Thank you all for the reviews. Glad you're enjoying this, I have never written a Holby fic before.
Later that day they all assembled in the hotel lobby to decide a timetable of when and where they should meet, who was attending which seminars. The first thing on the conference timetable was a welcome dinner.
'Skipping that.' Jac clipped. 'I'm going to the gym.'
'Surely you must be hungry.' Jonny said, full of disappointment.
'I ordered room service.' Jac replied. 'I don't see the need to spend two hours listening to clichéd welcomes, I don't need anyone to read the timetable for me and I don't have any desire to sit around a table forcing down rich fatty foods and listening to people who have had too many glasses of wine talk about their beamers and golf holidays.' With that she walked away, leaving Jonny with his mouth open.
Mo gave Jonny a sympathetic nudge with her elbow. 'Who needs that dreary stick insect spoiling our fun anyway.' She said.
I do, thought Jonny miserably.
'Well I'm all for free food!' Malick said enthusiastically.
'Let's not all lose sight if why we are really here.' Henrick interjected. 'Perhaps we should look at tomorrow's schedule of seminars.'
'Done.' Said Malick, unfolding his copy which was highlighted in places. 'Those are the ones I'll be attending.' He said.
'Good Dr Malick, I'm glad to see you are so organised.' Henrick said approvingly.
'Teacher's pet.' Mo whispered.
'Ms Effanga? Have you decided which seminars you shall attend? Aside, of course from the one you and Nurse Maconie are speaking at.' Henrick asked.
'Oh yea, we've uh…' she looked at Jonny, 'We decided that before we even got here.'
'Yes.' Jonny nodded. 'Ms Effanga rang ahead and asked for a detailed timetable of events and marked out the ones she most wanted to attend. She even laminated it.' Jonny looked boldly at Mo. 'She'd show you but I believe she has left it upstairs.'
Mo glared daggers at Jonny. Henrick simply let the sides of his mouth twitch to signal his amusement.
'Can you believe they have assigned seating for dinner? And they've split us up?' Michael appeared having checked the seating list.
'Why?' Mo asked.
'Probably someone's poxy idea of an 'ice breaker'.' Michael replied. 'Jac and I are at the same table.'
'Jac isn't coming for dinner.' Jonny told him.
Michael rolled his eyes. 'Great, so I'm on my own.'
'You're a big boy,' Serena suddenly looked up from the timetable she had been scrutinising. 'I'm sure you'll make new friends.' She smiled sweetly.
'At a table full of orthopods. Great.' He said dryly.
It turned out that Malick, Jonny and Mo were seated at the same table as Jeffrey Hawthorne and Hugh Pilkington. Henrik and Serena were at another table nearby and Henrik quickly noticed the arrangement at the other table, having been keeping his eyes peeled for Hawthorne and Pilkington all evening. He felt his teeth clench. What if they said something about his supposed relationship with Serena? A rumour like that would reach Holby before they even got to desert. He nudged Serena slightly to gain her attention. He marvelled at the woman's ability to mingle and charm those around her. Several of the other doctors at their table were already giving her their rapt attention.
She finished her conversation with the man to her left and then turned to him with an automatic smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
'Alright?' she asked quietly.
He simply nodded towards the other table. She followed his gaze. 'At least they're not at our table.' she reasoned.
'What if they mention us to the others?' he asked. 'Neither of us want any rumours circulating.'
'There are always rumours circulating.' Serena said, not at all concerned. 'It's how one deals with them that decides whether or not they stick.' She reached for her wine and took a sip. She looked at him again and realise he was genuinely concerned. 'Henrik, relax. Why would we even come up in conversation? And even if we do and the others start asking questions we simply say they got their wires crossed. Which, in a way, they did.'
'They had a little help in getting them crossed.' Henrik reminded her.
She smiled. 'We are not actually doing anything, remember. So what is there to worry about?' she casually patted his thigh briefly as she reached for the wine bottle to pour him a glass. 'Here, have a glass and relax.' She said.
Henrik's whole body tensed as he felt a shiver go through him and he glanced down at where her hand had touched him as though he might see some mark there.
