AN: I know! I have several other stories on the go and where are the updates for them? They're being written bit by bit but this one wouldn't let me rest until I'd started it and written quite a bit of it.
This will probably reference some events in 'Push the Button (pt.1)' when Hanssen returns to Holby but is unlikely to mention anything else so this is strictly AU from the middle of January. I'm most certainly ignoring Adrienne McKinnie; as well as that storyline was done, it has no place here and would provide a distraction that I don't need. So Serena's mother is hale and hearty and will remain so as far as this tale is concerned.
This won't have too many chapters, around ten perhaps, unlikely to be any more than fifteen chapters, the basic outline is already written (makes a change, believe me). This story starts just after Hanssen's return and the two main character's do not like each other... but they will, they just don't know it yet. :-)
All the usual disclaimers apply – I don't own anything Holby-related; I'm merely playing in their sandbox and I will put all the characters back when I'm done in a better condition than I found them.
One final thing - you may recognise a reference to a comment from Catherine Russell at one point. Bonus points if you get it.
...
Performance Management
Chapter One.
"Very well, Ms. Campbell; I shall send you an email with the meeting time."
"Fine," Serena answers, trying to mask her annoyance. "Well, if there's nothing else?"
Hanssen shakes his head and Serena stands, quickly making her way out of the boardroom; the other senior consultants have long since departed the meeting room, leaving only the Director of Surgery and the newly-elected Executive Director of Surgery. Serena is eager to leave and put as much distance between her and the Swede as she can.
"Please shut the door quietly on your way out." Serena's step falters slightly and she sneers, almost sorry at knowing that Hanssen won't be able to see her expression. He's been back a week from wherever he was holed up in Sweden and it's been seven days of thinly-veiled mockery and Serena wonders how on earth she dealt with the arrogant and condescending man before his sabbatical without entertaining frequent ideas of the man's death.
As her hand closes on the door handle, Serena briefly entertains the idea of slamming the door or deliberately leaving it ajar as she strides off down the corridor, resolutely ignoring what was, until recently, her office. In the end, she does neither, deciding that the fleeting sense of satisfaction she'll derive from her moment of rebellion won't be worth the hassle she'll get in the long run.
As Serena gets into the lift, she glances at her watch, scowling as she realises that Hanssen has delayed her elective; since her appointment as Executive Director of Surgery, she is bound by the same European Working Time Regulations which limit her surgeries to three per week and she is damned if she is going to miss thirty three percent of her weekly theatre time because of the Swede's self-importance.
"Sorry I'm late," Serena calls over to the registrar stood over the patient; she'd changed into scrubs in record time and scrubbed in as quickly as she can allow.
"Too busy having fun with the boss man?" Malick teases gently and Serena rolls her eyes.
"Ugh, hardly – I've seen more life in the morgue." Serena grimaces after responding and she shoots a warning glare at Malick – she probably shouldn't have said that but Malick deliberately ignores her look, knowing better than to repeat her comment. "Anyway, how did you know that's where I was?" Serena asks, watching the registrar make an incision.
"Ric told me." The younger surgeon answers casually a few moments later.
"Of course he did," Serena mutters tiredly, just loud enough for Malick to hear.
"He did at least tell me you might be late." Malick points out, defending his friend and Serena's fellow consultant on Keller. Serena hums, not convinced that Ric's actions were as altruistic as Malick is portraying. "So what did the big H want? Any news from on high or an explanation for his absence and equally sudden reappearance?"
"Not a bloody word." Serena grumbles under her mask, Hanssen still isn't saying anything and it's driving her mad – they deserve some kind of an explanation. She's given up any hope of thanks for stepping into the breach and running the hospital in his absence and frowns in response to Malick's amusement.
"Well, he obviously has his reasons for keeping shtum, I suppose we just have to respect his wishes." Malick responds sagely, looking at her over his face mask.
"Have I missed something? When did you decide to turn into Ric Griffin?" Serena mocks.
"We could do worse than channelling the Griffmeister." Malick informs her and Serena huffs, far from convinced. She'd rather not channel Ric, the man's borderline pedestrian speed is nearly as infuriating as Hanssen's constant rudeness. Serena glares at Malick in mock annoyance and the registrar chuckles, if they weren't in theatre, they both know that she would probably cuff him.
