly Isak turned away from Even and called the bartender over “A Vodka-Martini for the Sir over here.”
The bartender got to work. Even put his head in his hand and watched Isak take a sip of his own drink “And did you win?”
Isak nodded.
“Do you win often?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must be a lucky dog.”
“It got nothing to do with luck. But with mathematics and psychology.”
Even took a sip of his drink through the straw. “I see.”
They both didn’t say anything for a moment. Isak sipped his drink and Even poked with his straw in his Vodka Martini. The bar was quite in the background, not many other people were around.
Isak was the first to break the silence “And you? Did you win today?”
Even shrugged “Well today I certainly lost.”
“How can a man like you lose?”
Even laughed and nearly choked on his drink.
“Yeah.. I know, not really elegant.” Isak turned a bit pink. “I take it back.”
“No, no. Keep going. I’m just not used to it any more. At my age you talk about slipped disks.” Even shook his head, a few of his hair strands fell down from his quiff. “Oh god.. what am I saying? Forget it.”
“Already forgotten.”
Even turned to the bartender and asked for another drink. He felt like he needed another drink to survive this conversation with Isak, which surprisingly had turned quite flirty.
Isak observed him and smiled to himself at Even’s outburst. “What happened today?”
Instead of answering Even deflected. “You know what I genuinely can’t do? Poker!”
Isak smirked “Should I teach you? I think you have talent.”
Even was intrigued “What makes you think that?”
“I wouldn’t have drunk that water if you hadn’t provoked me like that.”
-
They moved outside and found a place to sit on a small wall outside the hotel, where they had light from the street lamp next to them. The bricks under them were still quite warm from the sun that had warmed them up over the day. The night was warm, a few people were milling about.
They sat facing each other and Isak had placed a deck of cards in the space between them. Even picked up a card and quickly looked at it, he then looked at Isak.
“A Nine, at most.”
Even put the card down forcefully. Not believing that Isak could read his face.
“Try again.”
Even picked up another card and willed his face to relax, to not show Isak what kind of card he held in his hand. Even looked into Isak’s eyes.
“Congrats! You have an ace.”
Even laughed “Dammit. How do you do it?”
“It’s got nothing to do with your eyes blinking or not. I try to discern what you really feel.”
“And you can do that?” Even didn’t believe him.
“Everyone can do it. Try it.”
“I can’t.”
“Of course! With your job you need to know how to do it. So, come one. Try it.”
Even studied Isak’s face, starting with his eyebrows. He let his eyes wander over his nose and cheeks, noticing his sun-kissed skin. He had a few freckles on is cheeks and nose. His beard was short, light blond and very well groomed. Finally, Even looked into Isak’s eyes. He didn’t know what to see in them. He turned his gaze towards Isak’s lips, they appeared to be quite soft. Isak blinked and smiled slightly. The corners of his mouth were enticing to Even.
“Come one. Say it.”
“You want to sleep with me.” Even said matter-of-factly.
Without showing any emotion Isak replied “And?”
Even broke the eye contact and looked at the cracks in the joints of the brick wall between them. He laughed, mostly to himself. As if someone as attractive and young as Isak would be interested in him.
“What’s so funny about that?”
-
Isak walked over to the nightstand to put his wallet and phone down as well as switching the lights by the bed on. The room was bathed in warm light. He turned around and walked over to Even, who was standing hesitantly at the edge of the bed.
Even looked up into Isak’s eyes and what he saw in them made him take the last step towards Isak and kiss him. Isak grabbed Even by the neck and led the kiss. He pushed Even into the wall opposite the bed.
They continued to kiss passionately. Isak kissed down Even’s throat and reached for Even’s cardigan, but quickly changed his mind and put his hands back on Even’s neck and face. Even took the opportunity to try and slide Isak’s leather jacket, which he had been wearing since the train ride, down past his shoulders. Isak had to take his hands away from Even’s neck in order to take the jacket off. In turn, Even pushed Isak into the wall and tried to kiss him some more. Something metallic clattered down by their feet. Neither of them bothered to look to see what had fallen. Isak’s leather jacket caught on his hands, he struggled to take it off. Once he was rid of it, he turned his attention back to Even. Pushing his cardigan down and turning him once again, so that his back was to the wall. They had stopped kissing but once Even’s back hit the wall again, Isak kissed him. Even struggled to undo Isak’s belt. Even laughed and broke off the kiss because he had to look down to successfully undo the belt. Isak was having none of that and put his left hand under Even’s chin to guide it back up. Isak continued to kiss him, he kissed his ear, his hair, his cheeks.
Isak led Even over to the bed who let himself fall backwards. He had his feet still on the floor and Isak stood above him, marvelling at the sight before him. Isak leaned down and attacked his neck again. Even put his hand under Isak’s shirt, he moved his hand up his back. With one last kiss on his mouth, Isak backed up, but Even followed him, without letting go of his back. He used Isak’s body to pull himself up but Isak pushed him back down. Isak undid the button of his own jeans but paused to turn his attention back to Even. Even sat back up again as Isak began to open his dress trousers. He lifted his butt to help get the trousers off but since they were quite tight, he didn’t managed to do so. Even slid to the edge of the bed and sat up to take off his trousers and shoes, Isak sat down next to him and took off his jeans. They took off their white shirts independently. Even was quicker and moved behind Isak to kiss behind the ear, down his neck and his back. Isak got rid off his underwear and with a smile turned around.
-
Sun light filtered trough the curtains, bathing the hotel room in yellow light. Several pieces of clothing lay scattered on the floor. Isak was lying in bed, fast asleep. There was a bottle of water and a bottle of champagne on the bedside table, next to Isak’s phone and wallet. Someone knocked on the door.
“Housekeeping.” As no one answered, the woman came in with an armful of towels.
This woke Isak, who sat up in bed, the duvet sliding down his torso to his hips.
“Oh. Sorry I will come back later.” The woman quickly left the room.
Isak turned to the right side of the bed, but Even wasn’t beside him. Isak rubbed his face to wake himself up further and looked around the room. There was no sign of Even.