E’volvo’lution Chapter 9

When we landed we had to go through customs after we had picked up our bags. I could have gone through the express gate if I’d been using my own passport but was testing the Estonian one which was a lot closer to how I now looked.

I deliberately dressed down as I didn’t want to overshadow my sister so just had a denim skirt and silk blouse with light tights and low boots for comfort. When we got out of the arrival hall I saw my parents waiting for us, my niece in a stroller.

My mother gave me a hug, “Welcome back, my wonderful daughter, all the guys in Uppsala have got the centrefold up on their garage walls, it’s such a hoot.”

My father hugged me and I introduced them both to my travelling companions. I asked, “Where’s Halina?” but then saw her coming out of the toilets so I said, brightly, “Oh, here she comes.”

As the guys’ heads turned to look I made sure I kept my eyes on Greger to see if my hunch was correct. The fact that his mouth dropped open and his eyes seemed to glaze over proved that I may have been right.

Gustav looked at me and winked; my mother looked at me and smiled. Actually we could have been playing trumpets and Greger wouldn’t have noticed.

His eyes were on Halina as she approached us, red dress, scarf, black stockings and heels will do that to a man, especially if you also looked like the girl of his dreams. That had been the only reason he had spoken to me and the original Antonia just didn’t live up to the standard required.

When she arrived there were more introductions, she gave me a hug, “Ant, sis, you look hot!” then we were heading to the mini-bus.

I sat with my mother and little Agnis and she wanted to pull my hair, saying “Pwetty mummy.”

“I see Agnis has added to her vocabulary,” and my mother laughed.

“I sent you off as bored, unhappy boy and now I see you as the happy and successful girl you would have been if it hadn’t been for that one damned chromasome. Tallinn has more than changed you. It’s made you start to think. Now, today is a case in point. I always thought that you took after my mother. She was known as the ‘Matchmaker of Malmo.’”

My father asked, “Where are we going?” Gustav told him the name of the hotel because Greger was on the back seat of the bus in a deep conversation with Halina.

When we arrived and checked in I saw that I had a room next to Greger so swapped my key card for Halinas’ one. We all went up to our rooms to freshen up and agreed to meet in the lounge for a drink.

It was amusing to watch Greger as he gave Halina hers, the way he held on to the glass a little too long.

Gustav sat next to me and said, quietly, “You know, I really do think you’ve gone and done it this time. In many years to come they’ll tell the saga of Antonia, the girl who could.”

I was talking to my father about the ‘Answer’ and what a sweet truck it was when one of the hotel staff came over and asked which one was Captain Berg.

I nodded, “I guess that’s me.”

“There’s a guy in reception who wants to talk to you,” and as he turned around, “That’s him, by the doorway.”

I got up and went over to the man who wanted to speak to me. When I got near him he beckoned for me to follow and led me to a quiet corner.

”Captain Berg, I’m sorry to break in on your homecoming but I’ve had a call from my commander who, I gather, had a call from his boss. It went up the chain to a very important person in Potsdam who, I believe, everyone listens to.”

“I’ve been ordered to arrange a visit to one of our facilities where someone will show you the sort of truck you’re looking for, and tell you what differences it has over a normal one. The factory, I’ve been told, aren’t playing ball and your friend thinks that you need to see what you’re getting.”

He gave me a note, “Get your father to take you to this place tomorrow, about nine, and transport will take you from there. You seem very young and very beautiful to have friends at such a high level. You’re all invited. It will be a very scenic trip.”

He smiled and gave me a mock salute and left the hotel. I went back to the group and clicked my fingers between Greger and Halina.

“Earth to Greger, wake up. We’ve been given a little side trip to see a truck tomorrow. I think you’d better call your Volvo contact and tell him that we’ll be unable to meet them. Tell them we’ll see them Tuesday.”

I give him his due, he didn’t ask any questions and pulled his phone out and walked away dialling a number.

Halina said, “He’s a hunk, isn’t he? Mum said she had seen him on your phone and I thought she may have been exaggerating. Did you and he…..?”

I laughed, “Nowhere close, sis, he knew what I am and he’s not gay, even if he’s one of the sweetest men you could ever meet and I’m proud to say that we’re friends.”