"Careful," she warns him, the scalpel close to catching a blood vessel and Malick's complete focus returns to the table in front of him and Serena picks up an instrument from a tray offered by a scrub nurse, ready to take over once Malick's bit is complete.
A couple of hours later, the patient has been taken to recovery and baring any unforeseen complications, should be discharged sooner rather than later to Serena's satisfaction. The two surgeons make their way back onto the ward and Serena heads to the staff changing room to change back into her everyday clothes, not wanting to stay in scrubs any longer than she has to. She isn't often self-conscious about her appearance but Keller's red scrubs do nothing for her and she can't help but think of a giant, red raspberry any time she catches sight of her reflection, not quite the look she was aiming for.
...
Placing a recently acquired cup of tea on her desk, Serena boots up her laptop, unable to put off delaying her paperwork for any longer. As she waits, she fastens her necklace back around her neck; the jewellery was a present from her Dad before he died and although she removes it for surgery, it barely leaves her neck the rest of the time. Running her fingers over the cool metal and glass pendant, Serena thinks of her father briefly and then her mother, making a mental note to ring and catch up. She has been too busy recently and hasn't spoken to her mum since a quick chat on Christmas Day morning.
The laptop beeps impatiently at Serena, bringing her attention back into the office and she realises that she has accidentally lent an elbow on one of the keys. Serena logs into her hospital email account, typing the password with one hand as the other reaches blindly for her mug of tea.
She only has one new message since she last checked her emails earlier this afternoon, it's a rare and pleasant discovery and she takes a grateful mouthful of tea as she double clicks on the one email from 'Henrik Hanssen', resigning herself to being his paperwork gopher for a little while longer.
Serena doesn't know what it was that she said in response to Hanssen's email, the response is involuntary but she is aware that her outburst is enough to make Ric looks up sharply from his desk. Blinking to clear her eyes, Serena re-reads the message, hoping to find that she had misread it but there is no mistake.
"Serena?" Ric's tone is a little wary, as if he doesn't really want to know what has caused such a reaction but feels obliged to ask.
"I can't believe that man." It takes her a few seconds to respond, by which time Ric had returned to whatever it was that he was doing before Serena interrupted him.
"What has he done now?" Serena half-watches Ric take his glasses off and lay them on the desk in front of him, on top of the folder he was updating.
"He has scheduled our meeting for 7pm on Friday." She tells her colleague, chosing to ignore the way Ric sighs as she reads out part of Hanssen's message, her tone revealing her disdain for the idea.
"So?"
"So even if he doesn't, I have a life outside this hospital-"
"As well as a nice, shiny, new title." Ric interrupts and reminds her and Serena looks at her colleague, wondering if Ric is in any way bitter about the fact that Hanssen picked her over him.
"I have a life outside this hospital," she repeats, pretending to ignore Ric's contribution. "And I'm not willing to sacrifice what little time I do get to spend with Eleanor to sit there and listen to Hanssen's barbs and insults."
"Why don't you tell him that then?" Serena huffs, exasperated at her colleague's suggestions.
"If you don't have anything actually useful to say, Ric..." She shoots him a glare.
"Apart from to say that I find myself glad that I wasn't picked for a job I didn't want in the first place?" Serena scowls. "I'm sure you'll both learn an awful lot from the experience." Saying nothing further, Ric replaces his glasses and ignores Serena as he reaches behind him to turn up his music a fraction and continues to update his patient folders.
Serena doesn't say anything further about Ric's music, she has quite liked his selection this morning but her focus has been reduced to the email on the screen in front of her.
Ms. Campbell,
Further to our discussion this afternoon, I have scheduled a meeting for this Friday at 7pm.
Regards
HH
...
Serena opens the only door on the fifth floor which has a light still on behind it; 'everyone else having already left and gone home to their families', she grumbles to herself, still annoyed at the Swede's decision to host this meeting after 7pm on a Friday, more than an hour after her shift has finished.
Serena deliberately omits the knock, in a somewhat childish attempt to rile and provoke a response from the stoic Swede. However, to her disappointment, aside from slightly pursing his lips, Hanssen doesn't react at all, his focus entirely on the screen in front of him.
