Black Stained
Chapter 24: Work With It
Her boss had been staring her down for an unnerving long time. But for her credit she did not look away, or hide behind her chair. She looked back and waited.
She had been called to the office regarding plans about how to rebuild and restructure the reserve. As the damage had been grave. She had volunteered for all the groups that were assigned to clear and rebuild the place. Every other workers had been informed of their position and task. Aral wondered if he wanted to tell her personally, or if this was the moment he was going to sack her.
'As the gathering yesterday on the premisis might have told you, some of your colleagues were quite shaken by the incident.'
'More like all of them.' She muttered. He gave her a look telling her he hadn't finished yet talking, so she shut up and let him tell his story.
'And as you might have guessed some had taken to the press to share their concerns. Your dear friend, mister Weasley, however convinced me to take precautions and made sure none of these events have been described in the daily prophet or any other paper as anything more than a dangerous encounter with a dragon on the Romanian privet dragon reserve.'
'Thank you, sir.' She replied sincerely. He gave her a faint smile and said, 'I am aware of your past and understand your situation and need for privacy.'
She nodded at him, thankful for him considering her privacy. They fell quiet for a moment and Aral tore her eyes away from his stare to casually look round his office. Her eyes fell on a file, a couple sheets of papers stuck out for her to read. She read 'task assignement' and immediately wondered what kind of task she had been ordered to do. Probably the most dirty job there was, since her punishment was yet to come, but she did not mind. She was after all guilty. When her boss did not say anything more she decided to ask him about the matter.
'Sir, might I ask what task I have been assigned? As you probably have noticed I volunteered for all the jobs available.'
'Ah.' He merely said, folding his hands and leaning on the desk with shoulders hunching forward. He looked up at her and again gave a small smile, this one was of a apologetic nature. She started wondering...
'I must confess, miss Potter, I have not assigned you any task.'
'But why not, sir? I could help. I don't mind whatever it is I have to do. You will need all the help there is.'
'It is no matter of my need for help, but a matter of authority.' He sighed. 'You are responsible for the incident and thereby responsible for the damage done to the reserve.' Aral had prepared for this talk, had prepared for the damaging words. 'I have not yet punished you because I do not wish to punish you. But others will see that I have not yet fired you or have punished you in any way. They will think I have slackened my authority on you and will protest to such behaviour. I can't risk any more uproar in this situation.'
Aral's mind was trying to understand his way of thinking. And she understood. By letting her help, even doing a task that no one else would want to do, he was giving her a purpose, a motive. By helping she would be needed on the reserve. If he didn't let her she would have to do her former job, tending to the babies. She would not be fital in cleaning the mess she made.
'But won't that anger my co-workers? They will have to clean up the mess I made.'
He shook his head. 'I have worked here longer than you have, I know their ways of thinking. Now, please, let us not discuss this matter any further. You must return to the little dragons. I heard there is even one that seems to have bonded to you.'
He tried changing the subject, but Aral wasn't done talking about it. She wanted, needed, to help. But she let it go, would try later when he was in a better mood. She gave him a weak smile and nodded.
'It seems to be there is and I enjoy it a great deal.'
'Than I won't hold you any longer. I thank you for your apology and shall extend it to the others.'
She nodded again and shook hands with him. Than she left to walk back to her work.
Instead of a crowd there was no one to be seen at the field. And she was glad of it. She had had enough of prying eyes. The big dome-like building was a welcoming sight. She entered swiftly and walked straight over to the air chamber. Though it was not yet time to tend to them, she would love to see Gemi again. The little dragon, as usually, was hidden somewhere in the rocks. But when she noticed her favorite care-taker approach she came out of her hiding place and greeted her friend. Aral played with her for a while. Some others joined in their games. It was time for some medical check-ups so Aral brought the dragons one by one to the room in the middle of the building so Nicki could inspect them.
While Aral observed Nicki working with the dragons, she started thinking about what her boss had told her about 'authority'. She didn't agree with his way of thinking. Yes, by not tasking her with any of this he didn't give her any authority or made her a necessity, but still... She was ashamed of the damage she had done and would have liked to clean it all up on her own. She was starring at the wall when Nicki cleared her throath and shifted her attention to the work table at which Nicki was working.
'Still day dreaming about it all?' Nicki asked her.
'About what exactly?' Aral asked back. There were quite a few things she could have been thinking about. Not only the incident, but also the mob gathering yesterday, her talk with the boss, Charlie... - she shook her head about her last thought. Why exactly would she be day dreaming about him? She after all a lot of other things on her mind.
'Well the whole situation... the boss musn't have been very pleasant.' She gave a tentative smile.
