Chapter Five
April 2013
Mona had asked very little about her mystery classmate and Emilia offered even less information. Her friend explained he had a strange aura around him but then she said the same thing about Emilia. Her conclusion was that Emilia's fractured spirit had used its aura to call Draco to her. Emilia rolled her eyes and scoffed. As if she could will a perfectly handsome stranger from another country here to heal her supposedly broken, bleeding spirit. Mona simply smiled.
It seemed that Mona was incorrect. In fact it was more likely their auras were repelling each other. She did not see Mr. Malfoy for the rest of the work week. There was simply no time when her work schedule was this insane.
She pulled a thirty six hour work day on Wednesday when a pregnant mare twisted her ankle and promptly went into labor. Exhausted, Emilia tossed coffee down her throat all of Thursday to keep up the pace. By Friday she could have been a walking corpse.
She had been up the night before until midnight with Ross Bussey trying to help locate several of his missing cows who had wandered through a split in his fencing. A week of little sleep was starting to have a toll but nothing a little caffeine couldn't mask. Practically asleep on her feet Emilia made a slow walk down to the local coffee shop for several espresso shots.
"Dr. Grainer. "A small noise of surprise squeaked past her lips as she spun around. Silver grey eyes gleamed at her to match the Cheshire cat grin on Mr. Malfoy's face as he stepped behind her.
"Good morning Mr. Malfoy. How is your trip so far?" She asked politely even though he had just scared the piss out of her. Unable to focus her thoughts whenever he was around she returned her attention to the delicious array of bagels in front of her.
"My apologies for startling you. My trip has been enjoyable. I've been visiting some of the local tourist sights."
"Sounds lovely. I don't know if you like to hike but there is an excellent unofficial hiking trail just west of town over the old carriage road. It will take you to a hill overlooking the river valley. The view there is spectacular."
She glanced up at him to see a curious look on his face. Her neck and cheeks flushed when she realized she had no idea why she offered that tidbit. Of course now that weird pulling sensation churned in her stomach but without touching it was bizarrely more pleasant and less demanding. Her mind was throbbing with warning signals not to touch him so she kept her hands firmly in her pockets lest the pulling sensation physically make her cause a scene. Thankfully it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
Ignoring her company's lack of response she placed her usual order of a medium brown sugar latte with an extra shot and a jalapeno cheddar bagel with plain cream cheese while fishing out her pocket change. A crisp hundred dollar bill slid across the counter.
"I will have a small French roast, black, and pay for both. Please keep the change."
He turned to face her, his hands slipping into his own tailored coat pockets to mirror hers.
"Perhaps you would join me for a few minutes Dr. Grainer?"
She bit her lip to hide the scowl he seemed ept at bringing forth. He made her feel on edge about the strange desire to reach out and touch him. It wasn't just that though. It felt like her mind should recall something important about him from before but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what. When she had taken a moment to try to think of him from her youth the ink-like darkness slid over her thoughts and diverted her attention.
Still, she didn't want to be impolite by refusing, especially after he paid and tipped that much. It occurred to her that perhaps he didn't know how much money he had just handed over.
"I wonder if you know how to convert American dollars to pounds. You grossly overpaid and tipped."
He actually laughed and she felt incensed yet giddy at the sound.
"Actually, I do. No need to worry Dr. Grainer, I won't deplete my bank accounts by being generous with my tips."
She couldn't hide her scowl any longer.
"I only meant I would hate for you to overpay your entire trip if you weren't aware of the conversion amount between currencies."
His face fell into a frown. The pair stood in an uncomfortable silence while she mentally chastised herself again. That was rude and presumptuous. She needed to get a hold of herself. Her behavior around this man had been abhorrent and almost uncontrollable.
"May I make an observation, Dr. Grainer?" He asked quietly.
Emilia pulled out of her silent self bashing with a nod of her head.
"You look exhausted. When was the last time you had a full night's sleep?"
Her shoulders sagged. Was that obvious? It seemed no amount of makeup could hide some truths.
"Spring is always busy. I'm in the process of finding a partner to help split the workload. My friend Vanessa's father is a retired veterinarian a few towns over. He said he would be more than happy to cover my clinic so I can get some rest. I...I'd rather wait until things settle down some."
