She looked at me utterly confused and yet very determined when I opened the door. As if I was the stranger who just knocked on her apartment door and not the other way around. She was very colourfully dressed in clothes that were completely soaked from top to bottom. It had been raining all week.

“Du er sgu da ikke Åse!”

She spoke loudly and looked daringly at me as if I was challenging her to a fist fight that she was certain to win.

“Hvor er Åse?”

I guessed from the rise of tone in her voice that she was asking me a question, but I had no idea what she was saying.

“I’m very sorry, I don’t know what you’re sayi-”

“ÅÅÅÅÅ-SS-EEEEEE”

She said it very loudly and almost in slow motion as if I couldn’t hear properly and that she just had to articulate better on order for me to understand. It annoyed me and made me feel stupid, so I felt the need to defend myself. After all, she was in an English speaking country so she couldn’t really be mad that I spoke English. I was in the right here.

My facial expression must have changed or perhaps she simply read my mind because she immediately took a small step back and apologetically put both her hands in front of her body.

“Ej, det må du sgu undskylde. Det har været en helvedes tur og jeg magter bare ikke mere lort altså”

She half-yelled the last part of her utterance through gritted teeth and kicked the air in frustration. Then she took a deep breath and exhaled through pursed lips in an attempt to gather herself.

It seemed to work. She was clearly distraught and I was about to offer her a cup of coffee out of pity when I changed my mind. She hadn’t exactly been nice to me, and I didn’t need any more trouble than I already had.

“Du byder vel ikke på en kop kaffe, gør du?”

she suddenly said.

Then she continued:

“Nej, hvad tænker jeg dog på. Jeg har lige stået og skreget dig i hovedet, selvfølgelig gør du ikke det. Jeg ved bare ikke hvad jeg gøre, hvis jeg ikke finder Åse. Hun skulle hjælpe mig i gang herovre. Med sproget og sådan. Jeg har aldrig fået det lært, ser du, og dette er min eneste mulighed for at komme videre”

I didn’t understand a single word. It was all one big blurb in my ears. I sighed.

“Do you want to come inside?”

I opened the door a bit more. She looked blankly at me so I moved my hand in front of my body leading into the room in a gesture to invite her in.

She made a movement to follow me but apparently changed her mind because she then stopped abruptly and said

“Nu er du vel ikke sådan en af de der seriemordere, er du?”

She looked at me, like she was inspecting my character or trying to figure me out. I felt a little uneasy. Then she peeked into my apartment, looked quickly at my cat and then gave a little nod of approval before plodding into the small living room.

As she sat on my yellow couch I asked her if she wanted coffe. She looked up at me, laughing in defeat. How did she not know the word coffee?

I mimicked drinking from a cup and pointed at her.

“Jeg håber inderligt at det er kaffe du mener”

She said it in a tired yet light and somewhat cheerful tone. When she realised that I still didnt understand her, she nodded.

As the coffee was brewing I went through my closet to find her some dry clothes and a towel. I gave them to her without saying a word. She took them and I quickly left the room so she could change. When I came back with the coffee she was sitting on the couch in my jumper and sweatpants with the towel around her wet hair. She looked kinda nice. I handed her the cup.

She looked at me and said

“Tak”

And I understood.