Welcome to Sweden Ch. 01

"We are now landing. Please buckle your seatbelts."

I watched in awe as the lights of Stockholm shone beneath me, the fresh snowfall fluttering around the plane. It was beautiful.

"Welcome to Sweden."

I walked out of the airplane and went to retrieve my baggage, still dazed from the long journey. I had decided to rent a room in a cabin in Sweden for a year to complete my computer science thesis. There wouldn't be any distractions and the rent would be super cheap. It would also allow me to brush up on my Sweden, which would be vital for my future. In this competitive work market, any little thing could be what got you your dream job.

While it had been a hard choice to leave behind my friends, my family and my girlfriend, Liz, I truly believed I had made the right choice for my future.

Liz was a bit angry at first that I was going to be leaving for so long, but came to terms with it.

"I still can't believe you're leaving. Are you sure it's going to be safe? How do we know the owner isn't a creep?" she asked one day.

"Yes, don't worry, I've been talking to him for a few months now. His name's Mikael. If he really is a weirdo, he's playing the longest con I've ever seen. Look, here's what he looks like." I opened the app where I found the room and tapped his profile picture. My girlfriend gasped.

"Jesus, he's massive."

His profile picture, of him chopping wood with an axe in a tight shirt, left nothing to the imagination. He was, indeed, a massive man. His musculature was more akin to a bear than a person. He had a chiseled chin, and superbly defined features. It wasn't only that though. He also had beautiful blue eyes, golden hair and perfect white skin. This came together to create an angelic demeanor that made you instantly trust him. I was slightly annoyed at my girlfriend's reaction but even I could see why he was attractive.

Liz saw my face and giggled.

"Aw, don't worry, Skyler, you know I love you," she said leaning in for a kiss. "But if you come back looking like this, I wouldn't complain."

Liz was outspoken, tough-headed, and the exact opposite of me. Everyone knew who wore the pants in our relationship. I was honestly surprised we even got into a couple, since she preferred muscular guys. I was probably the exact opposite of men like Mikael. I also had blond hair, but my thin figure, short stature and high cheekbones made me look very feminine. Liz was way out of my league, and if I hadn't been right there when she had broken up with her previous boyfriend (a jerky quarterback) I don't think we would have ever gotten into a relationship. She always said she got with me because she was looking for something different, however she must've not liked it since she always tried to get me to work out. I was always scared of her running off with some other guy, so when she proposed to have an open relationship, I agreed. She would sometimes see people on the side, guys and girls, but she never talked about it to me or rubbed it in my face, so it was okay.

Her energy and drive to try out new things was also present in her sex life, where she constantly tried to get me to do new things in bed. Her biggest fantasy was a threesome, but I had always refused, not feeling comfortable with other people then her.

"But what does this Mikael guy do, anyways?" Liz asked.

"He's also a programmer, but he's specialized in robotics. I think he works mostly from home. But don't worry, he's really a cool guy."

Mikael was even kind enough to come and pick me up today. I was grateful, because the cabin was very far up north and without his help it would have been a very long train ride there.

While waiting for my luggage I heard a voice behind me.

"Sky? Is it you?" I shivered as I felt a large hand on my shoulder.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" I protested to the stranger. I flipped around and was about to continue, but I was only met with a large smile. It was Mikael.

"Ah! Sky! I was starting to worry! I waited for long time, I didn't know if you could make it to lobby on your own." He said with a thick accent.

I didn't really know what to answer. On the one hand, his opinion of me was a bit patronizing, but his smile seemed so genuine a large part of me thought it might have been a real concern. He was standing so close to me too, I was having a hard time formulating a sentence. How had he even gotten into the baggage claim, anyways? Thankfully, I spotted my luggage on the conveyor belt. Babbling an excuse, I gestured towards it and rushed over. I tugged at it, and found out with dismay that I couldn't pick it up. I was still tired after the long flight. As the conveyor belt kept on moving, I realized that I was being dragged along with it. I was about to fall down when swiftly, a strong arm picked me up around the waist.

Mikael let out a hearty laugh. 'Hahaha! Silly flicka! Next time you need help, just warn me, yes?"

What did flicka mean again? It was a pretty common word, I just couldn't wrap my head around it, and the people around us were starting to stare.

"Ye... yeah, thanks Mikael. Could you let me down please? Thi... this is sort of embarrassing." I could feel myself blushing.

He let me down, strided to my luggage and picked it up easily with a single arm.

"We go now, okay? Car will get cold waiting for us."

As we made our way out, we passed by a female police officer surveying the area. I expected her to reprimand Mikael for coming in, but instead she just blushed and giggled when he looked at her. I guess I knew how he got in.

We made our way into the cold snowfall and into his car, a large gray jeep. He unlocked the doors and I hopped in as he loaded my luggage into the back.

"Cabin far from the store." He explained. "Big Car. Have to buy a lot."

I nodded in agreement. He turned on the heating and the radio and pulled out of the parking lot. The seat was so cushy, and it was so warm that I soon started drifting asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~

During the ride, I woke up a few times whenever we stopped at rest stops. We would have nice conversations about our field of study. On the contrary of what you'd expect with his hunking demeanor, Mikael was very knowledgeable about the subject and was apparently on the forefront of the field in Sweden. As interesting as it was, the jetlag wouldn't allow me to stay awake for more than an hour at a time.

I woke up as the jeep pulled to a stop. I wondered where we were. It seemed like we were in the middle of a clearing, with tall trees and wilderness surrounding us.

