(Thank you for your reviews, I always appreciate them. Please let me know what you think of this next part.)

Chapter 3

"Good afternoon, Ms. Campbell! Did you have a pleasant rest yesterday?" Hanssen was striding over to her as she nodded her head and smiled lightly.

"Yes thank you, I spent it with my daughter." she said, offering him no further information.

"Right, well let's head out shall we?" He led the way from the entrance towards his car, unlocking it and placing his briefcase and coat in the boot. Serena elected to keep hers with her in the front. As they drove to St. James's, some Swedish Composer's music filling the car, Serena thought back to yesterday. It had been the perfect day with her daughter and she was only sad it couldn't have lasted longer. They had woken up, had a breakfast of pancakes, then taken a trip to the Memorial Gardens in the centre of the City where Serena's father was buried, simply walking around in the sun and sharing ice creams. Once they'd been out long enough, they returned home and ordered pizza, watching a few trashy movies and drinking a glass or two of wine. They had talked and had a good catch up about what was currently going on in their lives. Eleanor had told her that she was currently, sort of seeing a young man from College, and Serena found she was pleased. She wanted her daughter to go out and experience all of life, even the crappy parts. She wanted her to live life to the full whilst she still could.

She smiled at the memory of them snuggling down together to watch the final film 'Shall We Dance?' which had them both in floods of tears, holding each other. She noticed Hanssen kept glancing over at her and she turned to face him, raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You seemed to be thinking of something nice." He said as he returned his gaze to the road. "You were smiling." he stated. She smirked at him and gave him a mock-dangerous look.

"I never smile." she said darkly as he grunted and turned into St. James's car park. He parked in a visitor's bay and went to the boot to retrieve his belongings as Serena leant against the car, waiting for him. He came to stand beside her and she looked up at him. "Ready to get this Hell over with?" she asked him as he gave her a disapproving look.

"Now, now, Ms. Campbell. You might find these meetings to be beneficial!" he enthused as they walked towards the entrance together. She scoffed loudly and shook her head.

"Yes, and pigs may fly. Mark my words, this is going to be a complete waste of time." she complained as they entered the building and headed to the main desk. Once they'd been signed in and given visitor's passes, they were pointed in the direction of the boardroom and off they went. Walking through the corridors, Serena couldn't help but pick fault with everything she saw. "Well the floor clearly hasn't been cleaned in a while, that nurse over there looks young enough to still be in school, why is there a patient simply left to roam the halls by himself?" Hanssen had grown weary by the time they reached the boardroom and he gratefully stepped into the room full of other people. Taking a seat with his name in front, Serena landed beside him and leant in closely. "Look who's here." she whispered as Hanssen looked across the table and saw Mr. Cunningham staring back at him. He transferred his gaze to Serena and he smiled broadly, leaning forwards.

"Serena, a pleasure as always, you're looking as lovely as ever." he enthused as Serena raised an eyebrow and smiled, disgusted, back at him.

"Mr. Cunningham." she said, nodding. Hanssen marvelled at the fact she could be as horrible as she wanted with Cunningham, but he kept on coming back for more. The man truly was bewitched by her, the only trouble being, she didn't want him to be. "I swear, if he doesn't stop staring at me, I'll..." she was threatening, leaning into Hanssen when suddenly the last member of the Board arrived and Cunningham stood up, clearing his throat.

"Well, thank you all for being here. I realise our meetings are usually held at Holby City Hospital, but due to the staff attending from St. James's I figured it was better to hold it here." he explained as Serena made a sound like a snort in her throat and Hanssen tried not to react. He hadn't realised Cunningham would be the one to lead the meeting...he was less than pleased.

As 8pm drew near, Serena truly felt she'd lost the will to live. She sat slouched in her chair, fiddling with her pen as Cunningham droned on about the new Elective Procedure Expenditure Figures. She felt Hanssen shift slightly beside her and looked up to see his eyes had glazed over and he too was looking as if he wanted nothing more than to throw Cunningham out of the window.

"...well I believe we should leave it there for today, and pick up from here next week!" he said exuberantly as Serena sat upright, realising they were being released. She turned to Hanssen and whispered to him.

"Next week, I'm bringing my dart-gun." she said flatly as he snorted and began to collect his things from the desk in front of him.

"Ms. Campbell!" Cunningham said loudly as he came around the table and stood behind her chair, waiting for her to stand up. Sighing and pulling a face at Hanssen she turned around and smiled sweetly at Cunningham.

"Mr. Cunningham, what can I do for you?" she cooed as he smiled happily at her.

"Do you fancy going to get something to eat? It's late and if you're anything like these other Consultants, you won't bother to cook anything nutritious once you get home." She froze and panicked slightly at the thought of having to go to dinner with the insufferable little man.

"Oh no, that's a really lovely offer Terence, but not tonight...I already have plans." she lied as he eyed her sceptically.

"You do? What plans? Surely you can put them off and have dinner with me instead?" he asked, puffing his chest out. Serena took a step backwards and bumped into the table, reaching out to steady herself she felt Hanssen's hand on her forearm.

