"No grease or butter, Dag!" "You can do this!" "Have a nice breakfast, Dag!" " Is that you, Einar?" " Preferably not." " Hi, it's me." " I can tell." "Is it anything urgent?" "Everything I had is disappearing." "I don't know where my life is going." " Before or after work?" " I can be there in 30 minutes." "Make it 45." "I'm in the middle of a perfectly-fried breakfast." "Just a minute." "I'l be right here." "You?" "Back from Mecca." "So I see." "What can I do for you?" "You and I sell more or less the same thing." "You do it by replacing people's life-lie with reality." "I do it by supplying calm and hope." " What do we sell?" " Quality of life." "The Bible, the Koran, Siddhartha." "It's all the same story." "Imagine if everyone had the same faith,   but believed that the goodness came from within." "Without fear of punishment in the afterlife." "The nazis already tried that." "Gleichschaltung." "Coordination." "Though they weren't selling peace of mind." "I can do this." "I have to start somewhere." "Jesus started with twelve." "I don't see anyone behind you." "Not yet." "That's why I'm here." "You're seeking disciples?" "Gathering my flock from those who need it most." "Fishermen." "Drunks." "Give me some hopeless cases." "Maybe I can bring them happiness." "Why follow you?" "People have a need to be seen." "I won't give you any medical records." "You can forget about that." "But I can give you some names." "Good luck." "Always something new, never anything good." "Good morning!" "Boy, was that a fun night!" "I made you a broccoli smoothie." "You said you loved them." "It's ice-cold." "I bet you could use one now." "Here you go!" " Excellent." " Have you slept well?" "That was good." "It's right out the door and to the left." "Because we are ... where?" "Right next door." "Have you heard from the airline yet?" "Eh ... no." "It can take time." "Your suitcase may be in Morocco for all we know." "Do you think this might fit?" "Sure, it looks great." "Feel free to use your dialect." "We have a cabin in Hardanger." "Hardanger?" "Yes." "Like you talked yesterday." "Fine." "Look." "My husband wore this when he killed himself." "I haven't been able to throw it away." "I thought maybe I'd take a taxi." "Why?" "It's just down the street." "Or are you going to the theater?" "The theater?" "Of course, the theater." "Which theater was it?" "I get confused." "Of course." "It isn't easy being world famous." "You have a meeting at the National Theater." " So at least I'm still in Norway." " You are so funny!" "Who would think that, considering what you write?" " So he killed himself?" " Whatever." "Could you sign this?" "It's for Ragnhild." "She's a bigger fan than me." "She likes that one, but her favorite is Autumn Dream." " Right, Autumn Dream." " I love the way you say it." "Autumn Dream." "Would it be OK if I brought her along tonight?" " Along where?" " To your house." "Of course!" "If I don't answer, just come right in." "As I like to say:" "Literature must be experienced before it can be written." "Well said!" "Speaking of Someone is Going to Come ..." " Hello!" " Hi." "There's coffee on the table." "Help yourself." " What are those?" " These are Mexican wrestling masks." "I can't help but follow up with:" "Why?" "Because when I was 20, " " I decided to travel for six months." "After three months, in Juarez, I was broke." "The only way to earn some money   was wet T-shirt contests or amateur wrestling." "I chose the latter, of course." "I had been a gymnast, so I was limber enough to avoid being killed." "My first two fights went well." "But unfortunately they didn't have weight classes." "At least I decked a couple of broad." "Give me a fucking break!" "It isn't that easy." "Isn't that easy?" "My wife is still warm in her grave." "My stepson just got out of prison." "Lord knows what he's up to now." "And you're telling me "It isn't that easy"?" "We're talking about bacon, Dag." "Fried pork!" "Eat something else, for Christ's sake!" "What you told me on the phone ..." "That I felt I was disappearing?" "No, that isn't exactly what you said." "You said:" ""It feels like everything I have had   is suddenly about to disappear."" "Just for a moment, try to imagine how I'm doing." "It has already disappeared." "What you fear, has already happened to me." "Think there's some sort of relief in that?" "Not at all." "It's merely replaced by a new fear." "The endless emptiness." "And that feeling will never leave you,   until you lie in your grave." "The day you feel like that, and say   "It isn't that easy," I'll listen to you." "But don't come here expecting sympathy   because your fridge is full of broccoli!" "The broccoli is the symptom, not the problem." "But fine." "I can tell you are   worse off than me, so ..." " Do you want to talk about it?" " No." "Never mind." "Never mind." "Has Benedikt been here?" "No." " Would you like a drink?" " No." "I'm fine." "Sometimes I think you and I have been fortunate, Dag." "That we don't have children of our own." "We're step-parents." "Although we'd handle it poorly if something ever happened to them." "But imagine losing your own child." "The thousands of hours - you've held its hand, carried it,   laughed and cried with it ..." "And then it dies." "I read Edward Hirsch recently." "He wrote about his son who died." "Adopted son, but still..." ""I will not forgive you Sun of emptiness, " " Sky of blank clouds."" ""I will not forgive you Indifferent God, " " Until you give me back my son."" "Sorry I came bursting in here with trivialities." "I