"Come. See your new home!" Mikael said as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out.

The cabin was beautiful. It was made out of heavy logs supported by a cobblestone base. It was pretty big, but remained quaint and homey in contrast to the huge trees that surrounded it.

With a grunt, Mikael threw my luggage over his shoulder. "Come on in!"

We made our day over to the door that he opened for me, inviting me in.

A large hearth illuminated the main room, which was cast in an inviting orange light. On the bottom floor there was the kitchen, and Mikael showed me a hallway which led into the bathroom. A staircase led up to the loft, where he showed me where I'd be staying for a year.

"Wait. There's only a single room here!"

The loft was a rectangular room with two beds on opposite sides. One side was decorated and obviously lived in, and the other was bare.

"Net, net. Two rooms, see?" Mikael said as he pulled a thin curtain between both sides.

"But, this isn't what was advertised! I specifically remember the description listing two separate rooms."

"No." His tone darkened and he became fim. "Look."

I was taken aback by how menacing he looked. He came towards me and I raised my hands, but instead he took out his phone and opened the app. In the description, under rooms, it was noted that the room was indeed a single one divided in half. That was weird. I was completely sure it had said there were two separate rooms when I applied for it.

"Tha... that's not possible.. You changed the description!"

"You say I lie?" Mikael said with an imposing voice.

Mikael looked me straight into the eyes. I looked back, trying to prove myself, but looked aside. I couldn't fight back against him. I was too scared.

"And so? You say I lie?" Mikael asked again.

I realized he wouldn't let go until he got an answer.

"N... no, you didn't lie." He raised his eyebrow. "I was wrong."

He glared at me a little longer then turned around.

"I'll get your luggage." Mikael said, going down the stairs. "Get comfortable."

After the plane trip and the car ride I had no strength to argue. I flopped down on my bed and went back to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to the smell of buckwheat porridge and Swedish tea. I was a little apprehensive to go downstairs after what had happened the night before, but my stomach reminded me that I hadn't eaten anything since getting off the plane. Anyways, I couldn't keep on avoiding him forever. I was going to be living with him for the next year.

I tentatively made my way downstairs. Mikael was busy in the kitchen, stirring a pot of the porridge I had smelled. The table was also covered in sausages, eggs and little breakfast sandwiches.

"I make breakfast." He said with a smile. " You did not eat dinner last night, and nothing worse than an empty stomach after long trip. Come on! Eat!" He placed the palm of his hand on my lower back and directed me towards a seat.

Thankfully, he seemed to have completely put behind what had happened the night before. He ate heartily and joyously, finishing off most of the food on the table. I was still a little nervous at first, but he quickly put me at ease and we were both laughing by the end of the meal.

As we were cleaning up, he asked me what my plans were for the day.

"Well, I guess first I'll start unpacking my stuff, then I'll get straight to work on my thesis." I said reflexively.

"No family or friends to call? You didn't tell them of your safe arrival."

Oh shoot! That was true! "You're right! I promised Liz that I would call her once I got here!"

He raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Liz?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you about her. She's my girlfriend." I said running up the stairs. " I'll call her right now!"

I got out my phone and dialed Liz, who picked up almost instantly.

"Skyler! Are you ok? Why didn't You call me right away?"

I told her about my trip and the fact that I had been sleeping most of the time.

"Well, it's a relief that you're okay. What were you going to do? Start your paper?"

" Yeah, not much else to do here anyways. Nobody and nothing here. " I told her, looking out the window at the snow-covered forest.

"And where's Mikael? What's he doing?" She asked.

"Uh, I think he's outside."

We paused with an awkward silence.

"Hey, um, Skyler," she started. Uh oh, she only said that whenever she wanted to ask me something. "you know when we started working out together for our new year's resolution?"

I could see where this was going. A few years ago, we had promised each other that for the new year, we were going to work out together. Liz said it was to stay healthy, but deep down I knew she was trying to get me big, defined and strong like those bodybuilders she was attracted to. We worked out together for a few weeks but it has been too hard for me and I stopped. Liz said it was okay but I could see she was disappointed.

"Well, I started working out here again" she continued, "and I was wondering if you would want to do the same there."

I sighed. "Okay, I promise I'll start working out too." I said. I didn't want to lose her.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" She squealed excitedly.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll have a smoking hot bod ready for you when I come back." I joked.

The call ended shortly thereafter. I got up from my bed and looked out the window. Well, that was another thing to add to my to-do list. How was I going to manage working out? I shuddered, remembering the difficulties I had had doing push-ups and lifting weights of only a few pounds.

I heard the noise of creaking wood and turned my head towards the direction. Outside in the snow, in only a tank top, Mikael was chopping wood with strong blows. He was sweating heavily, the dampened cloth of his top revealing his godlike abs. With every swing of his axe, his biceps flexed to awe-inspiring sizes. The heat radiating from his body was spreading into a fine mist around him.

He put down his axe for a second and wiped his forehead. He looked directly in the direction of my window, smiling and waving. Crap! He saw me! I blushed and went back onto my bed. How long had he known I was staring? I layed down to look at the ceiling. He did have superb muscles though. I imagined myself, deep in the woods, picking up huge logs with ease to bring to the cabin and swiftly chop with an axe. Shit, if I was that strong, I could easily pick up Liz and twirl her around like she had always wanted.

I made up my mind. I was going to ask Mikael to make me into a man.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you so much for reading! I'm trying something a little different this time. The next part should come out next week if I have the time.

Thank you!