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Wife Wanted
Chapter 4: A Proposal at Work
Draco climbed out of bed that morning with an ear-splitting headache, hair tussled up and clothes wrinkled. He went through his morning routine: brush teeth, wash face, brush hair, apply hair products to said hair, choose dark outfit, and put on outfit. Normally, completing this routine every single morning gave him great pleasure- like a big breath of air after being underwater with no breathing devices for hours- but today, something was wrong. A feeling of dread and morbidity flushed through him, and he felt as if a coffin, his own perhaps, had been placed upon his head. There was no way to remove it, as if he were condemned for life to this fate—the only way to break free would be if the inevitable happened.
He sluggishly made it through breakfast, not even yelling at the maid when she brought him the wrong type of mineral water. Something had happened last night. He could feel it, yet he couldn't quite recall the events. "Damned alcohol," he grunted as he prepared to leave for work at Malfoy and Zabini Enterprises. He and Blaise Zabini (or rather, Blaise Zabini's ghost) switched being the boss every month. Unfortunately for him, this was Zabini's month.
He strode hurriedly to the large marble Malfoy Floo network with numerous fireplaces where his butler was patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for his arrival. "Hurry up," Draco scowled. "I need to be there for a meeting in ten minutes. If I'm late…" he growled menacingly.
"Yes, sir, right away, sir," the butler said "Damn ungrateful prick."
"Pardon?"
"I said, 'Fateful that we're to arrive just in the nick of time.'"
"I'm sure you did, John."
"Jeff. My name is Jeff."
"It is of no concern to me."
"Of course not, I've only done everything for you since you were born."
Ignoring him, Draco pushed out his hand impatiently. "I suppose you have the floo powder for me?"
"Yes, sir. The fireplace to your left is now opening. Have a pleasant day." He grinned fakely at Draco. "Ta-ta."
Draco floo-ed out and somehow managed to find his way to the meeting room and slumped down into his chair, his mind a whirlwind of confusion. What had happened the night before? Or perhaps, who had happened? He knew—somehow he knew—a girl was involved. Unfortunately, that was all he knew. He knew not why she was at his home nor who she was. He groaned quietly to himself. Who was it?
"Malfoy, what did you think of Rishmoore's proposal?" A brisk voice broke into his reverie of thoughts.
"I…um…I supported it very much. I'm behind it 100%," he grinned convincingly, praying he was correct.
"Oh, you did?" Zabini cocked his obviously just waxed-eyebrow.
"Yes sir," he assured him, giving her what he hoped was a winning smile. "It was fabulous."
"So you're willing to lead it?"
"Of course."
"Wonderful. Here's the proposal," he said, handing him a massive folder of papers. "I expect you'll discuss the matter further with Rishmoore and start immediately after the meeting."
"Yes sir." His stomach churned nervously. Uh oh…
"Good. Meeting adjourned." As the rest of his colleagues began leaving the room. He sat down in his leather chair and began thumbing through the papers. What have I gotten myself into? His mind began to wander off again, and he found himself thinking about the unknown woman who had appeared at his house. Who was it? he screamed angrily at himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid! the voices in his head sang.
"Erm, Malfoy? Maaaalfoy? Draco?" the concerned voice of Robert Rishmoore interrupted his thoughts.
"Oh. Sorry?"
"I was just saying, I'm glad you liked my idea. 'Course, you were the only one who did. Lemme know the truth, brother to brother, colleague to colleague, buddy to buddy- you weren't paying attention whatsoever were you? Not a single bit?"
"No, not at all," he admitted.
"Right. That's what I thought. So I suppose you want me to explain the proposal which you have so wonderfully accepted to lead?"
"Please."
"Okay, here we go," he droned. Draco's mind began to space out for what seemed like the millionth time. Who was she? What had happened? Then he had a thought, a thought that was at the very back of his mind and managed to put itself to the front…Perhaps someone was answering the ad I placed? The ad…yes, maybe she wanted to marry me.
"So I thought that we…" Who could it have possibly been? Who? His head began to droop, from both exhaustion and pure boredom.
"…and I also thought that maybe Virginia Marie Weasley might be able to…" Virginia Marie Weasley? he thought of his former flame. Why in the world does she remind me so strongly of something?
At that point, his head finally gave up and hit the table with a loud thump. Robert gave him a brief, uninterested look and continued explaining the proposal.
"Anyways, we could even…"
"Ow," Draco muttered to himself, "shit." He rubbed his injured head. "Ow, ow, ow, damn wooden table." As he continued tending to his "injury," his memories of the prior night began to seep back into him. "Oh bloody hell!"
He stood up abruptly, pushing over his chair. "I have to leave now- more important matters at hand to attend, I'm sure you understand." He strode hastily out of the room, ignoring the shocked colleague he left behind. This was going to take a lot of thinking time.
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A/N: Sorry for the delay…but I was sooo busy, what with Christmas and everything. I had family that I hadn't seen for forever at my house…so yeah. I had to entertain, which meant no time for my story.
I know…I'm such a bad girl. I lied…you didn't find out any more about Draco and Ginny's relationship. But at least this chapter had Draco! And now you know how they'll reunite…again.
I will try to update once or twice a week, but I cannot guarantee it. This story has not been written out yet…I am writing this as I go along. Please be patient with me J
Happy New Year's 2004 to everyone! Cheers!
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