Serena glanced sideways at him and noticed him looking down at his leg. She realised she had patted his leg subconsciously. Not quite appropriate, she thought. Although not quite deserving of the look on Hanssen's face either. He was a strange one, she thought. She watched him take a sip of his wine. She realised she knew absolutely nothing about him personally. He did not seem himself today. Or perhaps he was, perhaps he was simply not being the Hanssen she knew. She was almost certain he had been looking at her bottom today whilst she had been reaching for her bag in the boot of his car. Michael's smirk had all but confirmed that. She prided herself on being able to figure people out pretty quickly, but she still had not unravelled the enigmatic Mr Hanssen. She turned slightly in her chair and leaned towards him, looking him at him intently.
He raised a quizzical eyebrow at her as he became aware of her proximity.
'What if we come across… ' she struggled to remember their names. 'Your old school chums again.'
They were far from chums, Henrik thought.
'I think we need to prepare some answers about our relationship.' She continued.
'Such as?' he asked.
'Where did we meet?'
'At Holby obviously.' He answered.
'What do we do in our spare time?'
'What do you mean?' he asked.
She shrugged. 'What kind of things do we enjoy doing together as a couple?'
'Normal things I would imagine.' He said confused.
'Yes, well, normal to you and normal to others…' she trailed off and reached for her wine glass again. 'What do you do in your spare time Henrik?' she asked, seriously. 'What gets your blood pumping? Aside from bonsai trees and looming in corridors.' She added with a teasing smile.
He shrugged. 'Nothing special.'
Serena rolled her eyes. This was like getting blood from a stone.
'What do you do?' Henrik asked.
'Drink?' she waved her glass in front of him with a dry laugh. 'Mostly I clean up after my daughter. When I'm not doing that I am playing chauffeur to my daughter and her friends, or else ringing around my daughter's friends to find her. Or telling her to do her homework. Or yelling down a phone line at her father.' She sighed. 'On my time off I go to Holby and play surgeon.' She smiled another smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
'What is your daughter's name?' he asked. He had never thought of her as a mother before. It never came up. Not like with Sahira with whom it was very much evident. Sahira had always talked about her children. Mentioned school pick ups and drop offs and play dates. It was never an issue which arose with Serena. Of course they were very different women, Serena Campbell and Sahira Shah. Sahira was all emotion and intuition, to the detriment of her skill sometimes. Serena obviously had the ability to shut off the personal, emotional aspects of her personality. He admired that.
'Eleanor.' She told him. 'Her name is Eleanor.' She gave him a long sideways glance. 'Do you have children?'
'No.' he said in a clipped tone.
'A wife?' she asked.
He sighed involuntarily, he always bored of questions like this. Why were people always so interested. Serena raised an eyebrow at his reaction. 'Why is that always one of the first questions people ask?' he wondered aloud.
'Well, if I am to play your significant other it would be helpful to know in case they mention a wife and I look a fool.' She replied.
'They know less about me than you do.' He told her honestly.
'But I know next to nothing.' She said. 'You could have a harem for all I know!' she grinned. 'Is that it? You don't have one wife you have a dozen?' she laughed.
'Do I strike you as the kind of man who might have a harem?' he asked with a hint of amusement.
Serena took her time in answering, looking him in the eye and he noticed her biting her lip slightly before finally saying: 'You strike me as a dark horse Mr Hanssen. I can't quite make up my mind what I think you capable of.' She answered honestly.
Henrik smiled. 'Exactly my thoughts regarding you.'
Michael sat bored out of his tree listening to the two men on either side of him talking rugby. He looked around the room and caught sight of Hanssen and Serena looking quite cozy. They were leaning towards each other as they chatted and seemed pretty oblivious to everyone else at their table. Michael cocked his head to the side as he observed them. Nah, he thought, and went back to pretending to care about rugby.
'So you three are from Holby?' Pilkington asked Jonny, referring to himself, Mo and Malick.
'Yep.' Jonny nodded. He was glad Mo was sitting to his left because this plonker to his right seemed to be a right snob and had already tried to mimic Jonny's accent twice.
'What's Serena Campbell like?' Pilkington asked.
'Scary.' Jonny replied. He wished Mo would turn to him and rescue him from talking to this bore. He kicked her slightly under the table.
'Really?' Pilkington said with interest, looking towards where Henrik and Serena were sitting. 'And how long have Ms Campbell and Henrik been an item?'
Jonny paused with a forkful offood halfway to his mouth. 'Pardon?'