Hamburg - Västerås

CHAPTER 1

I was driving home to the villa in Blankenese, Hamburg. My husband, Richard, had suddenly been summoned to join some of his manager colleagues for a series of meetings in the US. So we had to interrupt our vacancy in Croatia. And he would be away for a couple of weeks.

Richard was a member of the executive board of a big company in Germany. It happened from time to time that he was summoned to meetings on short notice. Your private life has a pretty low priority when you are a high-ranking manager at a big company.

I had dropped Richard off at the Zagreb airport and was driving our big Mercedes towards Hamburg. I felt low and angry. And I wondered how I should manage the last week of my vacancy all alone. Maybe I should visit my mom in Sweden?

The first time Richard and I met, it was at an international conference in Frankfurt. I was 22 and worked as an interpreter; it was one of my first assignments. Richard was 27, a civil engineer, and participated in the conference for his company, one of the bigger ones of its kind. And we fell in love instantly. He invited me to his hotel the third night. And we made love most of the night. And it was so wonderful! We were pretty tired the following day.

We had a fine sex life at the beginning of our marriage. But the sex declined as he climbed in the management hierarchy. Often, he complained of being tired and having a headache when I wanted sex. And our sex life had ceased entirely since a few years.

I had hoped for some sort of reawakening in the hotel in Croatia. And we did have sex the next to last evening. But he didn't show any real affection, and he came pretty quickly in me. Then he withdrew, turned away from me, and fell asleep. And there I was, unsatisfied, frustrated, and abandoned. It would have been much better not to have had sex at all that evening.

I had a strong feeling that he had been seeing somebody else for several years. He smelled faintly of perfume sometimes, and it wasn't my sort. And some of his business trips seemed made up. So somehow, I sensed that our marriage was about to crash.

I left the A7 freeway at Memmingen in Bavaria to have a light dinner. When I drew back towards the A7 I recognized a hitchhiker in a parking space just at the entrance to the freeway. He wore a big backpack, a pair of well-worn jeans, and a T-shirt, and he was showing a Swedish streamer. I slowed down. It would be nice to have some company on the long way home, I thought.

The guy looked nice, so I stopped and lowered the side window, but to be cautious, just a little.

The guy bent forward and asked in perfect German, "Guten Tag, wohin fahren Sie? (Hello, where are you going?)"

I answered in Swedish, "But you are Swedish, aren't you? I'm on my way to Hamburg."

"How nice! I haven't spoken a single word of Swedish in nearly three weeks," the guy said.

So I stepped out of the car to put his backpack in the trunk. It was heavy; I could hardly lift it. But he handled it like it weighed nothing. He was much stronger than he seemed.

He presented himself as Mikael, although people mostly called him Micke. And I told him that my name was Ingrid. And then he started talking. He lived in a small apartment in Västerås, Sweden, together with his parents. His father was a foreman in an assembly factory for small electrical motors, and his mother was a housewife. He had celebrated his eighteenth birthday recently, and he was going back now to finish his last year at high school. After that, he intended to study to be a civil engineer.

Then he told me about his journey. He had hitch-hiked a lot, both in Germany, Austria, and Italy. And now he was on his way home from Venice. He talked a lot about all the funny people who had picked him up. One elderly lady in Austria told him that she always picked up young hitchhikers because, otherwise, she would not go to heaven.

It was still a long way to drive to Hamburg, so I had planned to stay in a hotel. I asked him where he was going to sleep. He told me that he had slept in a nice youth hostel in Fulda when he was heading south. It was close to the A7, so he wondered if I could drop him there. I asked him to pick up my Guide Michelin from the glovebox, and then he listed a number of Fulda hotels with quality stars and everything. So Fulda would suit me too.

I dropped him at the hostel, and we agreed that I should pick him up at nine the following morning. Then he walked in with his backpack, and I found my hotel.

It was difficult to fall asleep that night. The timid teenager had stirred something in me that I didn't quite understand. And he got me aroused.

When I arrived at the youth hostel the next morning, I found Micke waiting outside the building with his backpack. Now he wore a pair of fine, sleek trousers and a fine shirt. I asked him how he had managed to keep his trousers and shirt so wrinkle-free in his backpack. He answered that he had rolled the trousers with the shirt, which used to work well. That was when I decided to invite him to stay with me in Hamburg.

