Miss Hiccups

"My first day in the council. Will make my best impression," she said looking at her reflection in the mirror. 

A wide grin appeared on her face. She was perfectly ready to leave for the council. Everything was on time. She had woken up two hours earlier than usual. Glancing at the wall clock, she marched out of the palace towards the council office and Earl took her to the destination. 

She walked into the council with confidence. On her way, she asked for directions to her department and greeted her seniors. Finally, after a few minutes, she stood in front of a door to her department. 

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, excited to meet and work with her new team members. Entering it she realised that she was the only living creature, existing in the room.

"Am I late?" She thought out loud. She glanced around in search of a wall clock to check the time. 

The room was huge and occupied by a pair of five desks and chairs and a wooden cupboard. One desk was placed at the centre, opposite the door and two desks on either side of it. There was a notice board hung on a wall with a few newspaper cuttings, pinned on it. Just beside it, was the wall clock. 

Evelyn glanced at the clock and murmured, "I am at the right time. Where are the others?" She pondered to herself. 

The sudden opening of the door behind made her jump in fright. She turned around in excitement to see who entered. 

"Good morn….ing," Her voice lowered to the point at which it was completely inaudible. 

The last person she wanted to stay alone with had entered. Her eyes stuck on his earthy hue eyes gazing at him. 

"Good morning?" Elric asked in his deep voice to confirm if she was greeting him. The way she greeted them made him chuckle mentally. 

She looked at him in confusion. Her ears were blocked, completely taking her away from the noise of the office staff and Elric, as usual. 

Elric looked bemusingly at her and waited for her to reply. Seeing her stand like a statue he raised his one brow, asking for some response from her. 

"Myself Elric," he introduced himself, anticipating no response from her side. 

Evelyn heard him introducing himself. She had already known his name back on the day of the interview when Mr Aldrich called him. 

She gave a friendly smile and opened her mouth to introduce herself. 

"Hic" "Hic" "Hic" 

But found herself struggling from hiccups. She quickly placed her palm on the mouth intending to stop the noise which she failed. Her body shook as she hiccuped. 

She saw Elric smile at her and she squeezed her eyes cursing her fate which ruined her first impression in front of the person she admired. Holding her breath she thought to control it.  

Meanwhile, Elric walked towards a desk where a glass of water was placed and bought it for her. 

Evelyn saw him offering her water. She looked at his face which now held concern for her. 

"Tha" "Hic" She thanked him as she took the glass from his hand or rather she tried saying thank you as the words got suppressed under hiccups. 

"Maybe try talking after drinking," he said. 

Drinking the water she felt relieved. She smiled at him and was about to say thank you, the hiccups appeared back. 

She looked at him, slightly knitting her brows, seeking help. 

"I heard you are in love with me," Elric stated looking intently into her blue eyes. 

As soon as those words left his mouth, Evelyn's eyes widened in shock. There was no way anyone could know about her feelings towards him as she never expressed them to anyone. She wondered how he knew. 

'Can he read minds?' Was the first question that appeared in her brain. She gazed at him with mixed emotions. 

"Haha! See it's gone"

She heard him say. Her brows came together as she looked at him perplexedly. 

"Your hiccups. They are gone," he cleared her doubts. 

At that moment she noticed her hiccups were gone. She realised he said that only for the hiccups to stop. She sighed mentally in relief. Yet she wondered how both are related. 

"Thanks for your help," she said in her soft voice. 

"No worries. It's called shock treatment. Always work for the hiccups. Apologies if I offended you," he informed her and apologized politely. 

"I see," she nodded in understanding. 

She saw him walk towards the cupboard and examine the things placed on it. Her eyes were constantly on his back, gazing without blinking her eyelids. She noticed his upper body was well built. 

"It's rude to stare at someone" 

His words startled her and she quickly shifted her gaze away from him. She wondered how he came to know. 

'Does he have eyes on the backside as well?' A silly thought popped in her head. To verify it, she slowly turned her eyes back to him. She was baffled, finding him disappear from the spot. 

"Are you searching for me Miss Hiccups?" 

She jumped from her place startled by the sudden voice from behind her. Turning around, she saw an enchanting face smirking at her. She pouted at him, angrily, for frightening her thrice in just a few minutes of meeting. 

"My name is Evelyn and not Hiccups," she said, keeping her face stern. 

He chuckled and didn't bother to reply back. 

Glancing at the wall clock, he muttered, "How indiscipline." 

It took Evelyn a moment to understand whom he was pointing at. "Maybe they got stuck in emergency work," she replied, shrugging her shoulders slightly. 

"Emergency work for all at the same time?" He questioned her back. 

Evelyn scolded her mentally for giving such silly responses. Anyways she was determined not to accept that and replied confidently, staring straight into his eyes, "yes, so?" 

Elric stared at her being bemused. He held a slight mysterious smile on his face which she noticed. 

"You never fail to amuse me Miss Hiccups," he said, bluntly.