"Can you get that, Ellie?"
Serena calls through from the kitchen and there's some kind of unintelligible response from her daughter, so Serena assumes that she has gone to answer the door. She had been clearing away the last of the dinner remains, in the middle of stacking plates into the dishwasher when the doorbell had rung.
She can hear Eleanor's voice but can't distinguish what she is saying or who to and Serena assumes that it's Gabby or another friend come to visit and she turns back to continue to stack the dishwasher, pausing for a moment to rinse some potato starch off one of the plates, lest it clog everything up.
Serena senses, rather than hears the presence in the kitchen doorway behind her and she turns around, a little surprised to see Hanssen stood there, still in his suit but shoes removed, probably placed neatly by the front door. Her surprise is obviously visible to Hanssen because he immediately looks uncomfortable, like he feels out of place.
"Hello you." Serena smiles at her Swede, attempting to show him that she is pleased to see him, she crosses the room towards him, around the middle island, taking the opportunity to steal a kiss without a comment from Eleanor or a knowing look from Adrienne.
He tastes of coffee and Serena realises that he's only just left the hospital; she had invited him over for dinner this morning, the interaction seeming a lot more than just over twelve hours ago but when 8pm brought no sign of Hanssen, Serena gave up waiting for him.
"I didn't expect to see you this evening." She tells him, waving away his apology. "It doesn't matter, you're here now. Are you hungry? We've already eaten but I did save you some just in case..."
Without waiting for an answer, Serena steps away from Hanssen and sets about fixing him something to eat, knowing full well that Hanssen won't have eaten since lunchtime. As she works, moving from one part of the kitchen to another, she instructs Hanssen to get rid of his suit jacket and tie and make himself at home. Hanssen reluctantly complies and Serena frowns as she watches him in the kitchen window's reflection; there's something off about him tonight.
Serena sits with Hanssen, watching him as he meticulously cuts up his food, eating one section before moving on to the next, another quirk of his which is utterly perplexing to her. She tries to engage him in conversation, a task which is proving far more frustrating than usual.
"A long day today..."
"Indeed."
The polite, yet distant response rankles Serena, it's been obvious all day that something has unsettled Hanssen but there isn't any call for him to try and dismiss her inquiries as he would fend off a member of the Board asking after his health.
Serena isn't certain whether to ask Hanssen outright what's bothering him or find a more subtle way; she knows that he'll almost certainly see through any pretence but Serena hopes that he'll appreciate the effort at least. As long as she has known him, Hanssen has deflected and outright avoided answering any questions about anything which could be troubling him and Serena can only guess why.
"Did you not want to have dinner with Maja before she goes back to Sweden?" Serena asks around a sip of tea, opting for a line of questioning somewhere between direct and circuitous.
"I told Dr. Johansson that I had a prior engagement." Hanssen answers succinctly.
"This was hardly more important, it certainly could have waited, I wouldn't have minded."
The situation between the two Swedish doctors remains as unclear as ever; Maja had said they are long-time friends but she had heard Hanssen raise his voice to Maja as Serena approached the fifth floor office in the mid afternoon. Maja had said something in return which had silenced Hanssen and Serena had crept away, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping. Not that it would have mattered, they were communicating in Swedish and Serena didn't have a clue what they were saying to one another. Hanssen has nearly finished his meal and is remaining stubbornly silent.
"Maja said you were friends, surely you'd want to catch up with her-"
"It's none of your business, Serena." Hanssen snaps, cutting her off. "And I would thank you to stop trying to interfere."
"Oh yes, Heaven forbid anyone try and help you." Serena stands, his words sting and she throws her hands up, trying to cover her reaction. "Do what you want, Henrik." She pushes her chair back and takes several steps towards the door, there's just no talking to Hanssen when he's in this kind of snit.
"But if your behaviour today towards Maja has been anything like tonight with me, an apology should be the very least you need to do." Hanssen doesn't turn around to face her or say anything but Serena can see his Adam's apple move as he swallows and the muscles in his cheek twitch as his jaw clenches.
She turns without another word and heads upstairs to have a shower, quite content to let Hanssen stew in his own juices in the kitchen. Serena thinks it more than likely that Hanssen will be gone by the time she returns back downstairs.
Serena steps out of the shower and gets changed back into the clothes she'd been wearing before – it's too late to get changed into something else, to wear for all of an hour before going to bed. Wondering what she'll say to Hanssen, Serena unlocks the bathroom door, meeting Adrienne steadily making her way up the stairs, on her way to bed.
"Everything ok, Rena?"
"There are days when I just want to shake some sense into him." Serena confesses, referring to Hanssen, knowing that her mother probably heard her earlier outburst. "But tomorrow is a new day..." she adds, not best pleased that the last part sounded far too much like Ric Griffin for Serena's liking. The two women talk for a few more moments before heading their separate ways.