At first, he was hesitant; we didn't know each other. But finally, he accepted. He would sleep in one of the guest rooms. And he could stay a week if he wanted to, since that was what remained of my vacation. And I could suggest what to do in the city.

We kept on talking, and I got increasingly fond of Micke. When we drove past Hannover, it felt as though we had known each other for a long time.

It was dark when we arrived in Hamburg. We drove the last stretch to Blankenese on the narrow Strandweg along the northern shore of the Elbe. Our villa was situated in a row of old luxury villas on the street. I parked the Mercedes on the gravel court. The garage was occupied by Richards Porsche.

I remember that evening clearly. Cargo ships chugged along on Elbe with shining navigation lights and deck lighting. And the small lighthouse Unterfeuer stood blinking on its small islet at the northern shore.

The evening was warm. The smell from Elbe blended with the sweetish fragrance from the blooming gardens nearby and the odor from a hamburger restaurant further down the street. And there was a scent of cigar smoke in the air. And crying gulls circled over the dark water.

Micke was silent at first. He looked at the river and then at the villa. Clearly, he was moved by the sight. Then he said, "What a place! And what a villa! You have quite a lot of money, haven't you, living in that house?"

"Yes, " I answered, "we have quite a lot of money."

"Well, we haven't," Micke said.

Micke dropped his backpack in the guest room. Then we had a late dinner. He was quiet. He looked a bit lost in the new environment and a little tired.

This evening, it was also difficult for me to fall asleep. Something in Micke moved me profoundly. I didn't quite understand what it was. But sexual fantasies haunted me about him and myself. That was probably the reason why I chose one of my semitransparent nightgowns that evening.

I went up in the morning and made breakfast. I waited for Micke to turn up, but no Micke appeared. I nocked at his door, but he didn't answer, so I went in. He slept in his underpants, and I was still wearing my semitransparent nightgown. A profound boner bulged in his underpants.

I shook him softly and said, "Micke, it's breakfast time." He woke up slowly, blinked, and stared at my body under the nightgown. "Come along, Micke," I said. "You can put on your clothes later. It's getting late, so let's have breakfast first."

We cleared the table together after breakfast. And when we stood together at the kitchen sink, I pushed my body softly against him. He shivered, and suddenly a moist stain appeared on his underpants. He backed away from me and looked terrified. I patted his shoulder and said, "Micke, relax, that wasn't so bad, was it? Let us put your underpants in the washing machine, and then you can change to a fresh pair. And I will add my panties as well, since they have also gotten a bit moist."

Micke looked at me. Then he smiled. He had gotten the message.

That day, Micke decided to take the S-Bahn to the city. So I told him how to find the station at Witt's alley. He was going to visit some CD shops to find a special CD that he couldn't buy in Västerås. He estimated that he could afford one CD and still have money left for food and youth hostels until he got home.

"But Micke," I said. "I could give you money to buy some more CDs if you want to."

Micke got silent at first. Then he said that it was okay that I offered him food and a place to sleep. But he wouldn't accept any money from me.

He returned at lunchtime with his CD. He had found it at last, after having visited several shops in the city.

I intended to do some garden work after lunch. Most of our garden was behind the villa, and it was surrounded by high hedges to ensure privacy. We used to hire a gardener to look after it, but he was on vacation now, and flowers and bushes had grown a lot.

I wondered if Micke was going to visit the city again, but he would rather help me pull weeds. I had to keep an eye on him since he wasn't so good at distinguishing weeds from garden plants.

Then we had dinner. After that, we loaded his new CD into the player. I had expected some pop music or maybe jazz, but what I heard was something entirely different; it was an Englishman playing pieces from the seventeenth century on the lute. The CD was marvelous. I really enjoyed the quiet music. And while we listened together, I leaned my head against his shoulder. And then he put an arm around me and squeezed me gently.

