Part 23 (2/2)

Near the top edge of one of the elevators wooden panels someone has scratched three filthy little drawings. Anne-Lise stares at the drawings as the trembling descent of the elevator slowly transports her down and away from the DCIG.

Today Henrik is collecting the children. He will take them to soccer practice and dance cla.s.s and wait for them, doing some of his paperwork in the car. This way Anne-Lise will have at least an hour and a half to herself before she has to prepare dinner. She decided a few days ago that it was about time she had her old friend Nicola over. They havent had a real opportunity to chat, just the two of them, in more than a year.

Anne-Lise stops to buy cakes for their afternoon tea and is on her way home when, suddenly, she finds herself east of Lyngby, driving on the northbound motorway toward Helsingr. How odd. She must have been in the wrong lane when the motorway divided. She finds a slip road and soon picks up the direction back to the Lyngby bypa.s.s.

Anne-Lise and Henrik live in an old-style house with red-limed walls, near the nature reserve at Holte. It stands just a few rows away from the wildly expensive homes with views over Lake Fure, and has a larger garden than most of the neighboring villas. The area is the perfect place to raise children, which is the main reason Anne-Lise and Henrik chose it over the wealthier districts along the resund coast.

When Anne-Lise eventually pulls up in front of her home, Nicola is waiting for her on the porch. She looks warm in her short, obviously expensive fur jacket, tight dark brown trousers, and leather boots. Must be Prada boots, Anne-Lise thinks. Nicola loves Prada.

Nicola is beaming with pleasure. She gives Anne-Lise a big hug, and their friends.h.i.+p immediately picks up where it left off a year ago.

Ive told everybody that dinner will be late tonight, because I want a chance to see Henrik and the kids as well. And Im so looking forward to seeing what you two have done to the house since last time.

Over the years Anne-Lise and Henrik have made quite a few changes. Theyve had three walls taken down to enlarge some of the rooms. Together they built a stone table and a huge cupboard in the old scullery at the back of the house, and theyve decorated several rooms with stucco ornaments brought back from Italy. When they were more or less happy with the house, theyd started on the garden.

Anne-Lise unlocks the front door and explains that they havent really done anything special since the last time.

Nicola steps inside. Oh, come on. I dont believe it. I know you two. Theres no stopping you!

As she fills the electric kettle, Anne-Lise asks Nicola how her son is. Anne-Lise is very fond of Nicola; its strange that its taken her so long to invite her over.

They met each other many years ago through Jutta, a mutual friend they rarely see now. Juttas boyfriend had studied business management and both Anne-Lise and Nicola met their husbands through him. Since then Nicolas husband has become a managing director in Maersk Oil. Although living on one of the most elegant streets in h.e.l.lerup has changed Nicola to a certain degree, she has kept her nursing job and remains the kind of person whom Anne-Lise feels she can trust to say exactly what she thinks.

They have their tea and cakes. Afterward, Nicola insists that they do a tour of the house. They end up in the garden, looking at the group of rhododendrons the previous owner planted at least forty years ago. The foliage on the lilac trees is turning an autumnal brown, and the leaves from the dogwood bush near the apple tree lie scattered on the ground, so that the trees deep-red branches are almost bare.

Anne-Lise remembers how, just a few years ago, she and Henrik would get up early and spend their Sat.u.r.days and Sundays working on their home. At the end of each day, they would stand together and admire their achievements. But apathy has set in, and now shes finding it difficult to whip up enough interest to do anything at all.

The two women go back inside and sit in front of the fireplace. They chat about their families and old friends.

Anne-Lise thinks that Nicola wont notice any change in her, but as shes describing Claras new dance outfit, Nicola interrupts her: Anne-Lise?

Yes?

You must tell me whats wrong.

Anne-Lise stares at her.

Its something to do with your new job, isnt it? Is it the same old problem?

Soon after Anne-Lise started work at the DCIG, she told Nicola a little about how the others behaved, but she kept the worst to herself.

Nicola is concerned. Youve changed so much. I hardly recognize you.

I havent changed!

Anne-Lise, listen. Youre not yourself. Dont you remember what you used to be like? Nicola looks Anne-Lise in the eye and reaches out a hand to console her. A gold bracelet slips out from under the thin white s.h.i.+rt-sleeve. Why dont you give your old boss a ring? She really liked you. Maybe they could take you back.

Anne-Lise is speechless. She feels so defeated. Does Nicola really believe it would be that easy to get her old job back? The room becomes blurred; her eyes are filling with tears.

