VANJA: No. And the accident, the divorce and a difficult upbringing from then on affected him. But being affected is not the same as being ill. A couple of times I’ve considered the idea of a bipolar disorder. Until the moment he saw the photo from the Ski Museum, he seemed quite depressed. Since then, he’s been more … aggressive. Almost manic. But we’re not talking about mood swings. Just … a change. He’s definitely excessively preoccupied with symmetry. Purely physically, I mean – he wants to place chairs and cups and God knows what in perfect balance. But it’s more a kind of … hang-up rather than a real compulsion. I’m sure of that. My conclusion was that he would benefit from CBT.

VANJA takes one last puff, stubs out her cigarette on the brick wall outside the window and pinches the butt.

VANJA (cont.): The photo from the Ski Museum was sheer association. The sight of the skis unlocked his recognition of the man. Almost as if you had met Solveig Gulbrandsen in the street in ordinary clothes and had no idea who she was. But if you spotted her with a football under her arm …

COLLEAGUE: Who is Solveig Gulbrandsen?

VANJA: Forget it. Shall we go?

Her COLLEAGUE turns on the tap at the basin and lets the water run over her cigarette butt. She throws it into the rubbish bin. Turns on the hot water and starts to wash her hands.

COLLEAGUE: I still don’t know what you’re scared of.

VANJA: Me neither. It’s just …

VANJA heads for the door, stops and stares thoughtfully into the distance.

VANJA (cont.): Something’s come over him that I can’t understand. He’s changed. He’s far more intense. Persistent. The other day he was waiting for me at my home! Outside, in the street. I mean, if it had been a crisis, or a serious illness, then there are no limits to what I would accept. But as I said, he’s not ill. Not by my reckoning. Some of his problems for all these years have mainly centred on a lack of social skills. Difficulty in being accepted by people. In letting them get close to him. He’s not married, and he’s scarcely ever come near a female, I think. He probably has a slightly difficult, not to say repressed, relationship with women. Often feels rejected. It was possibly quite traumatic for him not to be allowed to stay with his mother after the accident. Understandable. But now he seems almost …

VANJA shakes her head and walks towards the door.