Also the following morning, at breakfast, I was wearing my nightgown and Micke his underpants. After we had finished, I walked over to the back of his chair and stroked him along his shoulders and down over his naked breast. I felt his pulse accelerating. He turned on his chair and hugged my bottom, rubbed his breast against my abdomen, and buried his face between my breasts. And I seized his head and stroked my fingers through his hair. Then he rose, put his arms around me, and hugged me. And I felt his hard penis push against my stomach through his underpants. And I still held his head in my hands. And then we kissed. And I nearly fainted from desire.

We got more and more intimate during the day. Sometimes we hugged each other, and we kissed a few times. The kisses were innocent at first. But they soon changed to French kisses. And I got hotter and hotter. And I wondered what we were up to. He was still an innocent eighteen year-old teenager, and I was a grown-up married working woman of twenty-nine. It really seemed like an odd couple. And what if I seduced him? And even worse, in my own home?

After dinner, we seated ourselves on the TV sofa. I don't remember anything that was on TV that evening. We just sat there and cuddled.

Micke caressed me, first innocently, but soon he put a hand on one of my breasts, looked at me, and asked, "May I?"

And I answered, "Yes, you may."

So he started fondling my breasts. At first, he fondled them on the outside of my blouse. But then his hand found its way under my bra, and he started to fondle my naked breasts. I stroked his hair and nape and then moved downward to his stomach.

Finally, I put my hand on the bulge in his trousers. I looked at him in my turn and asked, "May I?" And he nodded seriously. So I sneaked my hand under his underpants and found his stone hard penis.

"Oh, dear Ingrid," he whispered when I squeezed it. He didn't move at first. But then I felt his hand under my panties. He cupped his hand over my vagina and pushed softly. We found each other's tongues, and while our hands explored our bodies, we French kissed wildly. And warm waves streamed through my body.

There was no returning back now. "Micke," I said. "Will you follow me to my bedroom?"

We were beyond all limits now. We lay naked in the double bed. His hands were everywhere on me, and mine on him. And I was very wet. And eventually, I couldn't hold back any longer. I turned on my back, spread my legs for him, and he lay down between my thighs. I grabbed his stone-hard penis and put it at my vagina, and he pushed against it and glided into me. And then he came, almost instantly.

I froze under him; should it end similarly as with Richard in Croatia?

But Mickes penis didn't soften at all. He went on thrusting into me. And I felt my labia and clitoris being rubbed hard against his pelvis. And then I came too, much faster than I had ever done before. And much heftier. My orgasm was so forceful that it nearly made Micke slip out. But I cupped my hands around his buttocks, pushed him against me as hard as I could, and succeeded in keeping him inside me. And then he came again. And afterwards, we lay in each other's arms, breathless and with pounding hearts.

The following day, we went into the garden again. I was pruning a bush that had grown out of control. Suddenly, Micke went behind me and put his arms around me. I dropped my pruning shears and leaned against him. He kissed my neck and slipped a hand under my blouse. And I felt him finger my nipples. Then I felt his other hand under my panties. He fondled my vagina with soft, cautious movements. I took a deep breath and pushed my vagina against his cupped hand. Then he turned me around and slowly, very slowly, pulled down my shorts and panties. And then he knelt with his face against my vagina.

He looked up and asked, "May I?

"Yes, Micke," I answered. "You may."

I felt his tongue between my labia. He licked slowly and carefully, first at the entrance and then on my clitoris. I nearly fainted from desire. I seized his head and pushed it gently against me, and he went on licking me.

After a while, I couldn't hold back any longer. I whispered, "Micke, get up, get out of your trousers, and sit down on the garden chair over there."

And then I pushed my vagina down on his penis. The sex was so wonderful! He squeezed me hard, he kissed my breasts, and he moved with deep thrusts inside me. And I seized his head and fondled his hair. And this time, he managed to hold back so long that we could come together.

And afterwards, when he was still inside me, he said, "You are so wonderful, Ingrid. I love you so much! I really do!"

We made love every night afterwards, intimate and long-lasting. And every time he stroked my hair, kissed my neck, wrapped his arms around me, and hugged me hard. And his movements in me sent glowing waves through my body. And he didn't sleep in the guest room any longer, but with me in the double bed.

But our time together was limited. My vacancies were over soon. And I was booked for an interpreter job at a conference in the Grugahalle in Essen.

And so the day came when Micke had to leave. I drove him to a place on the northbound A7 towards Flensburg. Micke chose a parking space at a freeway entrance with a good backward view that was suitable for hitchhiking. Then we hugged one last time.