just ..." "Lost my footing." "A man who cannot eat what he wants   is a miserable man." "I understand you." "Completely." "There seems to be some sort of social stigma." "Just because I'm pregnant, " " I'm expected to make different choices." "I left home at 15." "Have never depended on anyone." "And now, suddenly,   it's unacceptable for me to tell Pål to go to hell." " Is it?" " Oh, yes." "It' is." "I've never understood those rules." "I mean, if you're so tired of him ..." "I'm tired of that." "Of how fucking ..." "How spineless people can be." "And then ..." "Then there are all those things I'm terrified of." "Like ..." "Is ..." "Is the baby healthy?" "How ... painful will it be?" "What if I don't like my baby?" "Lord knows I've met kids I can't stand." "Pål should be the least of my problems." "OK." "Why don't you go out some night?" "Break up the monotony." "Gain another perspective." "You don't have to sleep with anyone." "But flirt." "It may be shallow acknowledgment, but it works." "I don't know." "I ..." "I miss the intimacy." "But ..." "I don't want to pretend I'm someone else, just for kicks." "Fine." "How about you?" "What do you want from life?" "I don't know." "To cling to what I have." "For whatever that's worth." "At the same time   pack my bags and leave, like I always have." "One side of me desperately wants that sense of security." "And the other has a tendency to fuck up." "Is that what it is?" "Fucking up?" "Following the side that wants to be free?" "Yes, I think it is." "When what you're running toward keeps moving away from you." "It has to do with being responsible." "Where the hell have you been?" "I'm here now, aren't I?" "OK ..." "So India is our new theme?" "No, more Beatles, I'd say." "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi would be 97 this year." "If he were alive." " That makes perfect sense." " Doesn't it?" "Do I have any visitors?" "They came five minutes ago." ""You made a fool of everyone."" ""You made a fool of everyone ..."" "Good morning." "Yeah ..." ""Sexy Sadie"." "The Beatles." "Doesn't ring any ... bells?" "Anyway ..." "Trouble on the home front." "Let's talk about that." "He hasn't deleted his Tinder profile yet." "What a shame." "Yeah." "So you understand why we're here." "It's just for kicks." "I have Grindr too." "That doesn't mean I have a Gaysir start page on my Mac." "That ..." "That wouldn't be ... the same thing." "Give me two seconds." "Hey, Gandhi, can you help me?" "Suddenly I'm 270 years old." "You look amazing for your age, Dag." "Really." "I need an interpreter." "I'm on it." "I'm coming." "Let's see..." " Don't worry." " We owe them money!" "I owe people stuff all over." "It's no big deal." "Tell him how big a deal it is, Bojan!" "Where we're from, we stick to deals." "We had until today." "So what's the worst thing they can do?" "Kill us?" "I met that type in prison." "They aren't as scary as they look." "Stay put." "Dorina, hide in the bedroom." "What is it with you Serbs and kitchen appliances?" " What's happening?" " Low-alcohol beer." "Less trouble." "It was just a messenger." "This is Tanja's!" " That does it for me." " Help us find our sister!" "I want no part of your madness." " Where are you going?" " Anywhere I don't have to think." "OK." "So that's how you bed women." "It took some alcohol, but male pick-up tricks work well on women." " But now it's all about boys?" " I don't know." "I'm more attracted to the person than the gender." "Anyway, Christ, that was 15 years ago." " Time to go." " No, do you have to?" "I have a hungry son and a grumpy bacon eater waiting." " Thanks for the coffee." " Thanks for your patience." " Your work here is done." " This wasn't work." "This has been surprisingly nice for me too." "Bye." "Bye." "OK." "And that was ...?" "I don't really know." "Sorry." "Bye." "Much better." "Much better!" "An excellent instrument!" "Benedikt, I know you're in there!" "Go away!" "I'm fucking." "If you help me with this, I promise I'll disappear from your life." "I'll move out." "I'll tell them I need a new sponsor." ""Let's hear it for the band ..."" "I compare couples therapy to golf." "Something that improves with age." "But today's clients had an emotional life   based on zeroes and ones." "They made no sense." "I sounded like my father." "Maybe that's what they needed." "I had to ask Malin for help." "If I was the father figure, she was the insane aunt everyone fears." "Dag?" "I have something to tell you." "What?" "What is it?" "I'm pregnant." "You're joking, right?" "You're going to be a dad." "It would be nice if you said something now." "I don't know what to say." "Let me help you." "If you're wondering if there's a way out of this,   the answer is yes, of course." "You don't have to participate." "But I can't have an abortion." "I'm sorry I can't give you that option." "That simply doesn't work in my mind." "No, that isn't what ..." "I mean ..." "That is ..." "The last time I was told I was going to be a dad,   it wasn't true." "Right." "Come here." " Feel free to come in." " No." "I'm fine." "When is it ...?" "I'm about two month pregnant." "So nothing's for sure yet." "Have you told Leon?" "No, I thought I'd test the waters with you first." "I still don't know what to say." "OK." "Sometimes word's aren't enough." "I tend to feel more comfortable when they are." "Yeah, I know." "This is Benedikt." "Leave a message." "Here he comes." " Hi." " That isn't Jon Fosse." "Yes, it is." " May we come in?" " Sure." "This is Mia and Alexander's phone." "Please leave a message."