Part 31 (2/2)

Anne-Lise cant see the point, but notices Malene watching in the doorway.

Exasperated, Anne-Lise slaps her hand on the desktop. Why do you ? She has no idea how to follow up and mumbles the first thing that comes to mind. I dont have a drinking problem.

Iben is on her way out. She replies with her back to Anne-Lise: No. Sure.

We never said anything of the sort.

Of course not!

Malene pops her head around the door to deliver an exit line. You shouldnt be so uptight. Unless weve hit a sore spot.

Camilla puts a call through to Anne-Lise from one of the library users who is looking for books on aspects of n.a.z.i collaboration in occupied France. As she talks, Anne-Lise thinks about the empty bottle and how she must get rid of it quickly, before Gunnars visit. They mustnt have a chance to come das.h.i.+ng in and open the cupboard door while Gunnar is here.

When the phone call is over, she wraps the empty bottle in a blue plastic bag, sticks it inside a cardboard box and into another cupboard farther away from her desk. She makes sure that no one sees her hiding the bottle.

That done, she hurriedly opens all her cupboards and drawers, just in case Iben and Malene have planted more false clues to suggest that shes an alcoholic. Having examined every possible hiding place three times, she tries to settle down again, but feels at a loss. Finally she catches sight of Gunnar standing on the landing.

She gets up quickly so she too can be in the Winter Garden when he walks in. He looks as she remembers him: large, tanned, but not conventionally handsome like that pretty boy Frederik.

Her excuse for being there is the roll of labels in the cupboard next to Camillas desk. She makes a show of needing to count up a large number and separating them. She smiles at Gunnar and he smiles back pleasantly enough.

Im here for a meeting with Paul Elkjr.

Anne-Lise has never been unfaithful to Henrik and isnt inclined to be. However, she feels hot and her hands are p.r.i.c.kly.

Gunnars s.h.i.+rt is open at the neck and looks very white against his tanned skin. On top, he wears a black jacket of very soft leather.

He looks at Malene. Malene looks at him. They know each other its unmistakable! Neither has spoken yet, but they are clearly more than acquaintances.

Malene gets up. Imagine him knowing her. Liking her. How have they met? How can he bring himself to like her? True, Malene did say that she knew him, but Anne-Lise thought that she meant through his writings, not personally.

Have they been to bed together? Maybe Anne-Lise has him all wrong; maybe he isnt the man she thought.

Anne-Lise also notices Ibens reaction. Iben is using both hands to fiddle with a gray stapler. Gunnar smiles at her and seems to know her too. Or does he smile at every young woman? Maybe he doesnt know Malene after all? Anne-Lise looks back at Malene. Yes, they know each other, all right.

Iben looks paler than usual. She gets up now, but her stance is different. She looks as if she wants to disappear.

It cant be more than a couple of seconds before Camilla addresses Gunnar. Oh yes. Hes waiting for you.

She goes to knock on Pauls door. Maybe ten seconds have pa.s.sed since Gunnar came in. Maybe five.

Paul opens the door. For a fraction of a moment, the sight of his guest against the backdrop of four women, who seem to be positioned around the room like sculptures, surprises him. He welcomes Gunnar and ushers him inside.

Anne-Lise quickly goes back to the library. Is Gunnar, like so many other men, indifferent to ethical standards? Anne-Lise sits at her desk. She has no idea how to explain to anyone how bad this is. She will simply sound like a hysterical teenager if she says that her heart feels horribly empty just because of that quick glance between Malene and Gunnar.

She had truly believed that there were people who wouldnt be taken in by Ibens and Malenes superficial charms, by their youthful attractiveness. And that, beyond the walls of the DCIG, there were places that functioned on different principles.

Obviously, she got it all wrong. The entire world operates according to Malenes law. There is no place for vindication.

The door to Pauls office opens. With a degree of ceremony Paul escorts Gunnar from desk to desk, introducing the Centers staff to him. All four of them stay in their seats and pretend to be absorbed in their work.

Anne-Lise hears Gunnar say that he already knows Iben and Malene.

Indeed, Malene and he are old friends and he has met Iben. He says it so casually, but they must be more than mere acquaintances to him. For one thing, Malene and Iben are less talkative and charming than they usually are in the company of a new, powerful man.

