FIVE: Sick Day
"I got in."
"Good work."
--
"Ha-choo!" I blew my nose in a bundle of tissues next to my bed.
"Bless you." Vivian said. "Oh, you should have gone home early yesterday. Now you've got a cold!"
I just glared at her and continued to blow my nose.
"Should I get you some soup?" She said, trying to console me.
"It's fine, I can just make some."
"Right then, get well soon." Vivian said, getting up and taking her purse. "I'll take over your job today."
"Bye." She Apparated out of the flat and in to the office.
Vivian has made me take the day off, and surprisingly I didn't argue with her.
--
Great, five minutes alone in the flat trying to combat a cold and I'm already bored to death.
I decided to get off my fat lard and get some soup. Hot chicken soup always makes me feel better on a day like this. I slipped on my fluffy slippers, a robe and an empty coffee mug and walked slowly out of the bedroom.
When I say slowly, I do mean slowly. So horrendously slowly that if there was a snail nearby, it would be right ahead of me.
I walked past the other rooms in the hallway and headed for the living room, which is connected to the kitchen, and leads to the door.
It's funny. When my cousin Marge visited my flat, she said that it looked exactly like those two bloke's flat from that show, 'Friends'.
And I do mean exactly. I watched an episode of the show and I jumped a bit when I saw the resemblance.
When I reached the living room, I smelled something. Food.
Yet, Vivian didn't cook anything. She can't cook. If she tries to boil water, it would explode in her face.
Not that it has happened.
I stopped and tried to smell it again. Eggs, bread… The whole package.
But the question on my mind was: who cooked this?
And the question I am practically screaming in my mind is: WHO IS THIS STALKER AND HOW DID HE OR SHE GET IN?
But let's not jump into conclusions, shall we?
There I saw him, bending over the stove, holding a frying pan. He had dark, curly hair, he was wearing quite formal clothes, some slacks and a white work shirt. On top of his clothes he wore a white apron.
I was a bit relieved. At least my stalker (or should I say kidnapper) wasn't one of those greasy, obsessed type of people.
The moment of truth came, he turned around and I screamed, dropping my coffee mug in the process.
It turned out to be Blaise.
"Blaise, what in bloody hell are you doing here?" I said, trying to catch my breath.
"Good morning to you, too." Blaise said in a cheery voice.
"How did you get in here?" I demanded, bewildered.
"The door was open." He replied as if it were nothing. "You know, you should really lock it, someone might come in here. Could be a thief, a psycho, or…"
"You." I finished his sentence.
"Now, I've been here, slaving away for you and this is the thanks I get?" He said in a motherly voice.
I blinked several times.
"Coffee?" He offered, holding out a mug.
"Yes please." I walked over to the table and sat down. He handed me the mug and I inhaled it deeply.
"I don't think we have this brand of coffee here." I said, slowly.
"Oh, before I came in I went over to supermarket."
"Oh, right." I said.
I turned towards Blaise and saw him. He scraped a piece of bread off the frying pan and put it on a plate next to him, a plate that was already covered in scrambled eggs and fried mushrooms.
"Bon apatite." He said as he put the plate in front of me.
I just stared at it, then stared at him.
"Eat up, it won't bite. Come on, you need the extra energy to get well soon."
I took a fork and picked up a mushroom with it. I held it close to my mouth and was about to eat it until I saw Blaise.
"Stop staring at me." I told him.
"What? Can't a chef find out whether or not his victims like his cooking?" He replied innocently.
"Victims?" I asked.
"Whoops, my cover's blown."
I snorted and popped the mushroom in my mouth.
"This is good!" I said, surprised.
"Thank you, thank you." He said, bowing. Then he stopped and said suspiciously. "Do you really mean it?"
"I do. Bloody hell, I've never tasted food this good ever since Christmas with my parents." I began to fork another mushroom and ate it.
"Food cooked by a mother is always the best food." He said.
"My dad was the one who cooked."
"Oh." He said awkwardly.
He sat on the chair opposite mine and read the paper. As he did so, I shoved food into my mouth, trying not to look like a pig.