Nicola takes her hand. You must tell someone about what your colleagues are doing to you. If you dont, theyll ruin your life away from work as well.

Anne-Lise is sniffing back the tears. She clears her throat and Nicola runs off to fetch a roll of paper towels.

Soon everything comes pouring out. For the first time Anne-Lise tells someone apart from Henrik what it is really like.

I cant understand how they can be so callous! And yet they think of themselves as such good, idealistic people Nicola is rubbing her arm gently. Its so different from the way Anne-Lise is treated at work.

It doesnt matter one iota to them if I lose my job, or my husband divorces me, or my children get into trouble, but I still have to work with them. I have to smile and talk to them. Every single day, Im forced to look them in the eye and pretend I dont hate them.

Anne-Lise, you must stop working there.

But I cant!

Yes, you can. Just stop. Youll find another job soon enough.

Anne-Lise tears herself away. But Ill become like Jutta!

Nonsense. You wont.

Yes, I will! I dont want to be like her. Id hate to be like her!

Nicolas voice is calm and gentle. Anne-Lise, you will never be like Jutta. Im sure of that. Whatever happens, you wont.

When Nicola and Anne-Lise were friends with Jutta, Jutta was working for a marketing company. She and the company director had a falling out and Jutta couldnt stand working there any longer. Afterward she landed another job, but then got into trouble with her colleagues. Meanwhile, her husband became a self-employed investment broker and did very well, earning far more than either Anne-Lises or Nicolas husband. Although Jutta didnt need to work financially, she disliked staying at home all day and decided to open a small shop selling exclusive Italian and French kitchenware. Her husband put up the cash to help her get started, but in the end she couldnt cope with managing a store either.

Now Jutta is better dressed than ever. She has turned the house into an amazing display of Oregon pine, all the floors and the paneling. The furniture has been designed by a Swedish architect, with whom Jutta got in touch after seeing a long article about his ideas in an interior design magazine. When she meets working women, she always asks how they are getting along and invariably says something like How wonderful for you! but her interest is only superficial. She apparently believes the mantra preached by all her magazines: buy all these things and they will make you a better person.

A few years ago Jutta would occasionally phone Anne-Lise or Nicola when she was drunk. They never found out how often she drank alone at home, but the phone calls prompted them to talk about trying to help her. She not only rejected their help but also managed to do it in a condescending way. Worst of all, her children were said to have become aggressive and problematic. Could it be that Jutta has abandoned her responsibility for her children as well?

Anne-Lise and Nicola hear Henriks car in the driveway. Her family has arrived home.

For a moment Anne-Lise is confused. Then she makes a dash for the door, calling out to Nicola: Tell them Im in the bathroom! In the hall, she suddenly turns back and pops her head around the door. Nicola, thank you! I just have to She runs into the bathroom to fix her face. Outside, the childrens voices call, Mommy! Mommy! as they run to the living room. It feels so bad to hide from them. Henrik comes in and slams the front door.

Anne-Lise washes off the smeared mascara and lipstick and rinses her eyes with cold water. As she goes through the motions quickly, she listens to Ulrik running around from room to room, looking for her. Before the Center, Anne-Lise could not have imagined ever being tempted just to let go, to follow in the footsteps of Jutta. But then, maybe shes already on that downward slope? Maybe everyone else thinks so but Nicola is the only one who dared say anything. Whatever happens, her problems must not affect Clara and Ulrik. She cant let them pay the price for her troubles at the DCIG.

A few weeks after Nicolas visit, Iben and Malene both receive an anonymous e-mail from someone who is threatening to kill them. The office is unsettled by this turn of events, and for the first time Anne-Lise dares to mention that the others dont always treat her well.

Malene, Iben, and Camilla instantly jump down her throat. Either they are extremely accomplished liars or they are so dishonest with themselves that they arent even aware of what they are doing. To them, the librarian is a dull, colorless creature with poor social skills because thats exactly what they expect her to be and they wont let Anne-Lise change their minds.

The day after their attack Paul asks her to join a staff meeting in his office. At the meeting the others claim that the door between the Winter Garden and the library has always been closed. Anne-Lise knows differently the door was always open when she started and it was only a month later that Camilla began to complain that she would get arthritis from the draft.

Paul doesnt agree with them and makes his first-ever decision in Anne-Lises favor. After having been patient for a whole year, at last she will be allowed contact with the Centers users, as she was promised in her interview. Also, the door to the library will not be closed anymore.

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