My father came up to me and took my arm to pull me away from the group and then said “Captain Berg?”

I laughed, “I‘ve been told that it’s purely ceremonial but I’m listed on the army records.” I pulled my lanyard out of my bag, the NATO one, and showed it to him.

I then gave him the note, “Our friend outside wants you to take us all to this place tomorrow morning, arriving about nine, and he will take us from there to see some big trucks.”

We had a good dinner in the hotel dining room that evening and then all retired early. When I followed my parents to my room my mother remarked, “I thought Halina would be with us.”

“I swapped key cards with her.”

“OK then, you can take Agnis as her cot’s here.”

I had a lovely time with Agnis, getting her undressed and changed as the bags were in the room. Once I had put her down I picked up Halina’s case and took it to what should have been my room and knocked on the door.

When she opened up I could see she had been having ‘a good evening’ and said, “Just give me my case, dear sister and you can have this one.”

When she gave me my case she smiled, “Thank you, Ant, I’ll see you in the morning.”

I needed to look after Agnis a few times during the night but it was a lovely experience. My mother was smiling when I joined them for breakfast. I had Agnis nestled in my arm and a baby bag over one shoulder.

“You look just right for the part, Antonia. It could be Halina standing there. Actually, here she comes now.”

I turned and saw Greger and Halina walking in, hand in hand and smiling. I didn’t have that much experience but I had seen that look on a girls’ face once before, and the look said everything.

We had our breakfast and then we all got into the bus once my father had brought it to the front door. The place we had to go turned out to be a police college where we were directed to go and park next to the sports ground.

We were getting out when I heard the sound of a helicopter coming our way. It was a bit more than a helicopter; it was one of those new vertical take-off planes and it levelled off over the sports ground and landed.

It was painted in Swedish army colours and when the door opened a set of steps came out and a uniformed officer beckoned for us to get on board. We lifted off and then went into level flight and headed north.

As we travelled we were given heavy parkas and there was a big blanket for Agnis. The scenery was, indeed, beautiful as we went north and then we circled what was obviously an army base and landed.

When we got out it was cold and I was glad I had jeans on this morning. My mother and Halina were taken off to a warm place with Agnis and the rest of us were taken into a big garage where we saw our first sight of what we were to be buying.

It was huge and very white but I then imagined it with standard wheels and realised it wouldn’t stand out too much. The officer ran through the specifications and we all made sure we made mental notes.

He then said, “Who wants a go, then?”

Greger was not a driver, as such, but Gustav, me and my father were all for it. We were taken to one each and got into the cabs. Greger got in with Gustav. We each had an army driver with us and took us through the starting, military style. Someone opened the garage door and we were off.

I followed the other two and we were taken over a track that had just about everything you could come across on a battlefield. It was glorious to drive, if a bit hard on the suspension, and I was having a ball.

There was a hill which I wouldn’t think a truck would climb and the army guy showed me the way to get it into a lower range than standard, and lock the three axles at the back. It went up that hill as if it was flat and I whooped.

My co-driver chuckled, “I had the same feeling the first time I drove one of these.”

We then pulled up at a space where there were three trailers with white armoured personnel carriers strapped on. I was directed to back on to a trailer and a couple of well bundled up troopers guided me under the pin and then lowered the trailer onto the turntable. I was the first to pull away as the others were hooking up and I then did the complete circuit again with about fifty tonnes or more on the back.

I took the trailer back and the long-suffering troopers lifted it off the turntable once I had backed it in. My co-driver then told me to go around again but this time to use the highest gear I could so that I was using the torque, rather than the horse-power.

On the hill I thought that I had it stalled but we got up in the end. Back at the garage I backed it in and shut down.

My co-driver turned to me, “We got our copies of the trucking magazine and all the guys here said ‘eye candy’ but put it up on the wall anyway. Today you’ve driven this truck better than most of the troopers I’ve taken around here. I’m one of the instructors and you just took this around that course quicker than I’ve been before. You’re a natural and have a feel for the equipment that’s second to none. Most would have either stalled on the hill or just sat there spinning the wheels on the high gear pass.”

