"You promised me you'd call."

The excessive sound of his partner's pen tapping against the desk was jarring to Edvard's ears. He sighed quietly, careful not to attract any attention as their colleague, Heino Talvik, spoke to the small gathering of leaders regarding new cyber security measures.

"I know, I'm sorry. Everything happened so fast that night."

"I'm sure it did." The tone of that sentence hit him hard in the chest. "I saw the stream of the speech you gave. It was nicely done."

With a mere thanks, the conversation has gone cold. Vesa lays back into his seat and he tries his best to look interested. But Edvard can read his face as clear as day and knows well that Vesa's mind is elsewhere.

"I wanted to call you." Edvard continued, his voice barely above a whisper. "But I knew you were in India on business. I didn't want to wake you."

"I will always pick up the phone for you no matter what time of the day it is." Vesa replied calmly. Edvard felt a wave of guilt him. He only had good intentions when he made those choices on election night. "Are you angry with me?"

The tapping of his pen finally ceases.

"No." He sighs. "I'm disappointed, but not angry. I can forgive the little things like that."

The lack of change in his facial expressions does little to ease him, but his words still have an effect on him when a tiny grin makes a brief appearance on his face.

"Will you still be stopping by this weekend?"

Edvard began to feel nervous when he didn't hear anything in return. It took several moments before he felt Vesa's fingers brush against his own under the table. Edvard took his hand as if he was hanging on for dear life and gave it a tight squeeze. A feeling of calm hit him immediately when Vesa's spoke his final words at the conclusion of the presentation.

"For sure."