"Ah there you are Serena, come on, we don't want to be late. Sorry Mr. Cunningham, late night meeting, no rest for the wicked. Goodnight." he said as he began to pull Serena away.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Saving you from a fate worse than death." he replied as she looked over her shoulder and saw Cunningham watching them leave, confusion on his face. As they neared the end of the corridor, Hanssen realised he was still holding onto her arm and dropped it quickly. They walked in silence until they reached the entrance and stepped out into the cold night air.

"Thank you." she said suddenly as they made their way across the car park.

"All in a day's work." he commented as she flashed him a smile. "Besides, we do have a meeting." he stated as she stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him.

"What? Since when!?" she spluttered as he unlocked the car and placed his bag in the back before climbing in, giving her little option but to follow. "Since when?" she tried again once they were seated.

"I figured it would be easier to review the day in question, on the day in question. This way I don't take up another evening of yours and we can get all the necessary evils out of the way in one fell swoop." he reasoned as he backed the car out of the space. "Also, I agree with Mr. Cunningham. I doubt you'd have cooked yourself anything to eat tonight so this meeting will include food." he said decisively as she shook her head incredulously.

"Thanks for the warning." she managed to splutter as she took in the shock of not being able to go home and simply crash-out as she'd planned.

"I only just thought of it." he said earnestly as she tipped her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes.

Hanssen had stopped by the Hospital to pick up the paperwork Ric Griffin had filed for them, Serena had elected to stay in the car. She sat listening to the composer whose name she hadn't yet learned as she watched the light turn on in Hanssen's office. Watching closely, she saw the light switch off again and she began to count to herself to see how long it would take him to reach the ground floor. It was a little over 2 minutes by the time he appeared, stalking across the car park, folder in hand. She watched him closely and resigned herself to the fact she was going to have to spend her Friday night with him. She'd already rung Eleanor and explained the situation, which she had accepted, before hanging up. Hanssen climbed back into the car and looked over at Serena, who was resting her head in her hand, arm up on the windowsill.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he noticed the distant look in her eyes.

"Mmm, yes, sorry, I was just listening to the music." she explained as he smiled and put on his seatbelt. He was used to people criticising his choice of music and making fun of him...he braced himself for the same from her. "It's beautiful." she breathed as his head snapped towards her in surprise, but she kept her eyes downcast, simply listening.

"You clearly have good taste." he said as she looked up and chuckled.

"Not in music. My daughter says I haven't a musical bone in my body!" she scoffed, resting her hand on her thigh, moving her fingers in time with the music. Hanssen's eyes drifted to her hand and he couldn't help but smile.

"Music simply has to be felt. If you can feel, you can feel music." he answered as she looked up at him and their eyes met for a moment. Looking away, he started the car and they pulled away from the Hospital.

"Did you decide on somewhere for food?" she asked him. They had been arguing for most of the journey back as to where they should go and eat. Hanssen was keen to find somewhere quiet where they wouldn't be disturbed, whereas Serena felt the hustle and bustle would make them less obvious. He tensed slightly, not wanting to open this can of worms again.

"I thought we'd try somewhere new. There is a recently-opened Italian Restaurant down near the Harbour." he suggested to her. She frowned in thought for a moment, before conceding.

"Fine." He nodded at her willingness to allow him to make the decision and was glad she hadn't chosen to start another battle. As they continued in silence, Serena decided to ask the question that had been niggling at her all evening. "Who is this composer?" she asked as Hanssen turned his head to face her sharply, before turning back to watch the road. He cleared his throat and began.

"His name is Ludvig Norman, born Fredrik Vilhelm Ludvig Norman in Stockholm. He has composed in a wide range of genres, my favourite of these being his Overtures." She sat silently watching him, seeing him become passionate about the subject and possibly answering something personal about himself in the process.

"Why?" she asked quietly as he pursed his lips slightly.

"Because I believe they say what words cannot. When I hear them, there is no need to question, to research, to diagnose...there is simply a need to listen." he replied truthfully, keeping his eyes on the road, not allowing himself to look at the woman next to him. "We feel what we're meant to feel when we hear music...there is no right or wrong response to it." Serena found herself in awe of the truly enigmatic man in front of her. Just when she thought she'd gotten him sussed and knew what he was about, he blew her theories out of the water and she was forced to start again. Yes he was cold and clinical, but here there was a more tender, human side to him. She chuckled to herself and turned to look out of the window, watching the cars go whizzing by on the dual carriageway. As he pulled off the carriageway, they entered the inner-city road system and were soon looking for somewhere to park.

"If you'd just parked back at that multi-story we'd have walked here by now!" she moaned as he tightened his grip on the wheel and took a deep breath. Ignoring her, he continued to scour the side-street until he noticed a car pulling out ahead. Without hesitating, he accelerated forwards and pulled into the space. Switching off the engine, he turned to face her, a triumphant look on his face.

"This way, we have less distance to walk." he stated as he climbed from the car, reaching for the files on the back seat. Serena rolled her eyes and grumpily climbed from the car, muttering under her breath. As they neared the restaurant, she felt his hand reach for her lower back and guide her gently past a group of men stood smoking outside a pub. She received a few whistles and shouts from them, but nothing she hadn't heard before. Reaching the restaurant, she noticed Hanssen's hand was still on her lower back. She stopped and turned to him, raising an eyebrow and looked towards where his hand was resting. He followed her gaze and snatched his hand away, red creeping up his neck. She turned back around and opened the door, smirking, stepping inside with him following close behind.