Esther had invited him out to lunch to cheer him up. It had been intended as a pleasant little outing, but the walk across the cobbled palace courtyard and up the flights of stairs that followed the elevator made it all too clear that he wasn’t doing well. He was gasping for breath and complaining of chest and hip pains every ten yards.

Maybe she had been too optimistic. Too excited about her plan to even consider if it was good for Gregers. But now here they were. He had ordered a traditional Danish open-faced sandwich with sliced potatoes and mayo, his beer and aquavit had been poured, and the color was slowly returning to his cheeks. He raised his glass.

“Well, we should have a toast, right?”

Esther clinked her aquavit glass against his and drank.

“Are you feeling better?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Gregers said. “I’m fine. But I could probably do with a refill on this aquavit once my sandwich comes.”

“We’ll order another one.”

Esther pointed to Thorvaldsen’s lion sculptures, which stood guard over the room.

“Did you know,” she asked, “that this used to be a storage room where the parliament’s old statues collected dust? They discovered it when renovating the roof and decided to make the tower a restaurant. Isn’t that lovely? That way everyone can enjoy it.”

“Those who can afford it.”

Esther sighed. “Have you seen the view?” she asked him. “The riding grounds, Tivoli, the National Museum…”

Gregers glanced at the enormous mullioned window facing the palace yard but lost interest when the waiter came by and took their order for more aquavit. Esther made a mental note to make reservations at their local café instead the next time she was taking her roommate out to eat. She looked back at the lions and remembered that Thorvaldsens Museum was right next to the palace.

A loud ringtone interrupted her thoughts. She looked around, but no one responded to the noise.

“Uh, Gregers, is that your phone? You don’t usually carry it with you.”

Flustered, he started searching through his pockets. When he finally sat holding the ringing phone, he had trouble finding the green button to answer the call.

“Yes? Hello?!” he yelled. “Ah, yes. Hello!”

Gregers listened for a minute, then mumbled a few words and hung up. He put the phone down and sat with both hands flat on the table.

“Gregers, is everything all right?”

He looked at her like someone who had just woken up or maybe rather fallen asleep and didn’t understand what he was dreaming. The waiter set a fresh glass of aquavit in front of him and he downed it.

“Well, that was that.” He set down his glass and blinked, annoyed. “How long does it take to make a sandwich?”

Esther’s heart sank.

“Who was that?” she asked.