Serena woke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. It was a welcoming scent and she felt drawn to it. She hadn't noticed Henrik get up, but then she had been exhausted. The previous day had been emotionally draining. Glancing towards the door she smiled to find her clothes carefully folded and placed on the dresser. Henrik was such a perfectionist. She could picture him drying her clothes and folding them in perfect symmetry.
She pulled them on, knowing full well that she would have to go home and get changed or the rumour mill would go into over drive at Holby. She could hear Henrik moving about in the kitchen and quickly headed over to see what he was doing. Pausing at the doorway, she watched as he placed a plate of toast on the centre of the table, making sure to move the salt and pepper on either side.
"Good morning," he said, looking a bit surprised at her presence.
"Morning," she smiled.
"Ah, you found your clothes," he motioned towards her.
"Yes, thank you for that. Definitely not what I was expecting."
"Coffee?" He held out a cup to her.
"Thank you, Mr Hanssen," her eyes sparkled as she took it from him, watching as he moved towards her and kissed her. "I could do with this kind of service every morning," she smiled.
"It can most certainly be arranged," he whispered into her ear before moving back to the stove.
"I might actually skip breakfast," she said. "I need to go get changed. I can imagine Michael Spence's comments if I turned up in yesterday's clothes."
"Toast at least?" He looked almost hopeful.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," she sipped her coffee.
"I'll drive you in," he said.
"Uh, no," Serena quickly answered. "I'll get a taxi in. We still have to hide this from the rest of them. You know as well as I do that if the members of the board find out about this, we're in trouble."
Hanssen observed her for a moment. She was right. He nodded.
She moved closer to him, fixing his tie. "I love you in this shirt."
He smiled, pulling her closer to him. "We have gotten ourselves into a bit of a predicament, haven't we?"
"I suppose so," she sighed, resting her head against his chest. "But then who said life would be easy, right?"
Hanssen watched as she moved away from him and out of the kitchen. The feeling of waking up with her was exhilarating; knowing that she had chosen to stay with him, that she felt something towards him. It filled him with hope. He had been so incredibly lonely most of his life.
"Henrik!" Serena called from the living room.
He dropped the spatula he had been mindlessly holding and rushed through to the living room, immediately picking up on the urgency in her voice. She was standing next to the counter, holding her mobile. Her face looked pale.
"What is it?" He moved towards her.
She passed him her phone, watching as his face turned serious. "You don't recognize the number?" He asked as he took a closer look at the photo of them leaving their hotel room together.
"No."
He scrolled down to read the message: You don't want this getting out, do you?
"I don't know what this is about," Serena said in a stern tone. "This is ridiculous. No one from Holby was at that conference except us."
"Which means it has to be someone who was there," Hanssen nodded. "But who?"
Serena tried to think back to the evening of the conference. Her memory of that night was hazy at best. The most memorable part had been spending the night with Henrik. "It could've been anyone."
"But what could anyone at that conference possibly get out of this?"
"That remains to be seen," Hanssen sighed.
"You think this is building up to something?"
"I think whoever it is, is obviously trying to get our attention."
"Well it's worked," Serena took her phone from Hanssen. "What do you suggest we do?"
"I suggest we continue as normal. No doubt we will be contacted soon," he said. "I'll drop you home."
Serena watched him disappear into the kitchen, still trying to remember all the faces from the conference. Had they offended anyone that night?
The day seemed to move quickly. It was busy as usual and Serena hadn't had a moment for a break. She had already gotten through several electives as well as a few emergency cases sent up from AAU. She took a seat as her desk, reaching down for the cinnamon bun that Michael had very sweetly bought her as a gesture of good will after she had accepted one of his emergency cases. A knock at the door made her pause, looking up as Hanssen stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
"I'm hoping this is going to be a pleasurable visit," she smiled.
"I'm afraid not," he answered. "I've just received an email from Mr James Dyson."
Serena raised her eyebrow. "Who?"
"James Dyson," he repeated. "He currently works as a surgeon at St James."
"Okay," she was still confused.
Hanssen took a seat opposite her. "He's our culprit."
Serena sat forward, resting her arms on her desk. "I don't recognize the name."
"Perhaps this will jog your memory," he passed her a folded up piece of paper.
She quickly opened it and froze as she noticed the man's photo on the staff profile that Hanssen had printed off of St James' database. "Oh my god."
"He was seated at our table," Hanssen said. "And if I recall correctly, he was very happy to walk you back to your room."
"I remember him," she nodded. "What does he want?"
"He wants to become a senior surgical consultant at Holby."
"Come again?" Serena observed Hanssen.
"He's threatening to expose our 'relationship' unless I offer him the position."
"Well, that's not going to happen," she said.
