The Danish Delight (Mads Mikkelsen)

Chapter 23: "Home, Sweet, Home"

Chapter 23: "Home, Sweet, Home"

"Wait!" I stopped Mads before he rang the doorbell. "So... How are we going to go about this?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, I guess we'll just have to play it by ear."

"Wh-what does that mean?!"

"Elise... We are going to have to tell them eventually." He giggled to himself, "I just hope that your poor mother doesn't collapse when she opens the door and sees me."

"Mads!" I socked his bicep. "You're..." I, too, started to giggle. "You're awful! Hahaha... S-stop it!"

Apparently, within the brief moment that we joked around and nudged at each other, my mother conveniently decided to open the front door; at which point our playful smiles turned to stone-cold stares.

"H-hi there, Mom."

My mother furrowed her brows and looked at us both with dumbfounded eyes. "Hey there...... Come on in."

Once inside, my mother faced us and changed her expression while shutting the door behind her. "I'm so sorry, you must be Mads. Correct?"

"Yes, and you're Elise's lovely mother, Judith." He stretched out his right hand to shake hers, but she denied it and wrapped her arms around him instead.

"Oh, don't be so formal. It's a pleasure to finally meet you!"

Seeing them act so warm with one another sent a sudden wave of relief throughout my body.

"Please, make yourself at home." She released Mads and escorted us into the newly furnished living room.

Ah, that was painless.

Just as we all had taken a seat, my father came running down the stairs. "Is that my little Elise I hear?!"

Shit. It's Dad... And things were going so well.

"Hi, Dad." I gulped, seeing the same look of confusion on his face that was previously on my mother's.

Mads, seemingly startled, instantly stood up and shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir. I'm Mads Mikkelsen."

"Uh... Yeah, it's nice to meet you too." He released their grasp and continued while he took the seat where Mads had previously sat next to me. "As I'm sure Elise has informed you, I'm Phillip Desmond; you may refer to me as Mr. Desmond or feel free to stick with Sir."

"Phil!" My mother barked from across the room. "Mads, please ignore my husband's foolish behavior." She snapped for him to move from where he was sitting, and he did as he was told.

I weaved my hand into Mads' once he sat back down; his palms were dripping with sweat.

"So, Mads, Elise tells us that you two met during her creative film class?"

I could see a plethora questions hiding behind my mother's plastered smile and, honestly, I couldn't blame her for it. Surly, Mads was not the ideal 'Mads' that my parents had in mind, but he was the 'Mads' that I loved. And, luckily, my mother knew that. We'd always had a sort of telepathic connection, my mother and I, and I admired it greatly. With a single glance of the eye, one could read the other's thoughts based purely upon body language and natural instinct. I guess you could classify it as our 'sixth sense'.

Gathering himself back together, Mads re-greeted her smile. "Ah yes, that's certainly one way to put it. But, as I'm sure you can obviously see, I'm not a student."

"Obviously." My father scoffed under his breath. A remark which was soon met with a sharp jab in the side from my mother.

"Yes.." Mads continued. "I actually met Elise through the studio, where I've been w-...uh.. where I was working at the time."

My mother raised her brow and turned to me. "Studio?"

"Oh yeah!" I laughed out, joking as if I had completely forgotten to mention my work at Universal. "Our class was given the opportunity to work on set at Universal Studios, Hollywood in order to shoot our final."

"Oh wow, and you two just stumbled into each other?"

"Eh, basically. More or less." I nodded.

"Ah, I see." She faced Mads once again. "So, what is it that you do in the studio?"

"I guess it depends on the workload for the day." He grinned, masterfully twisting the subject without a single lie. "I'd say it varies quite a bit."

"You know, it's funny. You have such a familiar face! Almost like I've seen you some place before. I couldn't imagine you'd be the type of person who only works behind the scenes."

His cheeks became warm. "Actually, I've been acting on-screen for quite sometime."

It was strange to see Mads in a heated moment of embarrassment; it was an emotion that I had rarely seen and grew slightly curious of. It almost gave me reassurance... reassurance that Mads was, in fact, a normal human-being with normal reactions to typical situations.

"Ah! I knew it!" She nudged my father again. "See, Phil? Elise nabbed herself a successful actor."

Dear God, Mother..

Dad rolled his eyes and got up from the couch. "It's getting late. I think that it's time to head off to bed."

"Goodnight Elise," he called out on his way up the stairs. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Don't mind him, Mads." My mother added. "He gets a little grumpy when it's late. I'm sure he'll be in a much better mood by morning."

"No worries." He winked back.

I glanced off at the exceptionally grand wall clock hanging above the newly-restored fireplace. "He is right though, it is getting late. It's one-in-the-morning, Mom. I don't want to keep you up any later than needs be."

"Alright." She nodded as Mads helped her to stand. "I'm sorry to say this Elise, but your father and I have already turned your old room into an office space. You two are going to have to use the guest room down here."

Trust me, it's no problem AT. ALL.

I brought her in for hug and kiss goodnight. "That's completely fine, Mother."

I didn't need Mads seeing my old flowery pink bed sheets and stuffed animal collection anyway.

She whispered "Behave." into my ear before pulling back and making her way up the stairs.

Yes, Mommy Dearest.

Once I had heard her bedroom door shut, I took in a large breath of air and, subsequently, let it out in a heaving formation. My body treasured the feeling of finally being able to breathe again.

"Mads, I'm so-"

"Stop. Elise, don't apologize. There's no need to." He stroked my cheek with the side of his hand.

"B-but my father-"

"It's alright, Elise. I didn't expect him to warm up to me so instantly, really either of them for that matter. We'll, uh, we'll just have to give it some time."

I nodded back before burying myself within his arms. There was something so pure and naturally settling about the beautiful embrace of his strong, yet careful arms. It was almost like, as long as he held me... as long as he kept me intertwined within his breathtaking touch, I was invincible. Nothing could harm me... and nothing could even come close to parting the supernatural bond that was of our love. In his arms, I ..... we .... were limitless.

He gently lowered his head and kissed the top of my lips, just bellow the Cupid's bow. "Come now, Darling. It's time that we get an appropriate amount of rest for once."