Mikael woke up, but he didn't feel like opening his eyes. For the first time in a month, he'd had a good night's sleep in bed. He knew that if Mare woke up, there would be a huge fight. Besides, the competition didn't start until 4 p.m., and they had plenty of time until then.
Angel was about to rub the sleep from his eyes when he suddenly felt someone touch his hair, brushing it away from his face. He opened his eyes.
"Hello," she said by way of greeting. "You slept for a long time. When did you go to bed?"
"Right after I put you down, I lay down next to you," he said sleepily. "Because of that, among other things..."
He looked at her right hand for a moment. She was still holding his. Mare glanced in that direction and seemed to realize for the first time that she was holding someone. She disentangled herself from his embrace.
"But I asked when you went to sleep, not when you went to bed.
" "A little late. I waited because I thought you'd wake up. You had a fever yesterday, and today..."
He touched her forehead at that moment, then placed his hand on his.
"You don't have one anymore," he finished.
"Just don't think that what happened yesterday was because of a stupid fever. I wasn't hallucinating.
" "Sure," he replied, a disbelieving tone in his voice.
"And I'm lying," she asked mockingly.
"No, you're not lying at all. You just love telling the truth.
" "Don't mock me.
" "Who's mocking me all the time? Hmm? Maybe you can answer this question for me?"
"I'll kill you," she said, throwing herself at him. "You're asking for trouble today.
" "Not this time," he replied, throwing her over. "The angels are the ones who dominate today."
Mare snorted. She didn't like anyone being on top of her, but this time she took it as a game. She threw her arms around Mikael's neck and started tickling him. She knew his "sweet spots" perfectly. They laughed like children. They hadn't had this much fun in ages. Sometimes they needed a little freedom. Time they could spend just for themselves.
"Okay, enough of the good stuff," Mikael said, pushing her to the other side of the bed.
"Come on. We still have plenty of time..." Mare bit her tongue. Only now did she realize that playing with the angel had brought her pleasure. She pouted and said,
"You're right, let's get down to business."
"I think so too," he replied, staring at the she-devil. He'd always thought he'd only call hurting someone fun or derive pleasure from it, but he'd been wrong. "I wonder what else you're hiding from the whole world," he thought.
"You know, I have a new idea. We've done a dozen or so deeds, but we haven't even counted them.
" "Have you gone completely mad?! Do you know how many there will be?
" "We'll find out soon," he said, walking over to his briefcase. He pulled out his favorite blue fineliner with a picture of a golden-haired angel and a black notebook (Mare laughed at these accessories). He sat down in the middle of the room and began to think. Mare reluctantly joined him.
"Write
," she ordered. Blomkvist smiled broadly to himself. He knew she'd come.
"Make a chart. We'll start with the grades in school. There are four middle school classes, from "A" to "D." Now down to the three levels. Then the high schools, four to three.
"Now Mare, mark which classes you teach."
Mare made crosses in the appropriate places.
"Good little one, now tell me how many people are in each class."
The devil looked at him with half-closed eyes when he said "little one."
She took a separate piece of paper and wrote it down. They worked on this for three whole hours. Only then did they move on to the passersby. That was easier. They had one person per day, so they had taken 19 people. Then the angel added four more teachers. That's how they reached the total number of people:
"197!" they exclaimed with joy to the entire room. They looked at each other with euphoria for a moment, then fell silent. This number was clearly not enough to put them at the top. They sighed loudly. Even Mare felt a little sadder.
"We're not making any progress," she said with a slight reproach. "We're standing still like stakes driven into the ground. Is it really worth the effort?"
An uneasy silence fell. Only then did Mikael, with great excitement in his voice, almost a shout, jump up, almost making the she-devil fall over.
"Don't lose faith!
" "Easy to say.
" "Really, it's very simple. We'll put more effort into it. It's like it's our job. If you work better, they'll notice you and you'll earn more. It's the same with us!
" "Fine," she replied with a slight sarcasm in her voice. "Starting tomorrow, you'll take care of Domenico...
" "How do you know he's not included in those 197 people?"
"Do you think I'm stupid? I mark every person at school in my notebook. Besides, I would remember him. He's your favorite."
Mikael closed his eyes and turned his back to her. For the first time, he was afraid to look her in the eye. He had grown very attached to Domenic. He didn't want Mare to hurt him in any way. It was hard for the little one to trust anyone.
"Leave him alone," he dared to say. "He's just one child...
