"Drinks tonight at Albie's?" Raf asked as they went back into the hospital. "That will give you some time to think about what we saw today, and then maybe I can answer some questions you might have."

Serena smiled at him as she pressed the button for the lift. "I think that would be nice, yes. And you're right, the buffer will give me some time to consider everything." He winked at her before peeling off for the stairs, and she shook her head a little, not wanting to overly exert herself. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone that interrupted her thoughts as she rode up to AAU, and Serena mulled over things in her mind.

"Head lost in the clouds, Serena?"

She looked up as she stepped off the elevator, seeing that she had very nearly bowled Henrik over, as she hadn't been paying attention to where she was heading. Shrugging her shoulders a little, she sidled up next to him, a little smile on her lips. "I think that I might have been thinking too hard. Elinor has decided that the only thing to help her deal with my divorce is riding lessons. Raf and I were out looking at a barn this afternoon, but we're going to wait until tonight to go over what I observed."

"Is anyone in your family a rider?" She shook her head. "Then this certainly will be a new enterprise for you. Which way do you find yourself leaning?"

"I want to give my daughter whatever she wants, over course," she replied as they started walking towards her office. "But I feel like that might indulge her more selfish tendencies. She threw a tantrum to even get me to consider the idea, so I don't want to encourage that behavior. But Bernie seems to think that riding will do her some good."

"Bernie?"

"Bernie Wolfe, the owner of the stable. Perhaps she's right, it might instill a core of responsibility in my daughter that she has been lacking up until now."

Henrik laughed gently as he took a seat next to her desk. "If Elinor is anything like you, then stubbornness runs through her veins." She blushed as she nodded. "Then, I think that you will have a very interesting choice ahead of you."

"I do believe that you're right. Will you join us at Albie's tonight? Raf and I are going to talk about everything that I saw today."

"I would enjoy that, Serena."

They shared a knowing glance before Henrik got up and made his way from the room. Once he had left, Serena leaned back in her chair and stared at the wall, trying to imagine what the right course of action would be. It wasn't too long, though, before Mary Claire was coming to get her for her scheduled elective surgery, and then she was thrust right back into work mode for the rest of the day, hardly stopping to think of anything related to riding or horses or her daughter's whims.

By the time she had changed out of her scrubs and into her street clothes, it was close to six, and she hoped that Raf or Henrik had managed to snag a table before the rest of the hospital crew traipsed over to the bar. Running her fingers through her hair, she smiled at her reflection and then picked up her satchel and began to head out to the bar.

To her immense relief, Henrik was sitting in front of the fireplace, a tall glass of beer in his hand. Looking towards the bar, she saw Raf was in line to order, and she scurried over to his side, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention. "Serena!"

"Sorry I'm later than I thought. Could you get me a glass of Shiraz? I'll pick up the next round."

"Sounds good to me."

She nodded and then went over to Henrik's side, taking a seat across from him to be closer to the fire. "I hope that the running of the hospital treated you gently today. I do not regret turning that role back over to you, at all."

He gave her a small smile before taking a sip of his drink. "It was a good day, nothing out of the ordinary happened, and I was able to secure us some more funding for the new expansion on AAU. Overall, I would say that that is a good day."

"I'd say so," she murmured as she snuggled back into the chair, gazing into the fire. A gentle silence fell between them, and so she was startled when Raf handed her the wine glass. Wrapping her fingers around the stem, she turned so that she could look at both of them, a smile dancing on her lips. "Elinor wants to take riding lessons."

"And you're going to let her."

She cocked her head as she regarded Henrik carefully. "You sound very confident of that."

"I know you, Serena. You love your daughter more than anything, and so, will give her what her heart desires. If that happens to be riding lessons, then that is what she'll get. Elinor is a smart girl, she knows how to get what she wants. But you are smarter and more experienced, and so know how to temper that desire in her in order to make certain that she grows up into a fine young woman."

She nodded a little, sipping at her wine before turning her head to look at Raf. "And what do you think, Raf?"

"I think that you would be well served to get her into lessons at Ms Wolfe's barn. I was really enamored with the way that she encouraged her riders to take personal responsibility of their mount. This will also help build all the positive traits in your daughter that you want. Plus, Ms Wolfe seems like she's not all posh like some barn owners can be. I felt completely at ease around her."

"I did, too," she murmured, catching the quick smirk that Raf tried to swallow. "Honestly, she was completely nice, and I would love to be her friend."

"Yes, friend, of course." Henrik picked up on the tone in Raf's voice and looked at her, arching one eyebrow in gentle inquisitiveness.

"Serena?"

"We had good chemistry! The best people are able to spark off each other instantly, and we had that. It's not like we'd ever be anything more than friends, I'm certain that I saw a wedding band on her hand, and I like sex with men. Isn't that right, Henrik?" She decided to tease the man a little, needing to get the attention off her and her supposed attraction to the horsewoman.

Just as she thought would happen, Henrik's face went white and then bright red as he gulped down some more of his beer before clearing his throat and looking at the fire. "I wouldn't know what you're talking about Serena," he said evenly, and she chuckled as she shook her head. "Though I do seem to recall that staff party last year, when you were more than a little tipsy…"

"Thank you, I remember that night clearly enough, Henrik." Her words were a little more clipped than necessary, so she tempered them with a tiny wink, watching him chuckle in response. "Now, before we embarrass each other any further, why don't we ask Mister di Lucca how his infatuation with a certain nurse is going?" Raf looked away from them, only for all their gazes to be drawn to the person in question, and it was all Serena could do to keep from cackling in glee, knowing that this evening was most definitely going to be a good one.