Serena starts in the kitchen, wondering if she'll find Hanssen where she left him but there's no sign of him. Serena assumes his plate is in the dishwasher which is now turned on and part-way through a cycle. Sighing, she hopes that she was wrong, that Hanssen has decided to remain instead of heading off with his tail between his legs but Eleanor, sat in the living room confirms that Hanssen had left.
"He said he was on the night-shift tonight and that it starts soon so he had to head off or he'd be late." Serena knows that Hanssen's excuse isn't true, that Ric is on nights for the next couple of days but makes a show of accepting Eleanor's explanation, not wanting to reveal any discord between her and Hanssen. "Nan and I could hear you from in here; I told him to get apologising to you sooner rather than later." Eleanor adds and once more Serena is discomforted by he daughter's perceptiveness and she dreads to think how Hanssen took Eleanor's suggestion to apologise.
"What did he say to that?" Serena asks, wary of the answer.
"Thank you for your feedback."
Eleanor attempts to mimic Hanssen's speech patterns and Serena drops down onto the sofa next to her, resigning herself to apologising for Eleanor's behaviour to yet another colleague. Something digs into her hip as she half sits, half lies back against the sofa and she discovers that her mobile phone is the uncomfortable culprit. Serena fiddles with it for a moment or two before putting it firmly on the arm of the sofa; she won't ring Hanssen or send him a message – Serena doubts that anything from her would be welcome right now.
"What are you doing?" Serena had tried to glance over to see what Eleanor is doing but her daughter is writing in such a way that her view is blocked.
"I've got some French work to do..." Eleanor answers in a too-innocent tone of voice, obviously hoping that Serena won't question her any further.
"Due tomorrow?" Serena asks, knowing full well that the likelihood is high.
"No." Eleanor answers, too quickly for Serena's liking and she raises an eyebrow at Eleanor who defends her answer. "It's not due tomorrow! It's due Thursday." Eleanor admits after a few moments and Serena rolls her eyes.
"The day after tomorrow is hardly much better," Serena chastises and it's Eleanor's turn to roll her eyes.
"Henrik has been really helpful." Eleanor comments, no doubt in an attempt to draw Serena's attention away from the upcoming deadline and she lets it happen, not wanting to get into a second unnecessary argument in the same evening.
"Oh?" Serena waits for Eleanor to expand her comment and she obliges.
"Practising with him has been really good, Mum. Mrs. Harvey said that I'm one of the best now and that I should really think about going on the exchange in a couple of months." Serena smiles, pleased at Eleanor's enthusiasm and also at Hanssen's role in Eleanor's success. "What do you reckon?"
"I think it's a good idea," Serena responds. As long as Eleanor perceives that she is doing well, her interest in the subject will remain; only when Eleanor starts to struggle are there problems. "You and Henrik will need to keep practising though; what do you two talk about? Do you have certain topics?"
"What do you mean?" Eleanor queries.
"When I did my German A-Level, I remember mostly talking about Die Umwelt." She catches sight of Eleanor's blank face. "The environment," she translates, "it felt like that was all we studied and even now when we have meetings about the environmental impact of the hospital, I break out into a cold sweat, recalling hours of German lessons."
Eleanor laughs and Serena smiles, enjoying the light-hearted exchange – they don't enjoy each other's company anywhere near as often as Serena would like.
"I talk about all kinds of things," Eleanor pauses and counts them on her fingers. "College; home; stuff of the news; you..." Part of her dreads to think what they say about her, knowing full well that Serena won't understand them. Serena doesn't like Eleanor's expression as her daughter confesses that she is a topic of conversation and she elbows Eleanor in the ribs.
"What does Henrik talk about?" Serena asks, curious.
"Not too much, mostly medicine," Eleanor answers thoughtfully, her expression suggesting that she is replaying some of their conversations. "Oh and the weather, I think he has a thing for cloud formations, well, it's that or he has a bit of a fetish about buttons, the words for clouds and buttons are quite similar..." Serena smiles, it's entirely possible that either clouds or buttons are correct considering what she knows of Henrik Hanssen.
"Medicine and clouds 'eh?" Serena wants to ask about Bonsai trees but checks herself. She isn't quite sure how to feel about the fact that someone else, even if it's only Eleanor has the opportunity to gain an insight into Hanssen that she never can. "Still sounds better than the environment."
"Well, mostly things like that and the history of Sweden," Eleanor makes a face, demonstrating quite what she thinks of that topic of conversation, "but he has mentioned his son once or twice."
"What?" Serena jerks her head around.
"His son..." Some of the colour leaves Eleanor's face as she realises that Serena didn't know. "Oh shit."
AN: Oops.
