Here you go, another part of "be professional" as requested :)
Thank you for all the lovely feedback and PMs and thanks to space0whales for beta-ing this chapter and also thank you butim-justharry on TUMBLR for giving me the idea of the whole "incident" and of course thank you to hookedonapirate for inspiring to write the whole story (I love you, sweetie!)
now lean back and enjoy!
"You gotta be kidding me. I surely won't go to this barbeque" Emma said and looked at Milah shocked.
"Yes you will. I am your boss and I'm telling you to go to this barbeque. So do it and stop complaining."
"Why don't you go yourself?" Emma said indignantly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Scheduling conflict ." Milah replies smugly.
"Sure…" Emma fetched the invitation and stomped out of Milah's office rolling her eyes.
She slumped into her chair, looking at her monitor with annoyance. She wished she could talk to someone but Mary Margaret was sick at home and she didn't want to talk to anyone else in the office.
The last three weeks Milah was more annoying than usual. Since Killian decided to work with Emma instead with Milah, her boss was even ruder to her.
She barely met customers, and she was relegated to menial jobs when she wasn't working with Killian. She hated this current circumstances so much. Her desire to quit grew stronger by the minute.
The only good days were when Killian was around or when he asked her to come to his office. They normally worked the whole day, brainstorming or debating, creating new ideas and looking for ways to realize them.
Working with Killian was easy. Simply being with Killian was easy. She felt comfortable around him, he treated her as an equal . He never belittled any of her ideas (no matter how stupid they were), he made her feel good - made her feel like he took her seriously. She liked it. She looked forward to every time he made an appointment with her.
But, he told her earlier that week that he would be out of state at least until the weekend, so they were not going to see each other until Wednesday, when their next meeting was scheduled. Milah seemed to be satisfied with the arrangement, it gave her more time for her to bully Emma.
Suddenly her phone rang and a big smile appeared on Emma's face.
"Mr. Jones. What a pleasure to hear from you," she chirped into the phone.
"Emma, how often have I told you to call me Killian?"
Emma chuckled. "And how often have I told you it isn't always possible to call you so?"
"Oh I see, love. Is the Golden Queen around? Is she still bullying you?"
Emma sighed, looking at Milah's empty office. Her hand wandered to her ponytail, winding it around her fingers.
"Well she is somewhere around here, I guess. But I assume that is not the reason you are calling, is it?" She intentionally ignored the reference to the bullying. Killian was not her friend and as much as she wanted to trust him totally, she didn't. She has faced disappointment too often in her past - had her words often used against her.
"No, love. I wanted to ask if you were able to finish the two tasks I asked you to do?"
Oh. "Yes, I did finish them. Shall I send you everything via email?" Emma said. She took the huge document file from her desk drawer and also opened a folder on her PC.
"That would be great. I also have some new ideas I need to discuss with you next week."
"Good to hear that I am not the only one working here."
"Oi, love, that hurts! Why do you think I don't work over here?"
Emma leaned back and smiled. "Well, if I were to guess, I'd say you are lying by a pool or sitting at a cocktail bar near a pool, with all that noise in the background."
"Attentive, too. Well..." he trailed off. She practically heard him blush in that moment. "That's the privilege of owning a company and deciding where to meet a business partner," he says.
"You are meeting a business partner at a pool? She must be very pretty."
A deep laugh resounds over the phone. "No, lass, you are wrong. To be honest, she is a he and he is not my type. But, he owns this hotel complex and so I take advantage of it while I'm here."
Emma smiled and tried not to think about what Killian was wearing at that moment. She tried even harder not to think about how he looked just in his bathing trunks.
"Isn't there any work to be done?" Milah's voice brought Emma back to reality, hitting her hard. She looked up and saw the angry expression on her face. Milah looked at Emma's phone. "Tell Killian that calling you is the same as meeting you in person. He has to make an appointment so I can supervise your interactions. So, stop flirting and go back to your actual work."
Emma's jaw dropped, unable to say anything. How did Milah know she was talking to Killian and what did she mean by flirting? She wasn't flirting at all! Was she?
"Emma? Was that Milah? What did she want? Lass, are you alright?" Killian said, his voice soothing her. She wanted to answer him, but Milah spoke again.
"Give me the damn phone, Emma. I'll tell him myself!" Milah held her hand out for the phone impatiently. Emma mumbled a quick sorry and handed it over.
"Killian, what the hell are you doing? You cannot call whenever you want and distract my employees. If this was a personal call I'll have to talk to my employee again about the rules and their consequences. If it was a business call, you should know that you must first call me before talking to her."
Milah went silent and looked at Emma, her face growing angrier and angrier. Emma swallowed and tried to avoid her look. After what seemed like an eternity, she handed the phone back to Emma.
"Meet me in my office in ten minutes, I have work for you." With that, she turned back to her office.
Emma's face turned white. She slowly lifted the phone to her ear. "Killian? Are you still there?"
"Aye, love. Are you alright?" Emma didn't respond. "Don't let Milah get to you. She is just jealous or something. I don't know. I promise, she won't fire you for talking or working or," and he paused a moment, "flirting with me."
Emma blushed immediately. "I wasn't flirting!"
"Really, Emma? Because I was. Anyhow, I have to end this call. As much as I prefer talking to a beautiful lass instead of a hairy old business partner, I have to go now. Please don't forget to send me the files. Bye, love."
"Good bye, Killian." Emma couldn't help but smile broadly. Did he really say he flirted with her and that she was beautiful? She looked around and took a deep breath before she opened her email to send him the files.