And I remember that I held his head in my hands and mumbled, "Dear Micke, dear Micke."

And he said in a broken voice, "Ingrid, I'm so hopelessly in love with you!"

Finally, we had to let go of each other. He stepped out of the car and put on his backpack. And then he stood in the parking space in his worn jeans and T-shirt. And I drew back to Blankenese.

CHAPTER 2

Three years had passed. I was divorced for two years; our marriage came to a sudden end when Richard told me one day that he was going to move to a new woman. This new woman was his secretary, and she wasn't new at all; they had been in a relationship for several years. The classic scenario, in other words. And now she was pregnant.

Our living together had actually finished years ago, and Richard leaving me should come as no surprise. Still, I got extremely sad. We did have a fine life in the beginning.

After all, Richard was decent with the financial settlements. I got my shares without discussion, and he bought my part of the Blankenese villa. So economically, I landed safely. And I was able to buy a fine flat with three rooms at Parkallé in the Harvesthude district, which was situated closer to the city.

Most of my jobs took place farther south in Germany and sometimes abroad. Still, I chose to stay in Hamburg since I had some close friends there. And that was something I valued a lot after the divorce.

I couldn't forget the week with Micke. Leaving him there in the parking space was the most heartbreaking goodbye I had ever experienced.

I had worked extremely hard the last two years to overcome my loneliness. But I was getting more and more unhappy. I was very tense, and I didn't sleep well. And I suffered from stomachaches and headaches.

Then, on a Saturday, I sat with my friends Ulrike and Maria in our café in the city.

After some small talk, Ulrike said, "Ingrid, you work far too much. You haven't had one single day off since the divorce. If you go on like this, you will crash soon. Take a leave now and relax before it gets too late."

"But I can't take it to be alone." I answered.

Then Maria spoke. "Ingrid, why don't you try to contact that young guy from Sweden that you had a love affair with?"

"But that's impossible." I answered. "I don't know his address or his family name."

"Well, you haven't made it easy for you." Ulrike said. "Go to bed with a teenager without even knowing his full name."

My friends could be tough sometimes. I suppose that's what real friendship is like. All the same, they didn't give up on me.

"Why don't you go to his hometown in Sweden and look him up?" Maria proposed.

So now I was standing outside the railway station in Västerås. I had arrived by train from my small hometown, Katrineholm. I was visiting my mom there; it was my first vacation in two years.

I only knew one place to look for Micke. He told me once that he used to visit a small CD shop every Saturday in the shopping mall Punkt to see if they had any new CDs on sale. The chance to find him there was almost nil. But that was the only clue I could think of.

I found the shop. It was late morning, and there were lots of people everywhere. I placed myself so as to see the shop entrance and waited. I waited long, more than an hour. Then suddenly, I saw someone I thought I knew. My pulse accelerated. I started to walk over to him. But then, I realized it wasn't him.

It was twelve o'clock. I gave up and walked around at random in the city. I felt lost and extremely sad.

Then suddenly, I discovered Micke on a bike. And it was really Micke this time. At last! And against all odds! But he drew past me. He didn't see me. I was so desperate that I nearly started to cry.

But then he halted, turned his bike, and came back to me.

"Ingrid!" he exclaimed. "Is it really you? It was a long time ago. How are you?"

"Thanks, Micke," I said, "I'm okay."

I wanted to hug him, but his bike stood between us.

"What brings you to Västerås?" he wondered.

I lied and said that I had a couple of old friends that I intended to visit.

"Ingrid," Micke said, "do you have time for a cup of coffee? There is a calm place nearby where we can sit down and talk."

So after a short walk, we were sitting at the Princess Cafe at Smedjegatan. And now, in front of me, I had a grown up young man, not the somewhat gauche teenager I had known before.

We talked and talked. I told him about my divorce, my departure from Blankenese, and my new flat. And he told me that he attended the education program to be a civil engineer at Västerås University. He had lived with his parents at first. But now he had moved to a dorm room.

Micke hadn't forgotten me. He told me that the week with me in Blankenese was the finest and most emotional time of his life. He had thought about me a lot and wondered how I was.