The Danish Delight (Mads Mikkelsen)

Chapter 2: "Ears of a Bat"

Chapter 2: "Ears of a Bat"

Of course I knew who he was... how could I not? He was a very well-known actor, but I chose to play the simple-minded role I knew so well. I tried my best to stay calm, but my heart was racing a million times faster and my words came out somewhat stumbled.

"Oh! Um, h-hello. There was a... uh... a man next door who asked me to come over here and tell you that he needed his equipment. My ..uh.. My apologies for knocking so many times."

God, I'm such an idiot.

He smirked and came a tad closer to me as he spoke, "No worries, all is well. I was trying to gather the equipment as you had knocked; Otherwise, I would have answered sooner."

"Oh no! It's alright! It's 100% fine." The loud words raced out of my nervous mouth. I could not help but stare into his eyes as we spoke; it took every ounce of strength within me not to linger within them for too long.

He looked back into the room and shook his head "There is too much equipment in here for one man to take at once."

"I could help you, if you'd like." Another set of words spilled out of my mouth without a second to spare. I was now desperately searching for an excuse to stay.

What the hell am I doing? Lord, I'm probably bugging the shit out of him.

He gave me a concerned look. "Some of the equipment is quite heavy... Are you certain that you can handle it? I wouldn't want you to get hurt in any way."

YOU wouldn't want ME to get hurt?

I tried my best not to blush. "I'm quite strong, really. It should be no problem."

He shrugged his broad shoulders and smiled. "Alright then. If you have any problems, do not hesitate to ask for help."

He lead me into the room and began to divide the equipment, giving to me the lightest bunch.

"I never caught your name." he added as he continued to organize things.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Uh, Elise. Elise is my name."

How could I have not given him my name?!

"You needn't apologize so much, especially when you have a name as beautiful as Elise."

I'd never really viewed my name as anything of true importance until then.

My cheeks blushed bright red as I looked off to the side.

"Thank you." I murmured softly.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Yes, Mads Mikkelsen."

"And you have seen my work, yes?"

"Of course, you are very talen-"

I was suddenly interrupted when the crazy welding man, who I had met just moments ago, came barging in through the door.

"Jesus Christ! Did you have to import the equipment from China? What's the holdup?!" He, then, stopped and turned to me, as if wondering why I was still there.

"I'd thought that you would have already been on your way by now." he said more as a question rather than a statement.

Mads answered before I could get the chance, "She was just about to help me take the equipment next door. As you can see, there is quite a bit of it."

"Oh, excellent! So glad that you could stick around ....um... uh...." He shook his head, "I'm sorry, with all of my nonsense, I don't believe that we were properly introduced. You are?"

"Elise." Mads answered again.

"Jesus Mads, the girl has a mouth of her own."

I giggled a bit, "It's quite alright. Yes, I'm Elise."

"A pleasure to now, formally, meet you Elise. I am Arnie Gordon; Producer and writer by day, ladies man by night." He shot me a flirtatious wink.

It took much of my self-control not to burst out into an insane cackle of laughter.

This guy is too much.

"Lovely to formally meet you, Arnie." I said with a smile as I shook his hand.

Arnie looked over at the now organized piles of equipment, "Well, you might as well take it on over then."

With some assistance from Mads, I managed to get my pile of equipment next door, as he did his own. Arnie's welding equipment had disappeared and he was beginning to set up cameras and microphones among other sound/movement equipment.

Mads approached me out of Arnie's earshot, "He's not quite as crazy as he seems. I guess you could say that he is what you would call 'socially awkward'."

I looked up at him and sighed with relief, "I thought that I was the only one who noticed it."

I was beginning to feel a bit more relaxed around Mads and felt a subtle joy talking with him, even if the subject was Arnie's awkwardness.

"So, do you work somewhere else within the studio?" he cleverly changed the subject to myself.

I didn't want to admit to him that I was a film student who was only on studio grounds to make a student film for a college final, but I had to tell him the truth as to why I was there.

"Not exactly," I breathed out. "I'm a film student, spending the rest of my semester here so that I can make a well-worthy film for my final."

"Wow, that's wonderful! What type of film will you be making?"

Great, now he wants to know about my film and I haven't a clue what kind of film I am going to make, nor have I decided what it will be about.

"I haven't quite come to that conclusion yet."

"Oh, I'm sure that it will come to you soon." He put his hand on my shoulder and struck me with an intensified smolder.

I straightened my posture as I tried not to shiver from his exhilarating embrace, "Yes, let's hope so."

Wanting ever-so-much to change the subject from myself to him, I asked, "So, what are you doing here on a Sunday afternoon?"

He took his hand off of my shoulder and snuck it into his pocket.

"Just spending the day setting up. I'm actually helping Arnie produce his latest film. As socially strange as he may be, he's produced and written many fine works in the past. I would like to be a part of his newest masterpiece."

As if on cue, Arnie had finished setting up his equipment and came running toward us.

"Everything is set! We can immediately start shooting tomorrow." He turned to me, "Oh! And Elise, thank you so much for all of your help."

"No problem." I replied with a shy smirk.

"You know Elise, seeing as you will be around for the remainder of the season, you should help us shoot." Arnie added.

Wait...

"How did you know that I wa-"

"EARS OF A BAT. I heard your entire conversation, but don't worry... I am aware of my awkwardness towards others. Anyway, will you do it?"

God only knew why, with such an accurate sense of hearing, Arnie hadn't a problem with his welding maneuver earlier. But, that aside, he did have a valid point. I was going to be around for the rest of the semester, not to mention the fact that Mads was going to be there as well.

"Sure, I'd love t-"

"Excellent! We start at 9am tomorrow. Ta-ta!" He walked out the door without a second glance.

Mads looked to me once more, "So, I will be seeing you tomorrow then?"

"Seems that way." I gave an awkward half-smile.

He picked up my hand and held it for a long moment. "I look forward to it. Until then, Elise?"

My.... God.....

"Yes. Until then."