Serena couldn't be sure if Hanssen had done it on purpose or not, but she had her suspicions; the office she had been assigned by the HR department was the size of a small garden shed; almost like a coffin. It was located right at the end of the corridor and seemed to have a constant humming sound from the ventilator which also spewed out cold air. She sighed heavily as she dumped her things on the tiny desk, struggling to get passed the small space between the desk and the wall. Under normal circumstances, she would storm into HR and demand they find her a suitable office, but she was still not feeling well and couldn't really be bothered to argue.
She carefully placed her laptop in front of her and took a seat. The desk chair made a strange squeaking sound as she sat down and then dropped at least five inches down, so that the desk barely reached her chin. She sat there for a second, unsure whether she wanted to laugh or scream out of frustration.
"Oh my," Michael Spence chuckled as he stepped into the tiny room. "This is . . . posh."
"Shut up, Michael," Serena quickly pushed the chair aside and got to her feet.
"I thought Hanssen banishing you to AAU was bad, but this . . . this is just cruel," he continued to chuckle.
Serena decided she'd had enough of him and once again squeezed between the desk and wall in order to get out which only made Michael laugh harder.
"I'm glad you find this so amusing," she glared at him.
"I'm sorry," he sputtered, wiping away a tear.
"This is ridiculous."
"No kidding," he glanced around the room. "Hey, you're more than welcome to steal your chair from AAU."
"That's exactly what I'm about to do," she smirked as she headed to the lift.
Michael followed her, still chuckling to himself when Henrik Hanssen stepped out into the corridor.
"Ms Campbell, everything alright?"
"Oh, everything's just peachy," she snapped.
"Mr Hanssen," Michael greeted.
"Ah, Mr Spence, I've been wanting to come down and see you on AAU."
"Well, there's no time like the present," Michael smirked. "Ms Campbell was just about to come down for an impromptu meeting."
Serena turned to glare at him again. "I didn't say that."
"Oh, that's right. You were coming to steal your chair so that you can look like less of a dwarf when you're at your desk," he chuckled again.
"Problems with your office equipment?" Hanssen turned to Serena.
"Nothing I can't deal with," she pressed the lift button viciously.
"If you require anything, I'm sure they might have some extra things in the basement."
"I'm fine," Serena finalized it.
"Well then, shall we?" Hanssen motioned for the open lift.
Serena bit her tongue as they all stepped in. There was an awkward silence that fell over them; as was the case with lifts. Serena was obviously in no mood to play nice. She had moved to the far corner of the lift with her arms folded across her chest. Almost like a petulant child.
Hanssen suppressed a smile. It was odd to see her sulk, but also strangely gratifying.
As soon as the lift opened, she was out of it like a shot and into Michael's office. Hanssen stood back, discussing AAU with Michael, but also acutely aware of Serena attempting to roll a desk chair out of Michael's office.
Serena was aware of the amount of time she was wasting trying to get her office sorted and she was still feeling decidedly ill, but she was determined. She pushed the chair through the door, almost falling over it when its leg got lodged. She pulled it back in and tried again, this time turning it slightly to the side, to no avail. It was heavier than she'd thought. Taking a deep breath, she tried to lift it and push it out. This time it worked and she dropped it just outside of the doorway, tripping over and falling into the chair which in turn rolled out from underneath her and flew into Michael's shin.
"Ouch!" Michael turned to see Serena lying face down on the floor.
"Do you need some assistance, Ms Campbell?" Hanssen turned to look at her, an amused look on his face.
"No, I'm fine," she said, still lying down on the floor. In truth, she just wanted to stay there forever and not move.
"I really wish we had CCTV for moments like these," Michael chuckled as he reached down to help her up.
Serena allowed him to, but was clearly beyond annoyed. "Give me my damn chair," she snapped.
Michael laughed as he rolled it along the corridor to the lift.
"Perhaps in the future, you should just ask for assistance," Hanssen said as he walked passed her. "It could get you out of a lot of trouble."
"I don't need assistance," she hissed, following him into the lift.
"I disagree."
"I don't . . ." she felt she was losing her temper with the tall man. "Don't tell me what to do."
"That is my job," Hanssen answered, avoiding her glare.
"It's like an old married couple," Michael smirked as the lift closed on him.
"Old?" Hanssen raised his eyebrow.
Serena didn't feel like joining in on the joke and instead leaned against the side panel in the lift, feeling the chair roll into her knee. She felt like kicking it.
"Would you care to tell me what's on your mind, Ms Campbell?" Hanssen finally turned to her.
"What makes you think there's something on my mind?"
"I can feel the anger emanating from your body," he replied.
"You can try whatever you want, I will not give up and leave. I have worked far too hard for this," she finally blurted out.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"My office," she snapped. "The coffin."
"Coffin?" Hanssen looked confused. "Ms Campbell, are you feeling quite alright?"
"Yes, it's small enough to be a coffin."
"Your office?"
"Yes, my office," Serena reiterated.
Hanssen gave her a strange look before the lift doors opened and they both stepped into the corridor. Serena dragged the chair behind her. She couldn't believe he was pretending not to know about the office situation.
"Uh, Ms Campbell?" Hanssen called.
She spun around, watching the confused look on Hanssen's face.
"Your office is this one," he motioned to the office directly opposite his own.
"What?"
Hanssen suppressed a smile as he watched her face drop. "You're heading to the store room."
"HR said room five-owe-six."
"Yes, and the store room is now five-owe-seven."
"Since when?"
"Since four weeks ago," Hanssen moved to open the door to her office.
Serena left the chair behind and walked towards him, feeling incredibly stupid as she stepped into the office which overlooked the car park. It was only slightly smaller than Hanssen's. She wasn't sure what to say.
"I'm not in the business of making your life difficult, Ms Campbell," Hanssen said from the doorway.
She felt like apologizing, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She just stood there for a few seconds in silence until she heard Hanssen roll her desk chair in. "I don't believe you'll be needing this, but I'm certain you won't want to bring it all the way back down to AAU," his lips twitched upwards as he watched her stare at the floor sheepishly. She had a lot to learn. "Like I said, asking for assistance is not a weakness."