Their order was called and they grabbed their items, thanking the barista. Draco led her over to a table in the back corner where he pulled out a chair for her. She halted her step for a moment, silently surprised at the act of chivalry, before sitting down and he tucked her chair in. He gracefully sat in the chair next to her, noting he pulled his chair close to her, their feet and knees practically touching. It took an incredible amount of willpower not to let her knee accidentally brush his.
"I'm sorry about my comments earlier Mr. Malfoy."
"Please, Dr. Grainer, if you wish to apologize perhaps you would allow us to be on a first name basis?"
"I suppose that would be the polite thing to do." She smiled, sipping her brown sugar latte. Ah...just the pick me up she needed.
"You had mentioned at my clinic you own your own company Mr. Mal-Draco." She started the conversation, catching herself.
"I do. It's a type of pharmaceutical company for rare medical conditions. I also deal with investments but that has to do with the family money. I try to have as little involvement as I can with that business."
"You seem to have a workload similar to mine."
He nodded, sipping his hot drink.
"Yes, you and I had always been very studious children. We thrived under large workloads and pressure."
This was true. Emilia enjoyed keeping active both physically and mentally. It kept her mind from dwelling on things.
"I find myself happiest when I have little to no down time." She admitted.
His fingers idly spun his coffee cup.
"When you're busy with work a lack of personal life is more bearable."
A pindrop couldn't disturb the silence that followed the blatant call out on both of them.
"Well, I try to spend some time with my friends each week even if it's only an hour." It was a feeble attempt on her part to convey some personal life.
"I envy you then. There are times I cannot seem to meet with friends for weeks on end. I suppose I should make it more of a priority."
She nodded her head emphatically.
"Friends are extremely important. They keep you grounded and help you deal with things like..."
"Loneliness?" He supplied quietly.
Emilia didn't reply. Instead, she took a bite of her bagel, thinking of her next question and how to phrase it.
"So...are you traveling alone?"
What an abysmal attempt at nonchalance. Draco's eyes glinted which told her he knew exactly what she was asking.
"Yes, I'm traveling alone."
"So, are you single?" She asked point blank, braving the discomfort she worried she'd feel after his answer to her cheeky question.
Draco's face was drawn and he was quiet for a while as he thought about his answer.
"Yes, at the moment I would be considered single. What about yourself, Emilia? Are you seeing anyone?"
Emilia shook her head and was about to answer when her phone rang. Phew.
"I'm sorry Draco, I need to take this."
She answered the phone without waiting for his reply.
"Ross! Did you find them?"
"No, but I think I know where they are. Would you be able to come over and take a look with me? I think one or two might've had their calves since they haven't returned."
"Of course. I'm not taking clinic visits today so that shouldn't be a problem. Can you bring Serendipity? I'd hate to bother Mona."
"Sure thing. Do you need anything else?"
"That should be all. Give me an hour? Mkay bye."
She hung up her phone, giving Draco an apologetic look.
"I'm so sorry I have an emergency on call I need to get to."
Draco regarded her thoughtfully as she shifted restlessly under his gaze.
"Emilia, I wonder if I could take you to dinner this evening?"
This man was persistent.
"I'm not sure how long this will take. I have to be a search and rescue of sorts which could take hours." She tried to push the honesty forward in her reply. Who knows how long it would take to find the missing cows.
"Well, this is probably an atypical request. May I join you on your on call? I've been enjoying our conversation and I would hate to cut it short. Perhaps I'll be able to convince you to allow me to take you to dinner this weekend."
She hesitated. It wasn't typical and it could be risky if he somehow got hurt.
As if reading her mind he arched an eyebrow.
"I assure you if I'm maimed or mortally wounded neither myself nor my estate will sue you for liability." His voice was teasing yet serious.
"...Alright. Since I have turned you down twice now I will take you up on your offer for dinner this weekend and bring you with. If, and only if, Ross can spare another mare for you to ride. I need to go to my office for supplies and to change. You will probably want to change yourself; it can get a bit dirty."
"Shall I meet you at your office then in say thirty minutes?"
"That should work. Thank you for breakfast Draco. I'll see you shortly."
With a small smile Emilia gathered her items and left to call Ross about the second mare, wondering if she had just made a serious mistake.