Part IV

She shouldn't have said yes. Definitely shouldn't have agreed to meet him for lunch. People milled around her, the small café in Diagon Alley was bustling at the height of the lunch hour.

Millicent rubbed the bridge of her nose in a familiar gesture or weariness. She should have known how trying the morning meeting was going to be... she had to fight tooth and nail to make sure the terms of the deal reflected her interests as well as Romanian Thestral dealers. Sexist bastards she mused as she leaned a hip against the small iron fencing that separated the outdoor patio from the cobbled alley way.

Blaise hurried down the alleyway his suit jacket flying open in his haste. He glanced down at his watch... he was late. He cursed in fluent Italian as he quickened his pace. He'd asked her to meet him and now apparently he didn't even have the courtesy to show up on time. His father's secretary had pressed him with a stack of papers mere minutes before he'd planned on slipping out for lunch. The bint had known he was trying to escape... he could see it in her eyes as she smiled and slammed the pile of parchments down in front of him.

He ran a hand through his dark locks as he approached the small café that he had suggested for their lunch. He scanned the bustle of people moving along the street for Millicent's familiar dark hair. The sunlight gleamed off her bowed head, he watched her scrub her face tiredly as he approached.

"Millicent? Sorry... I'm late as always." Blaise grinned as Millicent's head snapped up.

At the sound of his voice Millicent pulled herself from her quiet contemplation of the terms of the deal she had just agreed to. "Blaise!" She glanced down at her own watch. "I suppose you are late. I hadn't noticed, so obviously I don't mind."

Blaise's smile widened. She was still the same easy going Millie... despite the air of weariness that floated about her. "Good, I didn't want to upset you now that we are finally getting to talk again."

Millicent pushed herself off the edge of the fence. "Shall we?" she indicated toward the open door to the café.

"Of course. I'm starving!"

Blaise led the way into the restaurant; they were seated at a small table near the front windows. Sunlight streamed in and crossed the small white tablecloth.

Glasses of water were poured for both of them, Millicent waved off the offer for something more to drink and sipped from her glass.

Blaise scanned the menu, while sneaking glances at his friend. She fidgeted with the napkin in her lap between frequent sips of her water.

"You alright Millie?" He asked setting down the parchment, his mind decided on lunch.

"Quite alright." She caught her hand reaching for her glass and she stopped herself. "Just a bit exhausted. I had a meeting this morning." She settled for running her finger along the condensation that had formed on the outside of her water glass.

Blaise wrinkled his brow slightly. "How did that go? From what I hear you've been quite successful."

Millicent laughed lightly. "I pull my own weight, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm successful at it. The meeting was fine. I set up a rather picky deal for a herd of Thestrals from the most irritating group of dealers I've ever had the misfortune of doing business with. Merlin! You'd think all women should still be barefoot and pregnant according to that group."

Blaise laughed aloud, throwing his head back. "Get woman! Back into the kitchen for you!"

Millicent wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Oh hush you!"

Blaise continued to chuckle as the waitress came back and took their order. "I've missed you Millie!" He smiled as he sipped from his own glass. "I'm sorry I disappeared on you... and everyone after graduation," he sobered.

Millicent set her mouth in a soft smile. "You had your reasons, I understood. I pulled a bit of a disappearing act myself... so no harm, no foul."

They chatted companionably as they waited for their respective meals to arrive. Blaise caught her up on some of his adventures, or rather misadventures, he experienced while in Italy. They talked Quidditch, which of course resulted in an agreement to disagree over the state of the Falmouth Falcons this season. Millicent could feel the years slipping away between them. She could almost see him in his school robes, the Slytherin crest winking up at her in sun as they chatted by the lake. But Daphne's visage nagged at the back of her mind, this wasn't Hogwarts and they were older now, things were different.

Millicent folded her napkin and placed it on the table. "That was delicious Blaise. Thank you for making me get out of the office. Wes has decided that all I do is work... and that is decidedly a four-letter word in his vocabulary."

Blaise set his fork down and smiled. "and how is the new graduate?"

"Lazy," Millicent laughed, "and moping about the house since Angela is out of town." Millicent's brow puckered in a slight frown. "If only he had the ability to see things as you obviously do... she'll be back for Merlin's sake!" Millicent teased, erasing her discomposure from her face at her veiled reference to Daphne.

Blaise laughed lightly. "Yes, she will... and when he gets to my ripe old age I'm sure he'll learn to handle the absence with more decorum."

"We are getting ancient aren't we?" Millicent smiled.

Blaise nodded, his lip quirking up in a smile. "We are all beginning to look like our parents... marrying off and living at work."

Millicent laughed a bit hollowly. "That we are... it's a sad state of affairs isn't it?"

"Oh somehow I think we will all manage. So who is the man who shall be secreting our Millie off from us?" Blaise asked curiously. She had answered his every question about her life up to now with vague answers followed by a joke. He realized he knew little about her actual life now. With his years of friendship as a background, he could see though her vagueness and defense mechanisms.

Millicent rolled her eyes quickly. "Right Blaise... Well currently I'm deciding which offer to accept... the famous Quidditch player or the dashing business man." She wrinkled her nose with a laugh. "You know me. I'm perfectly content where I'm at. I've got all I need, I don't need a man messing all that up now do I?"

"Really? Are you really happy Millie?" He reached a hand across the table and covered hers, small snippets of past conversations and hopes floating through his mind. "You don't want to be wearing that horrid medi-witch uniform day in and day out? You don't want to come home to two point five children and a Labrador?"

Millicent blinked quickly, her voice caught in her throat. Of course she wanted all that... the daft prat! But admitting that would be recognizing that she could never be happy and she wasn't dumb enough to do that to herself.

"Of course I'm... I'm happy. I think I wore a uniform for enough years. I've had my fill." Millicent nodded her head a bit too quickly.

Her mind darted about for a change in topic. "Are you really happy Blaise? I thought you were going to fall hopelessly in love with some beautiful Italian woman who couldn't speak a work of English and never be heard from again?"

Blaise laughed, he patted her hand and sat back in his chair. "Oh I'm happy enough. I don't know how Miles and Cassius dealt with this whole wedding business though. It's ghastly. Honestly, who cares what kind of rose petals are sprinkled along the aisle... they are all roses aren't they?"

Millicent chuckled. "Better you than me that has to deal with that. I merely watched Pansy and Lavender in awe... they were women possessed."

The waitress appeared with the bill in hand. After a small struggle Millicent finally relented and allowed Blaise to pay for the meal. Glancing down at his watch he cursed. "Father has me on a tight leash. I'd better get back to the office, I'd rather not hear his crotchety complaining all afternoon."

Millicent stood, smoothing the pants of her suit down. "I see your father is still the same," she sighed. "You'd better get back. But it was wonderful to see you again."

"Blaise stepped around the table to pull her into a quick hug. "You too Millie. I'll be owling you soon... we have to do this more often."

He bused her cheek with a smile. "I can already hear him yelling, I've got to run."

Millicent felt her body turn slowly as she followed his form out the door and across the large open windows. He quickly disappeared down the street the sunlight highlighting his gleaming black hair. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. Her hand covered her cheek, resting on her pale skin in a fanciful moment. Cursing softly she dropped her hand and quickly apparated back to her office.