Fed up already, Serena shuts the door smartly, she is in a bit of a fractious mood and barely avoids throwing herself into the familiar chair on the visitor's side of the desk; something that infuriates Serena to no end when her daughter does it and she doesn't waste any time, letting Hanssen know, non-verbally that she isn't happy to be here, it's the end of the week and she wants to be on her way home and definitely doesn't want to be just sitting down in a meeting with Henrik Hanssen.
Hanssen, almost as if he is expecting Serena's behaviour, continues to ignore her and part of Serena wants to know what is so interesting on the screen he is intently staring at. Looking down at her watch, she notes that it is just past seven pm, she was on time, if not early and elects to give Hanssen one more minute to finish what he was doing.
In reality, Serena's patience only lasts about twenty seconds and when Hanssen still makes no effort to even acknowledge her presence, she decides that she has had enough of the man's rudeness. If he can't be bothered to start the meeting that he arranged, then, as far as Serena is concerned, the man can whistle and they can do this at some point on Monday.
"Forget it," she mutters, standing up, she is ready to go home, put her feet up with a small glass of something and hear Eleanor moan about boys. 'Wait 'til you get to my age', she wryly thinks, 'they don't get any better'.
"Sit down, Ms. Campbell." Hanssen's voice breaks the silence, his authoritative tone simultaneously encouraging her to obey as well as rebel against his instruction and she whirls around on the spot to face him, her loose shirt billowing slightly as she does.
"Just so you can ignore me?" Serena questions, not waiting for an answer. "I don't think so."
"Sit down, Ms. Campbell." Hanssen repeats his command in a voice which would probably make most of the other staff quiver in fear. Serena laughs humourlessly at Hanssen's threat to remove her from her position as Executive Director of Surgery should she take a single step outside of the room.
"I'm sure that Terrance would overrule you on that." Serena responds instantly, enjoying the restrained reaction by the Swede. Although in actuality, Serena can barely stand the smarmy and utterly ineffective Chairman of the Board, the point is that Hanssen doesn't know that, 'and neither does Cunningham, come to think of it', Serena thinks to herself. Her casual use of the Chairman's name is designed to remind Hanssen that although he is currently at the top of the hospital food chain, his present position is far from secure and that she is currently flavour of the month.
"The sooner you cooperate, Ms. Campbell, the sooner we can finish." Serena huffs, the man is never going to admit his own culpability and she just wants to go home and get this week over and done with.
The meeting starts and continues on in the same vein, the obvious distrust apparent on both sides as they talk about Serena's new role and its responsibilities; it takes nearly an hour of haggling and negotiation before Hanssen calls an end to the meeting and if Serena wasn't entertaining thoughts about strangling Hanssen before, she is now.
Serena escapes as soon as she can, offering a sarcastic, "have a good weekend." Hanssen seems unperturbed and merely leans back in his chair before responding in kind.
and just as Serena's hand closes around the door handle, she hears him mention that there will be another meeting at the same time next Friday. Scowling at the door, Serena doesn't respond, pretending not to hear him and leaves the room, almost marching down the corridor, towards her freedom.
As she heads home, later than she would have liked, she casts her mind back over the week she's had. Serena and Hanssen may be forced to work together but she doubts that they will ever get over the mutual mistrust, let alone like one another. She toys with the idea of picking up a take-away as a treat for not murdering the Swede.
Scowling at the door, Serena doesn't respond and leaves the room, almost marching down the corridor towards her freedom. Collecting her bag from her office, Serena texts her daughter, suggesting an Indian take-away as a treat for not murdering the Swede. Putting her bag on the passenger seat of her car, Serena's phone vibrates with a message and she fishes it out, squinting at the bright screen, it's Eleanor.
'Korma please x'
Serena starts her car, heading home much later than she would have liked, casting her mind back over the week she's had; Serena and Hanssen may be forced to work together but she doubts that they will ever get over the mutual mistrust, let alone like one another. She pulls out of the hospital grounds, heading towards the Holby ring road, glad that the meeting is over and she can finally put Henrik Hanssen out of her mind until the Monday morning warzone and is looking forward to putting her feet up with a curry and a couple of glasses of something cold.
...
AN: There will be another meeting next week with a bit more friction too :-)
Looking forward to hearing/reading what you thought of this start and as always, any feedback would be gratefully received.