The coworkers who fell in love when they shared a hotel room

(CNN) — When Ida Skibenes pulled up outside the Solstrand Hotel, her stomach was in knots, flipping between nerves and excitement.

The Solstrand is one of Norway’s most beautiful hotels, located just outside of Bergen, framed by fjords and home to over 125 years of history.

Every year, Ida’s Bergen-based workplace decamped to the dreamy surrounds of Solstrand for a couple of days of remote working. That year, 2014, was Ida’s first at the company. Her colleagues had regaled her with stories of Solstrand and she was excited. But her excitement wasn’t really about escaping from the city and relaxing among the mountains. It was all about Hanna Aardal.

Hanna was Ida’s coworker. When Ida started at the company, the two quickly clicked, but they were in different places in their lives. At the time, Ida was married, and focused on her relationship and settling into the new job. Meanwhile, Hanna was a single parent whose teenage daughter had just moved to the US to study for a year.

But as the months rolled on, their circumstances changed. Ida’s relationship fell apart, and she went through a divorce. Hanna adjusted to her daughter being abroad, and started spending more time socializing with coworkers. With time, Hanna and Ida grew closer.

“Our energies matched,” is how Ida puts it. “It was always more fun to be at work when Hanna was at work.”

“I think we kind of had the same kind of humor, so we became friends quickly,” says Hanna.

Hanna and Ida started working together on a fun side project, a short mockumentary in the vein of “The Office,” showcasing the quirks of their workplace. The film was set to be screened at the Solstrand retreat.

The historic Solstrand Hotel in Norway played an important role in Hanna and Ida’s relationship.

Solstrand/Montag

The two worked on the project out of hours, and started sharing regular dinners and drinks. They messaged regularly, often texting one another goodnight.

Reflecting on this period today, Ida and Hanna suggest they were “dating without realizing.”

“I was used to dating men, and I had never been in a relationship with a woman,” says Hanna. “Looking back, it’s kind of obvious that we had feelings for each other.”

Ida didn’t know if Hanna would be open to dating a woman. And she didn’t know if her feelings were reciprocated, or if they were all in her head. Still, Ida felt there were signs suggesting the relationship was something more.

A few weeks before the Solstrand trip, the two had stayed up late at Hanna’s home, chatting. When, at 2 a.m., Ida suggested she should head home, Hanna had taken her hand and asked her not to leave. It felt like a “turning point,” at least to Ida. But she left all the same — they’d both been drinking, and she felt the conversation had to be addressed under different circumstances.

Solstrand, Ida decided, was the perfect opportunity. Especially when Ida and Hanna were coincidentally chosen to room together.

“I had feelings for Hanna, and I definitely had a crush on her,” says Ida. “But if it was all in my head, then I needed to clarify that. And we were going to work together. So I just decided that if we end up in the same room, that’s a sign for me to actually do something about it.”

Plus, Solstrand was a beautiful, romantic setting.

“At least if she had turned me down, I wouldn’t be in like this dump somewhere. I would still be in a beautiful hotel,” jokes Ida.

Opening up

Ida brought up the topic at the end of the first day in Solstrand. It was late in the evening, and the two women were lying in their separate twin beds.

Hanna’s response surprised them both.

“I was kind of starting to say ‘I know that we have become close friends and everything, I love you like a friend.’ But then, while I was saying it, I realized that of course, it’s something more,” recalls Hanna.

“I freaked out when she told me that,” says Ida. ” I was like, ‘Wait a minute. This is not happening.'”

After the initial shock, the conversation continued.

“We talked, we kissed. And then we kind of just settled down and decided that we would figure things out eventually,” says Ida.

The next day, Ida and Hanna were preoccupied with a busy day of meetings and presentations. They didn’t address what happened the evening before, but it was a tradition at their company that everyone presented greeting cards to their Solstrand roommates at the end of the trip.

In Ida and Hanna’s cards, they put their burgeoning feelings in writing. And Ida excitedly messaged her close friends the news.

“I texted, like, three thumbs up, ‘We made out!'” says Ida.

“But other than that, we kept it quiet for a long time.”

Solstrand is surrounded by Norwegian fjords and mountains.

Solstrand/Montag

Hanna needed some time to come to terms with her newly acknowledged feelings.

“I had been in some relationships, but mostly I had been a single parent and very…