I thanked him for his kind words and he told me I deserved every one. While we waited for the others to get back an officer came into the garage and I was told to sit there as my new friend got out and went over, saluted and then got into a big conversation.

The officer sent him off and then climbed up beside me and strapped himself in.

“I‘ve just been told, young lady; that you’re close to being the best driver that’s been around this track. I want you to prove it to me as I’m very interested.”

He instructed me to start the truck and we left the garage as the others were coming back.

We did the whole thing again, all three circuits and I had a better idea of where I was going now so was a little more fluid. The different part was with the circuit with the trailer and he got me to stop on the hill and then get going again.

I was in a sweat when I backed it in again and shut down and I could feel the muscles in my arms protesting. He said nothing and just got out and walked out of the garage, having a few words with my original companion as he left. I got down from the cab and was taken into a nice warm building where the others were sitting with hot drinks and chatting.

I got a hot drink and joined them. A little later we were given a nice late lunch and flown back to Stockholm. On the way both my father and Gustav were talking about the fun they had and Greger was busy making notes with Halina sitting next to him.

I sat with my mother and Agnis and asked “Were you bored while we were playing with the trucks”

She laughed, “No, they had three big TV’s set up; each one with split screen. One side was the view from behind you facing forward and the other was obviously somewhere around the sunshade and showed your head and a view out of the back window. I was trembling when you were going around with that trailer. You should have seen your fathers face when he saw the hill for the first time. There was no sound but I could lip-read what he said and it wasn’t very nice at all.”

She then asked, “Why did you go around again? They switched our screens off when you left.”

I told her that an officer didn’t believe the instructor that was with me the first time and wanted to see my driving first-hand.

Back in Stockholm we went back to the hotel and sat in the lounge to discuss what we had seen and experienced. My father was encouraged to contribute to the discussion and we ended up with a list of the features we wanted, as well as some we didn’t want.

The first thing on the list was that we wanted them to have a softer suspension and civilian trim on the outside as the military ones were very plain. Another thing was sprung seating if we were going off-road, maybe seats where we could change the settings.

We had a nice dinner and sat in the hotel bar for a while before going to bed. Once again I looked after Agnis and was really bonding with her. I had bought a picture book at the hotel shop and we had a lovely time talking about the animals in it.

Tuesday, we hit the Volvo guys hard, knowing what we wanted and didn’t want. It took all day but at the end of it we had the specification down on paper, a price worked out and a delivery date for the first three.

They were told that we would have drivers flown to Sweden to drive them home after we had checked them over. We also made arrangements for three of our mechanics to spend two weeks in the factory learning about the engine and transmission. When it came to colour Greger was insistent on the same light blue I had on my car, with a neutral interior as we would be fixing them ourselves.

That all sorted out so quickly we had a day to spare so my father took us around to some of the tourist sights. Greger treated us all to a good lunch and dinner and then took Halina out to a show.

She was able to wear the red dress and heels again. I spent my evening sitting with everyone else just chatting about the trip and other things in general. During the course of the conversation Gustav asked my father what he was doing now. He was told that the trucking company he drove for had stopped giving him work.

Gustav asked if he would like to work for Lundin and to pick up from Swedish and Norwegian factories and deliver them to our yard, and taking back empty containers on a regular basis. My mother said, “Do it” so they shook on it.

Gustav then said, “We’ll get you bringing things in fairly quickly and start storing for our customer.”

Thursday morning, my father drove us all to the airport. He dropped the three of us off at the doors and we put our luggage on a trolley.

My father hugged me, thanked me for an interesting experience and told me I was one hell of a driver. My mother and I hugged and kissed cheeks and she told me that if I didn’t come back soon she would come and see me.

Halina, after she had tried to suck Gregers’ face off, hugged me, “Thank you sis, you are pencilled in as maid-of-honour. He’s gorgeous and we’ve hit it off from the moment we met. My husband has been shown the photos we have and has caved in. I should be able to marry again in three months so will be seeing a lot of you next year.”

“They’re a lovely family, sis, you’ll be happy there.” I smiled.

We waved them off and I saw Agnis at the back window with Halina and she was waving and smiling. The three of us went into the terminal and checked our luggage in and then went through emigration to the departure lounge where we had about an hour to wait.

