This is half the chapter I had hoped to post but I noticed parts of the rest of it needed correcting so I decided to split it because I don't have time to do it now. Hope you are all still enjoying this and thank you everyone who has left comments/reviewed.
He could have gone to the supply cupboard for more pencils but he didn't. Instead he made his way to Keller. He wasn't sure why, it certainly was not because he wanted an excuse to see her. Nor did he want an excuse to avoid thinking about Maja and Fredrick.
He suspected this probably was not the best course of action and would likely lead to Serena mocking him even more. He almost wished he could accuse her of using the fact they had slept together as an excuse for this behaviour but he wasn't sure she wouldn't have done the exact same thing regardless of last night. She was a woman who liked to push boundaries – and her luck.
What if Mr Griffin was in the office, he suddenly wondered as he stood outside the door. Just as he was trying to come up with an excuse for being there in case Ric was inside the door opened and Malick emerged.
'Mr Hanssen.' Malick greeted him with slight surprise, wondering why the CEO was lurking outside the door like that.
'Mr Malick.' Hanssen replied primly and passed him by knowing the occupants of the office would know he was there now.
Once inside he was relieved to see it was only Serena and he shut the door behind him.
She sat at her desk, smiling smugly, holding a pencil. She placed the tip of the pencil in her mouth.
'Mr Hanssen, how can I help you?' she asked.
He tried to fix her with his sternest glare but it was obviously not going to work as she continued to smile at him knowingly. He noticed the rest of the pencils on her desk.
'That was a little childish don't you think?' he asked, referring to the theft.
'Yes, well I don't deny I can be quite childish sometimes.' She replied, amused by his attempts at being stern.
She was still holding one of the pencils and absentmindedly twirling it near her mouth.
'You…' Hanssen began but was cut of by Serena's phone ringing.
''Yes?' she answered. 'Right, gimme a sec and I'll check.' She held the phone against her shoulder, put the pencil in her mouth and flicked through a diary on her desk. 'The 18th.' She told the person on the phone before hanging up.
'You really shouldn't put things like that in your mouth, it's unhygienic.' Hanssen told her.
'What?' Serena asked, confused.
'The pencil. It's bad for your teeth and it's unhygienic. You shouldn't put anything in your mouth that could have been handled by every Tom, Dick and Harry.' He lectured.
Serena raised an eyebrow and gave him a wicked look. 'Do I need to remind you of the hypocrisy of that statement given last night's activities?'
Hanssen's breath caught in his windpipe and he spluttered. He could feel his face turning red. Serena almost laughed out loud at the state he was in.
The door to the office opened and Ric strode in purposefully. He came to a halt at his desk when he noticed Hanssen.
'Mr Hanssen! Am I interrupting something?' Ric asked slowly, giving them both a questioning look.
Hanssen shook his head, still trying to regain control over his breathing.
'No, Mr Hanssen simply came to borrow a pencil.' Serena said smoothly, smiling innocently at Hanssen.
A pencil? Ric thought to himself. Surely she could have come up with something more convincing than that, he thought. Hanssen didn't look right.
'Mr Hanssen are you ok?' Ric asked, concerned. 'You look… flushed.'
'Mr Griffin's right.' Serena said with mock concern as if she had just noticed. 'You do look flushed. Are you coming down with something?'
Hanssen shot her daggers. 'No, no. I'm fine.' Taking in the sceptical look on Ric's face he added, 'A mild cold perhaps.'
'You should get yourself some lemsip.' Serena suggested. 'Here you go.' She handed him a pencil.
Hanssen accepted it. 'Thank you.' He said flatly, not knowing what else he could say. He needed to get out of this situation. He turned awkwardly and nodded his goodbye at Ric before leaving.
Ric glanced across at Serena after Hanssen's departure. She looked unbelievably smug.
'Yes?' she asked, noticing how he was watching her.
'Nothing.' Ric shrugged. 'He came all this way for a pencil eh?' he queried quietly.
'Mm hmm.' Serena replied, opening up her laptop.
'Hmm.' Ric mumbled.
Hanssen could still feel the heat in his cheeks. He had given her the upper hand in that situation far too easily. He looked down at the pencil in his hand. He could see her teeth marks.