Christian Jungersen - The Exception

If Anne-Lise sent the emails she obviously must be emotionally disturbed, perhaps even borderline psychotic. If so, she has so far been able to hide her state of mind from her colleagues.

That is why Iben thought Malene should come along with her to see her friend Grith, the clinical psychologist. Malene is mildly sceptical, but she has only met Grith a few times and hasn’t a clue what insight she might provide. Besides, Malene does agree that it’s sensible to get a professional evaluation of Anne-Lise’s behaviour.

Grith is a tall, thin woman with large, slightly droopy breasts. She has the kind of body that’s supposed to drive men wild. Watching her, Malene thinks that Grith’s erotic pull is surely limited to when she sits down or stands still. When her long limbs are moving she looks like an awkward fourteen-year-old. The suspicion that she is likely to fall over any minute makes Malene, for one, feel rather nervous.

Grith practises her clinical skills at the Copenhagen National Hospital. They sit on the large, square cushions of Grith’s grey sofa.

‘The first thing to do is to make the client’s experience your starting point. The idea is always to support whatever the client believes. It is his or her reality, after all, regardless of how the rest of the world sees it. Clients often feel insecure, so we don’t move on until we’ve understood how they perceive what has happened.’

She leans forward from her seat on the sofa. It strikes Malene that there’s something unfeminine about her, despite her large, dark eyes.

Grith turns to Malene. ‘Anyway, why don’t you tell me about your problem?’

‘I don’t have one! We’re here because one of our colleagues has a problem.’

‘OK. How do you see her problem?’

‘But, look, even before we sat down we told you …’

Malene stops and starts again, trying to echo the slightly learned tone that Grith and Iben seem to adopt when they’re together.

‘Anne-Lise gives me the impression of being terribly angry. She might have sent us threatening emails.’

Malene pauses to pick a piece of dried mango from a bowl of Tropical Mix. ‘Iben, you’ve got to help me with this.’

‘Grith, I told you.’

‘Sure, but I need to get a sense of the situation. Try to describe why this woman is feeling so angry.’

Malene won’t say anything. Instead she catches Grith’s eye and then Iben’s.

It doesn’t take long before Iben speaks up. ‘Anne-Lise believes that being colleagues means being friends. And because we don’t treat her as a close friend, she has jumped to the conclusion that we are all bad people and that we’re bullying her.’

‘You’re giving me the view from the outside. Can’t you—?’

Iben won’t let Grith interrupt her and runs on: ‘Being viewed in this way is incredibly unpleasant for all of us. Her hostility is palpable … even if she never sent the emails.’

‘Iben, let’s stay with her perception of being shut out from a community. Now that’s a very unpleasant feeling too.’

‘We can’t think how to make her understand that we’re just following the ordinary rules of the workplace, and that no one is persecuting her or anything.’

‘Iben, remember that feeling excluded is awful. Being cast as the outsider would make anyone angry.’

‘Sure, but—’

‘What if we choose to believe her perception? Some part of her story is probably true. When does she feel angry, do you think? Any particular time, or times?’

‘She might’ve been angry last night, when the emails were sent. But listen, no one is trying to exclude her.’

Grith’s voice, always calm, grows even slower and deeper. ‘Hold on, let’s stay with her for a while. Last night, you said. Did anything special take place in the office yesterday?’

‘We had quite a nice day together. Chatted a great deal. I remember talking about that journalist, the woman who wouldn’t stop asking me about how we were fed in Africa. Later in the afternoon we listened to Chris and the Chocolate Factory. ’ She looks at Malene. ‘It was fun, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, it was.’

Grith’s large eyes are fixed on Iben. ‘And as far as you know, no one in the office has been hard on this woman?’

‘People have been irritated with her, but that’s normal. We all have our ups and downs, but there’s nothing unusual about that, surely?’

‘Not at all. Quite normal.’

‘So, she might misinterpret mood swings that the rest of us think nothing of, if she’s another personality type. It’s the kind of thing I thought we might talk about.’

Grith leans back, stretching one arm out on the back of the sofa. Her flexibility makes her thin, elongated limb seem to flow along the cushion.

‘Iben, you’ve never seen anyone have a go at this woman?’

‘I can’t think of anything like that. We try to be helpful and kind. Don’t we, Malene?’

‘Yes, we do.’

Iben is quiet for a moment. ‘Still, it’s difficult to know what goes on inside her head because she withdraws into her shell such a lot. She can seem quite odd. That’s what we wanted to talk to you about …’

Grith uses both hands to lift the mug of tea to her lips, the way Malene sometimes needs to do. Not that Grith has arthritis, of course. She listens and blows on her drink before interrupting Iben.

‘You said that the door to her workplace is always closed?’

‘Yes, Camilla likes the library door to be closed, to keep out draughts. It’s debatable …’

‘And we do debate it,’ Malene points out.

‘True. But Camilla has worked in that office longer than she has. And that door has always been shut. It’s a bit much.’

Grith asks more questions, especially about Camilla. Does she harass Anne-Lise when the others are out of earshot?

It’s still Iben who fields the questions. ‘She wouldn’t … Look, Camilla is OK, isn’t she?’

Iben’s question puts a stop to Malene’s discreet finger-exercise session. It’s the time in the evening when she usually massages her knuckles.

She nods. ‘Yes. Camilla is easy to work with.’

Grith pushes a fine strand of hair away from her cheek.

‘It could be just a little thing,’ she says. ‘You two might not notice. You’re committed to creating a good working atmosphere for the whole office and that’s great. You talk with this woman and invite her to join your group, even though you’re not that keen on her. What do other people do? Someone in your office is giving her a hard time. And if you don’t demonstratively take her side, she might well feel that you’re all bullies. That’s enough to make anyone unhappy and very angry …’

Iben tries to interrupt, but Grith continues. ‘It explains why she’s reserved and insecure in your company. It’s quite understandable.’

‘Grith, it’s not—’

‘Try to see things her way and the pieces fall into place. Don’t ignore her angle.’

Iben has been eager to talk for so long that she has to draw breath. She says quickly, ‘Grith, listen. Apart from the head of the Centre — and he’s almost always out — there are no other people. Just Camilla and us!’

‘Is that so?’

Malene leans forward to get a little closer to Iben. She looks at Grith.

‘Grith, only us. You see? No one is harassing her.’

By now Grith’s measured approach has become even more deliberate. ‘Is that so? I assumed there were more … that there was a large staff.’

‘There isn’t. We’re it.’

Silence. Grith’s eyes flit around the room, scanning the bookshelf, the bare walls, the small table with the telephone, the dining table made from heavy wooden beams.