" "There are children everywhere
." Mare smiled murderously.
"You want revenge on me, right?
" "Maybe..." she replied innocently. "You see, the world is full of little children with their own problems...
" "But..." he said quietly.
"Don't interrupt me!" she screamed. "You're not an angel now, helping every innocent creature on earth. So what if you have the personality of an angel... Don't care! Unless you're so hopeless and you're the kind of angel who, no matter who they are, has to act for a good cause. If you say that, I think I'll be sick."
Mikael stared at her like a little gray mouse. He listened to Mare fully and looked at her with a wistful gaze. He knew she'd eventually tell him, and today she was in the mood for it. The worst part was that he never prepared an answer. The devil, not seeing the angel begin to explain, gathered all the papers with calculations from the floor and put them in the nightstand.
"Mare," he said to her, and she stopped immediately. "Please. Don't think that about me. Never. I just never wanted to be a flawless angel. I help people because that's my mission, but if I had a choice, I'd like to be reborn as someone else."
A mocking, triumphant smile appeared on Mrs. Deed's face. She turned to him and said,
"I never said you were like that. Just don't be like that. I know you're different from the rest of these prudes. That's the only reason I'm friends with you.
" "Excuse me?"
"What do I have to say again?
" "You're friends with me. Are you sure you're okay?"
Mare looked at him scowling and said,
"No..."
Mikael, though with a grim expression, smiled at her.
"But don't think that just because you found out you're my friend, you get any extra privileges.
" "Does taking the bathroom count?
" "Too," she replied dryly.
"Okay," he said with resignation in his voice.
"Listen, you just pissed me off.
" "What now?
" "Why don't you ever argue with me about anything? You never beat me up about anything to get your way? You just say 'okay.' That's not fair."
"That's a form of courtesy, Mare, which you don't use," he replied sarcastically, sneering.
"If I catch you, you'll drop dead!"
"Mare, there's a problem. If you catch me."
The she-devil snorted loudly and lunged towards him. Mikael would have ended up like last time, on the ground, strangled by her friend. But this time he didn't make that mistake. When Mare ran up, he grabbed her by the torso and threw her over his shoulder.
"Let go," she squealed.
"Ha, ha. I wish I could.
" "You're mean.
" "Thank you," he replied. "Okay (he emphasized). Since you're arguing so much about being first in the bathroom, I'll give you a bath you'll remember for the rest of your life.
" Mare squealed softly. For the first time, she didn't know what to expect from Mikael. The angel opened the bathroom and, while he was in the shower, took Mare in front of him, so that their faces met very closely. His sly smile never left his face, but she looked at him with what seemed like admiration, what seemed like surprise.
"That's the end of a good thing," he declared, and laid her down in the shower, leaning over her. "I want you to squeal now.
" "No way."
"I knew I had to take some measures to force you to do this."
Mikael turned on the cold water. Mare squealed terribly. She was wearing only her red dress. Water began to drip down her body. She didn't like the fact that she was now the victim.
"No!" she said aloud to herself.
"What? Haven't you had enough?"
"No," she replied with extraordinary calm. "I just don't want to say 'okay.'
" "Hmm?"
The angel was surprised, but he hadn't anticipated her next move. Mare rose a little and pulled him toward her by his shirt. Her plan hadn't entirely succeeded. She'd wanted him to fall into the freezing drops of water, but it happened they fell in together. Mikael, with a final movement, caught her and pulled her tightly to him to prevent her from hitting herself. When they looked into each other's eyes, for a moment there was incredible chaos and fear, but then they laughed like children.
"I have my own umbrella," she whispered.
She didn't dare say the words louder. Droplets fell on them, then from their clothes and hair. They were so close. The icy shower, instead of cooling them, inflamed their thirsty bodies even more. The devil wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his face closer. She felt his breath, and he hers. Their lips met for the first time. A pleasant warmth enveloped them. Mikael gently brushed her hair back. He began kissing her neck and chest. Time was meaningless to either of them in that moment. Mare ran her hand through his hair and back, then took his face in both. She looked into his eyes with both confidence and desire. Small tears formed in the grooves of her eyes. She kissed him quickly, so he wouldn't notice. She wanted to hold on to this moment as long as possible. Her heart was beating wildly. She didn't even notice when she was no longer wearing a single thing. She pressed herself against his body. She felt his body with all its fullness. Passion overtook them. They made love for a long time, oblivious to the living world.
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