Aral thought about it and responded with, 'Actually, he wasn't harsh or angry at all. Not that he showed to me, though. He was... kind. Said that he didn't wish to fire me or punish me in any way. He even made sure the press didn't release too much information. I am curious though why he treats me like this. I do not deserve this kind of treatment at all.' She sighed.
Nicki frowned at that too. 'Not mad? Really? He isn't the type of person to forgive easily.'
They were quiet for some time, then Aral broke her train of thought and cleared her throath.
'Can I take the little one back again?' Looking down at the dragon again.
'Yes! He is a bit sleepish but healthy!' Nicki gave it a last stroke across its back and gave him to me. 'Was he the last one for today?' She asked eagerly, already looking at her watch.
'Yes...' Aral said looking at the dragon care taker. She seemed to be in a hurry for something. Aral wondered what. 'Is there somewhere you need to be?'
Nicki looked up, a bit startled at her question. She sighed, she seemed nervous. 'Yes, actually.'
It was a wild guess, but Aral was almost 100 percent certain that it was the reason. 'He asked you out on a date, didn't he?' She asked Nicki teasingly.
When Nicki didn't answer, but looked down at her hands Aral couldn't contain herself. 'He did! Oh, that's great!'
Nicki let out a shaky breath. 'I am so nervous.'
Aral decided to give her the same 'You-work-with-dragons-don't-be-so-afraid-of-someone-on-a-date' speech. Nicki smiled at that.
'Just go in there and go for it. He really likes you.'
'Thanks, Aral. You're such a great friend.' They both stood up to bring back the dragon and close the building for the rest of the evening. Once outside they said goodbye and both left for a different direction.
Instead of going straight to bed, Aral decided to first drop by at Charlie's. To see if he was already done with work and in need of some company, like herself. She had become used to being alone for a long time, but now with everything going on... She needed a good friend. And Charlie Weasley seemed the best idea. The only idea, sadly enough. She had hoped that her being here would get her more friends and connections back into the world. It wasn't going as smooth as she had thought though. After a walk across the reserve to the other cabins she found his and knocked on the door.
Less than three seconds later the door opened. She was not greeted with the face of her Weasley friend. Instead of the red-head she looked at a blonde pretty woman, with big brown eyes and thick lips. Her beauty was striking and - though Aral didn't want to admit it... - Annoying.
'What do you want?' The voice of the woman drawled. Aral shook her head to clear her now clouded thoughts.
'Oh, uhm, is Charlie in here? I thought this was his cabin. But...-' The girl didn't let her finish.
'Yes. He is here. But he isn't available right now.'
Different theories and conclusions jumped up in her mind, such as 'they were busy' and 'girlfriend'.
'Oh. I am terribly sorry. I will come back later...' Aral awkwardly turned around and started walking back to the road. But then she heard a door got slammed shut and someone started to call out to her.
'Aral! Wait!'
Aral stopped walking, but she didn't want to talk to Charlie anymore actually. She had wanted someone to comfort her and accompany her, while she was in this shitty situation. But with a girlfriend on the side, Aral wasn't in the mood. At that moment she started to wonder why exactly she was thinking about Charlie as privet property. He wasn't hers.
Charlie slowly jogged up to her and stopped in front of her.
'Hey.' He greeted her.
'Hi.' She greeted him back.
When neither of them started talking she noticed he was wearing sweat pants and a simple shirt, which seemed to be two sized too small, because his muscles were clearly shown through the light material. Not that she minded at all, because he had a very muscled body. Probably left from his quidditch years and his continuing work with dragons, she thought.
'So... How was your conversation with the boss?' He pulled her attention back to him.
'It was alright. I haven't been sacked if you're wondering about that.'
'Okay. Good.' He nodded awkwardly. She started contemplating if she should ask him about that woman in his cabin... She decided against it. It wasn't any of her bussiness. She just wanted to keep walking untill she reached the lake and drown in shame.
'I saw you were busy. So I am going back to my cabin now.' She said as she tried to move past him. He held out his arm though to block her path.
'No, I wasn't busy. Britney was just visiting.' He pointing back at his place with his thumb.
'It's okay, you're busy. It wasn't urgent or anyhting.' She pushed past his arm. Shivering from his arm touching hers. She wanted to be alone now.
'No! If you want you can come to my place.' He tried to call her back.
She smiled back at him, but replied with a simple, 'thanks, but no. I'm tired, Charlie. I just want to sleep now.'
With those words spoken she turned round again and stalked back to her own place. Not bothering to look back. She decided that she would leave Charlie alone for a while, he had a life on his own after all and she needed to sort things out. She felt cold again and wrapped her arms around herself.
She would have to spent the evening alone now. She wished the nightmares wouldn't hunt her that night...