Paul leads the way to the back of the library collection. While the two men discuss the archive, Anne-Lise hears the voice of Ole, the chairman of the board, coming from the Winter Garden.

Camilla sounds pleased. Hi, Ole! Paul is in the library with Gunnar Hartvig Nielsen.

No problem. I didnt come for anything important just the weeks cuttings. I wanted to take the folder home tonight.

Everyone in the Center likes Ole. His short white beard reminds Anne-Lise of a couple of other older professors she has met. Like them, he is on the heavy side and dresses more informally than the younger academics who come and go. Perhaps its a throwback to 1970s university fas.h.i.+on.

Ole often comes by to chat to Paul about policy or matters arising at the next board meeting. Now and then he joins them for Christmas lunch or a summer dinner. Until about six months ago Anne-Lise didnt give a thought to Oles private life. She knew that he was divorced and had two sons, but that was about it. Then her sister-in-law phoned one Sunday morning to tell her that Ole had been interviewed for the series My Demons in the Sunday issue of Politiken.

Anne-Lise shot off to the newsstand and bought a paper. Amazingly, like the other famous or almost famous men and women interviewed for the series, Ole had been remarkably frank and told Politikens star interviewer some deeply personal things.

The interview got a double-page spread and was ill.u.s.trated with a splendid photograph showing Ole in all his potbellied glory, looking very full of himself; he was standing upright in one of the small fis.h.i.+ng boats that were used to smuggle Jews across the straits to Sweden during the Second World War.

Ole had confided to the journalist that he suffered from unipolar affective disorder, or depression, as it used to be called. His bouts of illness had put intolerable stress on his family and often made him act irrationally. Ten years ago, several years after his sons had moved out, his wife left him because she felt unable to help. After the divorce, she went to live in Moscow with a new partner, a Danish diplomat eight years younger than herself. Ole moved into a small but elegant apartment on one of the narrow streets behind the Royal Theater, where he has lived ever since.

He added a professional touch to the interview by mentioning the DCIG: In the course of the last century, 40 million human beings were killed in wars. But in the course of the same century approximately 60 million human beings were killed in genocidal purges organized by their own governments. So, how important is it to understand and prevent genocide? Well, if we go by the number of those killed, it is the most important problem of our time.

There seemed to be no limit to what the interviewer from Politiken could pry out of his subject. Ole spoke freely about the way modern psychopharmacology had completely changed his life and added that he couldnt stop speculating about what his life might have been like if anti-depressants had been available a couple of decades earlier.

He admitted that the pills made him impotent, but thought it a minor drawback compared to relief from the black months of depression. Besides, after a period of getting used to it, he was proud to say that he had taken on the challenge and turned it into something positive. His s.e.x life had become enriched by a number of new approaches that, in his experience, pleased women enormously.

Anne-Lise read the interview over and over again. Afterward she discussed it with Henrik. She would never have thought of Ole as depressed. It struck her then how little she knew about her coworkers. Over the last few weeks, she has thought about it even more.

On the Monday after the interview was published, Iben was off and running with a lecture about psychopharmaceuticals, stressing that tiny chemical s.h.i.+fts can cause emotional imbalances and that no amount of therapy would help. This was one of her cla.s.sic arguments, like her human beings are like animals speech.

Inevitably, everyone joked about the things Ole revealed.

When Ole turned up in the office a few days later, he was the center of attention, much more so than usual. Everyone praised him for being so open and honest. Iben spoke of one of her aunts, who had suffered badly from depression. Malene had a story about friends whose marriage had been destroyed by the illness. Ole in turn behaved as if he had expected their response. He took it for granted to such an extent that he glowed at their praise even before they offered it. His acknowledgment of any unspoken awkwardness put them at ease immediately.

Today, smiling broadly and with the folder stuck under his arm, Ole moves toward Paul and Gunnar as they come out of the library.

h.e.l.lo, Gunnar. Good to know that weve got something here you can use for Development.

Gunnar, who is a head taller than both the other men, looks radiant. The board members.h.i.+p is recognition he should have had long ago.

Hi, Ole. Of course theres plenty here. But today Im just looking the place over. Learning a bit more before accepting the offer. He turns to Paul and smiles. Im pretty likely to say yes, you know!

Ole seems to be at a loss, so Gunnar continues: Sorry, the offer to join your board to replace Frederik Thorsteinsson.

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