Nora could see the tension in Henrik’s body; his entire posture had changed. After everything she had heard about Hasse, she couldn’t imagine that his presence here was in any way a good thing. This was Henrik’s show, not his.
Then he turned to her. “So you’re the one my son is hanging out with these days? If the press is to be believed, that is.”
She didn’t know how to respond, but Hasse didn’t give her the opportunity to come up with anything. “Hasse. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand.
“Nora. Likewise.” His handshake was firm.
“I hear that filming was a triumph, thanks to Nora.” He looked at Henrik, then back at her. “And your little romance. I hope the season is a success.”
Adrian came over. “Time to get started.” They followed him to three small tables at the front of the room, and Adrian showed them where to stand.
“Welcome, everyone! I thought we’d start by taking a look at some clips from the show, and then we’ll move on to the interviews and any questions you might have.” He turned away from the journalists to face the big screen behind them.
Elnaz had explained that the launch would feature a long trailer, and Nora took a deep breath as the first clip began to run. She and Henrik were in the middle of something that looked like an argument, which made her smile, and in the next clip they were laughing and exchanging an intimate glance. There were a few shots of Henrik walking alone along the quayside and eating in the hotel, then it was back to the two of them baking Lucia buns. And finally a clip of Henrik laughing and looking into the camera with his arms folded. That smile, that laughter made her whole body feel warm.
In the next scene he was sitting opposite her with a cup of coffee, and she was explaining her struggles with the patisserie. It wasn’t too bad so far. She came across as calm and likable. Then they went throughthe list of her cakes and cookies, and—unsurprisingly—she did not look happy.
How will things turn out for our bad-tempered baker?asked the narrator’s voice in a dryly humorous tone. Nora didn’t feel quite so optimistic now.
Next came a scene where she reacted angrily to Henrik’s suggestions, followed by various direct statements for the camera. Nora explained what she disliked about Henrik and his ideas, and her face was flushed throughout, as if she was about to explode any second. A few people were laughing. Then Henrik made fun of all her cookies and how flawed her whole setup was, whereupon Nora said, “Henrik is a stevia-eating idiot from Stockholm who has never baked a decent cinnamon bun.” She appeared to be bitter and difficult, and everything she did and said made her seem incompetent and oversensitive to criticism.
The burning sensation in her stomach turned to nausea. The whole thing was unbearable. She didn’t dare look out over the assembled journalists; this was sheer humiliation. In the next short scene, Henrik gave her a mild rebuke; she stood there for a moment with tears in her eyes, then stormed out. Hysterical, volatile, and incompetent—that was a fair summary of the Nora Jansson on-screen right now. The clip was only ten minutes long, but it felt like it went on for hours.
Then a clip of Henrik speaking to the camera. “She obviously hasn’t managed the business very well, but if you’re driven by emotions as Nora is—and you let your feelings determine how your business is run—then that’s bound to lead to problems.” Her heart was pounding. Though she wasn’t surprised by Henrik’s words, it nonetheless hurt to hear them.
Then suddenly she saw herself leaning over a table in the café, gasping for air. When she saw it on the screen, she felt as if she were reliving the experience. She looked out at the audience and felt herself struggling to breathe. This couldn’t be happening. Her head spun, and she tried to inhale slowly, exhale slowly. She could sense Henrik’s eyes on her.
Then there was Henrik on-screen again. “She works too hard because she doesn’t understand what’s important. Maybe someone with such fragile mental health shouldn’t be running a business.”
Will Henrik manage to bring the hysterical baker into line?the narrator asked, with a hint of laughter in his voice as the trailer ended.
He promised,she thought.He promised it wouldn’t be included.He had promised that her panic attack wouldn’t appear on the show.
The journalists began to drift over to their tables. Adrian had explained that this was an informal arrangement; they would simply come up to her and ask questions. Nora thought it felt like gladiatorial combat. To her surprise she managed to respond without much emotion; she was operating on some kind of weird autopilot.
Then she heard Hasse Eklund’s loud voice drowning out everything else. He must want everyone to hear him.
“I’ve read in the papers that those two are supposed to be in love, but after watching that, I’m not so sure! It was probably just a PR stunt after all.” The words hit home. Of course it was a PR stunt, all of it. “As Henrik said to me last time I saw him, we do what we have to do for the show.”
“It wasn’t just for the show!” Henrik broke in. He turned to his father and the journalists, but Nora didn’t hear the rest of what he said. Hasse’s words echoed in her mind. Had Henrik really said that to his father? She shouldn’t be surprised—not after seeing those clips. Henrik hadn’t kept his word. She had been portrayed as incompetent and volatile. So why should she believe anything else he’d ever said to her about his feelings and what he wanted in the future?
The next journalist looked Nora straight in the eye. “Soisthere a genuine romance between you and Henrik?” She had had enough. She took a deep breath, walked around the table, and headed for the door. She was wrecked. To make things worse, she tripped over the edge of a rug in her high heels. Elnaz caught her. Nora looked at Elnaz in terror, thinking she would try to force her to go back and answer more questions, but Elnaz just took her arm and led her out of the room. Away from it all.
39
Henrik was about to run after Nora, but he stopped and addressed the audience.
“Regardless of what my father just said, and what you saw in those clips, Nora’s and my relationship is the real deal.” Then he ran. Elnaz was at the top of the stairs, and Nora was racing down them. She grabbed Henrik’s arm. “Let her go.”
He ignored her and kept on running. “Can we talk?” he shouted.
Nora was already out in the street by the time he caught up with her. She had thrown her winter coat around her shoulders and she was clutching her purse. She was still wearing the high-heeled pumps, and looked frozen. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes full of tears.
“I promise I had no idea—that’s not what the production company showed me,” he began. “And what my father said just isn’t true.”
She backed away from him. “I don’t know what to believe. I just ... that was all too much. I need to be alone.”
“Nora, please, can’t we just talk ...” He took a step toward her, but she held up her hands as if to defend herself.
