I hope you are all still enjoying this. We are getting closer to 'what happened'. Thank you to everyone who commented.
Lärdom är mer värt än guld.
(Insight is more valuable than gold.)
Serena followed Hanssen towards the main entrance of Karolinska. It was a bright sunny morning in Stockholm but there was still a sharp chill in the air. Serena's mind was still preoccupied by what she had learnt last night. After a quick Google search she had discovered that Nils Johansson was the Chairperson of Biotek. The very same company which had wanted to throw millions of pounds at Holby City hospital this time a year ago. Then all of a sudden Hanssen had come back from his self-imposed exile and the deal with Biotek had evaporated, all around the same time, as she had discovered last night, that Biotek's previous chairperson Anders Lovborg had died.
They both made their way through the main entrance and Hanssen paused to read an information board to discover which floor they should go to.
'You're very quiet this morning.' He mumbled quietly as she came to stand by his side.
'Taking in my surroundings.' Serena replied.
'Sixth floor.' He said and headed briskly towards the lifts.
Their meeting with Professor Karl Andersson lasted three hours before the Professor had to leave for surgery. It went well and bar any unforeseen changes they had all agreed the exchange programme would go ahead. Professor Andersson assigned his PA to give Hanssen and Serena a tour of the hospital before they left.
After forty-five minutes of being shown around the hospital the professor's PA had to get back to her office and Hanssen and Serena began to make their way out. Before they got in the lift to go to the ground floor, Hanssen's phone rang and he stepped away a little to take the call. Whilst waiting by the lift Serena looked at a nearby noticeboard. She couldn't read any of it but she managed to get the gist of some of the posters from the photos. There was a photo of a group of young doctors, she guessed F1's, holding a large cardboard check for 200,000SEK. Obviously they had done some sort of charity fundraiser. There was an article underneath and a name caught her eyes as it popped up a few times in the article. Fredrick Johansson. Could it be? Serena wondered. It was unlikely there would be two Fredrick Johansson's working in the same hospital. From the number of times he was mentioned in the article, Serena guessed Fredrick had been the one to organise the fundraiser. She looked at the accompanying photo and the names listed. Her first sight of Fredrick Johansson was not as unfamiliar as she expected. The stature, the hair, the coal black eyes; she recognised.
'My god.' Serena said louder than she intended.
'Ms Campbell?' Hanssen had finished his call and heard her gasp as he approached.
'Oh uh… I've just had a sudden insight into what it might be like to be illiterate.' Serena fluffed. 'All this…' she waved her hands. 'Double Dutch to me.'
'Swedish actually.' Hanssen said with a raised eyebrow.
Serena laughed and moved away from the board towards the lift. 'Can we get some lunch? I'm starved.'
'I'm rather peckish myself.' Hanssen said as they entered the lift. He wondered briefly what had really caused Serena's gasped 'my god'. He hadn't been close enough to the board to see anything properly but he didn't believe her explanation for a second.
After lunch Hanssen showed Serena around more of Stockholm's sights, taking in the Vasa museum and a leisurely stroll from Riddarholmen along the waterfront to Sodarmalm and Hanssen's apartment. By then it was evening, the temperature had dropped significantly again and the sky had turned a cobalt blue with streaks of orange where the sun dipped below the horizon. Serena was surprised by how quickly the time had gone and once again by how much she had enjoyed herself.
As they walked along the waterfront in a relaxed, companionable silence, Serena had begun to mentally piece together the bits of information she had.
It was obvious that Hanssen and Maja had a history. Serena herself was well enough acquainted with the tone of a woman scorned; it became her default one when speaking to her ex-husband, to see that despite Maja's friendliness somewhere deep down there was some resentment towards Hanssen. In turn the way Hanssen so purposefully avoided making eye contact with Maja indicated a sense of guilt.
So, at some point Hanssen had a relationship with Maja and either he dumped her or she had dumped him for some misbehaviour.
Nils didn't appear to hold any resentment towards Hanssen but there was still guardedness and he undoubtedly sensed the tension between his wife and friend. Former friend? So did he know of their past relationship? Was it Nils who had set up the attempted deal between Biotek and Holby or was he the one who pulled the plug on it?
And then there was Fredrick. Serena had no doubt in her mind that boy was Hanssen's son. The resemblance was uncanny. Nils would have to be blind not to have noticed.
Serena sighed, she couldn't figure it out.
Hanssen glanced sideways at Serena. She was lost in thought again and whatever thought it was clearly frustrated her as she sighed deeply. All in all it had been a good day. The deal with Karolinska was going ahead and he had enjoyed the time spent showing Serena the best of Stockholm. He paused and tugged at her elbow to get her attention.
'We'll cross here.' He said, nodding towards a pedestrian crossing. And rather than letting go of her elbow he held it in a firmer grip as he led her across the icy footpath and across the road. He took a quick look at her from the corner of his eye to gauge her reaction but she didn't seem to even notice. Not that it was that significant a gesture, he reminded himself, not for most people.
Tomorrow they would fly back to the UK. He planned to enjoy the night and make the most of their time together before going back to the hustle and politics of Holby.
After a change of clothes at the apartment they got a taxi to what Hanssen promised was a special restaurant. They walked into a nondescript commercial building and queued behind two other couples for a lift. Clearly the Swedes had a different definition of 'special', Serena thought.
They reached the front of the queue and Hanssen opened the external door of the lift and let Serena step inside first. It was rickety and there was only room for two people.
'Well… this is snug.' Serena commented.
'Not claustrophobic are you Ms Campbell?' Hanssen asked looking down on her.
'Luckily no!' Serena replied. 'But if all this was just to have a reason to be pressed up against me…' Serena gave him a coy look. 'all you had to do was ask.' Her eyes twinkled mischievously.
'If only I'd known, I could have saved all this effort.' Hanssen replied sarcastically.
Serena laughed. The lift reached its destination and Serena followed Hanssen out into a small corridor. She paused to look out the window and realised how high up they were. Hanssen gestured for her to follow him towards the restaurant and spoke to a waiter who checked a list. The interior of the restaurant was far more atmospheric than it's exterior suggested and was busy and full of people. They followed the waiter through the crowds to a quieter section of tables for two by the window. The view of the city lit up below was stunning.
As they took a seat Hanssen said, 'This is Gondolen. It's a very highly rated restaurant. Not least for the view but the food is good too.'
Serena smiled at him. 'I'm guessing the accounts department would have a coronary if they were to see the bill.' She joked.
'Perhaps not quite a coronary but palpitations at the very least.' Hanssen replied seriously but with a twinkle in his eyes. 'Tonight however is my treat.'
He smiled. Serena smiled back.