Grete. I hadn't seen her here before, and I had been coming to this group pretty much every week since I moved back to Sweden two years ago. She had come in a few minutes after the meeting had started, and chose the empty seat right next to me. Even before she had sat down, I found myself distracted from the meeting, needing to focus extra hard on what was being said around me, instead of inhaling GreteĀ“s smell, or resisting the urge to keep glancing back at her profileĀ“s smooth Nordic features. She was probably in her late twenties, or maybe even her early thirties, and had light brown hair that she dyed blonde. Half of her face was hidden by strands of it, while the other half was shaded by a pink baseball cap she wore. She wore her white hoodie unzipped, along with training pants that looked painted on, the kind skiers wore year round. A sports bra tried its best to contain her bust, and whenever she shifted positions in her seat, my eyes drifted towards her exposed stomach, noticing a gold ring in her bellybutton. One of her hands absent-mindedly twirled her vape in recurring circles, and the pocket of her hoodie showed the rectangular bulge of what was probably the latest iPhone.
Come on, I instructed myself. Focus. This is a newcomer! I closed my eyes, silently recited the Serenity Prayer inside my head, and tried to listen to her not as a hot woman sitting next to me, but as a sick and suffering alcoholic coming back to AA.
6794 words (FF, FFM)
Cover art by Robert Flynt
IG robertflyntfoto