Page 48 of Sixty Meters Under

“Morning. How are preparations going?” he asked.

“Great for now. Are you calling in too?”

“Yes. I wanted to see the progress.” Lennart glanced towards the closed door then back at his mother. “How are you doing today?”

Anna sighed. “I’m fine. Holding up.” She nodded and smiled, but Lennart noticed the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “The medication seems to be helping.”

Lennart took a closer look at her, trying to see that there was indeed nothing unusual about her behavior. “I’m glad to hear that. You don’t have any side effects?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Anna shook her head.

“You have to be careful. If you notice something, I mean anything strange, don’t hesitate to tell the doctor.”

“Sure. Of course!” Anna nodded her head again but avoided looking straight into his eyes. “By the way, when did you see Björn?” she added.

“I don’t see him very often, only when I go swimming,” Lennart admitted while trying to recall when was the last time he saw him outside the pool.

“Yeah, me too. I see him even less now,” Anna said with visible sadness in her eyes.

“Well, he has his own life, a girlfriend, a job. He is busy.” Lennart smiled. He wasn’t worried about his brother that much anymore. The bunker was a safe place for Björn too.

“I miss the days when you were still small,” Anna started with a hint of nostalgia.

“It’s not good to look back too much on the past, you know?” Lennart pulled her into a hug.

“I know. But sometimes that’s hard,” Anna said, and tears started rolling down her cheeks. When Lennart squeezed her, she began to sob.

?

When Ryosuke came back from work, he found Ayame sitting in the armchair reading some old magazines. When he closed the door, she asked, “How was the library today?”

“It was fine. What about your day?”

Ayame sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. “Boring, as usual.”

“You were in the room all day?” Ryosuke asked, surprised.

“No, I went to the gym to exercise a bit; then I was in the canteen. Also, I was with Aki at the pool and now I’m back here again.”

Ryosuke raised his eyebrows, a small smile dancing on his lips. “And you were bored?”

“Well, yeah! I hate to be in the same place all the time.” She pouted and shoved the magazine on the side table.

Ryosuke’s face became serious. “I know, but we can’t change the situation. You’d better get used to it.”

“I know. But it’s frustrating!” Ayame sighed again, defeated. “I’m really looking forward to that birthday party. At least it’ll be a little break from these copy-pasted days.”

Ryosuke wasn’t thrilled to go to the party but agreed that it would be a good idea to break a routine once in a while. “When does it start?” he asked and started unbuttoning the cufflinks on his shirt.

“At 18:00. It’s family-friendly, but adults can stay until midnight, and there will be alcohol served in the bar.”

“I see you’re well-informed.” Ryosuke smirked, unbuttoning the rest of his shirt.

“But, of course!” Ayame stated proudly and grinned.

Ryosuke changed into a comfy outfit. “We’ll go, but I’m going to take a nap first.”

“May I join you?”