The Danish Delight (Mads Mikkelsen)

Chapter 19: "Mother"

Chapter 19: "Mother"

"My God, Mother. I swear, when I am with him, it's like I'm on cloud nine. He treats me like such a princess!"

Perhaps if I emphasize how much of a gentleman he is, she will brush off his age.

"He must be very special to you, Elise. You've never talked this way about any of your boyfriends in the past. Tell me more! What's his name?... Where's he from?... WAIT, NO!...Is he rich?"

"MOTHER!" My voice screeched back through the phone.

God, she is so immature.

"Oh, I'm only joking, Elise. Lighten up. But seriously... don't let your poor mother suffer from anxiety, give me all of the dirty details!"

Sure Mom! Why not start with the fact that your 20-year-old daughter was vigorously fucked last night by a 48-year-old actor who is still, technically, married? Dirty enough for you?

"He, umm, he is European. And I, uhh, I met him during my creative film class."

Technically, I wasn't lying.

"Oh, how sweet! I can't wait to meet him! Will you be bringing him home with you for your birthday? Only two more weeks! You didn't forget about us, did you?"

Fuck.

"Uhhh.."

"Aw, you've been working so hard on your studies; we are so proud of you! Daddy and I have already paid for your ticket... but I'm sure we can scrape up enough for another."

"No, no Mom I-"

Mads jolted and grabbed my waist from behind.

"HOLY SHIT!" I shouted into my cell as I turned and slapped his hands. I put my hand against the mouth piece and scolded him. "You scared the ever-loving shit out of me!"

His eyes grew heavy as he gave extra pout to his lips. "I'm sorry. You said that you were stepping out for some air, but 15 minutes had passed and I began to get worried. I wasn't aware that you were taking a call... I'll leave you to it."

Why am I such a bitch?

"No wait! Mads... I'm sorry. I should have been more honest with you, it's just... It's..."

Mads raised his brow, waiting for me to finish choking on my words.

".... my mother." I coughed out.

He smiled and nodded in understanding. "Oh!... I see.."

My mother's voice blurted out through the speaker; loud enough for Mads to hear. "Elise! Elise, are you alright? Is that the boy I hear?"

His grin grew from ear-to-ear. "Boy, huh?"

She continued, "Put me on speaker phone."

No. No. This is not happening.

*click*

"HELLO! Hello!? Am I on speaker?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, mother. We can hear you."

Her voice changed into a much more formal tone, knowing now that she was speaking to the both of us. "My dear boy, won't you convince Elise into having you come along with her to New York for her birthday? We'd absolutely LOVE to have you with us! Please, won't you accept? The family is dying to welcome you."

Mads looked to me for an answer, but I remained silent while awkwardly biting my lower lip.

"Yes, it would be an absolute honor. Thank you for the invitation." He answered in his sultry, deep voice.

"Oh joy! I can't wait to meet you personally... um... uh... I'm sorry, dear, but Elise has yet to tell me your name."

We both looked at each other hesitantly, wondering how she would react to his name. We'd only hoped she would not recognize it.

"Mads Mikkelsen." He answered bluntly. "And yours, ma'am?"

Shit. Shit. SHIT! Dear God, please allow my mother to be cinematically ignorant, just this once! PLEASE!

"How lovely! My name is Judith Desmond; but please, don't feel the need to refer to me as Mrs. Desmond. You can call me Judi..." She giggled, "Or Mom."

"My God, mother! Don't burden him with that." I smacked my forehead.

Mads grew red, trying to hold back his laughter, "It's completely fine. Thank you... Mom."

"Of course, darling. Might I add, you have quite a deep voice for such a young man; very admirable."

The color of his complexion grew deeper, as I was certain he was on the brink of an exploding laugh-attack. "Uh, yes. Thank you."

I immediately took the phone off speaker and put it back against my ear. "Mother, I think I'm going to have to let you go now. I'll talk with you later."

"Yes, yes, I understand. Have fun! Stay safe! WEAR CONDOMS!"

"MOM!!!!!!!!!" I screamed back as the line disconnected.

It became apparent that Mads had heard the last of our conversation as he burst out into a state of laughter that I had never before seen him in. He was, quite literally, in tears.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and giggled a bit. "I am SOOO beyond sorry about that. How embarrassing!"

He clenched his stomach as he began to catch his breath. "No, no it's quite alright." He stood up straight and ran his fingers through his hair to gather himself. "Wow, I haven't laughed that hard in years. Your Mother is amazing."

"Yeah... She's uh, she's something alright."

"So, when are we going to New York?" Mads relaxed his voice.

"Two weeks from now. Listen, you don't have to come with me if you don't want to. It's a big step to meet my family and you needn't feel obligated to come all the way home to New York with me. Really, it's fine, I completely understand."

He wrapped his arms around my neck. "Elise, I wasn't lying when I said I'd be honored to come. I would truly love to meet your family, but I wouldn't want to make you, or them, uncomfortable in any way. If you don't want me there, just say the word and I'll stay behind."

I looked up to him and smiled, taking in the sweet, light scent of his cologne. "Of course I want you to come! I just... I'm not sure how I'm going to break the news about our age difference is all."

"We'll tell them together." He tilted my chin up and passionately kissed my lips; as if reassuring me that, with him, everything would be alright.

"Undskyld sir, vil du vende tilbage til dit bord?" Our waiter from the cafe stepped out to check on us, but Mads continued to kiss me.. sneaking his tongue more deeply down my throat.

"Sir?..... Sir?....."