Emma parked her old Volkswagen Beetle in the parking lot in front of the huge park where the barbeque was held. She took a deep breath and looked at herself in the rearview mirror one last time. She was wearing a sunflower print dress, matching the colour of her car. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders, slightly curled, but naturally so. She wore ballerina flats as she thought that high heels wouldn't be appropriate for a park. She only wore little make up, liking her natural look better.
She took the invitation and her purse and left the car. There were a lot of people. Emma knew none of them. She went to the entrance and showed her invitation. The man smiled at her and pinned a pink dahlia on her dress.
She thanked him and followed an elderly couple in. She looked down at the flower in disgust, hating the brightness and the colour of it. The couple decided to go to the large pavilion and Emma again followed them. There were so many people and so much to see and do.
Emma decided to explore the whole park before picking where to stay. Milah had instructed her to look for some specific people, so she would do that while she explored. She was surprised to see dogs around, but she has never been to such an event before so much of it was surprising to her.
She strolled along the gravel paths, crossing a lawn where people sat on picnic blankets. Waiters were rushing around with refreshments, three large barbecues stood to one side with three chefs watching the meat, sausages, and vegetables as they cooked.
Next was a lawn full of sunbeds of different shapes and sizes. Emma wished she could lie down, enjoy the day, and relax. But she knew that was out of question. Eventually, after she found everyone she was looking for, she would come back and try one of these cosy sunbeds herself.
She passed a cocktail bar and decided ing it was time for something to drink. She downed a glass of champagne and leaned against the bar to look around while the bartender refilled it politely. There were several bar tables around the bar itself. Further back there were about thirty small tables, on each a small vase with a pink dahlia in it. Emma rolled her eyes and grabbed her glass, moving on.
She passed another food area, but this time the smell of seafood filled the air. Emma's mouth watered, but she decided not to stop until she explored every area.
Deep in thought, she noticed that she was standing next to a small soccer goal. A moment later a ball flew by almost making her drop her glass. She looked around, and a youngster in khaki shorts raised his arm smiling apologetically. Emma shook her head slightly and moved on.
All over the lawn people played soccer or frisbee or volleyball. Mostly young people of about twenty, but also older ones. For the first time all day, Emma felt kind of normal. Everyone here was someone important or at least the kid or wife or husband of someone important. Hardly anyone would send someone else to go to such an event. Not like Milah.
She downed her glass and headed back towards the pavilion, resolved to fulfill the task Milah had given her. Within two hours she had talked to everyone on her list, she had eaten more than she normally did in a week and drank more than she probably should have.
A bit tipsy, she turned around, looking for the relaxation area, thinking of the cosy sunbeds, dreaming about lying down to enjoy the rest of the day. She started to walk when a red frisbee landed next to her. She didn't hear the shouts and picked it up, looking around for the owner when, suddenly, a large black dog knocked her over.
She landed on her back, the big black dog staring at her. Emma squeezed her eyes shut and panicked. Her heart raced and her breathing was frantic. She didn't know what to do exactly, should she try to push him away or should she lie as still as possible. She didn't know if the dog wanted to harm her or play with her.
She slowly opened her eyes. The dog now sat next to her, still staring. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth, his whole body shaking from panting. He didn't look dangerous at all. Emma slowly sat up, her eyes still fixated on him.
"Buckley, here!" A male voice commanded and the dog ran past her. Emma exhaled sharply. She didn't even notice she was holding her breath. The moment she wanted to get up, the man spoke again, this time closer to her. A large hand appeared in front of her, offered to help her up.
"Apologies, lass. You have a frisbee in your hand and Buckley, here, is kind of obsessed by these little discs. Didn't you hear me shout, I…" The man now was standing in front of her, his hand still reached out.
Emma looked up the same moment the man spoke again.
"Emma?!" She nodded and smiled but didn't say anything. "Emma, are you okay? Are you hurt? I am so sorry." He helped her up and looked at her concerned. Emma winced, her tailbone hurt and she was sure there would be a black bruise on her thigh tomorrow.
She sighed and tried to look brave. "Killian? What are you doing here? I thought you are in Florida the whole weekend." She shifted her weight on her other foot and winced again. A sharp pain shot from her tailbone to her hip causing her to squeeze her eyes shut briefly. When she opened her eyes again, she saw concern in Killian's eyes. "I am alright. Honestly. Is this your dog?"
"Aye. She is a bit of a spitfire. My apologies again." He patted the dog's head and smiled at Emma.
"No need to apologize. But maybe I should give her this back?" Emma bent down and gave the dog the frisbee. When she looked back at Killian he scratched behind his ear.
"And yes, love, I was supposed to be in Florida the whole weekend but the negotiations went faster than expected, thanks to you."
"Me? What could I have done to help you?"
Killian smiled at her but when he looked her over he frowned.
"Lass, I think I have to buy you a new dress. This one looks like it's ruined. I doubt you will be able to remove the grass stains and I am afraid that your dahlia is ruined too." He pointed at the broken flower, hanging loosely from her dress.
Suddenly Emma started to laugh. She didn't know if it was the alcohol or the ridiculousness of the whole situation itself but she couldn't stop. Killian looked at her bewildered before he shrugged and joined in.
Buckley looked at them confused, and laid down after some minutes. Killian was the first to speak again. "You sure you didn't hit your head, love?"
Emma nodded but winced once again, rubbing her tailbone. "Yes, but maybe I should sit down for a bit, just to be sure." She looked at Killian mischievously, again not sure what caused her boldness. Killian, gentleman as always, tucked her arm into his and lead her to the sunbeds Emma was so fond of.
He sat down and pulled her next to him, commanding Buckley to lay down next to the bed. A minute later a waiter appeared. Killian ordered a rum for himself and a glass of water for Emma. When the waiter came back with their drinks, Killian laid down and looked at Emma.
"So tell me, love, what are you doing at this event?"