"That was my first reaction too," Hanssen nodded. "But in hindsight, perhaps it would be a better move. If he exposes us, we would have to explain it to the board; both of our careers would be tainted. However, if we keep him happy, we don't have to worry."
"But he might hold that over us for the rest of our careers," Serena spat. "No, we need to fight this."
"And how would you like to do that?" Hanssen asked angrily.
"We find something on him," she answered, shrugging.
"So we get involved in a mudslinging match?"
"It's better than caving in."
"And have you thought what may happen if we don't find anything on him?"
"Everyone has a secret," Serena replied, watching him closely. "We just have to find out what his is."
"And you're pleased with that? Threatening him?"
"What would you have me do?" Serena said, getting annoyed. "Sit back and agree with you?"
"I'm not asking you to agree with me, I'm asking you to . . ." Hanssen was cut off by Michael Spence.
Michael observed them both for a second. "Have I intruded on something?"
"Not at all," Hanssen got to his feet.
"Are you sure? I mean, I can come back," Michael said, noting the tension.
"That won't be necessary, Mr Spence," Hanssen answered, moving towards the door. "I have to organize an interview."
"I thought we weren't considering that?" Serena hissed, ignoring the surprised look on Michael's face as she jumped up from behind her desk and raced after the tall man. "Henrik!" she called sternly, trying not to draw attention to them. He continued to the lift, obviously ignoring her.
She pushed the lift doors open, noticing the scrubs nurse in the corner. "Can you excuse us, please?"
The nurse looked surprised to say the least, but quickly moved passed Serena, leaving her and Hanssen alone in the lift.
"Well, if you were concerned about an explosion in the rumour mill earlier, you most certainly have not made any attempt to diffuse it."
"I don't agree with giving in so easily. We don't need another consultant," she slammed her fist against the basement button.
"I would much rather hire him than sink to his level."
"Sink to his level?" Serena moved closer to Hanssen. "So that's what I'm doing, is it?"
"If we resort to his kind of tactics, that makes us no better than him. It's much easier to hire the man and see how he performs. He might surprise us all."
"Right, so lying and cheating gets you everywhere?"
"It most certainly does not, but in this case, it would make life lot easier."
"So, just roll over and allow him to walk all over us?"
"Why are you so against admitting defeat?" Hanssen felt he was losing his temper.
"Why are you so ready to give up?" Serena found herself almost shouting at him. The lift doors opened and they both stepped out into the deserted basement. "You can't just accept defeat all the time. Have you ever fought back?"
"This is hardly the time," he hissed.
"This is the perfect time!" She yelled. "Don't just give up!"
Hanssen felt himself once again drawn to this woman who was making his blood boil. She was right; in life, he had mostly given up when he felt incapable of something; just like he had done with his son – he had abandoned Maja to raise his own son. He had given up.
"What?" Serena watched him stare back at her. "What are you thinking?"
Hanssen grabbed her shoulders, almost knocking her into the wall, kissing her with every ounce of adrenaline running through his veins. She seemed to be taken aback for a split second before reciprocating and running her hand through his hair, pulling him closer to her with the other. Hanssen reached behind her and pushed the store room door open, slamming it shut behind them, leaving them both in darkness. He reached down to her, pulling her into another kiss as she unbuttoned his jacket, tossing it to the floor. He lifted her up against a shelf, pressing his body against hers. If this was what happened every time they had a heated argument, he would definitely continue to annoy her in the future, he thought as he kissed her neck, smiling as her breathing become erratic. She responded by running her nails down his back and using her leg to pull him closer.
Michael Spence checked his watch. Serena had been away for over half an hour. She had seemed really angry when she had stormed after Hanssen. And had she called him Henrik? Michael could have sworn he heard her call the man by his first name as she raced after him. He was about to call her when she appeared from the lift, looking flustered.
"Everything okay?" He asked as she stepped into the office.
"Fine," she nodded. "Everything's fine."
"So, what was all that about?" Michael observed her.
"Just a misunderstanding," she answered.
Michael broke out into a broad grin.
"What?" She paused, looking at him.
"You missed a button," he chuckled, stepping out of the office.
Serena looked down at her blouse, blushing as she noticed the middle button was still open. She glanced at Michael who was still chuckling as he met with a patient. She had never seen Henrik as passionate as he had been. She couldn't stop thinking about it. It had been one of the most exciting moments of her life; he was intimidating and yet magnetic at the same time.
She fell back into her seat, still feeling the tingling sensation on her skin from where he had touched her. Trying to focus, she turned her computer on and searched for a name she had once been good friends with. If Hanssen didn't want to fight back, then she would. "May I speak with Mrs Trudy Hall, please? " Serena waited patiently as the receptionist transferred her call. "Trudy?" She asked upon hearing a familiar voice. "Serena Campbell here. I need a favour."