"You're hungry." He chuckled as he looked away from the paper.
Thankfully I had already finished and was dabbing my mouth with a napkin. I began to drink the coffee again until a very possible theory came across my mind.
"Wait a minute." I thought out loud. Blaise looked away from the paper curiously and I continued, without knowing that he was listening. "He cooks and good at it too."
"So?" Blaise said, unmoved.
"Are you queer?"
"Yes, I am queer, Hermione. My idol is Martha Stewart and I secretly love David Beckham. Why do you ask?" He joked.
"No seriously. Are you a homosexual or bisexual?"
"You think…?" Blaise asked, confused. Then laughed.
"Don't laugh about your sexuality! It's okay if you are queer I will keep it a secret and I could help you come out of the closet…"
He just kept laughing until he could manage a reply.
"No I'm not…"
"Then how did you learn to cook this well?" I asked suspiciously. "Cookbooks? Learning from other queer men?"
"Hermione, dear, you shouldn't stereotype homosexuals." Blaise said. "No, my housekeeper taught me how to cook when I was young."
"Are you sure?" I pushed.
"Yes." Blaise exasperated. "I am not queer. Even if I was, then I would have probably found a queer boyfriend and shagging him right now."
"Good." I said, leaning back on my chair. "I'd be so embarrassed if I was hitting on a gay man." I mumbled the last bit.
"What, what," Blaise smirked, leaning in. "What did you say? Hm?"
"Uh, I said 'it would be such a pity as there are many single women out there looking for a man like you'." I said, quickly.
"Right…" He grinned.
"Oh, piss off." I grabbed the paper and pretended to read.
"Somebody's blushing…" He stood up, trying to look at my face.
"Shurrup." I managed. "Shouldn't you be at work?"
"I saw that you weren't at work, I was worried and I just had to see what happened." Blaise said, "Vivian told me you were sick, so I came and stopped by. Thought I could cook you a warm breakfast, just to make you feel better."
"Oh, thanks." I said, slowly putting down the paper.
"Anything for my favorite boss."
"Kiss up." I sipped my coffee again.
"Well, the position for 'brown noser' is taken." Blaise said defensively.
"By whom, may I ask?" I smiled.
"That Pat bloke seems suspicious."
"Har har." I said.
"Anyway, kissing up to a boss is easy." Blaise said.
"Depending on who." I said, thinking of Draco.
"Yes, especially if the boss is as attractive as you." He leaned forwards, closer and closer.
I tried to look away, but Blaise took his hand and turned my head towards him. I could feel his breath on me and I found myself leaning closer too.
We were so close, Blaise leaned in a bit more to initiate a kiss. I was thrilled, that is, until I heard a thud.
"Oh, God." We leapt to our feet and looked at the table. There were coffee stains on Blaise's apron. It turns out that as Blaise leaned in, he nudged the mug and made it spill.
"I'm so sorry, I'll clean up." Blaise said, looking frantically around the room.
"It's okay, I'll do it." I said, going around to the cupboard. I grabbed the kitchen tissue roll and started taking the tissue.
I put the tissue on the spilt coffee, making it absorb the coffee. Blaise did the same, and as I was about to take the tissue to throw it away, he put his hand over mine.
"Sorry." He said softly. We looked at each other, not looking away.
That is, until the coffee started to drip on the floor.
"Oh, bloody…" Blaise swore.
"Oh God."
"We're bloody wizards!" Blaise shouted. He whipped out his wand and cleaned the mess with a swish.
"Thanks Blaise, for everything." I said.
"Your welcome. Well, best be off."
Blaise grabbed his suitcase and was about to Apparate until I stopped him.
"Wait!" I walked over to him. I got up on my toes, Blaise put his head down and kissed me softly on the lips.
"See you tomorrow." I said.
"Sure thing, boss." Blaise said. "Wait, does that mean I get a raise?"
I laughed as he Apparated out of my flat.
Hmm, what a very exciting morning.
I just hope my whole day won't bore me.
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A/N: Thank you for everyone for reviewing! Sorry I didn't update sooner. Hope you enjoy this!