Greger asked if we were happy with the trip and Gustav said “Not half as happy as you are, my friend.”

We talked about driving the trucks and the two of us agreed that they were awesome and so forgiving.

Greger was quiet for a while, “I don’t care how you found out, Antonia, but what you did for me this week has been far and away the most wonderful thing anyone has done for me. Halina is everything I dreamed of, and more because you share personalities. I asked her to marry me already and she said yes.”

I said that I was very happy for him and he stood, pulled me to my feet and gave me our first, and last, genuine kiss, hugged me and said, “Thank you so much, Antonia, you really are a genuine friend as well as a conniving minx.”

Back on the ground in Tallinn Greger told both me and Gustav that he didn’t want to see us in the office until Monday.

He left in the first taxi and Gustav commented, “I’ve stopped being surprised with things that happen when you’re around. That session with the Swedish army will stay with me the rest of my life. In one morning I did about twenty things with a truck that I thought would be impossible. I think I may have to roster myself on a few trips now and then.”

His taxi arrived and we hugged before he got in. I took the next taxi home and unpacked, taking the case back to Astrid’s other spare room. I put my laundry in the machine and hung away what I hadn’t worn.

I called Astrid and told her I was back and unpacked. She told me to wait for a call from her friend as she was going to have a fitting session this afternoon.

Her friend rang and gave me the address so I got into the car and went there. I was shown the outfits I would wear and also told what underwear I should bring tomorrow.

I then tried them all on. There was the red dress but, this time was shimmery with fringes rather than glass sparkles. There was a workday dress in Volvo colours and the Lundin name on it with “The Answer’ across the back.

Both were shorter than I would like. There was a bikini which I said I couldn’t wear so she got me a one-piece that was all right.

We then did a mock showing at a slow pace and I was shown a few tips from the more experienced models. I was told that I should turn up at the venue about five on Friday, and there would be a light buffet before with a party after.

As I was leaving I had a call from Berget who said that Greger had been into the office and was beaming. She wanted to know what had happened so I told her we had driven some trucks, over-powered the Volvo guys and found him a wife, nothing too drastic.

She then said, “He gave me tomorrow off and told me to go looking for somewhere to live for the two of us so I already rang the agent. He’ll meet us at the place you like at ten, can you pick me up?”

Next morning, about nine, I pulled up at her home, having already undergone a grilling from Astrid, who had heard that Greger was engaged.

Bergets’ mother was there and wasn’t happy that her daughter was going off to live with another woman. She was also unhappy that there wouldn’t be any grandchildren for her to spoil. We tried to placate her by saying we would arrange for grand-children if we could. We went off to the place in Lagedi which Berget declared perfect, for the next few years at least.

We went back to the agency and signed the paperwork, paying the deposit with two payments, one from me and the other from Berget as it would be in joint names. We would be able to pick up the keys in about a week after the owners had co-signed. We then went to the bank and organised the regular payments, the Lundin name clearing all obstacles.

That done, we found the best way to get to the new work-site where there was a hive of activity. There were earth levelling machines running up and down the site and surveyors pegging out the different buildings and the trench that would feed all the services in (and out) from the road.

Even though we would have a longer trip into the current yard we would be able to monitor this site fairly regularly. We went and had lunch where I had to take Berget through my last few days. She laughed when I described Halina’s entrance.

I told her that I thought that the two of them probably went to bed that first night as I knew that both were probably very ready.

We then spent some of the afternoon sitting by the Marina and chatting about our future. I knew that we were both also ready but it had to be a natural occurrence.

Later we went to the fashion show venue and I was sucked into the vortex of being turned into a model again. When I came out for my first walk on the catwalk I saw that Berget had been joined by the Lundin tribe as well as a few others from the office. It all went well and the Volvo work-dress was a hit.

The last one of mine was the fringed red mini and I was made up to look like the centrefold. This one I wore to the after-show party and was able to take home with me. Anders had a chat with the designer and left with a bag with the work-dress in.

I dropped Berget at her house with a kiss and said that she had better start softening up her mother. We would probably move into our home in a couple of weeks. All in all, it had been a big day that followed a very big week.

Marianne Gregory © 2022